AsTrAlTrAvElInHoTtiE said:

hehehe, the pegasus pic? i love that picture....it's just so...so....i dunno.... plus '79-'80 wuz a really cool period 4 the brotha, as far as looks, imo. he looked beautiful back then, and still does--but not as much as way back when.

(SexLovely y'all)
My Dad was a Prince fan from the Purple Rain phenomenon and so becoming a Prince fan was a gradual progression 4 me.....a grand progression if U like.
I can remember listening 2 MJ (i no, sad) when I was about 8 and likeing his songs B 4 turning my eyes 2 this freaky lil' dude who I didnt have a clue who he was or where he was from.....all I knew was that I liked the music.
I suppose by about the age of 10 (1993) I was listening 2 Prince music almost regularly, whenever my Mum or Dad put him on I was there dancing 2 it.....I also saw Prince live that year - Earls Court London
My Dad had most Prince CD's and Vinyls up2 Emancipation, which was around the same time I got my first Prince CD - The Hits 1 4 Christmas, which was a bitch cuz I didnt have a CD Player.
:p My reason 4 becoming a fan of The P is practically the same as every1 elses, but a good reason 4 staying a fan 4 so long is that Princes music teaches alot about yourself and because his music makes me so happy and lifted I am a more confident, better and positive person.
So Thanx + Love my brother.
TAKE CARE OF THAT ASS Y'ALL!!!!

I bcame a Prince fam back in 1982 after hearing 1999. My sista had bought the cassette tape & after 1 listen I was hooked. He has been an inspiration 2 me ever since. That's when I started making my own music by banging on pots & pans & pretty much learning many other instruments by ear.
Now eye I play funky music, too!!!!! Thanx, Prince!!!!!

In 1988, I first got hooked on Prince, my dad had on tape Lovesexy and Purple Rain which I listen to over and over again, more so purple rain. Thanks dad, its been one hell of a ride since 1988!!
It was also the time when I got SKY, so that I could watch MTV, and I saw videos such as Kiss, U Got The Look, Raspberry Beret that I thought yeah this guys good. I started to watch alot of MTV around this time to see more of Prince's videos, such as Little Red Corvette, 1999, When Doves Cry. I then got the Batman soundtrack for my birthday in '89, which was great.
I'm not sure why Prince is my favourite artist, it just happen, I can't get enough of him. There's definately isn't anyone quite like him. I think watching Purple Rain insured that I would be a lifelong fan of his, I didn't see PR until probably 1990 and from then I've been a fan. It was great fun when you first start out as a P fan, because he has so many albums, you don't know which one to get first. It was great collecting his back catalogue of work!!!

Spring 1983, I was 14 and a mate of mine brought round the double 1999 LP. I remember thinking, "why are these tracks so long?" I looked at the inside sleeve and saw this weird looking dude lying face down with a slight glimpse of his butt checks sticking up in the air. I pissed myself laughing !

My mate played me 1999 which instantly got me interested. It was the track Let's Pretend We're Married which did it for me. Never before had I heard anyone sing anything like "I Sincerely Wanna Fuck The Taste Out Of Your Mouth". We'd listen to that track over and over and turn the volume down when that bit came on so as our parents wouldn't hear it.

My mate went off Prince and gave me his copy of 1999. I'm forever in debt to that friend as only a few months later, out came Purple Rain and that was it - the Prince explosion. After 9 months playing that album until the vinyl was worn, I re-visited 1999 and started to really appreciate tracks like LRC, DMSR and Automatic.

But the best bit was I remember taking my school sweetheart out to buy her a birthday present and I stumbled accross For You on import. It hadn't yet been given a full UK release and I spent my dough on that instead of my girls present !! Needless to say, it didn't last much longer. That's when I realised, I was hooked.

I tried to resist it for the longest time, but eventually I caved in...I started by hating him, thinking he looked gay and dirty...a friend of mine at the time, I was twelve or something...in -85, I think, she had a lot of video tapes with different videos from all kinds of artists, among them P - Kiss, 1999, Mountains, Raspberry beret...well, I didn't think much about it, but started to get hooked on the music. Then, in -88, I asked a classmate who I knew was a serious P-fam, to record all her albums for me...she did, and here I am...I surpassed both my friends in being a fam, I don't think either of them digs him anymore...too sad...TRC rocks!

