Under the Influence


(Originally appeared in Uptown #47 ,Spring 2001)
Prince has united white and black fans and brought dance music to a huge popular audience.His impact on contemporary pop music has been profound and many artists hold him in high regard.This article discusses how Prince has influenced different artists at every stage of his career with his various musical styles.

 Over the last 23 years,Prince has recruited many fans in the music world, including artists from such diverse musical genres as jungle,R&B,and metal,to the mainstream pop and rock acts.This stems from the fact that Prince himself has successfully mastered many different musical styles,and although he may have got bored of one particular style after an albums release (been there done that) ,the invention of the music on these albums ,as well as staying in our hearts for the rest of our lives,also deeply affected the musical leanings of other far more famous individuals,who liked what they heard,and with their own burgeoning talent,followed Prince's example and created music with a childlike sense of discovery,not being afraid to try something a little different because it hadn't been done before ,"Hey, if Prince can do it so well I might as well try it" they must have thought.

From Prince'e earliest new wave punk and funk ,through the synth-based pop and Purple rock,into the glorious colours of his psychedelic phase and onwards into the P-funk ,blues and R&B of his modern music,each individual style has pricked the ears of different,new talents,and inspired them in very different ways.Early on, in the mid-to-late 1980s period,many influenced were from Europe,as it was at about that time that Prince was developing a hardcore European fanbase while America lost a bit of interest after realising that Purple Rain's rock and pop was merely one string to his bow and not his entire musical repertoire.In the 1990s those influenced included many of the new wave of R&B acts that dominate the US music scene nowadays,the D'Angelo's, R Kelly's etc ,as well as many less mainstream acts,including hard rock and metal masters.

80's Covers

Exactly how long has Prince been influencing people you may ask.The answer,from very early on in his career.Guns n Roses bassist Duff Mckagan said in a radio interview that he bought the "Prince" album and was inspired by someone who was literally doing it all,producing,playing,singing and he subsequently covered the blistering "Bambi" on a solo album.This cover of a very early song shows just how great Prince was even from a very early stage in his career.An earlier cut "Soft and wet" was given a (c)rap interpretation by MC Hammer,which can be forgiven (as easily as it was forgotten),and the best thing to be said about his hit "Pray" was that the bassline was really,really great!

The first major artist to cover Prince was Cyndi Lauper,who,like Chaka Khan's "I Feel 4 u",took an excellent early song "When U were mine" and by giving it the time and proper studio polish it deserved (as distinct from the original demo standard),made the song great and ,some might say ,her own.Cyndi,always one for "girls having fun" has said she loved the predominantly female presence in The Revolution "The Wendy and Lisa thing" as she put it.A line from "When U were mine" is "Time after time",the title of a big hit ,of course, for Cyndi.If it wasn't released a year before Purple Rain,one might comment on the similarities between Time after Time's lovely guitar sequences and Prince's heartfelt power chords in his anthem.If Purple Rain has a gentler,poppier sister it is surely "Time after Time".

A fledgling Janet Jackson saw in Prince's music with The Time exactly the kind of sound she wanted when making her best album ,"Control".She says on the "Design of a Decade" liner notes,"When I was in Junior high, I was crazy about Prince's grooves.Raw funk touched the most sensitive part of my soul.Funk was what I wanted".Relocating to Minneapolis,she hooked up with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and the rest is history. Jam and Lewis,former Time members,are living proof that being fired by Prince can be one heck of a career move,as they of course went on to be two of the most successful and cutting edge producers of the last 10 years.

Daryl Hall is another fan of early 80's Prince ("where he tempers his freedom.He is grounded in that soul tradition after all,"Little Red Courvette " is out there in a way that Michael Jackson isn't").On a radio show,the track was chosen as a favourite of Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott. 

