I thought it would be fun to share our Prince-related memories ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

I'll go first:

I went to see the movie, Purple Rain ... at the drive-Inn theater ... it was a triple date ... me and two women I was dating.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. You win, I cant even remember mine now.

No, mine was seeing this

This wasnt the one I remember, this is even better.

[MFM008]

2. I just remember

playing Purple Rain over and over and over.

[steve2470]

3. I remember Purple Rain at the skating rink

I no longer go roller skating (got burned out 100%) but the good memories last. He was MY age. Scary and very sad.

RIP Prince.

[onpatrol98]

4. You win!

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. Can I, also, share that I was 23 ...

the one woman was 19 ... and the other was my best friend's Mother-in-law?

[Number23]

25. ????

Okay, now I am TOTALLY confused!!!

[1StrongBlackMan]

28. I had varying tastes in women. n/t

[wildeyed]

5. Not as cool as yours!

I have so many memories.... Just talking to a complete stranger three days ago about how smoking hot Prince is (now it is was), even at 60-ish

[d_r]

6. when i was a teenager

i went to see prince with this girl who was really in to all the sexuality that was floating around

[gollygee]

8. I remember

In high school walking around the track with my friend doing the whole "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together . . " thing while we walked because we, of course, had it entirely memorized.

I also remember kids with boom boxes getting in trouble in the halls for playing "Erotic City" which was wildly, wildly popular at my school.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. And Darling Nikki?

[gollygee]

10. Yes, that too n/t

[ismnotwasm]

11. I found a raspberry beret

At a second hand store and wore it off an on for a few months. Looked good in it too. I missed seeing him in concert though. Loved his music.

[rbrnmw]

15. Ha! I bought one too

I loved Prince I had a Red Corvette poster on my wall, right next to my Purple Rain poster.

[ismnotwasm]

23. I still love that song

I thought I was the shit for finding the right hat in a second-hand store. Back in my hat days..

[rbrnmw]

24. me too I also had a Purple outfit

similar to the Purple Rain one, I tried to get the Sheila E hair

[2naSalit]

31. I did too!

Obviously it was a thing.

[Person 2713]

12. Seeing him more than once in concert One time he was in the round the stage was in the middle

And he came to the stage inside a big black closed lid box carried by 2 guys so he didn't have to walk through the aisles
He played on a big bed one concert and was laying down, going on a long song on his guitar beautiful but no words
He stopped and in his coy voice said " I can go all night, can you ?" The crowd went wild And he played a long encore set
A big red corvette on stage
discussing indigo children
My late brother, bigger fan than I, calling me one night when it was first being bootlegged, and saying I got a copy of the Black Album
Fast forward 15 years or maybe more and. I am pregnant and thinking I will play all my old funky music that won't be "baby appropriate " in a few months. I pull out that cassette my brother made of the bootlegged album as one of a bunch to play and get in my car
I am driving around with it playing loud and the song bob George comes on and when he shoots, I feel the biggest movement from my baby for the first time while I am driving . It is an entire rollover!
Discussing with a friend just a few months ago ( damn!) who was the best concert I had seen Bowie, or Prince

[FrenchieCat]

13. I went to his 1985 Concert in San Francisco.....which was Amazzzzzing!

and went to the 4 Seasons Hotel in SF After the concert where he and his band were staying, as one of my 3 friends was "dating" Jerome! She's the one that had gotten us all free tickets! We were not groupies, so once Jerome came to the lobby to "fetch" her, we left, having caught not a glimpse of Prince!

On another occasion, me and my then boyfriend (now my husband) ran into Prince and his entourage at a private SF Club called The OZ (Wizard of Oz setting complete with mushroom tables and rock benches), on the top floor of the St. Francis Hotel. He said hello as he passed us, and we said hello back, and that was that! Always loved that club, as one had to ride all the way up to the top in the glass elevators!

My impression of him up close? He was a petite man, wearing 3 inch heels, and yet was still shorter than we were and looked even tinier surrounded by his entourage (some were probably Body Guards) and was dressed as though he had just given a performance! He was iconic even then.....relatively early in his career!

He was my same exact age, and I cried yesterday......

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. See?!? ...

as one of my 3 friends was "dating" Jerome! She's the one that had gotten us all free tickets!

...

On another occasion, me and my then boyfriend (now my husband) ran into Prince and his entourage at a private SF Club called The OZ (Wizard of Oz setting complete with mushroom tables and rock benches), on the top floor of the St. Francis Hotel

Now, you're just bragging!