For me it was around 1982 after my older sister played the song Delirious off 1999. That was the first time I can remember hearing about an artist named Prince. I bought the double album on vinyl that next week, 2 years later he dropped Purple Rain and I've been hooked ever since. I'm a fan because I'm forever impressed by his range! I don't know of any artist as versatile and prolific in popular music. And he sings his azz off...

The moment I became a fan was when my cousin and I went to the Musicland record store in '84. I bought the Ghostbusters soundtrack album (who you gonna call? Hey, I was 11!) and he bought Purple Rain. When we got back to my house he played the Purple Rain album first by the time Prince was screaming "I want you" at the end of "The Beautiful Ones" I was hooked. It was so haunting. Unlike anything I'd ever heard before. It's funny because I had already known Prince but was never into him. I knew "I Wanna Be Your Lover" when I was 5, but I didn't know who sang it. I had seen "Little Red Corvette" on MTV a few years before in '83. My dad had even brought home the "When Doves Cry" 45. But it wasn't until I heard the complete Purple Rain soundtrack that I realized the genius of Prince.

when and why did i become a prince fan?

born in 66 ... my mother listens 2 all kinds of music ... beatles, stones, marvin gay, sly stone, temptations, steve wonder, curtis mayfield, and so on ... that was the music i grow up with.

later i became a huge beatles fan, because i liked the different styles of music there were playing. it's a long way from "she loves you" till "happiness is a warm gun"

since then i was looking for groups with the ability to make different kinds of music too. in the beginning of the
80's i found a record called "dirty mind" in my local second hand store .. the price was arount 50cents, and i
was really suprised about the music ... wasn't that 80's shit that was played in the radio at this time.

later that week i bought "for you" and "prince" ... and since then ....

gerald

Wow! Cool thread. I find it very cool that people got into him with records like Lovesexy and records in the 90's. I just didn't think it was still happening. The addiction. We are a strange group indeed.

For me, it happened in 1985. I was 13 and The Purple Rain phenomenon had peaked. I was aware of all the singles from Purple Rain and 1999. But, the group of kids I ran with were either into newwave or cheesy 80's metal hair bands. I went with the flow. When the Purple Rain Tour hit my home town in Texas, these two girls I had my lunch with every day got all excited and would talk about it constantly. My two sisters were all of a sudden into Prince and needed to go to the show very badly. My mother, fully aware of Prince and "Darling Nikki," said "hell no." Anyway, my town was hit with Prince fever. Florists were selling purple roses, radio stations began holding wacky contests and giving away tickets. Basically, I fell for the hype. I chimed in with my sisters and insisted that our parents let us go. Eventually they gave in and an uncle took us.

How to Begin.

I had been to rock concerts before (Iron Maiden, Foreigner. Journey. Good Lord. I bunch of junk!) but I was not prepared for what I saw. I remember the show so vividly. The beginning chords of "Let's Go Crazy." The flowers raining in the entire auditorium. The bathtub during "When Doves Cry." The sea of purple (the tix stub asked u to wear something purple. I have my ticket stubbed framed. I'm such a loser) the waves of hands in the air during the encores. Of course, I remember the impression Wendy and Lisa had on me. I remember Sheila E. opening the show.

I was hooked. The next day I ran out and bought Purple Rain and 1999. Waited a grueling month to purchase Controversy and Dirty Mind. I remembering purchasing ATWID. I remember buying the 45 for Kiss. Damn! Buying the 12" singles with the awesome extended versions and cool "b" sides.

I remember going to see "Under the Cherry Moon." My fascination that summer with "Parade" and "The Family" discs. I remember coming home from school and finding in my mail box my latest issue of Rolling Stone with the tag line: Wendy & Lisa Prince's Women. All three of them smiling back at me from the glossy magazine.

Buying my first compact disc. "Sign O the Times."

