rs@hou3c.UUCP (Bob Switzer) (01/31/85)
<> As stated in the subject line, I am curious in knowing the origin of "Prince". Did anyone hear of this "musician" before last year (or whenever "Purple Rain" came out)? I really do not enjoy his music, but I have nothing particular against it either (no flames please). I am just wondering how "Prince" made it so big, so fast, and if "Prince" had a real music life before the hit. If so, what was it? ----- Enjoy, -- R. Switzer @ AT&T Bell Labs Rm. 3L-434 / Crawford Corner Rd. Holmdel NJ 07733 phn:1(201)949 5133 ...!hou3c!rs
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Fred Mertz) (02/01/85)
> As stated in the subject line, I am curious in knowing the > origin of "Prince". Did anyone hear of this "musician" > before last year (or whenever "Purple Rain" came out)? > I really do not enjoy his music, but I have nothing particular > against it either (no flames please). I am just wondering > how "Prince" made it so big, so fast, and if "Prince" had > a real music life before the hit. If so, what was it? > R. Switzer @ AT&T Bell Labs ONE STORY: Yes, Prince came out of nowhere, had no musical history before Purple Rain, suddenly decided to make a movie and became famous overnight. This is proven by the fact that *no* AOR radio station EVER played a Prince song before Purple Rain. ANOTHER STORY: Prince has been around for years. The first album of his that I am familiar with (there were a few before it, too) was "Dirty Mind", which is one of the truly feelthy albums of our age. This was followed by "Controversy", in which the title songs asks questions about the "controversy" around the public sexual image of Prince. I think that was 1981, when he got booed off the stage by an "extremely hip" Los Angeles crowd as the opening act for the Rolling Stones (real broad minded, tolerant, and hi, those rock n' rollers...). He really broke ice with the album "1999". Both the title cut and "Little Red Corvette" received a lot of airplay even on top40 stations (and maybe even a "progressive" AOR station), but other cuts (like "Delirious", "DMSR"---which was used in the party scene in "Risky Business", "Let's Pretend We're Married", and "A-U-T-O-Matic") were noticed as well, especially on so-called "urban contemporary" (great pigeonholing, guys!) stations. And, of course, Purple Rain followed last year. THE MORAL: Don't assume that because you've never heard of someone, that they just shot up overnight out of nowhere. For every person with even the broadest musical tastes, there's a whole world of music that's still "unknown"... THE QUESTION: Where is "Erotic City"? I know it's a B-side of some Prince single from Purple Rain, but I haven't been able to find out which one. -- "So, it was all a dream!" --Mr. Pither "No, dear, this is the dream; you're still in the cell." --his mother Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr
dsi@unccvax.UUCP (Dataspan Inc) (02/02/85)
Nothing more than a particularly bad "boom-chaka-laka-laka" record,
"Soft and Wet." Seems that the "offensive subject matter" of the record
caused WKTU New York to wimp out of playing it, despite the time being
the peak of disco.
A full-page banner headline in Billboard (with respect to blacklisting
of the record) probably earned Prince the first dose of real noteriety. If
stations had let Soft and Wet simply drop (as Anita Ward and Peaches & Herb
simply dropped) .... oh well, radio without Prince is just too good to
even contemplate.
We promptly added it after WKTU dropped it. Nothing like a naughty
record to get higher cumes.
dya
.rob@ctvax.UUCP (02/03/85)
Prince has been "paying his dues" for years in the Minneapolis are. His first two albums didn't do much, but his third album "Dirty Mind" showed a shift to the sleazy side. Because of the lyrics, the album didn't get much airplay. After that he released "Controversy". Around that time he got a one page article in Newsweek, that termed him someone to watch. His next album was "1999" that contained the hits, "1999", "Lady Cab Driver" and "Little Red Corvette" amongst others. "1999" finally allowed Prince to "cross-over" from the black stations to the AOR and top 40 stations. Prince has also assisted in helping other bands such as The Time and Vanity 6 become better known. The guy is certainly not an overnight sensation and I am not alone in noting the similarities between Prince and Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix. Rob Spray ...convex!ctvax!rob rob.ct@csnet-relay
jrathman@uokvax.UUCP (02/04/85)
Prince put out at least 5 albums before "Purple Rain". Three
others that I have are "Dirty Mind", "Controversy", and "1999".
All these received a very good ratings by many of the music
critics, which is nice if you like Prince and doesn't mean a
thing if you don't. Anyway, he's not an "overnight" success,
nor is he a "flash-in-the-pan". He's been known around
Minneapolis for quite some time as something of a boy-wonder,
and even if you don't really care for his music, I think he's
a pretty good singer and plays quite a few instruments quite
well.
jrathmanacsgjjp@sunybcs.UUCP (Jim Poltrone) (02/09/85)
> ..... He's been known around > Minneapolis for quite some time as something of a boy-wonder, > and even if you don't really care for his music, I think he's > a pretty good singer ..... I first heard of him in 1980, with the song "Let Me Be Your Lover" (title?)-- it made #79 on the American Top 40 Top 100 songs of 1980. (I'm not absolutely sure; my list is mixed in with other things.) A few things I do know (from an old friend who loves Prince) is that his real name is Roger Nelson, his father is black, and his mother is Italian. I'm not terribly enthusiastic about his music; I hear it much too often on the radio. However, I do agree that he is a good singer at times. Putting it bluntly, Prince can be thought of as Michael Jackson with balls. -- "Is there liver in reality?" Jim Poltrone (a/k/a Poltr1, the Last of the Raster Blasters) uucp: [decvax,watmath,rocksvax]!sunybcs!acsgjjp ARPAnet, CSnet: acsgjjp%buffalo@CSNET-RELAY BITNET: ACSGJJP@SUNYABVA
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (02/14/85)
For the full story on Prince, you should check out Jon Bream's book, "Prince: Inside the Purple Reign". Bream is a Minneapolis music critic who has followed Prince from the start of his career. jcpatilla
wombat@ccvaxa.UUCP (02/22/85)
/**** ccvaxa:net.music / acsgjjp@sunybcs / 3:01 pm Feb 9, 1985 ****/ Putting it bluntly, Prince can be thought of as Michael Jackson with balls. /* ---------- */ Actually, he was described by a guy here as "Michael Jackson with a switchblade." "When you are about to die, a wombat is better than no company at all." Roger Zelazney, *Doorways in the Sand* Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!wombat