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PRINCE Rogers Nelson 1958 - 2016

BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
edited June 2016 in General Discussion Posts: 9,020
News broke today (April 21st, 2016) that Prince (Symbol, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) died at his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, near Minneapolis.
The reason for his death is only speculation at this point. I will update any information we get.

Prince sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award.

I think it's fair to say that he belonged to the greatest living musical artists of our time.

Let's make this thread a celebration of Prince's musical legacy.

Prince Discography
1978: For You
1979: Prince
1980: Dirty Mind
1981: Controversy
1982: 1999
1984: Purple Rain
1985: Around the World in a Day
1986: Parade
1987: Sign o’ the Times
1988: Lovesexy
1989: Batman
1990: Graffiti Bridge
1991: Diamonds and Pearls
1992: Love Symbol
1993: The Hits (2 CD set/3CD set with B-sides)
1994: Come
1994: Black Album (planned for a December 1987 release but shelved)
1994: 1-800-NEW-FUNK (including gems like "Love Sign" and Prince produced songs for George Clinton or Nona Gaye)
1995: The Gold Experience
1996: Chaos and Disorder
1996: Girl 6 (Soundtrack)
1996: Emancipation
1998: New Power Soul (The New Power Generation)
1998: Crystal Ball / The Truth
1999: The Vault … Old Friends 4 Sale
1999: Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic
2001: The Rainbow Children
2003: N.E.W.S
2004: Musicology
2006: 3121
2007: Planet Earth
2009: Lotusflow3r / MPLSound / Elixer
2010: 20Ten
2014: PlectrumElectrum
2014: Art Official Age
2015: HITnRUN Phase One
2015: HITnRUN Phase Two

Prince has released a staggering 576 different songs, most of them on his albums, some are live performances of songs that he never released a studio version of.

Prince also is responsible for many, many hits by other artists. Some of those songs were written and produced by Prince for them, others were cover versions, most of them highly successful, some of them belong to the hall of fame of greatest songs ever.

Here a short list of some of those songs:

-Sinead O'Connor: Nothing Compares 2 U
-Cyndi Lauper: When You Were Mine
-Sheena Easton: Sugar Walls
-Sheila E: A Love Bizarre
-Madonna: Love Song
-The Time: The Walk
-The Bangles: Manic Monday
-Apollonia 6: Sex Shooter
-Martika: Love...Thy Will Be Done
-Tevin Campbell: Round And Round
-Chaka Khan: I Feel For You
-Alicia Keys: How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore


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Comments

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,795
    Now this really sucks. Prince was MY music guy. And I'm only a year and a half younger that he was. My Wife will be in tears... X_X
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    This is an awesome live performance of 2014 of Funknroll with 3rdEyeGirl.

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yP9IKhfXT9E"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    The grim reaper must be on overtime at the moment what with the magnificent Victoria Wood yesterday and now one of the true pop legends of all time.

    Prince Nelson Rogers is one of those artists that deserves the term genius, his prolific output, he could play an incredible range of instruments, he was a consumate showman and one of the most enigmatic characters to grace the entertainment industry. Hugely influential and what a legacy of music he leaves behind.

    I am utterly shocked and gutted at the sudden death of this incredible musician. I remember up until 1991 not acknowledging him as an artist and never got the devotion but all that changed around the release of Diamonds & Pearls, an album that worked it's magic on me and then I delved into the back cat. Purple Rain, Around The World In a Day and of course Sign of the Times. just to name but a few.

    From that point onwards he never failed to amaze me with his talent and even though his output dropped off in later times he could still put on a hell of show. I even got to see him live 1992 at Wembley Stadium on the symbol tour and it was one of those incredible experiences witnessing this man work his magic flipping through musical styles in the space of one song, boy could he make that guitar sing.

    RIP Purple One the world will be a less colourful place without you around.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    edited April 2016 Posts: 9,020
    @Shardlake

    Indeed Diamonds & Pearls is probably one of his most important albums career wise. It widened his fan base considerably. And of course one of his best imo.

    By the way here is the one movie scene I have seen the most in my life!! Just imagine it without Prince's music. Unthinkable.

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EB-fSOds9AU"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    Not a huge fan though recognise his genius, only had a few of his records Sign o the times and Batman. I put him in the same bracket as Bowie and Jackson for sure, all unique legends.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    Purple Rain & Sign of the Times are probably my 2 favourites but D&P is a great album, love the big singles but Strolling is such a gorgeous jazzy number it's infectious.

    Only recently was listening to the Symbol album, rather underated, My Name is Prince and Seven, Morning Papers, just pop genius.

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Sign of the Times is an excellent album. Loved it growing up. I remember being a little frustrated with successor Lovesexy because it was one long track with no pause in between so I couldn't fast forward to what I liked. Prince set it up that way. Then of course we had the Batman soundtrack which was huge that year, along with the film of course.

