Prince Fans (Questions)

Cafe Society
1

Favorite Albums? (Top 5)

1. Sign 'O the Times
2. Lovesexy
3. 1999
4. Purple Rain
5. Diamonds and Pearls
Favorite Songs? (Top 5)

1. Adore
2. Raspberry Beret
3. Cream
4. Starfish & Coffee
5. 1999
Favorite Tour? Highlight?

Lovesexy (1989)- Prince dancing on top of a piano while playing it with his feet!
Favorite Song Covered By Another Artist?

Sinead O’Connor- Nothing Compares 2 U
Anybody Know When His Next Album Is Coming Out?
Anybody Know When He Is Going To Hit The Road Again?
Thanks!

2

Favorite Albums:

  1. Dirty Mind
  2. 1999
  3. Sign O’ the Times
  4. The Black Album
  5. Controversy

Favorite Songs:

  1. “Kiss”
  2. “Darling Nikki”
  3. “When U Were Mine”
  4. “Alphabet St.”
  5. “Cindy C.”

Favorite Cover:
Tie: Tom Jones and Art of Noise doing “Kiss” and Hindu Love Gods’ cover of “Raspberry Beret.”

3

Prince - one of my favorites - I wish he didn’t put up so many barriers (e.g., being more than a little bizarre) so more people would listen to his music and realize how brilliant he is…

Favorite Album?

  1. Sign O’ the Times
  2. Dirty Mind
  3. Parade
  4. 1999
  5. B-sides (not official, but it is what I listen to a ton)

Songs

  1. How come you don’t call me anymore (the best!)
  2. Ballad of Dorothy Parker
  3. Housequake
  4. Kiss/Anotherloverholeinyourhead
  5. Do it all night
    (tons more - this list is hastily assembled and I am only sure about #1)

Tour - I am ashamed to report I have not seen his Royal Badness live - I know, that is simply wrong.

Favorite cover? - Not sure, I suppose Sinead, or Feel for You by Chaka Khan

Next Album or Tour? I guess I would check his website - didn’t he just come out with a new album?

4

Favorite SOngs

1- I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
2- Erotic City
3- Raspberry Beret
4- Alphabet Street
5- Pop Life

Best Cover By Another Artist
Sinead O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U (One of the all-time GREAT covers, IMHO)

Best Song He Ever Wrote For Someone Else
The Bangles - Manic Monday

5

Favorite Albums? (Top 5)

1. Purple Rain
2. Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic
3. Sign o’ the Times
4. <the one with the stupid symbol for a title> – Prince and the NPG (1992)
5. 1999
Favorite Songs? (Top 5)

1. 7
2. When Doves Cry
3. Thieves In The Temple
4. Adore
5. Little Red Corvette
Favorite Tour? Highlight?

Emancipation (1997) - His first time through Calgary. Sold out in 4 hours. Kept stopping the performance in mid-song because the notoriously quiet Calgary audience wasn’t loud enough.
Favorite Song Covered By Another Artist?

Sinead O’Connor- Nothing Compares 2 U
Anybody Know When His Next Album Is Coming Out?

One Night Alone…Live is a 3 CD box set that is available in stores right now. Haven’t got it yet, but soon.

Anybody Know When He Is Going To Hit The Road Again?

No idea. I was very bitter when I learned he blew through town last summer while I was away. As infrequently as he gets up here, I can’t be missing his shows.

6

I love Prince. Absolutely love him. Sure, his later stuff is wildly uneven, but I’m willing to give him a free pass because of the quality of the rest of his output.

Albums:
Let’s just go ahead and admit that Purple Rain was his best album and one of the best albums of all times. Therefore, I’ll leave that one out of my list.

  1. Sign O’ the Times
  2. Parade (soundtrack to the awful movie Under the Cherry Moon
  3. 1999
  4. The Black Album
  5. Dirty Mind

Songs:
Too many to choose! My real favorite is the one I’m listening to at the moment. I will say that the only big single of his I didn’t really like was “U Got the Look.”

