Prince 1958 - 2016

[DR DOOM]

There goes one hell of a talent.

The Batman soundtrack was one of my first LPs- I'd be lying if I said I'm intimately familiar with most of the later stuff (though I loved Lotus Flower) I love a lot of the 80's and 90's stuff.

I'll never forget seeing that motherfucker sing and play lead flawlessly while dancing his ass off. 

[DieselDaisy]

The only thing I know about Prince is where that girl gets her massive boobs out in his film Purple Rain - truly one of the best moments in cinema. I do have two of his albums though and they are both very good.

[-W.A.R-]

thats quite a blunt title

[Len Cnut]

2 hours ago, Angelica said:

He was the most gifted musician in the history of modern/pop music.

Lets not go overboard eh?

[toroymoi]

4 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

Lets not go overboard eh?

The original statement isn't an exaggeration.

[Len Cnut]

2 minutes ago, toroymoi said:

The original statement isn't an exaggeration.

Two words, Jimi Hendrix.  Two more words, John Lennon.  I can go on.

[Towelie]

39 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

Lets not go overboard eh?

It's true, he was.

The man was Niles Rodgers at rhythm, Jimi at lead and to top it off, one of the most prolific and gifted singer/songwriters of our time.

He will go down with the greatest.

 

 

[Len Cnut]

14 minutes ago, Towelie said:

It's true, he was.

The man was Niles Rodgers at rhythm, Jimi at lead and to top it off, one of the most prolific and gifted singer/songwriters of our time.

He will go down with the greatest.

 

 

No he wasn't

[Towelie]

6 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

No he wasn't

 

6 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

No he wasn't

 

6 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

No he wasn't

You've already admitted how little you know of his music Len, so I think you're really not in the know on this one.

[Len Cnut]

Just now, Towelie said:

 

 

You've already admitted how little you know of his music Len, so I think you're really not in the know on this one.

I don't need to hear his entire discography to know that he ain't no Jimi though Towelie, I've heard an album or two, I didn't hear nothing approaching Jimi.  But I could give you 5 Jimi songs substantial enough to make it difficult to dispute why he's Jimi and everyone else is everyone else.  I'm sure he was a talented musician, very talented even but lets not take the piss eh?

[RussTCB]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/esq6be3112hso2c/AAD4zj81uk74NfdkQVtogoIQa?dl=0

Hit the link above for a SOUNDBOARD recording of the last Prince concert I got to see. It's from 04/09/2015 at the Fox Theater in Detroit. If you can even get through the intro without thinking this guy was a legend, I can't help you.

[Iron MikeyJ]

What can I say that hasn't already been said??? I'm not near as big of a fan as some of you, but still bigger than many. I admittedly don't know most of his work post 1995 or so, but I do know talent, and Prince had it in SPADES. Everytime he was on tv, I set the DVR and recorded it. The last few times, he was playing with his new band 3rd Eye Girl (or something like that) and even though I didn't really care for the songs they were playing, I loved the sound I was hearing. 

Which brings me to my point, I watched a documentary on Prince about 2 years ago or so, and this record company guy on it summed his career up perfectly "Prince always had an amazing sound. Sometimes he didn't have an amazing song to match that sound, but when he did he made timeless music." Which I agree with. Would I put Prince in the all time great songwriter category? No. I think that's one area where he did struggle with from time to time. But if you gave him a guitar, a microphone, and a band to Back him up, Prince could sound as good as ANYONE, and better than most.

RIP

[Apollo]

Distractors just haven't followed his career. 

His R&B career before he became popular was magnificent. 

Then his pop career was absolutely glorious. 

Then he evolved into a more mature pop stage which was off the charts. 

Then he became this dance music artist. 

Many one of those four stages would have made him an all time great. And he had FOUR of them. 

And the guy was a great guitar player as well. You didn't see Lennon owning the stage with a guitar solo. And their were albums were Prince played EVERY instrument on it.

Michael Jackson is the king of pop. But you knew what you were going to get with him. Prince's next album could have been any one of a multitude of genres - and could have killed it. 

Music is totally subjective. So we can say who are favorite is. But saying who the goat is is a hard prospect. 