Manson,NIN,Beck and Timbaland

Controversial rocker Marilyn Manson has said that Purple Rain era Prince was one of his biggest influences:"Prince-along with many others of his kind, the great glam rockers of the 80s,had a big influence on me as a kid growing up.'Purple Rain' I think,is one of his greatest songs".Whether Prince was ever a glam rock star in the strictest sense is debatable,but he adopted the concept of glam in the late 80s onwards,eventually opening the Glam Slam clubs.But apart from the occasional song like "Cream" ,(oft referred to as a 90's update of T-Rex's "Get It On"),and an on-off love affair with the feather boa (see "U Got The Look" and "Papa") and other similarly sparkly clothes,glam rock is merely one of many categories he slips in and out of at will. Whether it was the music moreso than the clothes that influenced Manson is unclear, but for sure Manson is an unashamed power-dresser like Prince,and he is not averse to undressing like him also.His Mechanical Animals album cover was notable in that it was more full-frontal than anything Prince had done,but managed to show off even less genitalia than Prince's Lovesexy cover.Also he graced the MTV awards last year,closing with a romp through "Rock Is Dead",dressed in the barest of clothing (thankfully Prince only bared his ass for all and sundry in 1991's MTV Awards ,unashamedly and very cheekily performing "Gett Off") Manson isn't averse to the use of symbols on his albums either,he used the symbol of Omega for his Mechanical Animals cover and the mercury symbol adorned his next release Hollywood.He also covered "1999" once ,performing an abbreviated version live with corrupted lyrics,choosing to sing "If I'm gonna die,I'm gonna fuck my life away"... to each his own MM.

Another important '90s rock act heavily into Prince is Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. A big fan of Prince's more intense and experimental work in the Revolution era,where Prince had no qualms about taking all those excellent negative traits of anger,fear and obsession and channeling them into making absorbing,unique music.Reznor has credited Prince as an influence on the Pretty Hate Machine album,where he also samples the car noise effects from "Alphabet St" on the track "Ringfinger".He would also sample "Tambourine" in a remix of the track "Head like a hole".Mutual fans of both artists have commented on the similarity between the style of the lyrics to the tracks "Had U" and "Eraser".Lyrics from the latter include "need you,dream you,find you,taste you,fuck you,use you, scar you,break you." Reznor also said in an interview that he had intentionally tried to get a Prince-like harmony worked into the song "Closer to God". The Foo Fighters Dave Grohl called Reznor "Prince's dark alter-ego" (Spooky Electric was said to be not amused).To compare NIN's music to Prince's is futile,but as a very rough guide ,if you love the hypnotic, driven ,driving sound of tracks like "Automatic","It" and "People Without" and want to hear someone take it to a darker,more desperate,more desolate level,then strap on a crash helmet and try NIN's The Fragile,
required listening.

One of the late '90s most acclaimed artists ,Beck,has on several occasions highlighted his love for Prince's music e.g "I've always liked Prince.I remember all his early videos and everything.I love Raspberry Beret,Darling Nikki and Kiss .I remember when he used to perform in a trench coat and g-string.I liked that ,because when I was a kid, I was really into trench coats.Prince kicks ass and he's completely fey at the same time, there's something about that mixture,that cocktail,that I can relate to.Beck has called Prince an "encyclopedia of music." Beck's album, Midnight Vultures was said to have a level of invention that was compared to Prince's by almost every critic who reviewed it,mixing various genres ,such as blues, hip-hop ,funk and folk,though personally I found the end result isn't musically as appealing as most make it out to be.Anyone who mixes cauliflower cheese,baked beans and chocolate sauce will be commended for their innovation by some critic or other ,but the difference with ( and the genius of ) Prince was that when he did it the end result tasted so damn gooood!
Still,Becks deliciously elastic record contract ,allowing him to record "non-commercial albums" for another label provided
he still delivered the goods for Geffen must have caused Prince to raise a manicured eyebrow or two.Beck collaborated with
Timbaland for the movie Moulin Rouge,and incidentally Timbaland has said that "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker " was the most influential song to his career when growing up :"Prince is still dope.I look at him as a general or sensei."

Post-Purple Rain

As Prince developed musically with Around The World In  A Day  and Parade, many took note.
P.M.Dawn have covered "Anotherloverholenyohead" live,and on their album "Bliss" they credit's Prince as an inspiration
.(Is their singer,Prince Be's name a respectful acknowledgement to the first Prince of pop I wonder?)
Bliss also contains the lovely "Looking Through Patient Eyes",a song which coincidentally quotes Joni Mitchell's song
line "Help Me,I think I'm falling",the same line Prince quotes in "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker".Also it would seem that
there is more than one Prince who is obsessed with good/bad alteregos,spirtuality and the dawn - behold the following taken
from Bliss'  liner notes:

"See the spiritual being,the master of melody,juggle between existing as Prince Be and The Nocturnal.In the Dawn,
Prince Be of the patient eyes is just being,just trying to talk to God.The darker side of the divide,The Nocturnal,exults in
success,values in the material world,the filth of the rich-delusion,illusions his stock in trade.Where The Nocturnal and
Prince Be merge,we merge,submerge.To rise,being born anew,a different quest,a fresh path to pursue.
There ,amid looming pyramids,is rest ."

