Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Oh shit...

Well, I hate "American Idol" but they force me to listen to it by playing the episodes on the upper half of the TV Guide Channel while the channel listings scroll on the bottom half and by talking about it all over "The Today Show" in the morning when I'm trying to see the news. It's not just a matter of "turn the channel if you don't like it" anymore.

vainandy said:

It's like they do to people what they did to Malcolm McDowell on "A Clockwork Orange", making him watch some trippy shit while having his eyes dilated.

Timmy84 said:

Furthermore, they should be etrernally gratefull for the day they met Rick Rubin. His stamp on their forheads on their early records couldnt save them past 1990.
His three jewish skinny white kid creation the "Beastie Boys" out-rapped them, thats sad.
[Edited 4/21/09 19:37pm]

Or what was it called "Chinese Water Torture" where they tie you up and drip water on you until you can't take it anymore? It's like they get "American Idol" and force it on all the people that don't watch it by putting it all over The TV Guide Channel, The Today Show, Larry King Live, Hollywood Access, hell, they even had that ugly ass picture of that curly haired guy with the "American Idol" logo on the side when they were running the credits of the first few old episodes of "Soul Train"....as if that audience would be the same audience that would like that bullshit. They're trying to subconsciously drive that shit into our brains with subliminal messages....you like AI, you like AI.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Damn, lol. But then again, you do got a point.

vainandy said:

Yeah that's it. And I noticed that too while watching "Throwback Soul Train".

I really think either Don Cornelius or someone from his staff was reading the org during that time. Back when we discussed the episodes each week, I remember making a comment that they need to get that damn American Idol shit off the screen while they are rolling the credits because the audience that was watching "Soul Train" was wanting to escape the American Idol type shit, at least for one hour a week at least. Shortly after, at the end of each episode during credits times, they started doing an edited recap of the performers on that particular "Soul Train" episode followed by an edited recap of the line. I know....I've got them all on DVD's that I recorded.
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[Edited 4/21/09 19:59pm]

vainandy said:

I did notice that.

TonyVanDam said:

My mistake, it wasn't Scorpion. It was another poster named OldPro
Here it is:

Prince did more to destroy black music than any other figure of his time

First off most people on here know I think Prince is one of the greatest artists of the past 50 years. I can't think of anyone that has made as many songs that I have enjoyed as much as I have his. If I listed my top 10 concerts ever, the 6 Prince shows I've seen would all be there. That said ..... Prince was NOT good for black music people.

I think a lot of what made him great also made him destructive. His creativity and confidence turned him into a sort of musical demigod. He didn't need a band to create and record with because in his mind nobody could play his music as well as he could. He didn't use background singers for the most part for the same reason. Prince was the show, standing above all others and he wanted to make sure you didn't forget that. Now of course Prince wasn't the first artist to feel this way. But he was the first that had the technology to isolate himself creatively the way he did. When you have the talent and ideas Prince did at the time, this isn't a bad thing in and of itself. The problem is, it inspired less creative and original people to follow in his footsteps. The end result was a parade of mediocre singer/songwriter/producer wannabes that would have been much better severed (creatively) being part of a larger collective. Just because you can make music by yourself doesn't mean you should. Of course existing bands also took note of what Prince was doing. They started cutting the "fat" and in doing so, knocked over the first domino in death of the black band.

As I said, Prince wasn't the first artist to have an ego. But he was the first to go to the lengths he did to keep from being shown up. One need to look no further than his first two side projects ... The Time and Vanity 6.... for prove of his obsessive narcissism.

Flyte Tyme by everyone's account was the baddest band in Minneapolis. So what did Prince do when he signed them? Fired their lead singer (Alexander O'Neal) and replaced them with his drummer friend Morris Day. The fact Morris couldn't sing meant nothing to Prince. As a matter of fact in his mind this was a good thing. This meant one less threat to Prince. But even this wasn't enough for him. Prince went into the studio and recorded almost all (if not all, there are various opinions on this) the music and background vocals for the first Time album. Think about this for a minute. You sign a band and then record an album under their name with your friend who you made lead singer. But that didn't matter to P. He was selling an alternate image of himself with the group. He wasn't producing in a way that would bring out the creativity in his artist, he was acting as a puppet master with his hand guiding every sight and sound associate with them. They weren't artist, they were props. Never was this truer than with his next project Vanity 6. Never before in black music history had there been a group that had this much style over substance. None of the girls could sing ...not even in a serviceable way really ... play any instruments or even dance. With Vanity Prince created the video chick before the video era even really kicked off. Once again, Prince was the star and his project was his window dressing. With Vanity 6 Prince proved you could market and sell records even though the "artist" had little to no talent. It would be foolish to think the industry didn't take note of this. This knowledge along with the emergence of the music video formed a powerful one two punch that marginalized vocal talent.

The interesting thing in all of this is how Prince slowly reverted back to more "traditional" ways as his creative tank started to run dry. Now days he loves to talk about "real music" and sing the praises of the funk and jazz stars of the past. He basks in the spotlight as the symbol of a by gone era. The last of his kind. And once again Prince is the show. And once again, Prince got exactly what he wanted.

And look how many episodes they showed with Prince protegees. The Time, Vanity 6, Vanity (solo), Sheila E., Sheena Easton. I'm telling ya, I think Don was thinking about us here at the org with his choices of episodes because if you searched Yahoo for "The Best Of Soul Train" usually orgers responses would come up in the search results. And remember when a lot of us said....."Please no more late 80s episodes"....and all of a sudden, the 70s episodes started airing again.

bboy87 said:

Interesting read...

vainandy said:

See, I feel we do have a voice and people do hear us sometimes.

MajesticOne89 said:

Very interesting indeed!

I think it's very easy to blame hip hop and the record industry for the decline of the foundation of black music but it goes so much deeper than that. For reasons most are aware of the African American experience wasn't chronicled in a written narrative but a musical one. As it's been said, "If you wish to know about a particular time, place, events of a people and/or nations, read the literature of it's day. The music narrative of the Black experience in America can and does tell you about where we've been, where we are and what we are doing. As Maya Angelo said, "In these bloody days and frightful nights when a urban warrior can find no face more despicable than his own, no ammunition more deadly than self-hate and no target more deserving of his true aim than his brothers and sisters, we must wonder how we came so late and lonely to this place."

It's ironic that music which was once our refugee, our rock, and our shielded against the hostility from the outside world was used against use with our support, our silence, and duplicity. The very thing Ms. Angelo spoke of - Malcolm X even - has always been just beneath the surface in the Black community, my community. Rap didn't debase the African American music self-hatred got the better of use. Rap music isn't the cause for use turning on each other and "devouring our own" it's a reflection.
[Edited 4/21/09 21:54pm]

bboy87 said:

Damn, that's a deep essay. Old Pro gets an A+!

EDIT: For the record, Prince isn't THE last of his kind at all. Teena Marie is still alive.
[Edited 4/21/09 21:43pm]

bboy87 said:

Very Good read,but if that is true. then Micheal also had a hand in ruining black music