As Anxiety mentions, Prince's supposed distaste over the Foo Fighters' cover of "Darling Nikki" was brought up in the Entertainment Weekly cover story this week.

I must admit that when I read that, I was taken aback. If we're to believe that there's any truth to this quote (and we can argue all day whether or not the EW interviewer has credibility), then I am surprised that Prince would say such a thing. Had this been a few years ago--namely before "Emancipation" when it was rare for Prince to perform a cover himself (and he certainly didn't record and release any) -- his argument about "write your own damn songs" might have a leg to stand on...and that's if you can live with the double standard of Prince providing songs for so many other artists, giving them hits.

Seems like this is all about his involvement...that if a song he's written has his blessing -- such as if he'd written the song for the artist, let's say -- then he's cool with it.

Given that Prince now records the occasional cover (some of them are great, too!), one would think that he'd never say something like this. At a time when Prince is saluting the pantheon of "back in the day," classic music...back when music was "real," you would think he'd feel good to be included in that group of people who recorded "real music" and feel honored that newer bands/artists are taking that interest.

Part of me feels like Prince couldn't have said this and that he does feel this way. But the man has always entertained us with his various contradictions. I still love him!

Having said that, the Foo Fighters are one of the first places I go for that kind of rock and roll. And I was excited about the cover, even if I prefer the original.

just some thoughts on the matter...

keith/kacey

As Anxiety mentions, Prince's supposed distaste over the Foo Fighters' cover of "Darling Nikki" was brought up in the Entertainment Weekly cover story this week.

I must admit that when I read that, I was taken aback. If we're to believe that there's any truth to this quote (and we can argue all day whether or not the EW interviewer has credibility), then I am surprised that Prince would say such a thing. Had this been a few years ago--namely before "Emancipation" when it was rare for Prince to perform a cover himself (and he certainly didn't record and release any) -- his argument about "write your own damn songs" might have a leg to stand on...and that's if you can live with the double standard of Prince providing songs for so many other artists, giving them hits.

Seems like this is all about his involvement...that if a song he's written has his blessing -- such as if he'd written the song for the artist, let's say -- then he's cool with it.

Given that Prince now records the occasional cover (some of them are great, too!), one would think that he'd never say something like this. At a time when Prince is saluting the pantheon of "back in the day," classic music...back when music was "real," you would think he'd feel good to be included in that group of people who recorded "real music" and feel honored that newer bands/artists are taking that interest.

Part of me feels like Prince couldn't have said this and that he does feel this way. But the man has always entertained us with his various contradictions. I still love him!

Having said that, the Foo Fighters are one of the first places I go for that kind of rock and roll. And I was excited about the cover, even if I prefer the original.

just some thoughts on the matter...

keith/kacey

I have NO IDEA why that long thing printed that many times. I'm SORRY!!!

suedehead said:

It's one thing to play covers during a live show and it's another thing to release an album with covers on it. For me, it was the only thiongs that brought down Emancipation. When I buy an album I want original songs not remakes.

While I wouldn't go so far as to call Prince a victim of the media, there is such a strong expectation that he'll say something bitchy and contentious (gee, wonder where that came from?) that the press is poised to bend his every remark into just that. This is about the third quote I've seen from the EW interview appearing out of context elsewhere. The one about Jersey Girl was distorted to say something entirely different than the original article.

I'm wondering how much of it was the interviewer's spin. Everyone knows a cover is the ultimate homage, and he does them himself. Alicia Keys covering "How Come" got her invited to perform at the Celebration. Prince has a lot of respect for D'Angelo, who covered "She's Always in my Hair". Still, it wouldn't be completely out of character for him to say something so contradictory.

I think it's kinda irresponsible for Prince to toss out bitchy comments about Kevin Smith and Foo Fighters, then go on about spirituality and "unity". Guess it shows he's still the same brat who wore those nasty mirrored aviator glasses in 1980.

Gullible is not in the dictionary.

`
[This message was edited Tue Apr 20 10:04:17 2004 by Supernova]

Supernova said:

Meh?

Anxiety said:

No.

GrayKing said:

Exactly...afterall, "...Chaka mad!"

2freaky4church1 said:

I told Dansa we look alike. I think we sound alike too.

Not true....Prince never said that.

Mazerati said:

Yeah. Take this with a grain of salt. By the way, I liked their version. ONe of the best covers of a PRince song since Chaka Khan.

Foo Fighters, particularly Dave Grohl, LOVE Prince. There's quite a few references to Prince on their site, especially in the dictionary section. Lets not forget that Pat Smears, one of the original members, was also in the Rasberry Beret video. I'm under the impression that this quote is completely bogus.

Personally I really enjoyed the Darling Nikki cover, and even more so their cover of Drive Me Wild.

The quote's in the Entertainment Weekly article. If it's untrue, then EW (owned by Time Warner, hmmm) made up one big assed lie.

Meanwhile, if it's true, it's just another silly little snitty Prince comment.

Prince has said he prefers for artists to contact him before covering his work, since artists don't always get proper royalties and what-not. I'm sure this is just a distortion of his stance on this.

But the Foo's version is splendid....as is Josh Homme's version of It...Prince should surely see the value of these covers. Their reinterpretation - or plain covering in the Foo's case - are a credit to both him and the musicians he has influenced.

Novabreaker said:

Bollocks are they.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

Although I think Prince was misquoted(I've never heard Prince "snipe" anything), Your are misinformed here. An artist can release a cover of any song they want. THey have to pay the appropriate royalty rates. What they can't do without the artist consent is make significant changes in the arrangement. For that, artist permission is needed.

Anxiety said:

I've read it.

I'm not so much questioning the quote, I'm questioning the context of the quote. In the same article it also states that Prince, because of a newfound modesty, is substituting "He's your Messiah" for "I'm your Messiah" during "I Would Die 4 U" at live gigs....apparently the author of the article had no idea that Prince has been doing that since his Purple Rain tour in 1984. It has nothing to do with anything "newfound."

The article also states that TRC was critically panned. Which was also not the case.

And for any simplistic-minded hounds, I'm NOT saying TRC wasn't panned by some critics (what album isn't?), but I am saying it wasn't a critically panned album. The majority of reviews around the world made it Prince's most positively reviewed album in over a decade, up to that time.

BobGeorge999 said:

There ya go.