So much of the above could have come from the mouths of Camille/Spooky Electric-

"Spooky Electric was talking,Camille started to cry.Tricked.A fool he had been.
He had allowed the dark side of him 2 create something evil" : Lovesexy tourbook 1988.

Like The Nocturnal,Spooky Electric was born through the quest for success-

"Camille set out to silence his critics.No longer daring his enemies laughed,
no longer glam, his funk is half-assed",

whereas Camille /Prince Be both sought and found the spiritual redemption they sought,in the form of Lovesexy/The Dawn.
For their Jesus Wept album,P.M.Dawn covered the track "1999" and thanked O(+> and the NPG in the credits.
Prince offered them the track "She spoke to me" but it was decided it didnt fit in with the feel of the album too well so
Prince reclaimed it for eventual release on both the Girl 6 soundtrack and the cursory Warners release The Vault.
On a b-side of theirs "For the love of peace" Prince B refers to Prince also,saying "The Purple One makes a point,
and I quote "Sometimes it snows in April,sometimes I feel so bad."
We can safely say Prince Be is a fully paid-up member of the NPG.

David Bowie,himself a hugely influential figure in pop/rock,also paid attention to Prince's musical developments.
He responded to a leading question in 1987 by agreeing that Prince was "sort of the '80s version of himself."
In the song "Zeroes" on 1987's "Never let Me Down" he admitted that "my little red courvette has driven by."
More recently Bowie called Prince the most important artist of the last 20 years.High praise indeed!

Waterboys

World Party singer/multi-instrumentalist and former Waterboy Karl Wallinger has performed Pop life and
New Position live and also signed to Prince's former managers Cavallo,Ruffalo and Fargnoli in 1987:
"I love Prince so much ...if they knew what to do with a guy who teaches himself instruments and records
on his own they'd have a good handle on what I wanted to do").
His 1997 World Party album was called Egyptology,coincidentally one of the hidden concepts behind the Emancipation album, albiet more so to do with the structure and form of the 3-Cd set than the music itself. If it's not a coincidence that Mr.Wallinger called his album Egyptology then it speaks volumes about how big a fan of Prince's he is,as the egyptology connection isn't something any old fan would pick up on ;you'd have to be following Prince's work and life in the 90s pretty closely to know if it. Wallinger did relate to Q magazine a few years ago the sorry tale of when he met Prince in 1987 ,when the Sign O The Times tour hit Paris.His new manager Steve Fargnoli had invited him to hang with the Minneapolis Crew :"I was having a mad weekend in Paris and took it upon myself to consume large amounts of red wine ,and hadn't been able to get within sight of a meal all day." He found himself back at the apartment ,where Prince had returned to freshen up before doing a secret gig.While Prince had left the room ,Wallinger accidentally kicked a glass of red wine all over the immaculate white carpet and thus was discovered by Prince on his hands and knees attending to the stain with a pile of salt and a handkerchief. Worse was to come at the post-gig party ,where Wallinger was prompted to come on stage and join Prince for a meeting of musical minds.Sadly , Wallinger was too incapacitated with alcohol to oblige ,and sat flirting drunkenly with some attractive french starlets. He would say though that "Prince seemed interested in me,because even at that level they're still insecure in some ways .I think he wanted to check out the new kid signed to his management team ,see what this new trinket was .I don't think he was quaking in his boots though.He's completely wrapped up in being Prince."

