June 7, 1958 - April 21, 2016
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life..."
My co-worker saw it on Twitter shortly before 10 am this morning and shared the sad news. It was confirmed about fifteen minutes later by his publicist that Prince died today at the age of 57. I was in such disbelief not wanting it to be true.
I couldn't stop thinking about how much his music played a part of my growing up years.
I'm just typing as I go along and putting in videos as I recall them. This maybe a bit of a jumbled post but I feel I need to get it out.
I was driving to an appointment this afternoon and 92.5 was playing all Prince songs. This song, "The Beautiful Ones" was playing and I immediately choked up. This is one of his most passionate songs and one of the reasons why I love the "Purple Rain" soundtrack so much. The album and movie were released in the Summer of 1984. I was about to enter high school (10th grade). This was THE album and movie to watch. Although I wasn't yet 17 (the age where you can watch R-rated movies alone), my dad (thanks) bought tickets for me, my brother and sister to watch. The downside, he had to watch it too (but several rows behind us), haha. But "Purple Rain" was such a great album full of great songs, "Take Me With U", "I Would Die 4 U", "The Beautiful Ones" and of course the title song itself.
In case the video gets pulled since Prince never allowed his songs on youTube, here is Beyonce's rendition:
Another song by Prince that I really like (from his 90's years), "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (from 1995's album, "The Gold Experience"):
I love the empowering message and the scene where the older woman looks up to see a black woman receiving an Oscar as well as becoming the President of the U.S. It's such a lovely song and Prince's falsetto is in fine form here.
Prince appearing on the BET Awards accompanying Chaka Khan who famously covered his song, "I Feel For You":
First song heard by Prince, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (1979). That song appears on his first album, "For You" made when he was just a teenager; heperformed every instrument on each track.
This is an early Prince performance recorded in 1982. The song "Head" also appears in this performance (2nd song, on side 2 of 1980's "Dirty Mind").
One of my favorite Prince memories in high school was when Astroboi called me and shouted, "Turn on the TV NOW!!! It's the WORLD PREMIERE VIDEO OF Raspberry Beret!!!"
This was when MTV played videos and not bullshit reality TV shows. So, I turned on the TV where we both watched the video while on the phone with each other. Once the video was over, we discussed his clothes, his dance moves, the funky animation, etc, and wanted to watch it again! The song was from his 1985 album, "Around the World in a Day".
An excellent performance by Prince and Beyonce at the 2004 Grammys:
A song that Thane used play, "God" - We all used to noodle around in a garage band (I was one of the least talented members), Thane played keyboards, Mr, Drummer drummed and Superman sang. "Take Me With U" was a song he sang with the band during our high school's first talent show.
I remember someone had the sheet music for this and that book is floating around somewhere (it was either Superman's or Thane's)...
Prince at the 1985 American Music Awards where he won three awards that night - Favorite Black Single with "When Doves Cry". Favorite Black Album, "Purple Rain" (presented by a very young Madonna) and the Favorite Pop Album Award with "Purple Rain". I don't think they have "black" categories anymore!
I totally remember watching this and thinking, "Whoa, check out the mountain man bodyguard!". OMG, those 80's fashions - mullet, jheri curls, lace, shoulder pads, the long duster coats.
Another fantastic performance by Prince at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, playing guitar for the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which was a tribute to George Harrison who was inducted posthumously.
He's so talented and proves that black men can play guitar (not just Jimi Hendrix) and kick ass.
Most of my favorite Prince songs are from his earlier years (the albums, "For You", "Prince", "Dirty Mind", "Controversy", "1999", "Purple Rain"). Yes, I have the actual albums. The Purple Rain soundtrack album came with a poster that my sister promptly claimed (she had a major crush on him!). There were a few songs from "Sign o' the Times", "Love Sexy" and "Diamonds and Pearls" that I liked but I will always have a fond place for his earlier work. So many memories, like dancing to "Erotic City" with Astroboi. Listening to the "1999" albumwith my sister and trying to decide which was our favorite song, Watching every Prince video on MTV with rapt attention. There's not a lot of musicians nowadays who could catch my attention like Prince did.
His influence in music is apparent, not just with his "proteges" and associates but with other bands who shared the famed "Minneapolis" sound: Andre Cymone, Vanity (she recently passed away), Appollonia 6, Morris Day & The Time, Ready for the World, Sheila E., Dez Deckerson and Wendy and Lisa (former Prince backing musicians), and Jesse Johnson to name a few. Even now, just listen to Justin Timberlake or even Bruno Mars ("Uptown Funk"). Total Prince influence.
(all of my Prince albums are in the garage so the only Prince related item I could find was this DVD compilation of his hits)
What I admired about Prince was that he broke all barriers. He did everything himself and played all genres of music (funk, r&b, rock, pop, gospel, soul) with virtuosity. He didn't care who liked his music or not. In fact, he was pelted with fruit when he opened up for the Rolling Stones in the early 80's (the mainly white audience probably didn't know what to make of him). He was fiercely independent. Fashionwise, he wore whatever the hell he wanted (yellow suit with assless pants anyone?) and was as eccentric as eccentric could be. He was a prolific songwriter and I'm sure there are more great songs that are lying in the vaults that may never be heard.
My post on the street art/murals which included Prince:
"Murals at the Redwood Laundrymat" October 2013
Articles from today:
"Music icon Prince dead at 57" CNN.com
"Prince, an artist who defied all genres is dead at 57" NY Times
If you live in San Diego, the radio station 92.5 is playing ALL Prince all day and night and through the weekend in tribute. I heard songs I hadn't heard on the radio in years or ever, "DMSR", "If You Were My Girlfriend", "Adore"....
Here's a funny sketch from the old Dave Chappelle show:
While the cause of his death remains a mystery for now, I'd rather remember how he lived and performed than how he passed.
There are so many good memories I have that are directly related to Prince songs, album releases, movies that he made, etc. Prince provided the soundtrack of my teen years and my admiration of Prince was collectively shared with friends.
Prince will be missed but not forgotten.
2 comments:
I listened to 92.5 for a bit right after he passed; it was really nice that they were playing all of his songs as a tribute to him. Prince had so so many songs and we've lost a great musician! Thanks for sharing your memories of Prince! I was a bit too young to remember the early Prince days but I'll never forget those assless pants... hahah. He was a unique person who did what he wanted! I was always impressed that he played ALL the instruments on his songs. So talented!
I wish they were still playing Prince. They played him music up until Sunday. Now it's back to normal.
No one will ever replace Prince. I loved that he was an amazing musician, especially guitarist. He could do it all! I have so many great memories from junior high and high school and most of Prince-related.
My sister's prom dress was Prince inspired - it was purple with black lace.
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