  1. “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”
  2. “How Come U Don’t Call Me?”
  3. “Darling Nikki” (a sentimental favorite)
  4. “Sexy Motherfucker”
  5. “If I Was Your Girlfriend”

But I think his real genius lies in the details, the little things that few other people would pay any attention to. Thus, I give you, in no particular order,
Favorite Prince Moments:

  1. The meticulously arranged background vocals in “Sexy Motherfucker”. At one point, near the end of the song. everything else drops out except for what sounds like the baritone and tenor sections of a gospel choir singing “Sexy motherfucker shakin’ that ass/shakin’ that ass/shakin’ that ass” in a little ascending figure with three or four part harmony. For most musicians, that would be the backbone of an entire song–the best thing they had ever come up with. For Prince, it was just a little throwaway filler.

  2. Napster surprise! Back when Napster was in its heyday, I would set up dozens of downloads before I went to bed every night. One morning I found an mp3 that I hadn’t remembered selecting. It was a live version of “Purple Rain” recorded at First Avenue in November, 1983. Since the album was released in August, 1984, he must have just written the song, and it shows. Everything’s there, but it’s verrrrrry long–15+ minutes. The build is perfect, lesurely, and absolutely confident and masterful. It has the sound of a band that has just leared a song, knows it’s good, and is taking it out for a test drive in front of an audience. I’ve never heard of it being on an album or on tape–if anybody knows what I’m talking about, please let me know where I can find it! Brings me to tears every time.

  3. From the Black Album’s “2 Nigs United for West Compton”: “I want you to meet some friends of mine. You’ll like them–they’re musicians.”

  4. He’s one of the greatest live performers ever–right up there with James Brown in his heyday. The first time I saw him, I was brought to tears by his cover of “What if God Was One of Us?” I don’t even like that song. The second time I saw him, he sat down at the piano and did a jazzy version of “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker.” I can die happy now.

  5. His ass. Damn, he’s got a nice ass. And I’m a guy!

7

Hey, good picks guys!

Well I just found out that Prince was on tour virtually the entire year last year and I didn’t even know it! He came to the Warner Theatre here in D.C.! Damn, I would have loved to have seen him in a small theatre! Ugh!

I found the specs of the new Live discs. I gotta get this. I gotta!

**Disc 1 (One Nite Alone…Live!) / 63:47

1 - Rainbow Children [11:48] - Washington D.C., March 31st
2 - Muse 2 the Pharaoh [4:50] - Indianapolis, IN, March 11th
3 - Xenophobia [12:40] - Portland, OR, April 30th
4 - Extraordinary [5:02] - Portland, OR, April 30th
5 - Mellow [4:31] - Indianapolis, IN, March 11th
6 - 1+1+1 is 3 [6:06] - Lakeland, FL, April 4th
7 - The Other Side of the Pillow [4:46] - Indianapolis, IN, March 11th
8 - Strange Relationship [4:13] - Indianapolis, IN, March 11th
9 - When U Were Mine [3:48] - Los Angeles, CA, April 19th
10 - Avalanche [6:05] - Portland, OR, April 30th

Disc 2 (One Nite Alone…Live!) / 62:00

1 - Family Name [7:18] - Portland, OR, April 30th
2 - Take Me With U [2:54] - Oakland, CA, April 24th
3 - Raspberry Beret [3:27] - Portland, OR, April 30th
4 - Everlasting Now [7:41] - Portland, OR, April 30th
(Encore)
5 - One Nite Alone…[1:13] - Seattle, WA, April 29th
6 - Adore [5:33] - Houston, TX, April 14th
7 - I Wanna Be Your Lover [1:22] - Portland, OR, April 30th
8 - Do Me, Baby [1:57] - Houston, TX, April 14th
9 - Condition of the Heart (Interlude) [:40] - Houston, TX, April 14th
10 - Diamonds & Pearls [:41] - Portland, OR, April 30th
11 - The Beautiful Ones [2:11] - Portland, OR, April 30th
12 - Nothing Compares 2 U [3:48] - Portland, OR, April 30th
13 - Free [1:07] - Seattle, WA, April 29th
14 - Starfish & Coffee [1:08] - Seattle, WA, April 29th
15 - Sometimes it Snow in April [2:41] - Seattle, WA, April 29th
16 - How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore [5:07] - Portland, OR, April 30th
17 - Anna Stesia [13:13] - Los Angeles, CA, April 19th

