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I was driving from Seattle to Eastern WA this morning and heard three Prince songs on three different stations in about 15 minutes. I thought, wow, what are the chances of that happening? Then I heard the news that he had died today at age 57.
In my radio career I probably have played and programmed more Prince songs than perhaps any other artist. To say this is a huge loss is an understatement, especially since he still would likely provide much more to the music world.
RIP, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
I don’t know if this fits but the summer Purple Rain came out, I was doing overnights at KBOY FM in Medford. Doc Jones was afternoons and Rick St. Clair was PD. Doc went to see that movie and declared it “The greatest movie in history” and that we HAD to play every song repeatedly all day every day!
Well….Rick didn’t but we did play a lot of “When Doves Cry” and others from that record.
Of course Doc lived in his car outside the station…but that’s another story.
I thought Prince’s Super Bowl appearance a few years ago was legendary.Wow, such shitty news today. Prince is one of those artists that people from different music interests can collectively agree rocks. One of a kind. I grew up with Prince.
Unfortunately, TMZ reporting he was treated for a drug overdose recently. I say “unfortunately”, because TMZ usually gets it right. Doesn’t mean this was the cause of death, but…
He’d been suffering from chronic pain due to surgeries. Prince was famously very anti-drug. I’d assume the situation was complex and likely had nothing to do with recreational use or choice.
Lurking, that is a very good post. Thank you for a somewhat different look at this. I hope you are correct.
I referenced TMZ only because they have a solid history of getting this stuff right. (As everyone knows, they broke the MJ death story). We could get into a discussion of “pay for news”, but it is not really relevant here.
Whether Prince deliberately overdosed or not is also not relevant compared to his vast array of work.
I am going to wait for the official coroner’s report.
What I am curious about is, what will happen to all of the unreleased recordings that the had at his home? Might we ever hear any of this material?
He kept control of all his music, so it becomes property of his estate by law. For sure, much of the archives will eventually be released. Prince gave to many charities, so the heirs may have a mission to continue to operate any foundations he formed or form a new one with the mission to raise money through sales to further the causes supported to date and maybe some new ones.
“He was a pill man…”
Imagine that!
A declaritive statement based on an article from a British tabloid.I think I’ll wait until the facts come out.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.”
Luke 6:37If it comes out that Prince was indeed a “pill man”, then he can take his place with you as a colossal hypocrite.
My wife and I were always fans. When we watched “Purple Rain” we had this sense of fully “awake” and present people and how that seemed to drive them to places most of us cannot or will not go.
We both love vocal music, and Prince is one of the greats who could just pour his soul into the music and leave you feeling something. R.I.P.
I suppose the influence is like drug seeking. Once you experience something like that, connect with it, you just want more. Freddy Mercury is similar for me. When I listen to music made by people like that, I get taken to a place I really like to be.
And it doesn’t have to be perfect. Well, there is a tautology there. Because an expression that real, human, unfiltered, is perfect, but often messy, etc… Maybe pure is a better word to avoid that mental tangle. 😀
Prince was pure. There are others, and we can talk about them. And that’s the influence. I crave that pure, unabashedly human expression. And I understand it’s appeal a bit better for Prince doing it as well as he did.
Re: Pills, drugs, recreational, whatever…
I hinted at this above, but the kinds of people capable of the kinds of expression Prince gave us are often tortured souls. Beings who struggle, often with their very nature, and very often, with a basic clash between who they are and the world and other people in it. Their own deeds don’t help in this.
Personally, I’m not so pure as to judge people too harshly for that kind of thing. I’ve dipped into things from time to time, and for a lot of reasons too. Creativity, for example, can be off the charts enhanced with a little pot or acid. But, that comes at a cost, and it’s often just a little cost, easy to pay, until it adds up.
Coping? Yeah, did some of that too, though I find sharing with people, as I have here during some of the very worst times actually helps more than any substance escape can.
So I’ll leave it right there, but to say I’m not excusing anything or justifying it. Just saying I do understand it. Humans are not perfect beings. Not by a long shot.
Hey Broadway, you too have an escape. You’ve shown it to us here a lot. Religion is a double edged sword man. It can drive a lot of good, just as it can damn near end the world over a few words. You know that. Most of us do.
Know what else it does? Enabling.
If you harbor any honesty and strength in you at all, go do some thinking about enabling behavior and compare / contrast religion with, say some drug. That great show on Sunday, buzz one gets from the worship, friends, etc…? It’s a pretty great release, and it’s also an escape.
I’ll bet a real honest dialog with people using both drugs and religion would bring about some commonalities inherent in the human condition that are damn tough to deny.
All is not as pure as it seems, and that’s all I will say on that too.
Mrs. KSKD and I have listened to a bunch of Prince over the last day or so. We have a lot of fond memories associated with his music. Good times.
@Prince: Thanks man. We really enjoyed it. Hope you did too.
That’s about all I would ever want to say.
Actually my heart goes out to Prince and other artists that have succumbed to such demises…sadly such talents/gifts to mankind are gone all to soon. I understand that artists have different pressures/expectations of life that are different than “the commoners” and to cope they have to turn to drugs to deal with life/have “handlers” beside them that are there to manage but these things get out of control easily as we’ve seen from great singing talents.
>>Broadway, you too have an escape
I’m semi-retired…not a whole lot of life pressures these days and when I need help I’m on my knees.
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