Controversy got me back in tha' day...Do I believe in God, Do I believe in me?

Then there was~~~~Ah, yes~~~~Jack You Off. That song made me so HOTT!

By the time 1999 was released, I was hooked and my walls were plastered with Prince!

I listen to Prince and other many good artists from the very beginning of the career because I have friends around me that are always hipping me to new artists and new sounds. Mostly DJs that get a demo and float me a copy at a club before they become famous on MTV. Prince was no different. But what kept me listening to Prince was interesting.

Prince had this un-earthly feel to the music as he absorbed from Miles, Levi, Andre, Wendy & Lisa, Fink, Shiela, Dez, Morris, Lewis and Jam and anyone he worked around. Each year his music changed as the work of his band became a part of his new sound. When I hear the opening of "Love thy Will Be Done or Question of U" its apparent that he always has some amazing talent surrounding him all the time.

Well, I got in2 Prince in about (from what I can remember) 1984 when I was going on 3yrs. old. Of course the Purple Rain album and movie is what got me on since my parents were huge Prince fans. Since then I was obsessed with Prince ( I even had a Prince birthday pary in 1986 when I turned 5yrs old!!), but around 1996 or 97, his music started 2 bore me, though I didn't realize it at the time. It actually took me getting my hands on my first collection of outtakes that I decided that no matter the direction his music went, good or bad, better or worse that there were enough bootlegs on video and cd circulating 2 keep me interested in him and his music. At 22 now, I'm SOOO glad I stuck around 4 the journey...

I think I was listening to anything popular as a kid, so I loved "1999" and "Purple Rain" as much as anyone else. (I'd be lying if I said I knew much about Prince before "1999"). I didn't even own either of these albums at the time, though...my sister did...and I would steal them from her and that was it.

I think "Around the World..." is actually what made me a fan, though. It just seemed so beyond typical music of the day...probably because at that age I was not terribly well-versed in the 60s sounds that influenced Prince when he made that record. I told myself then and there, at the age of 12, that if I stuck with Prince, I was going to get to hear some of the most amazingly creative stuff ever. I wasn't wrong on that one!

Many of you mention a point at which you "fell off the wagon" for awhile. I never truly did that, though I remember being quite angry about "Come." I can clearly remember where I was the day that was released. I was in Florida on vacation with my wife (just a girlfriend then) and I was ridiculously excited to go pick up "Come" -- my future family's first exposure to my obsessive love for Prince. I listened to it on my discman with my mouth open...I thought it was so unbelievably under par. I was even embarrassed when someone offered to play it for everyone in the car...I declined the offer.

My dislike for "Come" didn't stop me from staying on the bandwagon, though. I've never fully fallen off.

Keith/Kacey

Hearing the song Purple Rain on the radio and then listening to the album got me hooked.

It started with Little Red Corvette, became an obsession with Purple Rain the album and movie.

I fell off for awhile after the Symbol album. Came back after hearing a Gold Experience boot before the actual album was released, then got a few outtake compilations and I was back on and have been ever since.

Sign of the times... a friend always played it and I use to tell him how bad it was, he said listen to it start to finish, and I did and 17 years later, I am still hooked!!!

I had heard and appreciated "Little Red Corvette" and "1999" already, but the day I first heard "When Doves Cry" on the radio I was totally blown away! I've been a fan eversince, although from "Diamonds and Pearls" on I lost interest in Prince, although I always bought the new albums. It was "The Rainbow Children" that got me fully back into Prince.

What kept me listening during all these years was his ability to drop at least 2 or 3 real good songs on each album. I mean songs no other artist could come up with and that are essential Prince to me...

I had heard "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the radio but had never seen him. Then I saw him on American Bandstand.

I was in the sixth grade and people had been calling me "nigger lover", "fag", and "gay" for about two years. These words used to infuriate me. I was shunned by the whites and embraced by the blacks. Whatever black people thought of me, they at least had the courtesy to keep it to themselves. I didn't know what "fag" or "gay" meant and finally someone told it is a sissy or a feminine man. I pictured a gay male as someone being weak and into opera, ballet, and show tunes.

When I first laid eyes on Prince he was performing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on American Bandstand. The second song he performed was "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad". This song was hard rock and he could have kicked the ass of any of the hard rock guitarists out there. His appearance was very feminine but it was also like "you'll regret it if you fuck with me".

Then the "Diry Mind" album came out. It was clear that Prince could definitely jam and rock harder than anyone else out there and yet he still had this feminine appearance. The same with "Controversy" and "1999". Prince was the baddest thing in black music and could kick the ass of any of the other male artists.