It was another Waterboy though,Mike Scott,who paid Prince probably the ultimate tribute, by writing a song about him,"The Whole Of the Moon".The lyrics relate the story of two people,one is a remarkable visionary and the other tries to emulate him: "I had the flashes,but you saw the plan,I saw the crescent,you saw the whole of the moon". At times the lyrics are both tongue in cheek and telling " I wandered out in the world,while you just stayed in your room."Written in 1985,the song could be namechecking an ATWIAD track "You climbed the ladder,and you know how it feels to reach too high,too far,too soon",perhaps casting criticism on Prince's daring exploits around that time,unleashing Purple Rain on the public to huge acclaim and success,only to see the adulation and sales decline rapidly with ATWIAD. Check out the video for "The Whole Of The Moon" too if its ever on VH-1.Mike Scott is wearing a curiously shaped brooch on his jacket - its either an ornate anchor or its a copy of the original "O+>" symbol as seen on the side of the Purple Rain honda on the album cover ,the similarity is very striking to say the least.

1987's Sign O The Times again spawned some cover versions.The politically conscious group Simple Minds covered the title track for their Amsterdam EP,singer Jim Kerr saying "It's just a brilliant track...tells you more about the world in three lines than most modern songs do in three verses".Joe Robert's had a UK top 40 hit with a faithful cover (i.e. carbon copy) of "Adore",and happily ,the smallest hit from the album for Prince,the great "If I was your girlfriend" has now reached a whole new audience (8m +) thanks to TLC's cover on their "Crazysexycool" album,the title having obvious shades of "Lovesexy". Prince was gracious enough to return the compliment paid by introducing them at the 1999 MTV Video Awards ,though sadly there was no further performance from him on that occasion. Ex-New Kid on the block Jordan Knight also kindly covered "ICNTTPOYM" for his solo album in 1999,turning a classic uptempo rocker into yet another R&B dirge.Tempted to hear this one? The song's lyrics say it best, "Baby don't waste your time."

U2's Bono publicly praised Prince at the Grammy awards in 1988,saying "Prince would be just another song and dance man,but he isn't,he's much more".Prince didn't reciprocate the praise though,saying in his 2nd Rolling Stone interview,"You'll be at the Grammy's and U2 will beat you.You say to yourself,I can play that kind of music too...but you will not do 'Housequake'".They kissed and made up to duet on "The Cross" at an aftershow at The Pod in Dublin in 1995 though.

Similarly,Eric Clapton,another big fan,has proclaimed "Prince is a reincarnation of all the best in music...I love him dearly",whereas 0(+> has said "His name is Eric Clapton 2 me,his name is not God,everybody can play the blues."He's nothing if not honest! Further to this,in the 1989 BBC programme Prince:A Musical Portrait,Clapton accurately stated that "theres no middle ground with this guy....You either love him or you hate him.I've met people that are so anti-him that I don't see it'll ever change.When people say he's selling out,or a commercial exploiter,I don't see that point at all, and in that respect I feel I know what I'm talking about."

D'Arby and Kravitz and others

Arguably,the two people who have been most influenced by,and indeed compared to,Prince are fellow multi-instrumentalists Terence Trent D'Arby and Lenny Kravitz.The former happily admits Prince's influence on him,saying on his Symphony or Damn album notes "Special heartfelt thanks to Prince and Bruce Springsteen...I look up to you both a great deal,name dropping be damned".The excellent album contains an impressive range of musical styles comparable to Sign O The Times.D'Arby has said to Prince "How come you always do what I was thinking of doing before me."You can see his point.After the 12m success of his "Introducing the hardline according to.." album,his experimental second album "Neither fish nor flesh" was
fully-blown psychedelia.The album was panned,and he lost a hell of a lot of fans.Sound familiar anyone?

D'Arby and Prince are believed to have discussed a collaboration ,and he said that they had great chemistry in the studio , " It was ,as you might expect , rather swift and easy ,I have tremendous,tremendous respect for him ,what he's represented ,what he's done ,the way he paved for himself and others who've come after him and his inspiration in providing further evidence of value and not being afraid to be who you really are.To express the truth of who you are and not being afraid to think outside the box. His Vibrator album shows him nude on the cover,with angelic wings on his back,giving a less than subtle nod to Lovesexy's cover.Curiously,Lenny Kravitz's album "Circus",shows him also in the altogether,posing with devilish imagery (spiky fingernails,long tail,hair in horny quiffs).Neither can match the naughty but nice subtlety captured in Prince's single pose for Lovesexy.

