Anxiety said:

Hey basasdame here...some interesting stuff happened this week with me and artpal, stay tuned for tonight when we share some things together...my perspective on the fate of U.P., is a little different and i will share that with you guys tonight. - later! is anxiety descriptive of you ms./mr. moderator?

THanks anx! Doh - Bassdame was just then ready to post something. Oh well she'll be back.

Krystal666:

Hey Krystal,

Thanks for the heads up on the video. I didn't know about that one. Yeah it was great to see her there. And yes she did adore him and yes he did adore her too. They were a real couple. I would say he was obsessed with her like he was with his other women.

Oh there she was. We'll be back tonight.

artpal said:

WOW! COOl! I can see why..she is intelligent, strong and sexy! Thanks artpal.

Oh - in the meantime, here's a story that I posted at housequake:

Okay - I'll tell you the Tara story. One rehearsal, Robin told us she was weirded out by the fact that this woman named Carmen was at Paisley Park - she saw her. She then explained that she had introduced her to Prince. Robin also told us that she could sing dance and rap and was really talented.

On another rehearsal, we saw Carmen watching us from a distance in the sound stage. That stage is big, so I didn't see her up close - she was a distant silhouette with big heels on - nice figure. Robin pulled us aside and said - "that's Carmen, the girl I was talking about." I could tell Robin felt threatened if not just spooked by the whole thing.

Then on another rehearsal, Robin came crying to us. We all gathered around and said "what's the matter?" She told us she saw Carmen in the recording studio with Prince and that Prince was obviously working on an album for Carmen. Considering the fact that he didn't have "time" to finish Robin's album, she felt like she had just been replaced.

We tried to comfort her, and Joni said something very perceptive: when men court women, sometimes they give flowers, candy, or buy dinner. If they're Prince, they give out record deals.

At that point, we were starting to feel like "what's the use of all this?" Oh what the heck, we're here - let's just put on a good show. And so we picked up our instruments and started to rehearse.

And here's the story of my reunion with Bassdame:

So Joan and I finally reunited last Monday afternoon. I was at an acting audition in NY and she was in NY for a business meeting. It was a joyful reunion 1) because it's been 14 years and 2) she had been trying for several weeks to visit me and finally after a lot of bad luck, weird situations etc etc she made it.

That afternoon, we drove back to DC together and I told her my life story in the car. We got caught in traffic for three hours while trying to take a circuitous route to avoid rush hour traffic. Then we went back the normal route - it took us six hours to drive what should have been 4.

We were exhausted the next day but finally got around to my interviewing her for my documentary. She told me her life story - which we saved for the camera (fresher delivery that way). She had to fly the next early morning back home so our reunion was brief, rushed, and exhausting.

So alas I forgot to take a picture of us. Sorry - but I do have video of her. I'll post the portion of the video that might interest you guys - her take on our story at Paisley Park. We were cracking up in there.

FYI, the documentary is called "Beauty: In the Eyes of the Beheld." I interview various beautiful women - doctors, secretaries, former beauty queens, beauty queens, beauties reluctant to talk about their beauty, exotic dancers, and finally Joan - to present different perspectives of what it is REALLY like to be a beautiful woman. The answers I get may surprise you.

Joan should be loggin on with me soon so keep an eye out.

Later!

Krystal666 said:

You're welcome, Krystal!

artpal said:

Wow. I bet Robin must have been crushed. It's too bad things had to go down like that. Thanks for sharing.

artpal said:

. bassdame said:[okay i also remember that rehearsal when carmen came in the thing i remember most is the energy changed immediately. Prince had a lovestruck or luststruck..look on his face and it felt like for him, she was the only one in the room. check this..i would have to say that she and prince must have been about the same size, because she had on this badass outfit that was his. he has a place right there at paisley with seamstress. he had a really nice outfit made for robin. so i'm thinking that's one of his "things", he does for his special ladies.quote]

artpal said:

[/quote]

One more thing about "tara", when she came to paisley park she was not yet 18, and her mother was calling around the clock demanding that she come home. Obviously she didn't. as for robin being "replaced". in that world that's the name of the game..you come, you give, you recieve and then the parties over. it's hard not to get caught up and think there might be more to it than there actually is..to robins' credit, she did impact prince strong enough that she got a part in GB, and i saw the limo come for her in the middle of the night...i was living with her at the time.

wooohooo! part two and still great yeaaaaa boi!
bassdame and artpal yall rock! great stories, i been lurking on these threads since the very first one...yall'r great!

Thanks Moon! Sometimes we need to hear from you lurkers - it sometimes feels like we're talking to ourselves tho I notice many people are viewing the thread. Bassdame especially needs encouragement.

Bassdame - Just in time! I was just about to run out of stories! I didn't know all this stuff, girl! I was too busy having an ulcer getting the group through the whole project. Remember when I had to get a hotel away from Robin's apartment just to get a breather? I swear to god I was having an ulcer. Oh oh - tell them about what inspired the creation of Diamond and Pearl! I thought that was an interesting tidbit.

artpal said:

artpal and bassdame we really appreciate your stories! Come on people let's say thanks for all the great insight into Prince and his music they have already given us. Thanks girls! You make this board VERY intersting!

