I was 16 in '82, and first discovered the song "1999" through a transistor radio on the bus on my way to school. A girl said to me, "That song is really the Bomb!"

My parents had a bar, and a juke-box, and I was allowed to go to the nearest record store every week to pick out records with my mother, to keep the music in our bar up to date. My mother already trusted me on that one. I asked if they had this "1999" single. He heard about it, but to order it through 'import.' Three fukcing weeks later, I had it, AND he also presented me with the LP. Everything changed. I played this record over and over. Unearthly music. I even learned my English on it, using a dictionary from the library. And, I tried to convince my friends.

Was bit difficult. Most were in a New Wave moment with The Cure, Ultravox, U2 and Visage, etc.

I also had these records, because I really liked them a lot. I kept promoting Prince so to speak, but it didn't work out so well, until I got my hands on the purple version of "Purple Rain", after I had already managed to get my hands on the purple single of "When Doves Cry". In my circle of friends and at school, I was the man with a trusted special taste in music.

1988 was my absolute peak year as a Prince fan. I left college in 1991, and from 1993 Prince was really a world star that everyone knew (here in Europe). My interest as a serious fan waned a bit. I was a little disappointed with "Grafitti Bridge," and especially with the "D&P" and "Love Symbol" albums.

After the rise of the Internet, I did remain a (true) fan, because suddenly there was more to discover in terms of information. And it has always remained that way. But from the moment new albums became longer and longer also because of the CD lengths, my listening sessions of these albums decreased. Also albums by other artists, and, of course, getting older, having develloped a wider range of tastes, etc. Somewhere around 2000, everything changed greatly. Prince was (here) generaly completely lost in attention because of name change, etc. I never really made a point of being a true Prince fan, nor did I ever hide from it. But as it is said here, your interest in the world becomes different. When you're young, you identify yourself with the tastes of other equal youngsters. The social impact of what you like to hear, and what clothes you wear to go with it, is almost the highest good. That disappears soon after the age of 25/30 so to say.

From 2000 until Prince's death, I had a moderate interest in his albums. I always bought them, and regretted that he could not reach the same hights as before. But you get older and develop much less importance for Prince being popular or not. "Musicology" was a nice moment, but nothing more. The same with "The Rainbow Children," an album in the middle of Prince's religious doubt or insecurity, made me weaken completely as a fan. Musically, a rock-solid album, but the lyrics, which I care about, completely messed it up. "Planeet Earth", really gained my attention back. (Never understood why this album didn't receive the love it deserves by other fans.)
Prince did what he wanted, no one in the whole fucking world could've changed that. Maybe a reunion with The Revolution, and Weny & Lisa (...imho of course).

I wish it had been different. I would have liked him to be less stubborn, and allow more new people into his creative processes. Triphop in the '90s, for example, or the better rap artists.... It possibly could've produced a much richer result. For me, Prince always made the worse collaborations with artists of the moment. But that's another matter for discussion.

Now that I'm much older, I don't think it matters at all that Prince would have more popularity. Even after his passing. It is what it is. Prince even now reaps what he sowed. A poor legacy, and the accompanying messy way of releasing music. His singularity was at once his particular strength but also his great weakness. Especially in terms of managing his own legacy, before and after his death. And that results in what we are talking about now, whether his popularity could have been better.

prince for me is not the center of music appreciation anymore. But thanks to Prince, i discoverd other black music, more 70s artists (and less 80s artist to be honest).

Another thing, thanks to Prince's singularity, I also gained more interest in other styles of music.

Music that does stand out from popularity.

Thanks to Prince's quirkiness, I also became more interested in other quirky styles of music. Music that stands out from popularity. And partly the story of his popularity and demise so to say, also made me consciously realize what it means to be a creative artist in a popular music. That you really only last a short period of time at a high level.

(I had my fair share of a different music interest through new wave, with band like Japan, and later on certainly David Sylvian (ex-husband of Ingrid Chavez, for those who don't know him), and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Talk Talk and Mark Hollis, etc.)

Being popular and stying popular... Everything depends on how you want to grow as an artist in that, maybe (it's best to) even decrease in attention, and increase in quality. But that is/was a kind of (inner) struggle that I think was always a lost cause for Prince.

As a result, to me, it always felt that he relentlessly kept trying to stay popular.
Partly he succeeded, by continuing to do his thing. But let's be honest, he has mostly made it as a musician's musician, a hard worker, an unmatchable live performer, and an inimitable all-round super prolific artist. But, he wil be forgotten in time. And maybe rediscovered. Who knows.