Like Prince,Kravitz's band consists of a mixture of sexes and races.He often seems irritated by his Princely comparison.A review of his Circus album in the UK music weekly Melody Maker spent as much time talking about Prince's ATWIAD album as Kravitz's psychedelic album,with Prince coming out on top.Maybe this wouldn't have been so bad,but on the same page The Gold Experience was also reviewed ,in an article twice as long as Lenny's lacklustre review.The similarities are definitely there,albeit more in his lyrics than his music,which for a long time was stuck in the 60/70's."Are you gonna go my way" has a similar "I am the messiah" message to "I Would Die 4 U"."Don't put a bullet to your head",from Circus,was called a poor man's "Sign O the Times" by one critic.An older song has him relating his troubles to a taxi-man.The title - "Mr. Cab Driver" .Need I go on? Whatever Prince's influence may be on him ,Kravitz proved at the Rave Un2 The Year 2000 show that he can rock out with the best of them.His two-song set, including big hit Fly Away from the surprisingly excellent "5" album ,was one of many highlights from that night.


Prince fans continued to appear into the 90's. Tony Mortimer from the now-defunct pop group East 17 was another,very vocal fan,who declares his admiration for Prince quite frequently,saying Purple Rain is his favourite album.His bands music had strong Prince influences also.Their great songs "Deep" and "Slow it down" borrowed mood and style from Prince's seduction classics "Insatiable" and "Slow love".Deep in particular has a fantastic minimalistic synth bass-line (practically identical to Sign O The Times) and combines with their lover's lyrics to make perhaps their best song to date."Steam" has a female panting in the chorus similar to Peach's ecstatic gasps of desire.Title-wise they've sung "Around The World",admittedly their song "Gold" was first,and "Do u still" is one of many in the charts nowadays to use 'u','2' and '4' in place of the proper words,an idea once exclusively Prince's ,which is now commonplace. Their song "Thunder" has a chorus which is practically a homage to all things Princely: 

    "When the thunder calls you,from a mountain high,
     time to spread your wings and fly.
     When the thunder calls you,under purple sun,
     To the  place where horses run"
borrowing lines and ideas straight from "Gold" and "Little Red Corvette".

Of course a mere similarity between song titles doesn't necessarily imply a Princely influence,but at the least it shows a basic knowledge of his songs.An example would be the song "Times O the Sign " from the Terrorvision album (ironically ,in view of this article titled) "How to make friends and influence people".The song casts a cynical view over people who pretend to be topical/political only when it suits their own ends,and who change their views as often as they change their clothes (my words,not theirs). Similarly there is the track "9teen90nine" from Limp Bizkit's album Significant Other ,which has a similarish message to 1999,that of living now and not fearing the future ," No use in dreadin' what they call Armageddon. I think we made it through the slump..so lets make something out of it.Whoever thought we would see the day ,I can't believe we did it.So let's drift away", though of course it's delivered in their own in-your-face style.

More definite connections to Prince lie in the 3 members of REM who formed the side project group The Hindu Love Gods to cover "Raspberry Beret".Further,when writing the song "Tongue",REM singer Michael Stipe said he tried to imagine what Tori Amos would sound like doing a Prince cover.This concept isn't so unrealistic,as Tori Amos has in fact covered "Purple Rain" live.Along similar lines,Bon Jovi have a song on the "Keep the Faith" album called "If I was your mother",("Tell me there's no other to who you tell your secrets..I could get so close it's true..If I was your mother") which conveys a similar yearning for a deeper relationship with a lover as does Prince's "If I was your girlfriend".
The Bon Jovi connection doesn't stop there.On the These Days album is the song Diamond Ring, a conscious attempt by Jon Bon Jovi to write in the style of Prince. A Dream Nation fanzine fron 1992 mistakenly thought Prince had written it for Jon Bon Jovi,though it wasn't released until 1995. The lyrics of the song have a structure which bears close similarity to the outtake "Empty room"-("Diamond ring, diamond ring,Baby, you're my everything, diamond ring"/"Empty room,empty room ,how am I gonna fill you?How am I gonna fill this empty room?").Musically,there is also a slight similarity if you look for it,though the former is an acoustic number and the latter is a cavernous rock epic.As a curious sidenote,the next song on "Keep the faith" contains the line,"I knew this Puerto Rican girl who lied to change her life .She changed her name",the lying aside,remind you of any people we know!

