Prince FAQ

All That's Left to Know About the Purple Reign

Arthur Lizie

• Publisher: Backbeat
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781493051434
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

Here is the first comprehensive book that covers Prince's forty-plus personal and professional years in and out of the public spotlight. Firmly grounded in a detailed chronological overview of Prince's prodigious released and unreleased recorded musical output and epic live performances, Prince FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Purple Reign digs deep into Purple fact and legend as it explores the multiple number-one singles, the movie hits and flops, the exclusive and adventurous after shows, and the provocative TV appearances.

But more than just a look at the music and moving images, this volume also highlights Prince's relationship with those in the Purple Court—the Revolution, New Power Generation, Third Eye Girl and other band members, his musical influences (from Santana to Stevie to the Stones), the countless individual (Christopher Tracy) and group aliases (Madhouse), protégés (Carmen Electra), the cover artists (the Bangles) and recovery projects (Mavis Staples), and the wives, lovers, and multiple ingénues.

And then there are the controversies—the rivalries with Rick James and Michael Jackson, the USA for Africa snub, the questions surrounding his untimely death, the fate of countless unreleased audio and video projects, and, of course, his battle against Warner Bros. and the music industry that caused him to change his name to an unpronounceable symbol. Accompanied by dozens of rare images, Prince FAQ is the go-to volume for all things Prince.

Table of contents

• Introduction: Welcome 2 the Dawn
• 1 Beginning Endlessly: 7 Heck-a-Slammin’ Ideas about Prince
• 2 Born on a Blood-Stained Table: The Pre–Warner Bros. Years
• 3 Remember When I Met U: The First Four Albums, 1978–1982
• 4 Some Ol’ Skool Company: Early 1980s Band Members
• 5 Musicology: Musical Influences
• 6 Ain’t Nobody Bad Like Me: The Time
• 7 We Need a Purple High: The Purple Rain Era, 1983–1986
• 8 At Least U Got Friends: The Revolution and Late 1980s Band
• 9 U Don’t Have 2 Watch Dynasty: TV Appearances
• 10 Be My Mirror, Be Like Me: Protégés, Part 1
• 11 Dance with the Devil: Late 1980s LPs
• 12 Don’t Wanna Stop ’til I Reach the Top: Number One Singles
• 13 Produced by the Starr* Company: Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, The Family, and Madhouse
• 14 In a Word or 2: Early 1990s LPs
• 15 We’re Gettin’ Busy Y’All: The New Power Generation
• 16 I See Myself on a Silver Screen: Prince on Film
• 17 Just a No-Name Reporter: Mid-1990s LPs
• 18 I Don’t Need U 2 Tell Me I’m in the Band: 1990s Band Members
• 19 Halfway through Her History Class: Intermission
• 20 My Only Competition Is Well in the Past: Late 1990s LPs
• 21 However Much U Want: Protégés, Part 2
• 22 Slave to the System: Record Companies, Wrecka Stows, and Digital Distribution
• 23 Reproduction of the New Breed Leader: Early 2000s LPs
• 24 If U Wanna Just Clap Yo’ Hands: Prince and the Band, 2000s
• 25 Just as Long as We’re Together: Songwriting Collaborators
• 26 Willing 2 Do the Work: 2004 LPs
• 27 Everybody Keeps Tryin’ 2 Break My Heart: Rifts, Rivals, and Lovers
• 28 Daddy Pop Is the Writer: Covers of Prince Songs
• 29 U Can Let Ur Hair Down: Mid-2000s LPs
• 30 Access Another Experience: Home Videos and TV Broadcasts
• 31 Strays of the World: Maxi-Singles
• 32 Eye Am 2 Funky and U Can’t Handle My Groove: Late 2000s LPs
• 33 Everybody Loves Me: Prince Songs Performed by Other Artists
• 34 The Second Coming: Unreleased Projects
• 35 U See My Way Back Home: The Final LPs, 2014–2019
• 36 Prince Esta Muerto: Death and Legacy
• Selected Bibliography