Getting a ride from a friend's brother to go purchase "LoveSexy." My friend's brother could not understand why my friend and I each bought a copy.
"Why don't u guys buy one copy and make each other a tape copy," he said. My friend and I looked at him as if he had just uttered some kind of Nazi oath. I guess in Prince Lore in would be blasphemous.

It's funny. Just yesterday I got a call from one of my sisters. We went through the usual routine. I'm in LA now and she lives in Germany. I mentioned the upcoming Prince show and she said" "Oh my God, you're still into him."

I gladly said that I was.

Here's to the upcoming shows in Los Angeles.

PurpleLove7 - Prince Fam since Emancipation Era (1996)LoveSxy1958 - Prince Fam since 1999 Era (1982)

it's a pretty short story 4 me PL7 & b*comin' a P Fam. All it took was 1 concert "Jam Of The Year" & I was Hook'd

Funny thing tho is I was Soul Searchin back during that Era & I was Feelin' P & his Message of Love4oneanother & I needed that @ that time. I was ALONE & Depressed becuz I didn't have any1. but then I found my LoveSxy(1958) that is

I remember hearing a few songs from the controversy album when i was about 6 or 7,liked purple rain,etc, but i'd have to say i really became a prince fan when i heard and saw the videos for when the doves cry and raspberry beret. They really caught my attention and made me explore more of prince's music. After that, i was hooked!

Hey, WB, nice to see you're still here(i got laid off last month and didnt have access to a computer for some time)...wouldn't be Prince.org without seeing your name. Anyway, i liked your first -eh hem- Prince Experience.

My first 'revelation' came in 1993 when Little Red Corvette came out as a single. I had heard 1999 while laying on the beach at Lake Calhoun that summer(my mom lived in NY, my Dad in Mpls-so i spent many summers in Mini) and then LRC came out.
Back home, one of my older brother's best friends listened to Off the Wall and 1999 the album all the time on his boom box, and i just got hooked on the other songs... Delirious, DMSR, Automatic, Let's Pretend, and on and on. But even then, i didn't really know who the heck Prince was, just my friend's music that was really great. When Purple Rain came out(i was about 15 yrs old)-i made sure my father took me to the movie.
I can still remember leaving that theatre like it was yesterday, Prince had really found me, Music had found me.
I've bought almost every Prince album since the day it went on sale, and Prince's music... paraphrasing Dick Clark...'has become the soundtrack to my life'. Thanks P!!

oh, and i used to be "Sanchristian"...but it sounded too 'saintly'(san=saint). Although being an old nickname from an old friend, i am no saint, so i dropped it. Peace.

I posted this message on AMP several years back on the day that Purple Rain turned 13. I figured this discussion was a good opportunity to repost it. Please pardon the length.

--

Like so many other folks, Purple Rain is the album that made me a Prince fan. But before it was released, I was a HUGE Michael Jackson fan. I had posters of him on my walls and I wore his pins to school. Between his voice, charismatic presence, dancing and great albums ("Off The Wall" was the first piece of recorded music I ever bought with my own money), I thought he was simply the best entertainer in the world.

While I didn't realize it at the time, looking back now I can see that he was also a non-threatening role-model for me as a young gay man. I don't say this to imply that Michael Jackson is gay (my take on that is a whole other discussion), but to communicate that for a young, sexually confused boy in a small, southern town (Lexington, NC), he demonstrated that a man could be tender and sensitive (which were "sissy" traits) yet still be ADORED by everyone.

On the other hand, Prince was snidely branded a "faggot" by everybody I knew in school. There was something about him that SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME. Whenever I would see pictures of him -- wearing bikini briefs and contorted around his male band members bodies -- my stomach would knot up. He made me confront all my deepest fears (internal homophobia) just by being who he was. It was more than I was ready to face -- and I fully resented him for it.

When "Little Red Corvette," "1999" and "Delirious" were released, I was glad that none of them did as well as the songs from Thriller -- it was only right I told myself. But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't deny the *greatness* of all three of them. Even at that young and uniformed age, I instinctively knew that Prince was a brilliant artist -- and I knew that he was a threat to Michael's place in popular music culture.