In 1996 in the UK,we saw perhaps the first truly classic artist to cover Prince, The Mike Flowers Pops Orchestra (who more famously covered Oasis' Wonderwall ) ,with their medley of Prince songs,played to death (quite literally) on tour.Don't laugh, they say if you're going to cover a song you should do something with it.Whether what he does with people's songs is respectful,moral or legal is another matter.Aren't there laws against this kind of thing?

The New Wave of R&B

Over the last few years,a new wave of R&B artists have appeared,many inspired by Prince's work.Apart from Timbaland and TLC,which we have mentioned previously,Ginuwine produced an (unrecognisable) cover of "When Doves Cry" (which was also given a fresh reworking by a gospel choir in the MTV-friendly Romeo and Juliet movie ),and Ginuwine has said of Prince "I always try to watch him and (emulate) what he does!I would like to do a song with him ,I would love for him to write a song for me or produce a song for me. Not to do a duet as far as singing with me but....Prince I would like him to produce a song for me."Incidentally both trip-hop artist Tricky and folk-singer Ani DiFranco have also covered When Doves Cry in very different styles.Tricky,of course,hugely influenced by Prince,has collaborated with Wendy and Lisa ,and name-checked all 3 of them in the lyrics to his song "She Said" (from his 1999 record Juxtapose),"Then we jumped in her car, went real far after the pizza with Wendy and Lisa / She said,she said,asked about Prince I left my fingerprints." AniDifranco of course collaborated with Prince on their albums To The Teeth and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic,calling him "my favourite 4th of July" in the liner notes to her album.Both Missy Elliott and 98 degrees have said that Prince's 1993 The Hits collection was thier favourite CD and R.Kelly is said to be a big fan.Ironically Kelly's first big hit,"Bump and Grind" was jostling for top spot in the US Pop and R&B charts with Prince's last big hit "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World",back in 1994,and Kelly won the battle,a sign o the times if ever there was one.Finally if diva  Mary J Blige isn't a fan then someone should really ask her why her track "The Love I Never Had " (from the Mary album ) borrows so unashamedly from "I Hate U" (or do production and writing credits for Jam and Lewis answer that one for us already.)

Perhaps the most vocal R&B fan of Prince in these times is superstar D'Angelo,who not only covered She's Always In My Hair for the Scream 2 soundtrack ,saying "I wanted to do a b-side simply because I didn't want to do an obvious cover or something that was a hit. That's a big reason why I chose it.I love the song,I've always loved the song.It matches, aside from the movie and everything,it really has some personal things in it.It hits home with me.I have personal emotions when I sing this song."He also claimed that the most memorable moment of his career was singing "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" live with Prince.D'Angelo has said that the track "Untitled" from his Voodoo album was a tribute to Prince's Controversy era ,but furthermore,and far more significantly he made reference to Prince in the album's liner notes ,saying "Or you might say,'but his (D'Angelo's) shit don't sound that original,he just sounds like he's trying to be Prince or some shit',and I'd say 'Maybe you're right,at times I do...'I'd pay to see Prince's face as he listens to this album.Over the years I've sat in countless conversations about why it is that The Artist puts out half the shit he does (you know the half I'm talking about) is because he lacks any new inspiration.
Once again an artist is faced with the reality of having to serve as their own inspiration after they've worn out all of their Sly,Jimi,Marvin,Stevie.."
Just maybe D'Angelo got bored of the constant comparisons to Prince and he felt the need to prove himself something different.To be fair we should make it clear for those not in the know that Voodoo doesn't really sound like anything Prince has ever done.This is actually a very good thing ,as in all honesty Voodoo is a god awful album,vastly over-rated,and pretty much lacking any vibrancy,life,joy and anything remotely resembling a memorable chorus;it's an album of bland,meandering R&B dirges ,the sound of someone getting too big for his boots.The fact that D'Angelo should make such a bad album last so long is just plain cruel by the way.Worryingly,Prince rose to D'Angelo's challenge and tossed off a carbon copy of Untitled,itself a poor man's Do Me Baby ,in "U Make My Sun Shine", hopefully that'll be the last we hear of it though.Voodoo's complete lack of musical merit had me wishing I'd seen Prince's face when he heard the album too;he must have been laughing out loud at the cheek and misguided arrogance of the chap.
 The one good thing to come from this sorry episode though is Prince's collaboration with Angie Stone (on U Make My Sun Shine").Indeed ,Prince has been keeping some intriguing female musical company ,with Macy Gray also ,who performed at the recent Celebration event .She cites him as a major influence ,"The Purple Rain tour was the first concert had ever been to.I still remember that,almost every part of the show." Of their first meeting she said ,"He came to see me play ,and we talked for like 3 hours. It was so amazing to see him ,I touched him as soon as I saw him ,he's a real man!" Never mind D'Angelo ,if meeting up with these two fine artists (whp produced 2 great debut albums ,Macy's On How Life Is a thoroughly excellent listen ,and Angie released a fine debut album in Black Diamond ) inspires Prince to new heights ,the future holds many delights.Like Prince, Macy has a fine line in fonky smut (witness Sex-o-matic Venus Freak ) and her hit "Do Something" is as playful a push for positivity as there has been since '88's "Alphabet St". Angie Stone's "Love Junkie" is also irresistibly funky ,the kind of song we need to hear from Prince again...and in abundance.