[FrenchieCat]

19. Truth!

There were two really hot integrated private clubs in SF back then (70s-80s)....
MOMS and The Oz! Many Music celebrities would just show up!
We were part of the regulars!
didn't I tell you that I was a Disco Queen?
I thought everyone knew this!

to add,
Sheila E. is an acquaintance....
As my BBF during most of the 80-90s was her first cousin (their mothers were sisters)....
so we ran into each other quite a bit at family gatherings, e.g., weddings, baby showers, and BBQs and such.
Hard to imagine, but she's actually quite shy....and is tiny as well...but I haven't seen her in ages!
Her Dad Pete Escovido is a well known local Latin musician in Berkeley/Oakland going way back,
even before Sheila hit the big times! Her mom is Black;a Louisiana Creole....

[lovemydog]

34. These stories are amazing.

I love it!

[rbrnmw]

16. I saw Purple Rain at the Cinema on my very first date.

He was my first love, Oh the memories that come flooding back,

[betsuni]

17. Were you in a little red corvette?

I have too much of a dirty mind to ponder that scenario for very long.

I remember a conversation with a group of people after "Purple Rain" came out, Prince: Sexy or Not. The men said, ugh, NOT. Prince is short and scrawny, has a funny-looking face, wears shirts with too many ruffles. Most of the women said definitely Sexy. We explained. Prince is 100% confident of his sexiness. His powerful sexy confidence is an eraser in your mind removing any doubt of his sexiness. He believes it, you do. Prince is sexy and you are sexy, we are all sexy.

[FrenchieCat]

20. Yep.....makes sense to me!

[wildeyed]

21. Most of the guys I hung out with

thought he was sexy too. Anyone who says he is not is lying, dead or impossibly uptight, IMO. His charisma is off the charts. He just WALKS better than any human, ever. (walked. FUCK).

And he could PLAY. So good and hugely influential, and across ALL popular genres.

I am TOTALLY not getting that he is dead. I keep typing present tense.

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. Anyone remember the Jamie Fox stand-up routine about Prince?

[wildeyed]

30. Look in his eyes.

No one else on the planet could pull this off. (That is a Prince Iris in the background, BTW. Of course.)

[lovemydog]

38. LOL, yeah!

And Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories on Chappelle show.

Then years later Prince releases 'Breakfast Can Wait' with this as the cover:

[JI7]

42. van jones or someone said he was a really funny guy

and if he wasn't going to be a musician he could have been a comedian .

[lovemydog]

35. Well, and you and all the others who loved him

were a hell of fun time to be around!

We all seem to have massively personal stories around his music.

This may be the first 'Cinemax Rated' thread in DU history.

[JI7]

41. very much , there are a few others like this i can think of , but i never was into

the usual stereotype of the "manly man" . in fact i find that type more insecure and lacking confidence .

[Starry Messenger]

18. This is totally random, but our classes swim ballet

was all Purple Rain themed in 1985. I wasn't in it, I just watched, all the songs were from that album.

All of his 80's material just bring high school memories flooding back. Like I said in another thread, one of my first records was "Let's Go Crazy" on single. I asked my husband, he said 1999 was his first cassette.

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. That was my purpose for the thread ...

To allow folks to remember.

[Raster]

26. Key Arena, Seattle, 8/30-8/31 2004 - sold out both nights...

Concert in the Round....Musicology Tour... everyone that attended the concert received a free CD at the door...

The band was freakin' insane:
Lead vocals & guitar - Prince
Rhythm guitar - Mike Scott
Bass - Rhonda Smith
Drums - John Blackwell
Keyboards - Renato Neto and Rad
Saxophones - Maceo Parker and Candy Dulfer
Trombone - Greg Boyer
Keys- Chance Howard

[gwheezie]

27. Paterson NJ 1982

I knew then I would never see anything like him again. I grew up 30 minutes from NYC and during the late 60's onward I saw every body. To this day, I never saw anything like that Prince show and he had yet to be who he became but damn it blew my mind.
I already was turned onto Prince by that time but I had no idea the sensual power he had until I saw him live. The fact that me a female and my friend, a straight man both thought he was the most beautiful sexy thing we had ever seen proves the point. And his musicality was stunning. I saw Bowie live, who Prince was compared to for the androgeny but Bowie did not have that transcendent sexual thing going on. And I saw jimi Hendrix live at the café wha sit in on a I wanna say prine or Lightfoot accoustic set and that was mesmerizing. And I just knew I'd never see that again but Prince was better I think.