I remember hearing "When Dove's Cry" for the first time: I was in my bedroom waiting for the "Top 10 at 10" to come on a local radio station. Before the show started, the deejay announced that everyone should stay tuned because there would *FINALLY* be a new song in the top spot -- and it was a brand new song as well. Because a group of girls at NC State University called every night to vote for Duran Duran's "The Reflex," it had held the number one slot for months. I was anxious to hear what had beaten it. Imagine my shock when the song was by Prince -- and sounded so... odd. I couldn't even decide if I liked it or not. (Of course, I told myself that I didn't.)

Once school ended for the summer, I went to Jacksonville, FL to visit my Mom for a few weeks. "When Doves Cry" was a huge hit and I heard it constantly. I was starting to like it and was even intrigued by the video. Prince didn't look too strange, I guess.... BUT, I didn't have time to worry about him, "Victory" was finally coming out by the Jacksons. I was sure it would be the Best Album I Had Ever Heard!

After my Mom bought "Victory" for me, I listened to it non stop for days. Although I wouldn't admit it, in my heart my feelings were clear: the record seemed flaccid. There was no soul in the music, no bite in the lyrics. It was almost -- dare I say -- boring.

And then a few days later, *IT* happened!

I came in the house around noon, turned on the radio (loudly) and went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. As I was spreading mustard onto my bologna (pre-vegetarian days), an unfamiliar song began to play. The keyboard caught my attention from the very first note -- and then I heard the words that would literally change my life: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life." WHAT! "But I'm here to tell you, there's something else: the Afterworld." WHAT!! "In this life, things are much harder than the Afterworld. In this life... you're on your own!" WHAT!!! "And if the De-Elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy, one time...GO!" OH MY GOD!!!!

It was a transcendent moment for me. As I stood there transfixed, I knew exactly who the performer was -- only one man had the audacity AND the genius to pull something like this off. And in all honesty, as "Let's Go Crazy" played, I consciously knew -- in that very moment -- that Prince had taken his music to another level; a plane that Michael Jackson might never see. When the guitar solo ended, every hair on my body was standing straight up.

I didn't tell anyone about this through the remainder of my visit. I just wasn't ready to emotionally accept what I had made Prince into: the living embodiment of my homosexuality. BUT DAMN THAT SONG WAS FIERCE!!! It was a very confusing time.

When I returned home to my Dad's, I told him that Mom had given me money to buy a new cassette and I wanted to go shopping the next morning. Then -- to this day I don't really know why -- I told him that I most wanted to buy Purple Rain by Prince, but might get Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran instead. When he asked me why I might not buy the one I wanted the most, I said, "All my friends say that Prince is gay, so I don't know if I should buy his tape or not." Without hesitation, my Dad responded: "It doesn't matter if a person is gay, David, if you like the man's music, buy it." Talk about a life-altering moment! I didn't say anything in reply, but my heart jumped for pure joy.

The next morning, my Dad took me to Tape City. A sweet, older couple ran the shop and I enjoyed going there. I walked up to the counter and asked for Purple Rain. While the man was getting it for me, I asked his wife how it was selling. "It's been non-stop," she said. "We don't even have time to put them out on the shelf before we're sold out. It's the best seller we've had since Thriller." As I walked back to my dad's truck, staring at the too-perfect-for-words cover, the woman's final comment kept running through my mind: "...best seller since Thriller." This was fitting I thought -- because I knew that I was now also post-Thriller." I knew that I would be a life-long Prince fan from that moment on.

Although my coming out was still a long and sometimes painful process, Prince was a role model for me the entire way. His struggle to remain true to himself -- as both an artist and an individual -- inspired me to become the man that I am. To this day, I hold a special place in my heart for Prince and his incredible music. I hope he really understands how important he has been to me and many others.

Peace, David

Mine was in 1992 when I heard "7" a few times on the radio. I decided I liked it, and bought the Symbol album since I couldn't find the single on sale here in the UK.

Things escalated from there! I ended up buying Diamonds and Pearls, then slowly started building my collection until I became as obsessed as I am today

Well, I was 11 years old and Batman was all the rage. i was a huge fan as a kid, comics, the old 60's reruns and i loved the movie with Nicholson and Keaton that I collected everything I could get my hands on. Including the new soundtrack on tape!