    As I mentioned on the other thread, I saw him live a few years back, and he totally blew me away. Much better than I thought he would be, given he was already in his 50's by then. Lots of energy and an innate command of the stage and audience. I knew I was watching a real legend, and I was glad I had the opportunity to do so.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    It will be ever be one of my greatest regrets I never got to see him more recently as it appeared he'd become reinvigorated and put on a hell of a show.

    At least I did get to see him live earlier in his career, I can console myself with that.

    Still can't believe it, just utterly gutting.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,795
    Wifeisall & I saw him live twice. What a show he put on.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    May 19th and May 20th 1987 have been the most happy days in my teenage life.
    I went to see Prince's concerts in Zurich. Black or peach clothing was "mandatory" and probably 80% of the audience indeed came dressed in those colours, including me of course. That was so impressive.
    I had tickets to both concerts in the front row. Nonetheless we camped outside for hours just to see him arrive. And we did.
    It was the first time I've seen him live, I did love him since Purple Rain and especially after 1985 but seeing my hero live in one of the most original and best sets on stage was a one of a kind experience.
    Later in 1989 when one of my biggest dreams came true on screen with Batman the movie, Prince became forever my musical hero.

    I've dug up most of my Prince collection tonight, still browsing through things. Here is my Batman collection of Prince. I was only 15 in 1989 so I begged my father to buy me those special edition records and single-cd's, which he kindly did.

    full.jpg
    full.jpg
    full.jpg
  • Ed83Ed83
    Posts: 1,181
    Terrible news. I was just reading about his life and his work last week. Definitely a shocker to see this today. A great artist and a great body of work for all of us to enjoy left behind.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Thread moved to General Discussions as Prince had absolutely nothing to do with Bond music.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    edited April 2016 Posts: 9,020
    I'm thinking of which albums may be my favourites.

    Batman clearly is the one album I've listened most to. The combination of my favourite comic book hero with Prince's magical music will never be topped. So I can't compare it to his other work. I consider Batman to be one of the best albums ever.
    There was so much great music in the 80s. The only other album I can think of that had such an impact on me in the 80s was Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation and really all of Duran Duran's albums up to Notorious (including Arcadia).

    My favourite album of Prince besides Batman is this:
    AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY 1985
    After Purple Rain, one of the very first albums I've listened to it was only in 1985 that I really got into music.
    Around The World In A Day wasn't what the general audience expected from Prince after this phenomenal success with Purple Rain.
    But for me his 1985 album opened up a whole new dimension and world of music.
    The title track deeply fascinated me and got me totally hooked on Prince's fantastic range of music.
    Paisley Park and Tamborine were on heavy rotation in my CD player. The catchier ones like Raspberry Beret and Pop Life didn't leave my playlists on tape for years to come.
    Temptation is pure sex, his voice, his guitars, pure orgasm. Of course I didn't get that back then at all. I just liked the sounds of it :))
    5 years later I understood and knew how to use this song properly ;)

    PARADE 1986
    Might be my favourite album after Around The World In A Day.
    It really cemented my love for Prince's sound and again there was so much to discover in his music. It will forever be known for KISS and rightfully so. Kiss may be one of the greatest songs ever. Personally I love it and it would be in a Top 20 list of mine. But the songs I really deeply loved back then from the album PARADE were Christopher Tracy's Parade, New Position, Girls & Boys, Mountains and Under The Cherry Moon.

    If I had to choose a third favourite (again besides Batman) it'll be
    SYMBOL 1992
    You cannot imagine how much I danced to this album, be it at home, at the discotheque or at private parties. Being 18 at that time helped :))
    "My name is Prince and I am funky, my name is Prince the one and only" indeed.
    The Max is pure funk/r&b/hiphop Heaven.
    But nothing could beat I Wanna Melt With U I must have listened to this song hundreds of times, and often ten times in a row. And so perfect to have sex to ;)

    Of course I could choose another 3 albums as easily to praise. Of his later work Musicology or 3121 come to mind. I was so thrilled when Musicology brought him back to success. I will at one point say something about his 00's albums.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    I first heard him on the radio, a song called Take Me With You in the mid 80s. I remember the moment, because I thought 'now this is my kind of music'.

    Since then I have collected all of his albums (as listed above) as well as the albums released under different names, albums which exist as downloads only, and about 20 albums full of bootleg material.

    He is my musical icon because he was a genius, the only modern musician I would compare with Mozart.

    People may have stopped listening to his music, but within all of those albums listed by Jason there are always a few great songs. Its a shame he didn't get a wider audience.

    There are unreleased tracks which any other artist would kill to get hold of.

    My favourite albums? Sign O The Times, Parade, Lovesexy, The Rainbow Children, 3121 and lotusflow3r.
    honourable mentions to Batman and The Black Album.

    Gutted, beyond belief.

  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    Loved his music growing up in the 80's. First time I heard him was when my then girlfriend asked for the Purple Rain album for her birthday. I loved it so much I got a copy for myself!