Then white people discovered "Little Red Corvette" and Prince became a crossover artist. He then released the album and movie "Purple Rain" and the whole time was feminine as hell but still in a "don't fuck with me" way.

After "Purple Rain" his musical style changed and his music was not as hard or funky as it had previously been but his appearance still remained feminine.

Prince has always played and teased with his sexuality and has always left it to the imagination. If he is gay, he is one hell of a bad ass gay man that has carried himself in a very strong and admirable way. But if he is straight, I love him even more for never being offended if the world thought he was gay.

TheBigBang said:

I second that. In hindsight, ATWIAD isn't the best of Prince's work, but it (and the classic 12" singles and B-sides) showed me that, as an artist at least, Prince had staying power.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 1 15:08:57 2004 by namepeace]

SOFT & WET MADE ME LISTEN, THE SECOND ALBUM "PRINCE" HE'S BOOTY- BUTT NAKED ON THAT HORSE, I SAID WHY THAT COULDN'T BE ME HE WAS ON . THAT ALBUM GOT ME HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER!

I can still remember listing to my 1999 tape in my first car, with my $20 Kraco speakers blasting that whole album.....I was hooked. Than Purple Rain, Parade,& Than the 1st concert was Lovesexy in Detroit.....30 or so shows later I'll be seing all 3 in Detroit again.....I'm glad I got hooked on Prince and not Michael Jackson or the only show I would be seeing now is a FREAK show.

Soft and Wet got me listening and I was totally hooked by the lyrics of the song Controversy.I was always the kind of person who was accepting of all people, so this song really got me...

I Wanna Be Your Lover, Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad and Sexy Dancer got me listening to P. Head, Party Up and Dirty Mind piqued my interest a little more. Do Me Baby, Controversy, Sexuality and Private Joy pushed me to the edge and lawd it was that 1999 that sent me over the edge. Oh my lawd...I was beyond obsessed with P. That was the first album I ever bought. It was played from beginning to end. And that poster of P on the bed with his butt peaking from up under the sheet I was in lust.... . I followed P up until SOTT and fell waayyyy off the wagon. I bought the Hits cassette around '93 or '94 but I wasn't too happy with the radio edits. I started downloading music in 2000 0r 2001 and my top picks were all those hits I hadn't heard in years. Now I am rediscovering P again. I can't believe how much I have missed. I have a lot of catching up to do, but it's worth it.


Shout out to Mojo(whereever you are)...thanks for exposing me to Prince music that I would have never heard during the regular radio formats....being able to hear the extended versions of LRC, SD, Erotic City and much more when they were actually out is priceless....
[This message was edited Tue Jun 1 20:27:41 2004 by PurpleCharm]
[This message was edited Tue Jun 1 20:28:31 2004 by PurpleCharm]

I followed P up until SOTT and fell waayyyy off the wagon. I bought the Hits cassette around '93 or '94 but I wasn't too happy with the radio edits. I started downloading music in 2000 0r 2001 and my top picks were all those hits I hadn't heard in years. Now I am rediscovering P again. I can't believe how much I have missed. I have a lot of catching up to do, but it's worth it.


I agree with you PurpleCharm except I think he fell off beginning with "Around The World In A Day". I don't know why he had to change his style when he was at the very top.

I still continued to buy every album the first day it was released and had to learn to like them. Like I said, he has definitely challenged my taste and has opened me up to many diffefent areas of music than I was in before.

I downloaded unreleased stuff too but the only stuff I liked was the pre-Purple Rain era stuff. When I bought "The Vault...Old Friends 4 Sale" is was extemely disappointed. He must have just written those songs back in the day and recorded them later when he was in a different frame of mind. I was expecting some synthesized jams from back in the day.

This is the only reason I have not joined his music club. He can keep his unreleased stuff he has done recently. Give me the synthesizers. Bring them back Prince...that is what will bring the old fans back!

saw prince on solid gold, doing 1999, and then little red corvette. INSTANTANEOUSLY CAPTIVATED, FASCINATED, AND OBSESSED.

DID I SAY OBSESSED? WHAT I MEAN TO SAY WAS OBSESSED

its like right then i saw and knew that this dude was going to do all that he was to do...
totally i know

i haven't wavered in 22 years.

somthin 'bout the music, 'bout the beat, 'bout the vibe, 'bout the message, 'bout the man

that certain i know not what, ya know?