So Diamond and Pearl huh? I wonder how Prince thought THAT concept up?

hey now..here we go, when i got to paisley park, you can't tell by the pictures artpal has, but robin and i looked somewhat alike. she usually wore her hair the same way i did. at the rehearsal for the video "number 1", i was on a platform (like the one artpal fell off ). anyway he had me come off of the platform at one particular spot in the video and stand back to back with robin. we looked like funky (but extremely sexy ) bookends. before the show at glam he pulled up behind the building in a limo, rolled down the window and passed the new and revised cover of the d and p cd to us. instead of him there was now a cover photo of two girls who looked similar :idea:makes you think doesn't it. i feel like we should have at least gotten props for inspiration ..gotta go real life is calling my name, next time maybe artpal and i can share memories together..by the way she looks exactly the same. it was like stepping into a time warp. i think we agreed that if we could go back with the experience and insight we have now..things may have been different or not cause i believe life happens how it's supposed to, so even though sometimes i wonder, most times i don't. i'm at peace with the whole experience and at least i live with no regret, we did the best we could, considering we were pawns in the prince and robin lovegame....bad timing, their game was over.
later people

bassdame said:

Thanks bassdame! You guys have such intersting perspectives. I agree with you though no sense in dwelling on things you can't go back and change. It's cool that you are just greatful for all the fun memories you have. I wish I had some cool Prince memories! Thanks for sharing!

hola artpal and bassdame....glad to see the discussion continuing...

hey bassdame, im curious...what lead you to learn to play the bass? it seems not too many woman pick this as an instrument of choice and im curious as to how you ended up being, well, "bass"dame.

bassdame said:

Bassdame, you also told me that Prince flew Robin from MN to Paris at a moment's notice cuz he missed her. Now that's obsesssed.

About how it ended, remember when we saw Graffiti Bridge how disappointed we felt about it? Part of me wasn't sure it was worth flying to Paisley. But I'm glad we went anyway. So in hindsight, even if we had known that this was just a game, I would have gone anyway for the adventure. I'm sure glad I went now. Like I said before, at the time I viewed it as a disappointment, but now I see it as a great adventure that I was lucky to be a part of. It's a pity we didn't keep in touch when it ended. I think that was when we needed a "support group" the most.

artpal said:

artpal, may I ask another question? I always though Prince got kinda jelouse of other men around his women. Did Robin ever say it was werid filming affectionate sceanes with Morris like that dancing sceane with Prince watching considering he was the director? Or was it all really cool?
[Edited 7/3/05 23:32pm]

Krystal666 said:

There's no question where his inspriration came from thats for sure.
[Edited 7/5/05 1:52am]

artpal, i have a question.

I know Graffiti Bridge came out in 1990 but the Symbol album came out in 1992. I saw Robin in Prince's "Sexy MF" video. Did she remain with Prince after the Dames disbanded?

Robin?? There was no need for that no talent. She was like those three fools Prince had on stage with him from 1990 til' 1993, that looked like three broke down break dancers from the 80s. He was smart enough to get rid of two of them and dumb enough to make one his drummer.

Hotlegs said:

Oh stop it!

Krystal666 said:

That subject did not come up - at least not with me. But I can empathize with Prince as a film director - when I make a film I want it to be good. If there is a scene that needs to be sexy then I want it to be as sexy as possible. If it ends up being real sexy that's a prop for my ego as an artist. So Prince probably was more concerned about his ego as an artist that as a boyfriend at the time that they were filming GB. Besides, he was in control so I would imagine it was cool.

I can also speak as an experienced actress - doing those scenes is more technical and artistic than actually sexy. I was in a couple of plays that had some sexy scenes in it. I felt nothing for these guys - we were just trying to play to the crowd. To feel something, I had to use my imagination from past personal experiences. Besides, the actors I was with were gay. Not to say Morris is gay. It's just that it's all make believe. Kinda like exotic dancing!

ares said:

Yes, Robin and Prince dated after we disbanded. I'm not sure when or how it ended but they remained friends as of 2000. So it doesn't surprise me that she was in a 1992 music video.

I wonder if Bassdame knows why Robin finally left. Maybe it's cuz she married Donald.
[Edited 7/6/05 9:09am]

thedog said:

I guess I should be glad I wasn't considered Paisley material!

artpal said:

artpal said:

Wow! I never considered what I have to do mentaly parallel to what an artist has to do during a sexy sceane. Which is werid because I was a theater geek in high school! But yeah you are right it is kinda like you have to put emotions aside and reality aside to make a realistic or good product. It is cool that Prince could seperate himself like that. And you are right about it all being make belive like exotic dancing...it's all acting like you want the guy during a lapdance even if you find him to be a big ZERO. Actually sometimes I inagine they are Prince!

Hey artpal....can you tell us any more of what Robin's personality was like? I'm interested!