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Dave Rich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:44pm
Been telling this story around the Internet today: When I was 15 or 16 I was this HUGE metal head, if it wasn’t black as night heavy metal with a demon on the album cover I HATED it. Except, this dumb song by Prince—Raspberry Beret, would walk around humming or singing it all the time, if I should come across a friend, I would either stop or switch to something appropriately bleak and filled with shouting. One day, I was to slow and a friend, damned if I can remember who it was caught me singing Raspberry Beret—he just stood there and stared at me, I KNEW I was doomed, I had SINNED against the Metal Gods, I was going catch hell for the rest of high school. He just starts belting out the song too, both of us in Iron Maiden or whatever t-shirt, long hair and cigarettes just singing about a Raspberry Beret at the top of our voices—because fucking Prince was like that! Didn’t matter who you were or what you listened to, the man was amazing. Don’t know if I “learned” anything other than great music doesn’t mind if you and your friend sing it loud and off key out of love. Thanks Prince.
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  sticktoDave
  4/21/16 4:56pm
  I got Rasberry Beret stuck in my head a couple years ago. It’s such saccharine goodness
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  dogzillaDave
  4/21/16 4:57pm
  I know so many metal heads who love(d) Prince. And funk fans. And jazz fans. And pop fans. And dance/club music fans.
  
  Prince is right up there with Marvin Gaye. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, where you come from, what religion you are, what gender or sexual orientation you claim. Put Prince on (or Marvin Gaye) and there’s something to enjoy for every person in the room. Both were go-to artists when I wanted to get my dance students booties poppin’. May they both rest in peace.
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Doofenschmirtz, Inc.Rich Juzwiak
4/21/16 5:02pm
Not that it technically matters much now, but how does a 57 year old man - whose only complaint was a cold a couple of weeks ago - up and drops dead today?
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  The Man Who Wasn't ThursdayDoofenschmirtz, Inc.
  4/21/16 5:04pm
  Aids
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  Sid and FinancyDoofenschmirtz, Inc.
  4/21/16 5:09pm
  57 is the new 27.
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Fred SmithRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:52pm
Two quibbles with an otherwise excellent remembrance. Prince’s greatest full-length album is not Sign ☮ the Times. It was The Black Album.

And as much as I love Prince, and want to agree with the idea that he was “he was simply the greatest pop star on the planet” from 80-88, that’s just simply not true. No one held a candle to Michael Jackson’s level of fame during that time. As Chris Rock so memorably said to Prince during an interview, Prince was the weird one during the 80s; whereas, Michael was the one even parents loved. Those roles got reversed in the 90s, once Prince was done with this NPG phase.
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ArdenRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 5:10pm
It’s times like this I realize vast swaths of the human experience just passed me by. I knew *OF* Prince. Like, if you showed me a picture of him I’d be all “yeah, that’s Prince.” But I cannot for the life of me tell you a single line from a single one of his songs, nor do I even know any of their titles. In fact, the only reason I even know Purple Rain is a song of his is because people can’t stop talking about it today. I mean...I didnt even start listening to the radio until high school and that was around 2000, and even then it was when I was driving to/from some place. I only ever owned like, 3 CDs mostly by accident and two of them were movie soundtracks.

Big deaths like this honestly just make me feel insecure because an entire planet is grieving, but no one ever handed me the memo letting me in on this when a billion others got it.
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  MizJenkinsArden
  4/21/16 5:12pm
  Honestly, you’re so lucky. You still have the whole experience of discovering the genius of Prince ahead of you. If I could live in the moment when I first heard Purple Rain forever I would in a heartbeat.
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  cdog9231Arden
  4/21/16 5:28pm
  Well, now you have homework.
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Cam/ronRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:45pm
It’s beautiful to look back on the way that Prince resonated with the masses while producing music that at times verged on the alien—listen to the skeletal “Kiss” and find me a weirder sounding song that went to No. 1 in the United States.

Back in the second grade, my classmates and I always cracked up whenever we heard that song’s climax on the school bus radio where Prince screams, “AIN’T NO PARTICULAR SIIIIGN!”The song has aged well over the years and its minimalism still stands out from much of 80's pop music for being recorded on no more than a handful of tracks.
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  Chamomiles DavisCam/ron
  4/21/16 5:04pm
  I tried to sing that line once. Once.
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  cdog9231Cam/ron
  4/21/16 5:27pm
  My best friend and I in HS requested this song at our senior prom, grabbed the mic, and belted this part out. I also sang the entire song at my wedding last year.
  
  Totally biffed the high notes, both times.
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Sid and FinancyRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:46pm
You’re done the impossible, Rich. You’ve made Prince tedious.
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  humorzoSid and Financy
  4/21/16 5:16pm
  Hardly. Really well-written, evocative piece. And done in a hurry, I imagine. No matter how fine the piece on Gawker, there’s a troll ready, finger on his pathetic trigger. Thanks for the janky videos and all ... for capturing the complexity and the sheer talent of this extraordinary man (ignoring the illuminati / chem trail black hole.) (No, I do not think he “caught the flu” from the clouds.) Thank you.
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  SO sofSid and Financy
  4/21/16 5:26pm
  Yet:
  
  http://gawker.com/prince-and-his…
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gimmesummerRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:56pm
I watched as shoes rained down on Prince at the LA Colisseum in 1981 when he was touring with The Stones.

I couldn’t believe people would do that, with all the broken glass outside the venue. Bill Graham came onstage and ranted about how Prince would be a big star, and what a bunch of assholes we were.

The Stones, Tom Petty, j. Geils,somebody else, and Prince.

Not bad for $12
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  Yikesahootiegimmesummer
  4/22/16 2:04am
  Reminds me of an old Letterman bit with the NBC Library. One of the coffee-table books was “GET THE HELL OFF THE STAGE: An Illustrated History of Opening Acts For The Rolling Stones.”
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Cylontater: Genital WhispererRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 4:45pm
This is all I got:

GIF

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Mambo-DaveRich Juzwiak
4/21/16 5:33pm
I’m not sure if, today, I regret convincing my 1980's high school sweetheart to NOT get a tattoo of Prince’s face across her entire back. Up to this point it seemed the logical choice was to not get it, but now - today -I wonder if she regrets not having got it. I don’t know, but I feel bad for her and her loss in losing Prince. Roberta, I think you should go out and get that tattoo now (albeit perhaps a bit smaller than across your entire back).
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  DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaMambo-Dave
  4/21/16 7:37pm
  Prince was amazing, and this is touching and funny, but you did the right thing by Roberta. It’s crackpot stuff to get a tattoo of some famous person’s face on you, even if it isn’t huge like that.
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Free Market Party CompanyRich Juzwiak
4/22/16 1:49am
I’m not a fan, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating his sheer originality and talent, and mourn over brilliance gone too soon.

A lot of Prince’s stuff got way overplayed, but there are little masterpieces like the heartbreaking “If I Was Your Girlfriend”, or his campy duet with Sheena Easton (remember her?) for “The Look”. His range was pretty phenomenal.

And his sheer musicianship was amazing.
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