Rebel Without A Pause

When Prince signed his last record deal with Warners (and I mean last) ,amongst all the speculation
about how much it was worth,part of the deal was that he became a member of the board of
executives at Warners.They probably thought by doing this that they could show Prince how things are run their side
 (Like he didnt already know),how being prolific really screws up their profit margins and marketing strategies
 (the well-known album-tour-album thoery of selling an album).Ideally trying to get him to do things on their terms - the fools!

It seems obvious that Prince intended changing these things to his ends and decided to start at the highest levels,
creating a fuss while being an executive at the same time.As time passsed he saw how hopelessly out of touch
these people were with the artists and music they marketed and so saw his best option as becoming an
 independent force (as always) ,highlighting Warners ineptitude from outside their ranks.
Hence when there was a boardroom shuffle ,he resigned his place without argument.

Since then we saw the many public protestations for artistic freedom - Emancipation.
The termination of a contract which he says he wants no part of .Though Warners say they are not embarassed by this,
he must surely have got on their nerves.Many rock stars choose to rebel in one way or another .
Often it involves excessive use of drugs (yawn!) ,copious sexual activity (snore!) ,maybe the occasional trashing
of a hotel room (ho-hum!),in effect rebelling against the everyday life  that us mere mortals endure every day .
Few really dare to rebel against the music industry ,effectively biting the hand which feeds them.
Lets face it ,when The Who used to famously rip up their hotel suites on tour,their record company probably looked on
 approvingly,as the band cultivated their bad boy image ,keeping them in the public eye ;most importantly ,
it wasn't effecting THEM or their profits.Warners must wish that 0(+> would express his anger similarly ,
"NO ,not another  album,trash the office,go get high,anything but that!"

That was just another example of Prince going against the flow.Remember  back in 1985,when he went out
clubbing while the rest  of the US music elite recorded "We are the world".
He was widely criticised for doing this ,but as if to further rub salt in the wound ,when a large collection of
music stars reunited to sing the song 10 years later at the American Music Awards ,0(+>
( who had of course recieved a lifetime achievement award ) ,joined them centre stage ,but refused to sing ,
instead sucking on a lollipop (a permanent fixture nowadays).


After the  success of Purple Rain ,expectations were high .Naturally ,Prince delivered his most offbeat album to date ;
the first single had  no accompanying video and the second singles video did not feature him at all .
Ultimately the album sold  regardless ,such was the height of his success the previous year.

1988 and his album sales were declining gradually.Lovesexy's nude cover followed,causing much controversy in the
 straight-laced USA ,where often the album was kept under the counter and sold on request ,
 if the shops agreed to sell it at all .Such anti-promotion didn't help sell the album , but thankfully sales were
 to soar  the following year.

Into the 1990s ,and after the failure of the overtly spiritual and misunderstood Graffiti Bridge film , the  lead off singles for the
  next 2 albums were both widely slated due to their sexual content , an experience which was not new to Prince ,after the
 reaction to Dirty Mind a decade or so earlier.The  first single is arguably the most important step in the promotion of an album
 and having restricted airplay  and the video banned on MTV really doesnt help sell a song does it ? Gett Off and Sexy MF
faired better around the world  than in the US ,and it was hard not to see their release as a deliberate
attempt to provoke controversy . None of the other singles from Diamonds And Pearls and 0(+> caused
 a stir and were generally bigger hits for it .

Of course , it always helps to know who the artist is when you are  about to buy their latest release  ,
and a name you can't pronounce is always hard and not exactly radio friendly.If you're going to relaunch yourself
 under a new name you need to have a big hit which people can buy and then you'll get to know the name of the singer
 ...eventually.The Most Beautiful Girl In The World achieved this goal effortlessly  and now he is referred to as  0(+> (or
 TAFKAP ) in all music ppublications without explanation.Warners tried to make thrmselves good by allowing TMBGITW's
 independent release ,saying it was a courteousy gesture , but it must have been a huge slap in the face when it
became the huge hit it did ,especially when Prince had signed the  extremely  lucrative contract to deliver all his music
 to them , (Of course TMBGITW wasn't  "Prince's" to give though,was it ).When he finally did deliver an album to them ,
it was the explicit anti-commercial Come  ,which Warners had to effectively  promote off their own backs ,
as no videos were forthcoming from Paisley Park . 0(+> wasn't worried  though ,the fans were kept more than happy 
with The Beautiful Experience mini-movie.While Come ran its short promotinal course ,0(+> happily promoted
 The Gold Experience .When that album finally saw release ,he took every opportunity not to promote it ,
cancelling a Saturday Night Live appearance and allowing I Hate U to be released without a video.

Quite apart from individual events his gender crossing  dress sense and varying musical styles means that he
 never wanted to be considered a popstar in the traditional sense. He  has thrived on breaking  rules and musical ground
 ,crushing stereotypes and generally making people think again.

Warners may label him  difficult or awkward .We just call him unique.