I had no idea it was by Prince. Back in the day, my older sister wa sinto all the 80's pop, MJ, Madonna, Wham! etc but for some reason, she HATED Prince...so, obviously, I did too!

Well, that started the transition from comics to music and that's that! I wanted to see Grafitti Bridge but my mother said it wasn't for kids. LOL. I should thank her for that one! I remember anytime I saw Prince on tv, I'd watch it in hopes of a Batman reference! Muchmusic played Batdance and Partyman constantly.

I found an older family friend who taped all the albums for me and that was it!

Definitely an outcast in grade 9, listening to Gett Off when everyone else dug...Nirvana and Pearl Jam for rock; New Jack and Boyz II Men etc in soul.

Anyways thats my story!
Bob

WELL LONG AGO WHEN I WAS 5 MY MOM LISTENED TO PRINCE SHE WAS IN HER 20'S SHE WOULD GO OUT TO CLUBS AND PLAY PRINCE 4 ME WHILE SHE WAS GONE .I WOULD SLEEP WTH THE ALBUM COVER WITH HIM NAKED ON THE HORSE,MY MOM TOOK ME AND AFRIEND TO SEE PURPLE RAIN AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM THE MUSIC.
THE MUSIC HAS BEEN THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE.

Just one look is all it took! Saw him on the cover of Purple Rain and realized I had layed eyes on the most beautiful man in the world! And, sure enough, his music was just as beautiful! I remember playing When Doves Cry over and over-moved the record player over to my bed so i could easily and quickly lift the needle so I could keep replaying the part where you actually hear him speak! Ah, his voice is sooooo....

I've been in love ever sinc!

I remember hearing Prince as long as I can remember.My parents alwayz played the jams as music lovers in their car.I was in the back seat as a child bobbin'my head and singing lyrics.They sure seen that American Band Stand performance.Another show like Soul Train my parents watched all the time.The first song that stuck out for me after that was Controversy.I would play it loudly on the lil' radio I had only to get yelled out while living with my grandmother at age 10.She thought the lyrics were saying "Count Your Pussy" instead and therefore I'd b in trouble.I still would record the songs off the radio with my cheap cassettes and small barely beatin' radio (It beat enough for this 10-11 yr old at the time though ) Lady Cab Driver was the funkiest song.DMSR too.The first albulm I could finally buy for myself was Purple Rain though.13yrs old and I was seriously hooked and trying to get a lil' group together."Sweet Sophistication" was the name !Prince got me wanting to get my own groove on !I'd write songs I made up and all ! Silly me,I didn't know what to do with it ! I was dreaming.I'd dance on my bed with microphone brush in hand and mom would b yelling to turn it down ! I dreamed of meeting prince then.Him teaching me how it's done to b a musician.Ever since I was hooked ! His style,him being different and bold ! His eyes,his sexyness !His lips !!! Need I say more ?? After seeing him LIVE it just sky rocketed even more !!!!! That was'nt til' 97'shamefully I never thought I'd see that day come though.Now,i hate missin' any show within 7hours from me!

I was 7 years old and Prince was on the SNL 15th anniversary special performing Electric Chair...I thought it was so cool, so I made my parents buy me the Batman soundtrack. Then a few years later I saw the video for Gold and thought the song was amazing, so I bought The Gold Experience and it totally blew my mind. So many different styles and instruments...like nothing I had heard before. At the time I found out my english teacher was a Prince fanatic, and he made me some tapes of various live and rehearsal stuff. I was hooked, and since then I have collected hundreds of Prince CDs (most in my first year or so of fandom) and videos. Because of Prince I began to listen to styles of music that I would never have listened to otherwise...before Prince, all I was into was the alternative rock scene of the time (Sleater-Kinney, Hole, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc), but now I have around 800 CDs of everyone from 10,000 Maniacs to Jill Scott. The Residents to Marilyn Manson. And plenty of jazz and classical, to boot.

Pretty wierd for an 18 year old...