Quite apart from all the above,there is the extended family of acts who've come out of Paisley Park,whose musical output has been more than influenced by Prince,in most cases been a direct product of his under a different name to another artist.But that is another article altogether.All in all,Prince's influence over music has been phenomenal,and will ensure that his musical legacy lives on well into this century,and maybe beyond.

Gimme the beat now-a list of artists who have sampled Prince 

---------------
2Pac                    1996     "Heartz Of Men"                 "Darling Nikki"
2Pac                    1996     "Whatz Ya Phone #"         	"777-9311"
Above The Law           ----     "Groupies' Best Friend" 	"Housequake"
Acen                    1992     "trip II the moon (mix)"        "Alphabet St."
Arrested Development    1992     "Tennessee"    		 "Alphabet St."
Arrested Development    1992     "Eve of Reality"  		 "New Position"
Assassin                ----     "A Que L'Histoire"    		  "Temptation"
Big Daddy Kane          1991    "The Lover In You"    		  "Pop Life"
Beatmasters         		 Fist full of Dub      		 "SOTT"
Black By Demand         1989    "Dearly Beloved"       		 "Let's Go..."
Black, Rock and Ron     ----    "Rap Life"      		"Pop Life"
Bomb The Bass           ----    "Beat Dis"            		  "Housequake"
Boy George              1988    "No Clause 28 (mix)"   		 "Housequake"
Hiram Bullock           1992    "Way Kool" (album)      	"Housequake"
Candyman                1990    "Nightgown"     		"E.C." & "I.B.""H
Chubb Rock               -      "Talkin Loud, Ain't Sayin Jack" "Housequake"
George Clinton          1989    "Hysterical"    		"Sex"
Color Me Badd           1993    "How Deep"      		"Crazy You"
Consolidated             ----   "America Number One"   		 "Hot Thing"
Criminal Element Orch.  1987    "Put The Needle On The Record"  "Kiss"
Cure                    1993    "Purple Haze"  			 "2 Whom It MC"
Da Lench Mob            1992    "Freedom's Got An A.K." 	"Gett Off"
De La Soul                      "Lovely How I Let My Mind Float" "Ballad of DP"
Derek B                 1987    "Bad Young Brother"     	"SOTT"
Die Warzau              1992    "Never Again" (Atlantic Mix)    "America"
Digital Underground     1990    "Doowhatchalike"
Digital Underground     1990    "Hip Hop Doll"  		"Nine"
Digital Underground     1990    "Sex Packets"   		"Sex Shooter"
Digital Underground     1990    "Sex Packets"   		"S Always in MH"
Digital Underground     1991    "Flowin' On The D-Line" 	"Housequake"
Digital Underground     1994    "Wussup Wit The Luv"  		"TBODP"
Dream Warriors          1991    "Wash Your Face in my Sink"  	 "When Doves Cry"
D.R.S.                  1994    "Scoundrels Get Lonely"  	"Gigolos Get Lonely"
Candy Dulfer            1993    "Pick Up the Pieces"    	"Gett Off"
Eazy E                  ----    "Eazy Duz It"  			 "Let's Go Crazy"
Carmen Electra          1993    "All That"      		"Adore"
TC Ellis                ----    "Miss Thang (mix)"     		 "SOTT"
Elisa Fiorillo          1990    "Playgirl"     			 "Erotic City"
