Prince RIP

yeah, and musical similarity isn't the reason it seems like a good match to me (and in general, I don't think is how good artistic collaborations are formed). As an example, what if Prince had produced Hot Space? I feel like it suddenly gets about 10x better-- he shared a love of the new, the grand statement, the larger-than-life image, a sheer love of music itself -- but would have utterly complimented and enhanced the kind of music Freddie was going for on that record, bringing in strengths that to my ears, weren't inherent in Queen.

If Prince had produced Hot Space it probably may have been a better record, but I dunno... I don't think Queen were going through a great songwriting period at that time. 'Back Chat' will always rule, though.

yeah, it's all speculation -- tho I would be shocked if Prince wasn't already on their list of influences by that record

It's tempting to imagine what Prince would have done with 'Body Language', mind!

And "My Name is Prince" has that line about needing to be a Prince before you become King, which was a direct response to MJ's King of Pop nonsense.

Confirming my memory via go0gle, on the Musicology tour i saw Prince play and sing the opening verse of "Jailhouse Rock," then he stopped and said "You got to be a Prince before you become a King." So it was a multi-purpose line later on, maybe.

http://prince.org/msg/7/126121

I can't remember the chronology, but I want to say MJ insisting on the title King of Pop came soon after Prince changed his name.

I first remember seeing MJ referred to as "the king of pop" on the cover of a late-1991 Rolling Stone, so that woulda been at least a year or two before Prince changed his name.

I was so annoyed when the press just went along with that. "Oh you're the King now? Sure why not"

But when did he formally decree it? Yeah, it looks like 1991:

Exec from Epic:

Michael called me one day and said, “I want to have a nickname, like ‘The Boss’ or ‘The King.’” I said, “Well, Bruce Springsteen is ‘The Boss,’ and Elvis Presley is ‘The King.’ You can’t be the King because you’ll never live it down. The press will rip you apart.” But Michael would not let this go. He hired his own personal publicist, Bob Jones. And one day, Bob issued a press release announcing that Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. Michael went rogue on us.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ywHUJUrEL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

"I Hate U" is amazing Alfred, U crazy

I have tried and tried again with the Love Symbol album but it still sounds damn patchy to me. There are maybe half a dozen out-and-out keepers, which isn't enough for 70+ minutes of music. And I still like Diamonds and Pearls better - even enjoy "Jughead," which everyone else but Robert Christgau hates.

I like Diamonds and Pearls more than most people on here but still prefer the Symbol album.

I have tried and tried again with the Love Symbol album but it still sounds damn patchy to me.

I love it and it still sounds patchy!

that RS issue contains the Freddie obit: squint and you can see the cover line. this was right before Wayne's world, and so there was some restraint, as mainstream rock press continued to be discomfitted by Queen.

there can be no doubt that "3 chains of gold" was him customizing "boho rap," and indeed that record was right after Wayne's world and that annoying "BR" video where you had to watch Carvey and Myers instead of unexpurgated Queen.

that nutsoid falsetto trill on "Pussy Control": probly the last time I said "I can't believe how great that is."

xpost

probly the last time I said "I can't believe how great that is" about anything he did.

I think "Diamonds and Pearls" was where I got off the bus, if I remember correctly the singles past "Gett off" and "Cream" were quite luscious where i preferred the more spartan arrangements.

I did get Chaos and Disorder recently, 50p Oxfam, again not got round to hearing it yet.

I think the lyrics of "Gett Off" are the funniest thing Prince ever recorded.

Ribs

man the Discogs prices for the Lovesexy LP are INSANE, gonna wait for a couple of months.

I bought all my Prince vinyl years (if not decades) ago, but the two I never ever saw were Lovesexy and Around the World in a Day

Lovesexy makes sense, it was in the CD era and I bet they pressed a lot less. I've had a beautiful clean copy of ATWIAD for a long time, think I got it from a thrift store.

I left behind a box of records by accident during a move in 1996 and it had all the 80s Prince LPs and almost all the 12"'s to date in it. I almost cried

IIRC, Lovesexy had some distribution issues because some chains wouldn't stock it or at least display it prominently because of the cover.

on the last huge tour (welcome 2 america) prince did the most amazing cover of dont stop til u get enough into the time's cool.. i think he did it at every show. it was amazing.