Disc 3 (One Nite Alone…The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over!) / 55:41

1 - Joy In Repetition [10:58] - New York city, April 9th
2 - We Do This [4:42] - New York city, April 9th
3 - Medley: Just Friends (Sunny) / If You Want Me To Stay [4:27] - New York City, April 9th
4 - 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton [6:15] - Los Angeles, CA, April 20th
5 - Alphabet Street [2:55] - Los Angeles, CA, April 20th
6 - Peach (xtended jam) [11:19] - Portland, OR, April 30th
7 - Dorothy Parker [6:17] - Los Angeles, CA, April 20th
8 - Girls & Boys [7:00] - Los Angeles, CA, April 20th
9 - The Everlasting Now (vamp) [1:50] - Los Angeles, CA, April 20th

Total runtime for entire set: 3:01:28
The NPG Band
Prince - Whatever
John Blackwell - Drums
Rhonda Smith - Bass
Renato Neto - Keyboards

The Extended NPG

Maceo Parker - Sax
Greg Boyer - Trombone
Candy Dulfer - Sax
Najee - Sax

Special Guests: George Clinton, Sheila E., Larry Graham, Musiq Soulchild**

8

Hey, Fingolfin, Prince is fantastic in a small theater.

I was a major Princeaholic back in the 80’s, and never missed a concert when he was in southern California. Once, just after Sign o’ the Times was released, it was rumored about that he was going to play a small club after his attendance at the American Music Awards. I miraculously managed to procure some tickets from a ticket agency, and I and a girlfriend went to see him at this late-late show at The Country Club in Northridge.

What a show! He did many numbers from Sign o’ the Times as well as plenty of his other hits. And the club was chock-full of big name pop music stars - my eyes were bugging out. Jackson Browne and Darryl Hannah sat at our table. At one point, I made my way to stand in front of the stage, where I found myself standing next to a big homely guy, who I later found out was Mick Fleetwood.

I stood quite close to Prince while I was next to the stage and can vouch that yes, he is a tiny guy. Tiny and sexy as hell. Chaka Khan did a guest bit with him and sang the intricate “Forever in My Life”, which was the best number of the show. That is, I think it was, because I ran out of gas and had to leave at 5:00 a.m., while the little guy was still going very strong.

::sigh:: Good times. There’s just no song and dance man to equal him.

9

For a little while, I lived for this man. But it didn’t last nearly as long as it did for you folks, obviously. I checked out when he did that awful Under the Cherry Moon movie.
I only own 1999, Dirty Mind, and Purple Rain.
But five best songs anyway:
1 - Little Red Corvette could easily qualify as the best rock song of all time. I was in shock the first time I heard it. Perfect in every way.
2 - Delirious and
3 - 1999 were just fillers on the 1999 album compared to that masterpiece.
4 - Little Nikki was the best off Purple Rain.
5 - Annie Christian was an amazing piece of work off Dirty Mind.

And yes, he definitely reminds a person of James Brown, the hardest working man in show biz.
Slight hijack: I once heard an interview by James Brown in which he described his debut at the Apollo. When he felt he was getting into it and he’d grabbed the audience, he’d take off his tie and throw it into the audience.
He did this at the Apollo, and they threw it back at him.
He said to himself, “James, you got some work to do.”
That was one tough crowd.

10

pugluvr: I am so jealous! That is the show of a lifetime! Sign 'O the Times era Prince at a club!? Damn, I would allow someone to saw off my right arm in order to be timewarped to that gig! You didn’t happen to record that show on audio tape by any chance did you? :wink:

pantom: You do know that Sign 'O the Times, widely regarded as his best album, was released after Parade (the soundtrack to Under the Cherry Moon). I advise you to check back in to Post-Under the Cherry Moon Prince, and give a listen to Sign 'O the Times. While you’re at it, check out Lovesexy, Diamonds and Pearls, and Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic. Report back with your findings. :wink:

11
  1. Sign 'O the Times
  2. Purple Rain
  3. Dirty Mind
  4. Black Album
  5. Parade
  1. Kiss
  2. Gett Off
  3. Adore
  4. Bob George
  5. How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore

Sign O The Times - If I Was Your Girlfriend with Prince/Cat ending up on the love heart. Brilliant.