    I think my favourite album is Parade. Just love that song 'Sometimes it snows in April'

    One of my other favourites is 'Starfish and Coffee' from Sign o' the times

    There certainly was no one like him or who sounded like him.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    The complete iTunes Prince album catalogue entered the iTunes charts. ALL of them.
    10 albums in the Top 30 alone.
    While this always happens to some degree when a great one dies I have never seen it to this extend.
    Also 20 singles in the Top 100. I'm pretty sure that's a record. It's good to know that so many people are now (re-)discovering Prince.

    I have listed some more of his work in the opening post. As @NicNac mentioned there is a lot of great work to be discovered beyond his regular album releases.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Excellent Jason - New Power Soul is now on your list. That was released as an NPG album, but it's still Prince. Not well received, not well thought of, but I enjoy giving it a spin now and then.

    When Uptown Funk was a hit last year I told people that Prince had given away better funk tracks than that.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Was never a big fan of Price myself but I am more than aware of his talent. Again, another lost too early. 2016 is being a real bummer isn't it?
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    Prince also is responsible for some of the biggest hits of the 80's and 90's of other artists:

    Here are three of them, unforgettable classics.

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hX9E44mClKs"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/auUPqxI1vqg"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/10V_Z0_udjg"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Noting Compares 2 U is one of my favourites songs of all time and I'm an 80's rocker in reality. I'll be honest, I had no idea that Prince wrote it...
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    He didn't write it for O'Connor, it was actually given to a group he put together called The Family. It was hidden away on an album somewhere, doomed for obscurity as many Prince gems are.
    She found it and covered it. The rest is history. Prince has tried to reclaim it since, playing it live at many of his gigs, but it will always be associated with Sinaed O Connor.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    Prince also wrote The Bangles Manic Monday and Chaka Khan's I Feel For You.

    He's unparalleled to be honest yes I have many artist I love but they usually they are good song writers, and musicians but there voice while I like isn't what you would call amazing like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed or Roger Waters but Prince was the whole package.

    An incredible musician, amazing prolific song writer and what range that voice had he was one of a kind and the world is never likely to see his like again.

    Even Michael Jackson pales compared to Prince, no army of songwriters helping him to put out album, self produced and wrote everything, can't really think of another artist that was multi talented as him. yes Bands maybe but as a single artist, he easily outstrips Lennon & McCartney as separate entities.

    If I was pinning down favourite albums, definitely Purple Rain, it's a pop masterpiece from the incredible Lets Go Crazy right up to the magisterial rock epic that is the title track this album never puts a foot wrong.

    Sign of The Times, another masterpiece, the opening title track, House Quake, the extraordinary If I was your Girlfriend and of course my personal favourite another guitar classic from the man The Cross.

    I'll be firing up the turntable tomorrow before I go away on holiday and definitely giving these two a spin amongst others.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Some artists took his album tracks and had hits, like Cyndi Lauper (When You Were Mine) and Tom Jones (Kiss).

    I agree @Shardlake, Prince was greater than Lennon or McCartney as solo stars. They needed to be together to match him (which in fairness they did quite easily).

    He was unique, as Bowie was. If I were Bob Dylan, I would take the rest of the year off and go hide somewhere quietly.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    In 1998 Prince did a whole album for Chaka Khan.
    Come 2 My House

    It's a real treasure for Prince and Chaka Khan fans.

    I agree @Shardlake , Prince was the whole package and even if there are other acts I love dearly, Prince is unrivalled.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited April 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I love Jungle Love by Morris Day & Time, and Round and Round by Tevin Campbell, both written by Prince.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    edited April 2016 Posts: 9,020
    @Shardlake
    thank you for reminding me of this:

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SsmVgoXDq2w"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    bondjames wrote: »
    I love Jungle Love by Morris Day & Time, and Round and Round by Tevin Campbell, both written by Prince.

    For you :)

    From Prince's Graffiti Bridge:

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFzQNWwNsZM"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    BondJasonBond006 wrote: »
    @Shardlake

    Indeed Diamonds & Pearls is probably one of his most important albums career wise. It widened his fan base considerably. And of course one of his best imo.

    By the way here is the one movie scene I have seen the most in my life!! Just imagine it without Prince's music. Unthinkable.

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EB-fSOds9AU"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    Diamonds & Pearls, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, When Doves Cry....hit after hit. A class act.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    BondJasonBond006 wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    I love Jungle Love by Morris Day & Time, and Round and Round by Tevin Campbell, both written by Prince.

    For you :)

    From Prince's Graffiti Bridge:

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFzQNWwNsZM"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Thanks for posting. New Jack Swing from the early 90s is one of my favourite eras.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    @bondjames

    I was dancing through that era all night long, such great music.
    In that case I guess you love all the stuff Babyface produced in that time as well.
    Bobby Brown's Bobby 1992, Babyface's Tender Lover 1990 and Sheena Easton's The Lover In Me 1988 all belong to my "Top 100 albums of all time".

    Sheena Easton also had quite a lot of success with Prince.

    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-Alq8rJIbo"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    Not from Prince (from Babyface) but you can see Prince's influence perfectly here:
    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r3mSb6IGCZw"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    And here another unforgettable classic!
    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/56gpwl6cohc"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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