While we're talking about Prince vinyl, one of my favourite silly Prince things is the way his bellybutton is perfectly framed on the spine of Parade.

Wait how is "When You Were Mine" not on The Essential Cyndi Lauper?

― PiL Communication (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, April 24, 2016 6:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Unless it is on non-streaming version.

― PiL Communication (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, April 24, 2016 6:53 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah Prince actually even kept most of the COVERS of his songs off of Spotify so you get Cyndi albums/comps with only "When" missing, Sinead albums with "Nothing" missing, etc.

Prince, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sign 'o' the Times, The Black Album, Lovesexy, Batman, Graffiti Bridge, Love Symbol and Come all getting vinyl reissues in the coming months.

yesss if they do those the same way they did the previous four that will be awesome, my remasters of 1999 and Purple Rain sound really good

Maybe that means the download versions will get remastered as well...?

man the Discogs prices for the Lovesexy LP are INSANE, gonna wait for a couple of months.

― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Tuesday, May 3, 2016 6:12 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not so bad on eBay, I just got a copy for 20 bux. got around the world in a day for 15

Position Position otm, that spine's p cute/funny.

around the world in the day is a staple of used record stores! it's the easiest prince album to find in my experience (1999 is easy, too).

maybe not this week, but at any point in the last 20 years...

prince singles are also in literally every record store

at least............they were

yea i see 1999 everywhere. purple rain only prince vinyl in stock when i checked last weekend

Pop Life is such a creepy, eery song.

did anyone post this? damn, dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb7ny4xxLnA

makes sense that there would be a ton of copies of around the world... since it was the less successful follow-up to a huge, huge album.* they probably printed a gazillion copies of it and sold slightly less.

*wikipedia sez purple rain sold 13 million (!!!) and around the world sold 2 million

no one will EVER sell 13 million records again

wait, adele sold 30 million records? nevermind. wow.

Was gonna say..

unless you're looking for a very specific press of lovesexy it shouldn't be expensive at all https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?sort=price%2Casc&master_id=22006&ev=mb&format=Vinyl

only 80s album that should be a bit pricey (but not very) is black album, on then it looks like Come (1994) and records onwards can be expensive on vinyl

there are so many prince records I don't see the need for reissues but if it makes people happy it's good

Amateurist, you're comparing US sales for one album to worldwide sales for another. 21 in all likelihood sold 10+ million more worldwide but it's 11 times platinum in the U.S. to Purple Rain's 13x platinum. Sorry to be pedantic but I'm a total geek for chart/sales stats and it still raises my hackles when everyone mixes this stuff up, even though no one cares (actually, it's probably because no one cares).

But yeah, Purple Rain was totally huge. Together with 1999 - at 4x platinum the runner up sales-wise in the U.S. at least - that was his moment. There's a reason why the singles from those two (plus "Kiss" of course) so thoroughly and irritatingly dominate all the tributes and the post-mortem public conversation around Prince; through "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" each record was good for one or two top 10 hits, but he never had a true blockbuster album again. Even Diamonds and Pearls stopped short of 3 million.

santana paying tribute with something that isnt purple rain (its a song from the rainbow children instead, which is surprising, but very cool (though santana gets the title wrong)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7TlFgj9jZ8

On the face of it, it was something of a drop off post PR...3 million, 4 million, 2million..of course we're talking an album a year+ protégé + numerous singles...a lot of product up to the end of the decade

a weird list of vault contents -

http://www.aux.tv/2016/05/99-items-found-in-princes-secret-vault/

some interesting collaborations i never knew existed.

Batdance Project — Remixes and expanded versions featuring Roxette as Catwoman.

I presume this means Roxette the Swedish band? I guess the writer doesn't know that "Roxette" isn't the name of the lead singer... Unless Per Gessle also plays Batwoman, which would certainly be interesting.

Oh, after reading the list a bit further, it's obviously a joke item. Still, get your artist names right, parody writer!

i worked a U.S. Dream Academy event last night, and they revealed that Prince had once quietly donated a large sum to their organization.

Well, now I have "Life in a Northern Town" stuck in my head.