---

I was age 9, Purple Rain movie brought me to his music. Even at such a young age I could relate, the music was so imaginative and raw- and unique. No one else was doing that at the time that I knew of.
I began saving my allowance and riding my bike uptown (Royal Oak, MI) to local "wrecka stores" and bought all his older cassettes (still have them), and would blare them on my walkman. My favorite as a child was definetely "Around the World in a Day" and surprisingly, "Controversy"- which opened my eyes to many controversial subjects as race, politics, and sex.
My fondest memory is definetely when I was 9 yrs old, late at night on a school night (Night owl, could never fall asleep) and I was listening to "Electrifying Mojo" (Prince's favorite) on WJLB radio. Prince had just finished doing his B-day concert at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, and Mojo was interviwing him LIVE on the air after the show. Prince was in his limo during the interview and I remmber him talking about his purple house, and how he would come up with songs late at night while sleepin gor brushing his teeth, and he would run down to the studio and lay it down. He compared music to a painting.

I taped the entire Mojo interview on my little tape recorder (remember those). Still have it.

i was 12 years old when i heard my 1st prince song my aunt just got married n my uncle was going through his record collection n i just saw the cover of 1999 n wanted 2 ear it so he played it 4 me, he also played a O.M.D album.....looks like i made the right choice n i aint ever looked back.....peace

back in 1982, hearing Little Red Corvette & 1999 on the radio, going to a "Basement Party" and the chick having it having the double album of "1999", looking at it and thinking, this dude is a FREAK! I LOVE IT!!! Dug the pix of the band, thought they looked cool. Loved that it was a totally intergrated band. Soon found a 45 of "I Wanna Be Your Lover" that one of my step-mother's sisters had left in a single rack, played continously.

Went out the following week after the party and bought 1999 on record, all the singles I could find, and then every week after I bought all the other releases on vinyl. Then I began to collect the cassettes, and when I finally got a CD player, 1999 was my first CD I got, got both for Christmas in like 1984.

1986 when Kiss came out

good head from a freak listening to 1999.

From the very moment I heard his sensual voice, I was hooked!!!

I became a Prince fan in 1979 with Soft and Wet. I remember thinking, wow, this guy's freaky. Little did I know! When Dirty Mind came out he scared me to death!

Codshort - You're a guy alright! How silly of me.

Although, I thought Wellbeyond was a girl. Is this my error or has there been some name switching here?

For me, like a lotta white kids, it was "Little Red Corvette" that first introduced me to Prince. The first time I heard it, I thought it was "okay", but I wasn't bowled over. A few months later, I saw the video, and I thought this Prince cat seemed kinda cool. He had a look like no one else at the time. A few months later I heard "1999" while on the way to school. My friend (her name was Nikki, no joke) was playing it in her mom's tape deck (we were in jr high) as we carpooled to school. I was really diggin' the groove, so I asked Nikki who we were listening to. She told me "Prince". Hmmmmm, that Prince guy again, eh?

Fast foward a few months, and I'm watching MTV. Over the months I had heard little bits of the 1999 album in Nikki's mom's car, but not enough to really get a feel for the dude. Suddenly, the video for 1999 came on. Now, keep in mind, at this point I'm just entering puberty. My hormones are raging 24/7! Here I am watching this video with this dude who has two gorgeous women playing the keyboard together! The whole look and feel of the video was pure sex!

Now, skip ahead to 1984. While watching MTV (I spent a great deal of my time doing that back then ) I saw a commercial for the premier of the "When Doves Cry" video. Just hearing that little snippet was enough to hook me! I HAD to have this album! With every bit I saw and heard of Prince, I became a bigger and bigger fan. Now understand, I was never exceptionally masculine, but I knew I liked girls, so this was a very confusing time for me. So seeing this dude running around wearing makeup, high heels etc., yet singing about sex with women, well, it struck a chord with me. Prince let me feel okay about myself. You didn't have to be "mr. macho". You could be in touch with your feminine side, and still be a heterosexual man! What a revelation! This, along with the fact that he combined elements of rock music with the black music I was just discovering (I had a good friend at the time who was black. He was busy educating me on 70s funk and early 80s R&B and Rap), was enough to make me a hardcore fan.

Being a Prince fan has had its ups and downs, no doubt. I still listen though, because he still continues to draw my interest. Many of the reasons I originally became a fan are still with me.