No. Not even close, you’re right and raise a good point.
Prince was way, wayyyyy, way better than Zappa.
Seriously, that is ridiculously awesome. Way more impressive than the “While my guitar gently weeps” solo IMHO.
I can only assume the doubters haven’t watched it.
Yeah, Zappa might have a similar level of technical skill—perhaps even higher, who knows? But for the most part, Zappa produced music that has no mass appeal.
In a thread in which Prince’s music is called uncatchy, well, hell’s bells, if that’s a benchmark, then Zappa is downright unlistenable.
Oh, and–
Yeah, I knew some very rock white dudes–high school kids–in the mid-late '80s, who I think did not appreciate any black artists besides Hendrix. And Prince.
You aren’t in the wrong. You are doing fine. We are all aware who is and who isn’t making sense.
Actually, I have my Prince playlist timed out at closer to 36 hours. 
If I were throwing a Prince playlist out at people based simply on my own personal preferences it might go something like this:
Electric Chair
Thunder
Cream
Baltimore
Gett Off
Joy In Repetition
Anna Stesia
Anotherloverholeinyohead
When Doves Cry
Te Amo Corazon
Sign ‘O’ The Times
Diamonds and Pearls
If I Was Your Girlfriend
The Cross
Thieves In the Temple
Adore
Colonized Mind
DMSR
Sometimes It Snows in April
Black Sweat
Blue Light
7
Condition of the Heart
The Ladder
And for those who remain unconvinced of his rock cred, one of his live covers of Whole Lotta Love
If there’s nothing in that list that you don’t dig on, we can’t be friends. In there is straight-ahead pop, rock, funk, soul, blues, gospel, and a couple ballads for good measure. Subject matter concerning love, sex, God, politics, and philosophy.
No one was particularly hung up on categories of music in the 80’s - there was country, and there was not-country. And some of the country (like Kenny Rogers) managed to sneak onto the not-country stations. A typical set would be something like Twister Sister, Wham!, Lionel Ritchie, Def Leppard, Prince, Sheena Easton, and Duran Duran.
If you mean George Michael is IN the “Bible” of 80s music, then yes, yes he was. Very much so. You couldn’t turn on MTV without seeing “Careless Whisper.”
If you want to hear another example of Prince just doing whatever he damned well pleased in the studio, and having it come out magnificently, take a listen to Solo from the Come album from 1994. Just Prince’s vocals and…a harp?
Read a report this morning that he’d gone without sleep for days prior to his death and was working on something. Wonder what *that’s[/] all about.
Who inherits all his stuff? All that unreleased material has got to be a multi-generational cash cow.
The New Yorker calls him a genius — http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/the-impenetrable-genius-of-prince
I was using The Current’s Playlist from the weekend - but they DID have to cut out the “we couldn’t even edit them to get them past the FCC” songs.
Jeez - I am about to board a plane. I go away for a couple of days and we’re still engaged in this debate?
Sigh.
Oh, and I just found this:
[QUOTE=Bowie]
Like Prince, maybe?
Prince, yeah, sure. I mean, he’s probably the most, eclectic artist I’ve seen since me [laughs]. I think he’s a great stealer.
[/QUOTE]
Coming from one of the best stealers around (Bowie took great ideas from all around him) that is big praise.
It’s mostly a plea to music streaming services to get on the ball and pay Prince (and other artists or their estates) what it takes get the music.
I have Apple Music and Amazon Prime. I’m not a huge fan of music; I tend to dabble what I listen to across all genres. When I find something I like, I listen to it until I’m bored of it and then move on. And I haven’t run out of music I like listening to.
I know there’s great music out there that’s not available to me. But it’s not worth my time to find it and pay extra for it when I already have more music to listen to than I have time for.
Which brings me to Prince: great artist, but not available. My loss, and maybe his too.
Careful. I’ve heard that zombie Prince (twice the funky) will rise from the grave to hunt down copyright violators.
Those were the names for black popular music over time, or how black pop music was described, produced and marketed. What is the thing I did which you find you have to weed out?
Prince is not part of any tradition? Prince didn’t make black music? How is that cool to say?
This is my post, explaining my statement.
So someone talking about black music becomes the “bad guy”? Exactly what is the point of objecting to this statement, and what does that objection have to do with Prince?
Any mention that Prince made black music is racist? Really? Do you think Prince was of that opinion?
If you’re referring to me you should cite and explain.
You dismissed Prince because he played “black pop” & you hadn’t listened to that category since sometime last century. Guess you’re glad Hendrix died so your tastes could remain lily-white. Guess you never heard of Arthur Lee.
Yes, music has been marketed to African-Americans, using a variety of labels. (Except for “black pop”–that’s a new one.) People interested in good music have always ignored labels. Even piomeers of the much-maligned “country” music (once called “hillbilly”) were influenced by African-American musicians.
FWIW, Prince himself made sure he was marketed as a pop artist, not an R&B artist–that was part of his contract. If you listen to the Dirty Mind album – his breakout album – it definitely does not sound like a “black” record. “If You Were Mine” could have come straight from an Elvis Costello album. “Sister” sounds like a Prince spinoff of punk and post-punk. “Dirty Mind” is a four-to-the- floor New Wave dance number. The album does have R&B, soul, funk, and disco-inspired numbers on it, too. Not sure if disco is “black pop” or not. It’s a stylistically diverse and fun album.
I mentioned black pop as part of a discussion, but subtleties are not exactly the specialty here. I didn’t dismiss anything based on it being black pop, but on being boring to me for reasons already stated.
I don’t worship hendrix, and I’ve seen Arthur Lee play live 3 times. I’ve also seen john Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and Willie Dixon for that matter.
I follow the whole history of music and I don’t dismiss black musicians if they are not rock, if that’s what you are implying. Playing the racist card at every opportunity doesn’t become anyone here. There is a big difference between talking about types of pop music and being a bigot.
Word, your citations from Joni and Bowie somehow don’t sound that strong. They seem more like just “being polite” to me. I thought we were talking about a transcendent genius here.
And you are talking from experience? I guess you are now.