Prince 1985 Syracuse concert available until 17 May

[Incandenza]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRa8ZH_iOXo

[Benjm]

Thanks, Inca!

[G-Man]

Oh excellent.

[jwdd27]

Thank you. This is the sort of thing that should be encouraged.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Thanks for the heads up Inca. I'm just finishing it. Effing great. Prince digested everything and and everybody but they all came out as Prince. There's James Brown here, and —aptly — Richard of course, especially on Temptation. Wonderful.

[imp]

Prince is Frau imp's all-time favourite. God knows, I've tried, I really have, but I don't get it. We unearthed her vinyl copy of Sign O the Times the other day, and she blasted the whole thing out at great volume on my new turntable. All I could hear was a grinding, tuneless, mono-paced, vacuous racket, I couldn't wait for it to be over. (I didn't say anything, she was so into it, and it's not often I see her get that lost in music.)

I think there may be something wrong with me, because while I know people who are not massive Prince fans, I don't know anyone who would ever come out and say, point blank, "He's shit, absolutely unlistenable." Even the big hits that everyone knows - I recognise them, but I can definitely take or leave them. The only thing of his I ever liked was a version of 'Betcha By Golly Wow!'

I was listening to Bo Diddley this morning - that's proper soul/funk/blues/rock n roll. Amazing, gripping, body- and soul-moving music.

What the hell am I not hearing that everyone else is?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Golly gosh! That's always an impossible one to answer. There's the obvious stuff, musical virtuosity and versatility, performative athleticism, and really natty threads. But the key thing that turns the dial for me with Prince is his sense of humour. He's always, way underneath everything else, laughing. Mostly in a slyly self-deprecating way. For me that makes the difference between someone who is merely a stunning musician, and blinding brilliance. Genuine greatness never takes itself too seriously. Bo doesn't either.

[jwdd27]

I'm too much of a fan to answer, to me it's like saying Lincoln Cathedral is just a big church.

I am completely deaf to some extremely popular acts, if I listen to Muse I simply do not understand what I am supposed to find impressive about it, and Paul Weller's solo stuff is just dull to me, although I liked Style Council. We did a thread about this a while back.

[Hot Pepsi]

I watched some of that concert. I wish I could someday be as excited about anything as the fans were at that show.

I’m not a huge Prince fan but I like the hits and that concert looked great.

[imp]

Thank you for not flaming me in a way that my post maybe called for, butting on to a Prince thread to declare that I can't stand Prince. Will only report back in should I achieve some future state of enlightenment.

Re. the Lincoln Cathedral-'just another church' comparison - very good. But when I was in Barcelona in February and saw the Sagrada Familia for the first time, I had to agree with Orwell that it's fucking ugly. So, perhaps I'd rather sit in a village church than in Lincoln Cathedral because it's on a scale that I prefer, with no people around, and no gift shop. Ergo, I'd always choose The Marine Girls, say, over Prince.

[Benjm]

So, perhaps I'd rather sit in a village church than in Lincoln Cathedral because it's on a scale that I prefer, with no people around, and no gift shop. Ergo, I'd always choose The Marine Girls, say, over Prince.

The Marine Girls? I didn't have you down as a stadium rock enthusiast. I see your Marine Girls and raise the indie ante with...The Chefs.

[imp]

You've out-indied me - never heard of them. I presume a scratchy, slightly catchy, amateurish combo from Barnsley who only ever had one Peel session and two singles out on the short-lived Deviant Butterfly label.

[imp]

Ha, I've just spotted The Chefs' track on the Cherry Red four-disc Optimism/Reject: UK DIY Punk and post-Punk 1977-81 set that I've only listened to one disc of so far. Sure enough: "With a fine line in catchy indie-pop tunes, before the term indie pop had been invented, The Chefs released two singles on Attrix and recorded a Peel session before briefly changing their name to Skat and going their separate ways." But they were from Brighton, not Barnsley - still, Division Two team town starting with a B was close. And yes, I know Brighton are Premier League, but in the true order of things they're second division.

[Benjm]

Your cold reading of The Chefs career was very impressive, deviation in latitude notwithstanding.

In less-is-more indie legacy terms, two albums positions Marine Girls somewhere up alongside Status Quo. Or indeed, Prince.

[imp]

Your cold reading of The Chefs career was very impressive, deviation in latitude notwithstanding.

In less-is-more indie legacy terms, two albums positions Marine Girls somewhere up alongside Status Quo. Or indeed, Prince.

Bah. I should have substituted Marine Girls with their splinter band minus Tracey Thorn, Grab Grab the Haddock - two 12" EPs only, and I've no idea if they ever recorded a Peel session.