[lovemydog]

36. Dayuuum

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. I was a little old for the club scene when Prince first became popular

(which means I'm really old now), but living in Minneapolis we were always kind of aware of him because he was always doing something here. He was just sort of a fixture. Right now this whole city has kind of gone nuts with dance parties and memorials all over town. They've lit up the 35W bridge in purple (this is the one that collapsed a while back and was rebuilt).

[lovemydog]

37. Oh I'm so happy hearing how Minneapolis

is celebrating.

[lovemydog]

33. in college

some housemates & I became card carrying members of the Midnight Funk Association. A Detroit DJ named The Electrifying Mojo had an amazing radio show and we joined his fan club.

Shortly after Controversy was released, we learned from the MFA show that Prince was playing Detroit & tix were going on sale. We brought girlfriends, jammed in a car & camped out for tix.

After the crowd had grown, the Electrifying Mojo visited. He signed our MFA cards!

The show was insane. Vanity Six, The Time then Prince. I was covered in sweat from dancing.

[FrenchieCat]

39. Very cool....

He certainly earned his rep as a musical genius!

I find it interesting that both he and michael Jackson were both Jehovah Witnesses....and were born the same year...

[lovemydog]

40. Yes, he earned every bit of the genius rep!

Didn't know that about MJ & Prince. Two of the greats.

I must admit I've listened to waaaaaay more Prince over the years.

[DemonGoddess]

60. adding to this

He was actually a prodigy.

It's funny, hubs and I were talking about the innate TALENT he had, and you know the closest I can find for him musically? Mozart.

[Chitown Kev]

44. Uh, uh

You don't know about the MFA or Mojo (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing once in a summer class I took at Cass Tech) or any of these things...or you are TRULY old school if you do...

Mojo...who taught a generation of black kids about the B-52's.

[wildeyed]

45. I looked Mojo up.

And that might account for why Trouble Funk made a Kraftwerk-inspired album once

I have also seen mentions of Funkadelic/Iggy Pop and the Stooges double billings that happened in Detroit and Chicago areas, but never anything direct. So if anyone can confirm this, I would be obliged.... George Clinton and Iggy together is like my dream team.....

[Chitown Kev]

49. I was so in awe of Mojo when I interviewed him

that I stammered my way through the whole interview...especially when I asked him about the sex lyrics to some of Prince's songs, lol...

Mojo taught a whole bunch of Detroiter GenX kids to appreciate good music, no matter the genre.

In those days, Mojo also had one of the greasiest Jheri-curls that I can remember (I never liked the Jheri-curl look, myself.)

[Person 2713]

51. I don't know what kind of confirm you are looking for ? Poster?

Btw I heard Leon Russell on the radio today and asked a youngins do you know who is playing piano?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MC5-CHICAGO-THE-STOOGES-IGGY-POP-FUNKADELIC-LEON-RUSSELL-at-SOLDIER-FIELD-/252146411990
This was a big concert but Chicago clubs maybe had more intimate shows
They shared the same Detroit management at some point

[wildeyed]

54. That was he only thing I found, too.

In DC (where I grew up) in the 80's, there were punk/funk shows all the time, local go-go and hardcore bands. So when I read in passing there were P-Funk/Stooges shows in Detroit (and I guess Chicago), I was really interested to learn more. They must have been EPIC. George Clinton and Iggy are both masters of performance (look up Henry Rollins funny spoken word piece about opening for Iggy, it is too funny). But weirdly, I can't find any direct references.

Not meaning to thread-jack, just hoping to get some info since people in this thread are from the area and interested in the music.

[lovemydog]

52. Truly old school.

His show reached Ann Arbor & my housemates & I listened. 'If you are standing, sit down. If you are sitting, lie down...' opening with Planet Rock. Mojo taught me & other white folks more about Prince, Grandmaster Flash etc. Amazing that you interviewed him.

[JustAnotherGen]

43. Me and some friends

At Niagara used to have 12 hour Prince Parties with huge vats of jungle juice. Every hour on the hour we would play Jungle Love.

I told my husband our Memorial Weekend party is going to be nostalgia

[wildeyed]

46. Sounds like your Memorial Weekend party is going to be EPIC.

Careful with The Juice. None of us have the tolerance that we once did. I hope!

[JustAnotherGen]

47. Was in Dominican Republic

Over my anniversary (last week into this week) - I'm Prepared!

[wildeyed]

48. OK, just be sure to keep training!

[kwassa]

50. A woman I worked with, in the 80s ....

grew up with Prince, argued with him, dated Morris Day. According to her, there were few enough black people in Minneapolis that they all knew each other.

