http://tennessean.com/ent...D=50768305

By A. TACUMA ROEBACK
Staff Writer

He's got the look — not to mention the moves and the music — to make the girls (and quite a few guys) go crazy

Secretly, every man wishes he could be Prince.

The way dude wields a guitar, you'd think the thing was an extension of his, um, essence. His pull is so strong with the ladies that Fabio would be jealous.

And let's not forget about his get-ups: those sexy purple-sequined suits with the ruffled shirts. And — gasp! — the bottomless jeans he wore in the '80s that had every brazen 30-something man thinking about trading in his Dockers. (OK, maybe not.)

Most musicians can't touch the man, who seamlessly blends R&B, funk, rock and pop like no one else.

And talk about results. Prince writes songs you remember — Little Red Corvette, 1999, Kiss. His tunes have power: If I Was Your Girlfriend and I Wanna Be Your Lover have emboldened many a lover to approach that one crush who always made their hands go clammy.

Thanks to his new album, Musicology, the diminutive lavender lover is at the forefront of our consciousness again.

In anticipation of his concert at Gaylord Entertainment Center tonight, we have asked some noted musicologists and fans to help shed light on the reasons we love the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

Our research indicates that the leading reason people admire Prince is that he's a rare breed: a man with looks, money and talent to spare.

Without further ado, some thought-provoking musings on the man, the music and those horrible pants.

He's got the look

Take Barney the dinosaur, a biker with a fetish for fine couture, and the most extreme metrosexual (or any guy whose hairstyle is as flawless as your mother's) and you have the style of Prince.

Yolanda Neely, a WQQK-FM radio personality, is hot for his locks: ''His hair was laid. (It) looks better than a woman's hair.''

And Gail Mitchell, a senior R&B/hip-hop writer for Billboard, is into his physical vibe. ''The way he moves his body, the way he holds a guitar — it looks like he's one with it.'' Plus, ''he's got a cute face.''

But what about those clothes? ''In the '80s, he helped to define the look,'' she said, referring to the Purple One's custom-made metallic suits, high-heeled boots and over-styled hair.

''But he pushed it over the edge with the bottomless pants.''

Gold experience

In all their lustrous, polychromatic textures, Prince albums render a unique listening experience. And for many, it's one that's beyond compare.

''Even a bad Prince album is a good one,'' said Tommy McDonald, a public information officer for Tennessee State University. Even if it's just an OK record, ''I've been able to find three or four goodies.''

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for All Music Guide, said that Prince's mixing of musical genres inspired him to find out about new artists. ''Listening to Prince opened me up to Jimi (Hendrix) and Carlos Santana,'' he said.

He said Prince floors him with his ability to fuse seemingly incompatible genres. ''He was doing deep funk, smooth soul, pop songs and hard rock. He was doing psychedelic music.''

Gail Mitchell recalled that when Prince first started, ''people didn't know what to make of him. I don't know if you remember the first album, when he had the long hair, like Al Sharpton. People were like, what the heck is this?

''By the second album, people knew.''

Let's go crazy

Go crazy? It's hard not to at a Prince concert.

''One night I was hanging out with Luther Campbell at Glam Slam (Prince's Club) on South Beach (in Miami),'' Neely recalled. ''He came on stage for four hours and he jammed. I was backstage and I was right next to him. I was looking right at him and I was, like, 'Oh my God! This is really Prince!' ''

His mere presence struck her speechless: ''I didn't know what to say.''

TSU's McDonald is a veteran of 11 Prince concerts — 12 after he sees him at the GEC tonight. ''The last time I saw him was in 2002 at The Paramount Theatre in Oakland,'' he said. ''He did close to three hours in an intimate setting. I got to see him in the sound check and I got to talk to him.''

But that wasn't McDonald's most memorable concert: ''I saw the triple threat tour with Prince, The Time and Vanity 6. I was like 14 at the time.''

I wanna be your lover

Many girls — and some guys — would gladly be seduced by Prince.

What is it about this short, purple-clad guy? What gives him endless sex appeal?

Confidence, Erlewine said. ''He seems very in touch with himself, whether it is his musical skills or sexuality. He really seems to love and appreciate women.

''You get the idea that he takes his time.''

From a female's point of view, ''he's very shy and he looks like the flirty type, and women like that,'' Mitchell said. ''There's a magnetism about him that grabs you. He speaks about sex and love in a way that nobody else really does.''

McDonald thinks it's Prince's music that serves as a guide to women's hearts. ''I grew up on his music,'' he said. ''That's how I learned about women.''

Rainbow children

Prince is many a musical baby's sugar daddy. His influence on fellow musicians is legendary. He's certainly taught McDonald a thing or two. ''A lot of people wouldn't fool with music if it wasn't for Prince,'' he said. ''He inspired me to pick up a guitar.''

He points out that there are several emerging music stars whose sound clearly bears the Purple One's imprint. ''Andre 3000's The Love Below sounds like a lost album from Prince,'' he said. ''He's influenced bands from a number of different genres, and it isn't just Outkast or Alicia Keys. Groups like The Foo Fighters have covered Darling Nikki at concerts.''

My name is Prince

If there were a mansion consisting of great musicians in the 20th century, Erlewine said, ''he'd have his own wing.''

''He's the first one with the total package: singing, songwriting, producing and the instruments,'' he said.

''His musical legacy will be his stretch of albums from Dirty Mind to Sign O' the Times. Through these seven years, it seemed he could do anything.''

And Prince will always be known for being his funky self. No one will ever be able to copy that. ''There will always be one Prince,'' said Neely. ''You can't duplicate him, never ever.'' N

Getting there

Prince's Musicology tour takes place tomorrow at Gaylord Entertainment Center. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 (main floor, lower level and club level seating) and $47 (upper level seating). The ticket price includes Prince's new album. Gaylord Entertainment Center at 501 Broadway downtown. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets. Charge by phone at 255-9600 or go online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Fabio .... Please

Cool. Can't wait for the show tomorrow.

Mazerati said:

Prince opened the door for me too. After understaning Prince's genius, I started to look into his influences. He opened me up to Miles, Jimi, Santana, The Beatles, Stevie, Al Green, the list goes on and on.

Mazerati said:

Truer words were never spoken. Prince is so good it should be illegal.
[This message was edited Wed May 5 9:22:14 2004 by DorothyParkerWasCool]

BARNEY THE FUCKING DOINOSAUR?!?!?!?
[This message was edited Wed May 5 13:48:14 2004 by bananacologne]

'Gaylord entertainment centre'?!?