Music legend PRINCE has slammed rockers THE FOO FIGHTERS for covering his song
DARLING NIKKI.
The WHEN DOVES CRY singer, 45, was horrified when he discovered DAVE GROHL's
band had done their own version of the song, which appears on his 1984 classic
album PURPLE RAIN.
Prince snipes, "I don't like anyone covering my work. Write your own tunes!"
And the reclusive superstar is also furious that his recent release
MUSICOLOGY has been treated as a comeback record.
He fumes, "I never went anywhere."

Yeah right, what's the source?

I hope this isn't true, because The Foo Fighters generally write all their music. So for Prince to come out with a statement like that seems a little uneducated.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 20 2:32:40 2004 by toejam]

Sounds weired to me, a bit exaggerated. I don't think Prince said that.

BlueNote

well it was from alt.showbiz,gossip

SUCH an exaggeration - there was no fuming

Bollocks. Prince and Dave are friends.

Whether its true or not I agree with it. Most Prince covers are shit and unecessary,there are too many covers in this day and age, I generally dont like them and they rarely add anything new to the music,there are exceptions of course.

I have the Foo's cover version of Darling Nikki and it is excellent. Respectful of the original, but with enough of a twist to make it worth doing.

The quote sounds like utter BS to me.

Prince does not slam the Foo Fighters. He always said he didnt like others covering his work. Same thing he said about Tom Jones version of Kiss.

misty2k said:

I have it too & I like it okay, but Dave's oh-so-proper pronunciation of the word "grind" is too... clean

CalhounSq said:

Lol!

misty2k said:

You know it's true!

How come it's okay for Prince to do various cover songs?

Hipocrite. Prince do yourself a favor, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! You're ugly when you speak

christ..... if only he felt this way. well he probably does, for everyone except him. but anyway, we might have been spared the slaughtering that I Can't Make U Love Me and Everyday Is A Winding Road got on Emancipation and Rave, respectively.

chookalana said:[quote]How come it's okay for Prince to do various cover songs?



good point, i wonder why noone has asked him that. i would be interested to know what he said about it? when was the last time he covered a song on an album? funnily enough a case of u right? so we cant even say his opinion has changed in recent years!

to be honest i read that quote and it sounded like he just plain didnt like the cover, write your own songs sounds like a funny mock anger quip to me. plus we dont even have no source!

though how do you know prince and dave are friends? i say that to the dude that said it?

link required please

Prince may not like the cover versions of his songs,but I bet he loves the royalty checks

I don't think that is true. Prince even writes for others and then does them himself! Prince has had many opportunities to fume about how he never went anywhere ( Leno, Ellen, The Today Show) but he knows he doesn't have anything to prove.

This was all in the Entertainment Weekly interview, and just like the supposed "feud" with Kevin Smith, the quotes have been twisted around and made to look like more than what they were.

Oh, and the gossip piece didn't bother to cite the EW piece, just like the gossip vultures haven't been citing the Kevin Smith part.

Mazerati said:

yes, that's absolutely true, Prince. and actually, the point. no, you never went anywhere in the last 8 years. your career, your music, your attitude. it went nowhere .... and that's the problem

Mazerati said:

Amen!

The gossip mill is in full effect. You can't do a cover song without the artist's permission. If Prince wouldn't have wanted Dave and nem to cover Darlin' Nikki, he wouldn't have given permission. If you are not gonna post a link, please stop the bullshit. How would you like if people said something about you that wasn't true?

LittlePill said:

So, why did I see Prince covering "Soul Man" on this tour, and "Whole Lotta Love" on the Alladdin DVD?

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

no, you CAN do a cover without the artist's/writer's permission. legally, all they can sue for is the royalties, and those are mechanical anyway, so there's no legal grounds for a suit.

GrayKing said:

Really? I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

I even find this hard to believe, as fucked up as Prince is. Even he did several covers himself.

That picture on that avatar looks liek our Dansa.

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