Another woman, next corporate job, sang backup for PFunk for five years, had been a Bride of Funkenstein. Another woman in the company had been dating Roger Trout of the Zapp Band. Such was life in LA at that time. Yet another new Sam Cooke back in the day. I regret I never saw Prince live.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

53. I haven't been posting. I have been emotionally destroyed by Prince's death.

It's taken me a few days to get myself together.

You see, I was never just a casual fan. I have all 39 albums that Prince released. I have B-Sides, unreleased live shows, unreleased albums and 12-inch singles. I have videos, pictures, purple paraphernalia. Prince literally provided the soundtrack of my life and I am shocked and devastated by his passing.

For these last few days, in addition to trying to process this, I've done nothing but listen to his music, watch videos that I have, and observe the outpouring of love, respect, and adoration.

I have been moved, too.

I had no idea that people appreciated this man and his art like this, for I had always found myself having to defend him when people would make fun of him, accuse him of being gay in a derisive manner, or claim that he's not that great. I just wish that it didn't take his death for people to finally acknowledge his genius and respect him as the transformational figure he was.

There will never, ever be anyone like Prince.

Only now after his death is he vindicated because I even have my parents listening to his music, watching tribute shows, and calling me up to see how I'm doing---admitting that they never knew about all the good things he did for other people. In fact, I am learning about all his charitable organization and generous acts. I knew that he had done some things, but even I as a major, massive Prince fan, was unaware of just how kind, generous, and loving this man was.

In the coming days, weeks, months, we are going to learn much more about this man and all that he did for the world.

For me, the greatest thing, apart from the music he gave us, is that he was unapologetically black and he loved and cared for his people who he himself said in the famous Tavis Smiley interview, had never abandoned him when he changed his name due to his battle with Warners. Even after going back to "Prince," people would still ignorantly and condescendingly make fun of him. In death, however, he brought together all races, nationalities---all ages.

On a personal level, my heart is still so very heavy. This man has been a major part of my life since I was 9 years old. He was one of the artists that gave me inspiration to improve as a musician and never give up. I am almost 45 now and over the years Prince's gift, and the person he was earned my respect not to mention he was the most talented musician in the world...yes...in the world!

Young people, especially, please take note and heed Prince's instruction. Learn from Prince. Be kind, generous. Learn an instrument.

Stevie Wonder is the only living musician now who is like no other. Listen to Stevie as he talks about Prince, mourns his death, but most of all, celebrates his music and his humanitarianism.

I will miss him, but I am comforted by the fact that there's a century's worth of unreleased material from his mysterious Vault that I hope we'll get to hear one day. I am leaving out all hope that if he had wishes or a last will and testament, that he'd want the public to hear, from what I understand, some of the most beautiful music he's ever written or composed.

The world lost a music giant. Maurice. Bowie. I was deeply saddened. But this one really hurts. His death stings the heart badly because we all were supposed to grow old watching Prince with white hair playing behind his purple Baldwin piano singing Purple Rain. Never in a million years did I think that I would be mourning his death this soon. But I know he's somewhere right now with Michael, Bowie, James, his good friend Miles, B.B., Ray, Jimmy, and even Tupac and Biggie forming a band and trying to compose music!

Rest in power, sweet Prince.

"May U Live 2 C the Dawn"

[Person 2713]

55. Even more is coming out. Van Jones was on talking about all his anonymous humanitarian

efforts yesterday . Said being JW, Prince would not talk or be openly connected to the money or motions carried out to help people and places, but jones said now he feels he can talk about it and wants folks to know.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

57. I'm torn about what Van is doing. On the one hand, I want people to know how generous and

kind he was. On the other hand, if his wishes were that people not know, then Van shouldn't be sharing this information.

Again, I'm torn about it.

Thanks for sharing.

Note: My boss used to work with Van when he headed the Center for Environmental Quality. He used to attend all the meetings. We work on green housing here. It's great to think that our agency helped in some way with what Prince and Van were doing.

[Number23]

56. This is a wonderful post, L_S.

Thanks for this.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

58. You're so very welcome! I was on a three-day suspension, of course, so I couldn't share my

passion for this man and his music. At the same time, I wasn't emotionally ready to talk to many people about it.

[Jamaal510]

59. I've got almost

nothing. I haven't heard too many of his songs, and I just remember when I first saw his "Doves Cry" video and how bizarre it looked compared to others. Also I remember how he recently showed up at a Warriors game, and I was shocked to see him here.