Elisa Fiorillo          1990    "Playgirl"     			 "Raspberry B."
Full Force              1992    "If It's Cool Witcha Baby"      "New Position"
Boy George              -----   "No Clause 28 (mix)"   		 "Housequake"
House of Pain           1992    "Jump Around"  			 "Gett Off"
Kiss Like This          1990    "Faith In You (12" remix)"      "Kiss"
Kool Moe Dee            1987    "Rock You"     			 "SOTT"
Kwame'                  ----    "Skinny Muva"  			 "Bob George"
Levert                  1990    "Rope-a-dope Style"    		 "Housequake"
Madonna                 1989    "Like a Prayer (12" club mix)  	 "Bob George"
MC Doc                  ----    "Are U Wid It" 			 "IWBY Lover"
MC Hammer                   -    "They Put Me In The Mix"        "Housequake"
MC Hammer               1990    "Work This"    			 "Let's Work"
Grace Jones             1993    "Sex Drive"    			 "My Name Is P"
Grace Jones             1993    "Typical Male"  		"The Max"
Jamie Foxx              1994    "Your Love"  			 "IIWYG"
Jesus Jones             ----    "Right Here, Right Now (mix)"   "SOTT"
Me Phi Me               1992    "Pu' Sho Hands 2Getha"  	"Gett Off"
Miki Howard             1992    "I've Been Through It"  	"Alpha. Street"
Meat Beat Manifesto     1988    "I Got the Fear"        	"Kiss"
Meat Beat Manifesto     1990    "God O.D."    			  "Pos" & "Al St"
MoKenStef's                     "He's Mine" 			" Do Me Baby."
Mucky Pup                ----    "Freakin' At The Peep Show"     "Gett Off
Naughty By Nature        1991    "Let the Ho's Go"     		  "Housequake""
Nine Inch Nails          ----    "Ringfinger"   		 "Alphabet St."
Nine Inch Nails          ---     "Head Like a Hole (Opal mix) 	"Release it"&"Tamborine"
NPG                      1993    "Deuce and a Quarter"  	 "Horny Pony"
Oh Well                  ----    "Radar Love"    		"Housequake"
Robert Plant             1990    "Hurting Kind"  		"Housequake"
PM Dawn                  1991    "A Watcher's Point of View"     "Cindy C"
The Project              1991    "Explode"      		 "ICSTFIG"
Public Enemy             1990    "Brothers Gonna Work It Out"    "Let's Go Crazy"
Rodney-O/Joe Cooley      1987    "D.J.'s and M.C.'s"    	 "Kiss"
Sex on a Beach           ----    "Mary's Jam"   		 "Gett Off"
Sir Mix-a-Lot            1989    "Beepers"      		 "Batdance"
Sir Mix-a-Lot            1992    "A Rapper's Reputation" 	"Head"
MC Solaar                 ---    "Caroline"      		"SAIMH"
SUAD                     ----    "Lamborghini"   		"ATWIAD"
Sudden Death    	 1992    "Sleep Around" 		 "Gett Off"
TC Ellis        	 1991    "Miss Thang (mix)"    		  "SOTT"
Terminator X   	 	 1991    "Ain't Got Nothing"   		  "IIWYG"
To Be Continued 	 ----    "Yo, Mr. President"
Top Authority   	 1993    "Ain't Worth No Cash" 		 "IIWYG"
The Underworld  	 1992    "The Afterworld"      		  "Let's Go Crazy"
UTFO   			 ----    "Bits and Pieces"      	 "Kiss"
UTFO   			 ----    "Diss" 			 "Kiss"
Ween    		 ----    "Push The Little Daisys (mix)"  "Alphabet St."
Young Disciples 	 ----    "Get Yourself Together" 	  "SOTT"
Young Disciples 	 ----    "Young Disciples Theme" 	  "SOTT"