12

Favorite songs:

  1. The Beautiful Ones (live)
  2. Little Red Corvette
  3. Nothing Compares 2 U (duet on his Hits 2 album)
  4. Cream
  5. Purple Rain

Favorite cover song:

The Beautiful Ones by Mariah Carey & Dru Hill

13

cmon man, there has got to be more Doper Prince fans out there than this!? Stand up! Be heard!

I am going to change my #4 selection of Favorite Songs to I Wish U Heaven (pt. 1, 2, & 3). Thank you. :wink:

Hey puglvur, that club show you saw, what other songs did he play? Did he play It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night by any chance?

Also, be sure to check out this site: ArtistHub . All Prince (well almost), all the time. It’s pumping through my speakers all the time. :wink:

14

Argh! I can’t believe I missed this. I love me some prince. Mental note must spent more time in Cafe society.

I’ll haven’t listened to the albums for a while so I reckon I’ll have a rumage around tonight and report back with my top fives tomorrow.

However I did happen to see Prince dwon in London in September last Year.

Amazing.

Although he was a bit skimpy on the hits he did roll out a few classics. Plus he did a cover of “Whole lotta love” that was quite overwheling. He was in quite good form as well.

I think The last studio album he realeased was “the Rainbow Children”, which I have. It’s something of a return to form if you ignore the crazy religous lyrics. Certainly “last December” is one of the best songs of his I’ve heard in a long time.

15

Sorry, Fingolfin, that was back in, what '86 or so? I can’t remember any specific songs at that concert except for Forever In My Life.

BTW, I recently parted with all my Prince albums and club mix singles. I hadn’t listened to them in ages, and via eBay, some DJ in the midwest paid a pretty penny for the whole stack. I figured if I ever wanted to hear them again, I’d buy them in CD form.

16

Oh, yeah, I love Prince!!!

My fave 4 albums (other thanPurple Rain) :

Emancipation (I can’t believe no one has mentioned this one!!)
Batman Soundtrack
Parade
Around the World in A Day

Favorite songs (other than those in PR):

White Mansion
Electric Chair
youneedanotherloverholeinyourhead
Pop Life
Raspberry Beret

OK, my Prince tastes run a little off of mainstream. A couple other great Prince moments:

  • Anyone remember when he was on Arsenio for like 2 nights in a row? He did some old stuff from Purple Rain, and I believe his new album at the time was Diamonds and Pearls. I had recorded it on VHS back then and watched it all the time.

  • Of course, I wasn’t there, but he played at JFK, Jr’s wedding reception. Among others, one of the songs he played was “Forever in My Life” from Sign O’ the Times.

  • When Bryant Gumbel left the Today show, Prince showed up dressed up like Bryant as a sort of “practical joke”. I was totally shocked that he and Bryant were actually friends!!

  • The Sign O’ the Times concert movie is one of my all time favorites. I’ve watched it many many times and even taped some of the songs off onto a cassette because I love the version of I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man from that show. Whatever happened to that Cat Glover woman anyway??

Favorite cover:

8 Mile, the Eminem movie that is the rap version of PR. Even won an Oscar just like Prince!!! Although Prince’s was for Original Score, I believe.

17

While Prince obviously has considerable musical and songwriting talent, I have a hard time listening to some songs because his band is atrocious. Can anyone recommend some Prince albums/tracks which are musically stunning all-around?

UnuMondo

18

After some consideration:

Top Five Albums

  1. Sign 'o the times
  2. Purple Rain
  3. Chaos and Disorder - good “late” album
  4. Parade
  5. Around the world in a Day

** Top five songs **

  1. The Cross
  2. I wanna be your lover
  3. Starfish and coffee
  4. I could never take the place of your man
  5. Sexy MF

The best cover I’ve heard was the Afghan Whigs version of when Doves Cry. Furious.

** Uno mondo, ** I’m pretty sure “Sign 'o the Times” is just him playing all the instruments. What with him being a multi-instumentalist and all. I reckon it’s his best and all.