My late brother Nick was working the video shoot at Paisley/off locations for either "My Name Is Prince" or "Sexy MF", I forget which, but the one where PRN smashes his guitar. Apparently he kept whacking the guitar and it wouldn't break to his satisfaction, so they sent out for for a cheap guitar from the Guitar Center music chain store. Bro Nick was a big, strong dude, and could be an attitudinal mofo himself, and was supposedly egging PRN on - "C'mon man! You can do it!" Don't think Prince heard him though!
I've connected the dots to this story from today's Toronto Star: Here is a link to the story: PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News » Here is the link to the restaurant in question (looks intriguing): About Us » Here is what the mural looks like (the restaurant is to the left of the mural): Toronto shows Prince love, great mural! #toronto #torontolife #prince #harlemrestaurant #street - braden_mutch »
There are two different 12" collections floating around "out there", one is called The Quintessential 12 Inch Collection and is 4 CDs, and one is called 12 Inch Single Archive and is 5 CDs. I haven't compared the sound that carefully, but almost everything in the Quintessential 4 CD collection is included in the Single Archive 5 CD collection (except a few tracks at the end, for example "Gett Off [Damn Near 10 Minutes]"). Yes, the stuff on that blog is probably preferable (there are multiple versions of some tracks, the later are better, some of the old stuff seems to be from CD), again not everything from the above compilations is available there, but those vinyl rips are lots of fun.
Most of his WB albums. Nothing from the indie days. Take a look on amazon and you will see what is what.
Actually, I think I said the amount of press coverage would depend on how long Britney stays with us. If she lives to see 57 or later and has a career on par with Madonna, i.e., continues to be commercially relevant for the next 30 years, I'd agree she'll get plenty of press. If she drops dead next week of a heroin overdose, she'll see plenty of coverage as well. But, if she fades into obscurity over the next 30 years (which I personally think is the more likely scenario), she won't get much press. Think Patty Duke, Annette Funicello or even Farrah Fawcett. All were huge in their day but none got significant press when they passed because their time in the spotlight had also passed them by. Prince had an almost 40- year continuous career, continued to be commercially viable, and continued to sell out concerts as late as last month. It was an incredibly foolish statement for some Britney fan-boy to question his relevance or the media's coverage of his passing. I consider him my generation's Elvis. Hell, this guy at Daily Beast calls his the greatest recording artist of all time: There Will Never Be Another Like Prince, the Greatest Recording Artist of All Time »
If you believe Prince when he claimed to have been born with epilepsy, I'm left to wonder if that sort of rewired his brain in a certain way that made him able to process information faster than the "normal" person. I looked it up, many children are able to grow out of epilepsy. I'm also remember that Mozart was a very sickly child, contracting several diseases that by all means should have killed him. I've known a lot of talented people in my life, but not to where they're talented at everything they put their hand to. For Prince, it's alarming that he was a bad ass ping pong player, a trick rollerskater, a basketball player, he made straight As in school, and then by the time he was 18 he played 27 different instruments on his first album, including writing all of the music. To top that off, he became a top flight dancer by at least 1983. I wonder if there's been anyone in the last few centuries who had that sort of talent.
I think that's the difference between mere popularity and cultural impact. A lot of pop music is, for lack of a better term, "functional". Every generation wants its own set of earnest-singer-with-an-acoustic guitar-types, its own diva ballad singers, angsty young men yelling, etc. Those acts serve their purpose for a period of time and are eventually replaced with a newer version. Musicians that are able to innovate/push boundaries, connect with a broader audience, and speak to people outside of their original cultural moment are the exceptions.
Most people who say this tend to think he probably was. Again, there has been absolutely NO evidence that he was gay, used IV drugs, or any of that. None. I think some people say he is gay to make themselves feel comfortable about his androgynous or effeminate image. I know that. But, yours is the kind of comment that entertains the idea that he was gay in the minds of some people. We know that, but there are millions of people out there who are ignorant enough to believe those magazines. I meet them every day. Because of all the ignorant-ass people out there who perpetuate the rumors. You tell a lie long enough, it starts to become the truth. I am enough of a fan that I care about his legacy and image. There are parts of his image I didn't like, like his tendency towards religion.
The other difference is that Prince has real talent, and can play several instruments and can sing, write, and produce. You make a point about generations. Again, Prince hurt himself by trying like mad to limit his exposure in the last decade, not realizing that the younger generations hear music in different ways than what he is used to.
You're right about some of those things, but either you have a short memory, or you weren't paying attention. There was worldwide homage and grief. But, you sure as hell didn't have the humongous thread here on SHF, and that is because we have a different kind of membership that largely does not value her type of music. The problem here is that Britney cannot sing.
You've chopped up and dissected my post, which was in response to someone who had said they heard people calling a Prince "queer ass ****** who had AIDS". By picking apart a post, and quoting out of context, it is actually you who perpetuates these stupid rumors. Don't do this. It just makes you look like you want to start trouble.
@TSmithPage You mention Farrah Fawcett, but we must remember she passed earlier the same day MJ did....there started to be some coverage but by mid afternoon that was the end of that. Barely a mention until her funeral (though there were specials on her life from Barbara Walters and others). I think that if MJ didn't pass, we may have seen more... True her popularity was 70's and 80's, but what American male can forget her iconic red bathing suit poster?
The same way some people insist he couldn't ever have possibly had bi tendencies or gay experiences to make themselves feel comfortable.
Is it superstition, spiritual, or something else that we can't explain? There's also the thing with the "e" on the end of names. Marvin Gay added the "e" on his name. Dionne Warwick added the "e" on the end of her name in the 70s.
Was Prince really that great of a producer/engineer, though? If I have any knock against Prince is that his choices in a mix have been slightly suspect; moreover, that he never seemed to care about getting the best sounding product in our ears. Just getting it out seemed enough for him. When it came to producing other artists his methods weren't that much different. As far as mastering, Prince was at the vanguard of squashed and brickwalled recording.
I don't think there are 27 instruments on that first album. I think it's been way overblown about how many instruments he could play.
