I remember a music critic friend telling me, you know, Michael Jackson had Quincy Jones, David Bowie had Nile Rodgers, Madonna had Jellybean Benitez — Prince had Prince.
Madonna *also* had Nile Rodgers, which is so wonderful. Saw him open for Duran Duran last year, and lemme tell you: Duran Duran should have opened for *him.*
A bunch of other people had Prince also, e.g. wrote the Bangles 2nd biggest hit, produced, etc. Pete and Shiela Escovedo were SF Bay Area stars for years (father and daughter) and collaborating with Prince turned her into Sheila E.A bunch of other people had Prince also, e.g. wrote the Bangles 2nd biggest hit, produced, etc. Pete and Shiela Escovedo were SF Bay Area stars for years (father and daughter) and collaborating with Prince turned her into Sheila E.
I love Nile Rodgers. I learned a few years ago that, because the UK didn't really have a "death to disco" backlash, he went over there in the 80s and produced a bunch of the great British New wave music. The man is amazing.
Prince was cool and all but here's the problem - his songs kind of sucked. Purple Rain? Overdone and overrated. Red Corvette? Shitty pop. I would die 4 U? Get the hell out of here with that shit!
I remember sometime in the early 90s my dad mentioning I should listen to this Prince. It wasn't his type of music, but said the guy is a genius and that's always something worth checking out.
*stands on middle-age soapbox* This is Ken Scott and Tony Visconti erasure!
Really, that's the difference between a pop star and (say) a singer-songwriter. Prince is more like an Ani DiFranco who could totally fucking shred.
It's funny to me, as a 54-year old, that so many people don't seem to realize what a genius Prince really was.
to me it's not a question of this making him more authentic or more important or more vital or whatever, it's just like, wow, yeah