But personally I don't care anymore. I'm happy with the unbelievable amount of music we have availble from this weird one guy.

paisleyparkgirl said:

sahara said:

not but I often damn near break down over what we've lost... almost unimagiable what we lost...I hear a song and damn... why...

I've always found Americans are more obsessed with the success/popular trope.

They are obsessed with statistics as a linear measure of success and struggle to appreciate art and skill as a form.

They talk about No. 1s or number of football passes as the scale of success, thus placing musicians in the same category as sports stars, rather than artists.

Nope. I'm 100% satisfied that Prince is "Your Favorite Artist's Artist". He is deeply respected by folks who should and do know. That's good enough for me.

databank said:

sahara said:

That's awesome! I started spelunking into his catalog about 10 years into his career. For some reason, I thought delving in now (40 albums!) might be overwhelming. I think it's great that you've taken the journey. I'm curious if you went chronologically or if you just bounced around. I ended up getting his albums out of order, which I think made for a unique experience.

It should not be overwhelming. If you have a vibe with an artist, it's actually kind of the opposite: having dozens of albums to dive into is like super exciting You'll listen to this and to that. Fall in love with X and think that Z is just ok, then maybe a few years later listen again to Z, then because the artist has grown more on you, you'll get to love Z. Or maybe you'll still think it's just ok, but you'll appreciate it more in the context of the artist's evolution. . Now I realize I've been privileged because I spent most of my life working from home while listening to music, and I chose not to have kids. I understand things are a bit different if you spend 40 hours a week at the office and another 40 raising children. But if one has a little time, a huge new musical journey is like super exciting . [Edited 5/14/24 17:11pm]

Yes, having time is an important aspect of it. Music was Prince's life but it's not the average person's life, if you weren't there to experience his journey in real time, depending on where you are in life (student, starting a family, working many hours etc...), exploring such vast catalogue may be time consuming and not a priority.

paisleyparkgirl said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

GustavoRibas said:

.

- In my case, it´s not about sales, but prestige. I wish more people knew his work beyond the hits, and how great he was as an artist, songwriter, musician, producer. He was much more than ´a pop singer who recorded some hits in the 80s´ and that´s how many people think of him

He was definitely marketed as a multi-intrumentalist prodigy at the beginning of his career and that was reinterated when he passed though, I don't understand how that got lost in translation in 2024.

.

- Don´t know, but a good example is the video of Prince playing ´While my guitar gently weeps´ video. There are lots of comments saying ´I didnt know Prince could play like this´. And we are talking about guitar only. I bet these people dont know what he could do in a studio.

GustavoRibas said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

He was definitely marketed as a multi-intrumentalist prodigy at the beginning of his career and that was reinterated when he passed though, I don't understand how that got lost in translation in 2024.

.

- Don´t know, but a good example is the video of Prince playing ´While my guitar gently weeps´ video. There are lots of comments saying ´I didnt know Prince could play like this´.

another good video example is the video of the "Fury" video on the SNL video.

this video was an even earlier video of how Prince could shred on video.

Also, the video comments to this video were also all about "noone knew he could play guitar like THAT"

nayroo2002 said:

GustavoRibas said:

.

- Don´t know, but a good example is the video of Prince playing ´While my guitar gently weeps´ video. There are lots of comments saying ´I didnt know Prince could play like this´.

another good video example is the video of the "Fury" video on the SNL video.

this video was an even earlier video of how Prince could shred on video.

Also, the video comments to this video were also all about "noone knew he could play guitar like THAT"

Maybe they didn't...

I started listening to Prince when "1999" came out, and ever since.

Like most of us here, I experience the Purple Rain phenomenon as it was happening in 1984. It was everywhere for months on end. He could not have been more popular in 1984.

I didnt mind when the popularity started to eventually wear off, because it separated the true fans from the "Purple Rain" fans. Then the name changed lost a lot of people. Then the JW stuff lost a lot of people.

My best friend at the time loved PR, "liked" ATWIAD but hated Parade. He stopped listening to Prince.

Se7en said:

My best friend at the time loved PR, "liked" ATWIAD but hated Parade. He stopped listening to Prince.

I've definitely experienced this with other artists. If the foundation wasn't there from the beginning, you will eventually disconnect as they explore other sounds that don't resonate with your expectations.

