R.I.P. Prince (1958-2016)

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

In honor of Prince, Google released a new doodle:

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

But gee whiz, this is starting to look more and more like 2008 in terms of celebrity deaths. Remember, that was the year we lost Bernie Mac, Paul Newman, Heath Ledger, Eartha Kitt, Don Fontaine, Bo Diddly, Isaac Hayes, George Carlin, and many others.

And don't forget about 2009 when we lost Michael Jackson, Dom Deluise, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Britney Murphey and many others.
Appearantly the summer of 2009 was known as "The Summer of Death" because of all the high profile celebrities that died during that summer.

 

[mr3urious]

And don't forget about 2009 when we lost Michael Jackson, Dom Deluise, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Britney Murphey and many others.

Don't forget bombastic TV pitchman Billy Mays, which was especially shocking as many people were beginning to like him thanks to shows like Pitchmen and his ability to make fun of himself. He was even planning on doing a series of Taco Bell commercials in the style of his infomercials, but alas, those plans were forever shot.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Don't forget bombastic TV pitchman Billy Mays, which was especially shocking as many people were beginning to like him thanks to shows like Pitchmen and his ability to make fun of himself. He was even planning on doing a series of Taco Bell commercials in the style of his infomercials, but alas, those plans were forever shot.

Oh, how could I forget about Billy? I still can't believe he's gone.

 

[Muppet Master]

RIP Prince, his music was iconic, but I'll never forget his hilarious MT scene with Bobo, he was truly a legend.

 

[Katzi428]

I had wanted to put "Raspberry Beret" on my FB page (it was one of my favorites) But I couldn't find a decent one where the sound was cut out. . R.I.P. Prince. You'll be royally missed.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Just watch the Prince episode of MT, just so sad.

 

[Blue Frackle]

The only thing I'm sorry about, once Weird Al wanted to do a spoof of "Raspberry Beret", and Prince refused. For anyone else in the music biz, getting parodied by Weird Al is proof you made it. It's a badge of honor. There's something... awkward... about feeling so precious or possessive of your work that you can't stand anyone having any fun at your expense. Time to lighten up.

Okay, I agree Prince seemed maybe a little too "full of himself" at times, shall we say, but letting Weird Al parody your song, everyone remembers that, and it takes away from the seriousness of the song. Like if I wrote a really serious song that really meant something to me I wouldn't want someone parodying it.

There's an argument to be made that Prince was the most talented rock musician of all time, with his ability to play every major instrument well and write classic songs in a variety of genres. He basically could do anything he set out to do musically, and even if a lot of his released stuff seemed tossed off or deliberately off-putting, there was always that spark somewhere in the mix. His only peers in terms of being able to do everything are Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone. He'll be missed.

If you haven't ever heard his music, go listen to Purple Rain now.

Okay, I'm a hardcore Todd Rundgren fan and he is basically an unknown genius from the '70s, though he did have top 5 success with "Hello It's Me", and to bring it full circle, Prince was pretty much a big-time Toddhead.

 

[charlietheowl]

Okay, I'm a hardcore Todd Rundgren fan and he is basically an unknown genius from the '70s, though he did have top 5 success with "Hello It's Me", and to bring it full circle, Prince was pretty much a big-time Toddhead.

Todd Rundgren is just about up there, he certainly could do the one-man band routine and also work well with other musicians. His work with synths and drum programming in the early 70s should be mentioned with Stevie, but I think since he only had a couple hits it's easy to overlook it.

 

[fuzzygobo]

The thing with Weird Al, he does not parody people's work out of malice. It's his gift of taking others' work and putting his twist on it, that makes him so brilliant. If he did a spoof on Prince, it wouldn't belittle him in any way.

Matt Groening once said the best comic targets are people who can't stand to be made fun of. People can take themselves too seriously, and that could be a comic goldmine. Bill Cosby, Regis Philbin, for starters.

SNL did a brilliant spoof on him in 1985. Back then the big record was USA For Africa's "We Are The World". Big all-star charity deal. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and a cast of thousands. Even Dan Aykroyd.

Everyone who was big in music was involved Except Prince. So SNL did a lampoon with Prince singing " I Am Also The World". One word: brilliant.

Prince declined to comment. At the time, there was actually a spaghetti company called Prince Superoni, and he was battling to put them out business.