Between this and the Capitol One ad that uses "Let's Go Crazy," I do not have high hopes about "the estate's" future plans for Prince's music.
That makes me feel quite queasy. Mamma Mia is abysmal, and I quite like a lot of Abba's music. Intensely dislike jukebox musicals.
Hyper-sexualize it. Make the show fuhhhreaky! Cross lines and create... er, Controversy! Could work wonders
I don’t see how, even under the best production and direction, that this will turn out favorable. Graffiti Bridge should be the last word on the subject. Of all the things they could do to do justice to his legacy, this would be beyond the bottom for me.
There is a certain commercial fan service the Estate must feel a need to do since Prince never really did it himself. Putting his songs on Spotify and making sure they were accessible was the first step. A lot of his peers in the 80s (living or dead at this point) don't really need commercials or musicals to put them back into the public eye, but given how Prince had been in some ways forgotten, I guess they feel like this is the best option. And to generate some much needed cash.
Swedish TV have tradition of live broadcasting an Epiphany Weekend concert, it features a full Symphony orchestra and a lot of the selections are Classical music and Opera vocals (for example from Wagner's "Tannhäuser" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" this year), but they mix in some Popular music numbers as well and one of them this year was "Sometimes It Snows In April", a nice surprise. I think anyone can view it, it's at 1h.17m. in this clip: Trettondagskonsert
I was joking about this, but now there is a rumour that this cassette will actually be re-relased for RSD!: Sampler: The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) - Prince Vault If that is indeed the case it would have to be a promotional tool for an upcoming reissue of The Gold Experience.
I definitely think there should be a Prince film, but this definitely ain't it. An officially sanctioned documentary focusing on his music I think would do wonders, and be the kind of film that could live on streaming services for years and introduce a lot of people to Prince the artist, beyond just "the guy who wrote 'Purple Rain'." Like, a film that's more performance footage and actual Prince interviews rather than talking heads, but presented in a really compelling way by a good documentarian. That's the film I wish his estate would make.
Yeah... it's gonna be one of those that will always seem crazy and like it was yesterday... at least to me.
The Death of Prince coming so soon after the Death of Bowie was just a tough blow for me to take. They were 2 Giants that still had more to give us, although Bowie might have just released 1-3 more Albums at his age, but we will never know. Prince went out on a decent album with HitnRun Phase 2 much better than Phase 2-IMO and his recent Album(Plectrum Electrum) with 3rdEyeGirl was a decent Rock Style Prince, and a good pairing with 'Art Official Age' that was released the same time-IIRC. The first Music Deaths that affected me greatly was Jeff Buckley and Brad Nowell(having lived in SoCal when Sublime was big locally then Nationally/Internationally ironically after their ST Album was released after his Death and he never got to see how loved his Music was by the Public). And although, only a moderate Nirvana Fan,(since I was more into Music Artists from England in the 1990s overall and for US Music more into the Chili Peppers, Afghan Whigs, Sublime, Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins than Nirvana), Kurt Cobain's Death was as big as they get in the 1990s. There were probable a few Music Deaths in between those years that were sad to read about(Rick Wright, Ray Manzarek, George Duke, Luther Vandross, Amy Winehouse to name a few), and Tom Petty being the last Big Name that seemed just as devastating as Bowie & Prince, even though I am more of a moderate fan of Petty(did not buy every Album in his Discography, but loved 'Hypnotic Eye' being a return to his early Rock Sound, but I did not care much for 'Mojo'), some of his Songs rank high on my own list of Favorite Songs. Actually, in retrospect, George Michael's Death was also sad, as he was way too young and figured he would have been putting out more Albums in the next 20 years, as 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1' was one of my Favorite Albums early on and his 3 CD 25 Years Set is really great overall and Great Voice(before we had TV Karioke Contests telling us who are suppose to be the Next Great New Singer). I would say for Older Music Artists, I am dreading the day we will lose David Gilmour, Ray Davies, Lindsey Buckingham(especially after his recent Heart Attack), George Clinton & Bootsy Collins.