Len I love you. But you really are wrong about Prince. Was he the best of all time? His name certainly belongs in the conversation.  Without a doubt. 

But was he the most creative and versatile artist of all time. Without a doubt. Nobody has moved across genres as fluidly as he did. 

[moreblack]

4 hours ago, Len B'stard said:

Two words, Jimi Hendrix.  Two more words, John Lennon.  I can go on.

There's more to music than those guys

[Len Cnut]

21 minutes ago, moreblack said:

There's more to music than those guys

Right, hence the words 'i can go on'.  Also, the person i was responding to (Angelica) wasn't talking about music, they said modern music or pop music and in the realm of modern popular music, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix are a big noise.  As i said i could go on, Michael Jackson would be another good shout.  Or Marvin Gaye.  Or James Brown.  Didn't figure people around here much listen to Marvin Gaye and James Brown though so off the top of my head Hendrix and ol' Johnny boy seemed the obvious pick.  When i think of prodigious musical talent in the modern popular music sphere Jimi Hendrix comes immediately to mind.

Quote

Len I love you. But you really are wrong about Prince. Was he the best of all time? His name certainly belongs in the conversation.  Without a doubt. 

I very well might be, like i said, not the biggest fan, I've heard Purple Rain under duress a couple of times getting rides in my brothers car, I heard an album at some point back in the day when 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World' was big, a smattering here and there, never thought much of it.  I mean there's an obvious high level talent there, it's just when i hear things like 'ABSOLUTELY PEERLESS!' and 'THE BEST EVER IN MODERN POPULAR MUSIC!' it kinda makes me go, well hang on a second.

Quote

And the guy was a great guitar player as well. You didn't see Lennon owning the stage with a guitar solo. And their were albums were Prince played EVERY instrument on it.

It wasn't Johns job to do guitar solos.  I'm reasonably certain when i die and float up to heaven I'm gonna get up to the gates and Johns gonna open them and I'm gonna be like 'John, so you made it then!' and he's gonna gimme a B&H, light it for me and go 'made it?  I'm in charge up here, come in lad, sit down, Gabriel, sort him out a drink eh?'   We're gonna spend eternity playing pool with Harry Nilsson and running around with a Kotex on our heads and tryna chat up angels

Edited April 22, 2016 by Len B'stard

[moreblack]

27 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

Michael Jackson would be another good shout.

It wouldn't be a Prince thread without his name coming up...

[Len Cnut]

2 minutes ago, moreblack said:

It wouldn't be a Prince thread without his name coming up...

It's pertinent though isn't it?  Call someone peerless and he's immediately what comes to mind, he was not only a peer but infinitely the more dominant of the two, if dominant is an accurate term to use here.  In Angelicas defence though she was speaking about being a gifted musician so she's got a point there, thats a more specific thing isn't it, 'gifted musician'.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Len B'stard

[moreblack]

5 minutes ago, Len B'stard said:

It's pertinent though isn't it?  Call someone peerless and he's immediately what comes to mind, he was not only a peer but infinitely the more dominant of the two, if dominant is an accurate term to use here.

Not necessarily on a death thread, didn't read the Bowie thread but how much time did people spend discussing how great he wasn't?

[Len Cnut]

3 minutes ago, moreblack said:

Not necessarily on a death thread, didn't read the Bowie thread but how much time did people spend discussing how great he wasn't?

Not a lot, though Dies' had a good go It's a death thread sure but it's hardly off topic, we're talking about the guy right?  Unless you mean like 'shut the fuck up, it's a mourning thread' in which case I'll hush now, though i find the concept a little silly, it's not like I'm all-fire raging against the guy, it's not like i was brazenly attacking his work, thats some high praise, you call ANYONE the most gifted musician of modern pop music, whether it's a controversial pick or you are talking about the generally accepted, it's gonna find a degree of criticism.  Don't mean any disrespect or anything.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Len B'stard

[moreblack]

Makes me wonder now that he's gone, if this documentary will ever see the light of day:

 

[JeanGenie]

Prince is up there with the greats. Its amazing that he was such a complete musician. He could play guitar, write songs, produce them. The whole package. That doesnt mean he was best in each area. As Len said youre not gonna find anybody that writes better songs than Lennon (except for macca maybe) and youre not gonna find anybody that plays better guitar solos than jimi. Anyways a great musician and a big loss.