I hear the sentiment ut Prince has always been a taste 4 people...........with actual good taste.

I'll leave it at that.

GustavoRibas said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

He was definitely marketed as a multi-intrumentalist prodigy at the beginning of his career and that was reinterated when he passed though, I don't understand how that got lost in translation in 2024.

.

- Don´t know, but a good example is the video of Prince playing ´While my guitar gently weeps´ video. There are lots of comments saying ´I didnt know Prince could play like this´. And we are talking about guitar only. I bet these people dont know what he could do in a studio.

Totally agree. When he got added as a headliner to Coachella in 2008, the Coachella message board was very divided. A lot of people were down on the add, thinking he was cheesy and over-the-hill. Then someone added the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" video to the thread and that changed a lot of minds. Several of the regular posters rescinded their hate and said they were excited to check him out. They had no idea that he could play guitar like that.

databank said:

Prince being more popular than 99% of the artists I listen to, no, I don't get sad. He's among the 60 best selling artists of all times according to Wikipedia, which is remarkable given how often he put himself at risk by making unconventional, uncommercial artistic decisions. He had an exceptional career. He was established as a living legend and a musician's musician long before he passed and his legacy remains celebrated as one of the most influencial in the history of pop music to this day. Many talented artists never get to reach anything near Prince's level of popularity.

Agreed. When you hear the name Prince in the States, anyone that's the age of a teenager knows exactly who you're referencing. (And a lot of that is due to so many pop and entertainment stars -- to this very day -- continuing to reference him in interviews, most influential lists, etc.) I do think his musical contributions deserve much more attention, but people certainly know him as a musical legend and icon, even when they can hardly name one song of his.

databank said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

Why not ?

That was my experience. I became curious about him when he passed but the extent of my Prince knowledge at the time was basically his 3 movies, the hits and whatever I found on youtube. Then life happened and it's not that I forgot Prince but I didn't really have time to listen to music as a hobby other than what was popular on the radio. Fast forward to late 2022, I have more time (yay) and find out that he had released 40 albums. I say why not check them out on streaming platforms and then buy the ones I like ? Needless to say it has been a wonderful musical journey that consumed me like no other. I was surprised by his 90's output which resonated with me the most for some reason.

That last part is interesting. Most fans who got fans of an artist in their heyday get disappointed later on. Fans who discover artists later on are probably more open to later stages in their career, and may even favor some of those over the artist's "classic" years. This certainly happened to me with many artists I discovered later in their game, but I must admit when it comes to 90s artists I followed in their heydays in real time, their later career is more of a blur to me. It's good to be reminded of one's biases

That's how it is for me, I mean I was like only 8 when he died so I became a fan way after he had reached his peak but I find myself liking more of his older like later career. I love Purple Rain, Controversy, and all of those earlier albums but Crystal Ball, Planet Earth, and more of those types really caught my attention. I love Sign 0' the Times

shockadelica86 said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

shockadelica86 said:

databank said:

paisleyparkgirl said: That last part is interesting. Most fans who got fans of an artist in their heyday get disappointed later on. Fans who discover artists later on are probably more open to later stages in their career, and may even favor some of those over the artist's "classic" years. This certainly happened to me with many artists I discovered later in their game, but I must admit when it comes to 90s artists I followed in their heydays in real time, their later career is more of a blur to me. It's good to be reminded of one's biases

That's how it is for me, I mean I was like only 8 when he died so I became a fan way after he had reached his peak but I find myself liking more of his older like later career. I love Purple Rain, Controversy, and all of those earlier albums but Crystal Ball, Planet Earth, and more of those types really caught my attention. I love Sign 0' the Times

It's probably generational. It took me a while to appreciate his 80's work (ironically his peak era), because I'm from a younger generation (not gen-z like you are but millenial), the late 90's and 2000's stuff sounded more familiar to me. I finally "got" the 80's two years ago, I can't explain but it clicked in my head. I really like his early 80's stuff until Purple Rain compared to his 85-89 work. It's interesting how we all have unique stories.

DJdirtymind said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

No, its ok. He is known enough. Even in the 80s he was never the biggest seller 84 was a fluke era really. It set unrealistic expectations. He was a respectable seller but not a blockbuster artist. So in death, its as it was in life.

I don't think Purple Rain was a fluke. IMO I believe that by Prince releasing Around the world in a day and Parade pretty much caused him to lose the fans he had gained with purple rain.

It was a bad career move for sure.