Talking Plenty Head

One of the finest pieces of tabloid fabrication regarding Prince was the expose in the National Enquirer in 1985. Apparently around that time he was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and his house was a shrine in her honour. Recall also that in 1984 Monroe's no.1 fan, Madonna, paid tribute to her via the song Material Girl,a parody on Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, right down to the clothes she wore and the setting of the video, taken exactly from Monroe's song. Naturally, Prince and Madonna dated each other at that time,sharing a mutual respect for each other and revelling in the publicity they created. If The National Enquirer story was true ,(humour me here people!), the question arises, did Prince admire Madonna for who she was or the personality she emulated in the Material Girl video.This was after all the closest Prince would get to the real Monroe.

So what did Prince and Madonna really see in each other? She is quoted as saying "Effeminate men intrigue me more than anything in the world.I see them as my alter egos and I feel very drawn to them.I think like a guy, but I'm feminine,so I relate to feminine men." In which case Prince was the man of her dreams, mixing femininity with a latent sexuality equal to her own. Prince has always surrounded himself with strong, sexually-liberated women, look at Vanity 6, Cat, Carmen Electra, (and didn't the single-handedly turn Sheena Easton into the hottest Scot around with Sugar Walls and U Got The Look). Madonna was arguably the most ferociously sexual woman of the 1980s (Margaret Thatcher aside!),and so effortlessly headed the list of headstrong sirens Prince had associated with over the years. Socially Madonna loves to be the sole topic of conversation when with others, whereas Prince has never been one to talk about himself, (never been one to talk period!), so talking about herself would suit both parties quite happily. Sexually,for both of them,presumably anything goes.Neither has shied away from singing about it and both love to practice what they preach. A story surfaced about the two of them steaming up the windows while being chauferred around town on the way to one of his shows,("It gets kinda rough in the back of a limousine",1985) Prince would later reproduce an item of Madonna's lingerie on stage,rubbing it suggestively over his face and body, as U do. A love bizarre indeed!

Prince's next celebrity liason was probably not with Sheena Easton, who he had collaborated with a number of times. Sheena has always maintained a dignified silence on allegations of a relationship,her and Prince obviously finding the whole media speculation quite amusing. She said "For years, they've tried to put me and Prince in the same bed At one point, when 'U Got The Look' was on the charts and the Miami Vice show was coming out, the tabloids ran a story that Prince and I had a big falling out, and I had fled from his arms to new lover, Don Johnson .The number of articles about me that are eighty, ninety percent false--I could wallpaper my entire house with them! Prince laughs at all the stories about us just like I do. We call each other up and say, 'Oh God did you see that garbage?"

Prince's involvement in 1989's Batman movie led to a short affair with actress Kim Basinger, which apparently ended with her being whisked away from Prince's house by her concerned brother, who was worried about "the weird sexual hold " (The Sun,1995) Prince had over his sister. Basinger would later do the dirty on her ex in a news of the world exclusive, to his disappointment, and Prince would dismiss questions on the affair with "I really didn't know her that well".Similarly,Basinger would say curtly,"He's an interesting little man. "However hurt he may have been,he showed he can be forgiving and offered to lend Kim something in the region of $6.5m when she faced bankruptcy after pulling out of the Boxing Helena film. Apart from her obvious beauty, it is curious exactly what the attraction was. By all accounts,this was a clash of two huge egos.Basinger comes across as a real prima donna, demanding and difficult on film sets; if she is like this in real life it's hard to believe Prince putting up with her tantrums,as he's more than used to getting his own way. Judging from her brother's tell-all articles on her in The Sun, Prince seemed to have found a way of controlling her temperament.It seems that he used to drive her around Minneapolis,at 100mph, with complete disregard for red lights, which he'd drive through indifferently, scaring the living daylights out of her no doubt. This may well have been true. Prince has been bestowed with all sorts of honours from the city of Minneapolis,a national Prince day for instance,and he may well have been awarded the keys to the city at some point. Along with this honour, he would have been granted the freedom of the city of Minneapolis, allowing him to flout certain local laws i.e. stopping at the red lights! (Note Prince happily stopped for the red light when showing Neal Karlen around the twin cities before his Rolling Stone interview in 1985.)What fun to tear around Minneapolis at breakneck speed with a girl on tow and not let her into the little secret-and what better way to bring a (fellow) egocentric like Basinger down to earth.

Happily,0(+> seems much more settled in his personal life than Prince was,now he's with Mayte.She sawPprince performing "Thieves In The Temple" and likening it's egyptian flavour to her own belly-dancing expertise,sent off a video for his perusal.On viewing it,he saw her take three quarters from a glass,then she smiled and as she flipped 'em on her stomach,he subsequently married her ass! Ironically, for all the home-movies 0(+> recieved in response to his "eligible bachelor seeks most beautiful girl in the world" ad, THE most beautiful girl had got in first with her video unprompted. As well as her stunning looks, Mayte seems to have the characteristic Prince/0(+> sought for most in a woman, an inner beauty-in interviews Mayte comes across as a genuinely lovely person.Interesting to note that at a time when many people have accepted that 0(+> has finally flipped his lid, he should undertake two of the most normalizing events in life,marriage and becoming a parent. His second marriage, (his first, of course,to his music,has produced many wonderful children-does this make him a bigamist?!), took place on Valentine's day in his hometown. To ensure privacy, he created an elaborate facade of having it in Paris,then blamed immigration problems for the rescheduling, thus sending the media off the track, while the proper ceremony took place in relative privacy in Minneapolis. Mayte's pregnancy, perhaps for the first time,made 0(+> realise that he has responsibilities outside of his professional life. Plans for a summer tour were reportedly cancelled,as 0(+> decided to stay home with the wife and prepare for the new arrival.As a parent, 0(+> has already made medical history. He is,of course, only 3 years old, the youngest parent ever. When the kid is 1, he will be 4! Being an insomniac, 0(+> has very little sleep.Now he's got a newborn in "the crib", he's destined for even less.

For some reason a lot of pop stars are getting in the family way at the same time. As well as 0(+>, Madonna and INXS' Michael Hutchence will all be parents too, and after a short try at marriage with Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Jackson has had lots of little boys, but the less said about that the better! George Michael stands alone as an eligible bachelor as he admits "My friends got their ladies, they're all having babies, but I just wanna have some fun!"

Maybe all our questions on his personal life will be answered if he goes ahead with the rumoured interview with chat show queen Oprah Winfrey soon. Will he open up? Knowing 0(+>, the question we should be asking is, will he show up?