[Amir]

Had heard for years that he was a great performer, aunt of mine who grew up with his music during the '80s saw one of his gigs at The O2 in 2007 and constantly raved about it, how he had played for a couple of hours, went off stage, half the crowd left thinking concert was done before he came running out with just an acoustic guitar and played for another hour.

When he did his secret club shows with 3RDEYEGIRL in London in Feb 2014, I was out of the country, and was gutted I'd missed the shows, especially with posters here raving about him as well. So when I was back in the UK in April and heard he was doing a few dates in Manchester and Birmingham I made sure to get a ticket to one of the Birmingham shows.

Mind-blowing. I remember a funny moment at the start of the show where Prince came on and his mike stand was set to high; one of the stage hands looked like he was about to shit himself but Prince just stuck one hand out to him while still looking out at the crowd and adjusted it down ever so gracefully himself. I'd never listened to Planet Earth before so when "Guitar" came on I was in awe. 3RDEYEGIRL were easy on the ears and the eyes so that helped  I had to hang around Birmingham city centre until my Megabus belatedly arrived at 6am, but it was totally worth it.

Then a few weeks after that it was announced he'd be doing two shows in one night at the Roundhouse in London. I tried to get tickets to the late show since I reckoned he'd play longer at that one but it seemed to instantly sell out on Ticketmaster, so I got a ticket to the early show instead. Then after half an hour tickets for the late gig turned up again on Ticketmaster. At £80 a ticket I thought it'd be madness to go to both, and even after I bought the ticket and stood in line for the first gig at the Roundhouse that night, for a second I considered selling it to a guy in front who was bragging to his mates about haggling down a reseller for the late show to "a mere" £250, money I could have really done with.

But then I remembered how great that Birmingham gig was, and held on to both my tickets.

And I was blown away again. Even when playing a hit like Purple Rain twice in one night, he managed to make it sound fresh both times.

On Wednesday someone was asking me who my favourite live performers were, and I gave the answer I've given ever since then: GNR, Springsteen, and Prince. Those three are/were in a league of their own. With Springsteen and Prince, I don't listen to their music as often at home, but I'l l always try and see them when they come to town, and was planning on seeing Prince on his November 2015 tour before that got cancelled. With the lack of videos on YouTube it's hard to share with someone just how amazing his concerts really were, but even with video evidence it's still impossible to translate just how magical an experience his live shows really were.

[RussTCB]

In case anyone missed it, I posted a soundboard of the Prince show I went to in Detroit last year. It's a page back so I didn't want it to get lost. 

Feel free to download, listen and share it. It was an incredible show and I think as many fans as possible should hear it. 

[Zint]

8 hours ago, moreblack said:

There's more to music than those guys

or Prince

[Patience 4 Axl]

On April 21, 2016 at 6:03 PM, Towelie said:

Yeah, I just saw someone on Facebook talk about what a great song Kiss is and it's like, you ain't got the first fucking clue mate. I know most artists are defined by a relatively small number of tracks (at least in the minds of the general public), but in Prince's case, his body of work is so sprawling, so ambitious and so creative that it almost feels disrespectful to define him that same way.

People just don't know what we've lost here. If you're reading this and you don't really know what I'm referring to, check out a song like Power Fantastic, or Crystal Ball, or All My Dreams. I mean, I could go on all day, but to me, this is the real Prince. Avant garde, ethereal, psychedelic.... people really don't know the extent of this mans talents. Most people haven't even begun to scratch the surface with this guy. Even if you own every record the man put out, you still haven't even started with him.

What's wrong with liking Kiss?  It's not one of my personal favorites, but certainly other fans can have an opinion.  I know you're bummed right now and feeling a sense of loss,  but that still doesn't give you the right to define who you think is a fan or who mat or may not have a clue.  I know those songs you've mentioned, and I'm well aware of his genius,  but The Beautiful Ones was and will always be MY Prince song.  And for that person it was Kiss, and for someone else it's 1999 and so on.  Who the fuck cares.  There are millions of people in the world right now heartbroken, you ain't the only one.