Publication: Musician Magazine [US]
Date: February 1987
Section:
Page Number(s):
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Title: "A Decade Of Incredible Interviews"
Interviewed By: Various

[EXCERPT]

PRINCE

Musician: What’s your last name? Is it Prince?
Prince: I don’t know.
(Barbara Graustark) #59 Sept. 1983

(Early Associate Chris) Moon said Prince’s personality changed remarkably over the months, from a shy introverted kid who could never look anyone in the eye to a budding megalomaniac, full of talent and purpose who still wouldn't look anyone in the eye.
(Steve Perry) #94 Aug. 1986

Prince Nelson looks down and smiles sheepishly.

"I never give interviews, you know," he says, glancing up, then quickly averting his eyes. "But after I’d read some articles of yours I felt, "Here is someone I can finally confide in."

He leans forward and puts his hand on my knee. This 26 year old manchild certainly exudes an indefinable charm, a mixture of reticence and pride. His eyeliner is smudged. Then I woke up. Fakeout! You didn't really expect to see a Prince interview, did you?
(Unused Scott Isler intro) #72 Oct. 1984

Prince: Well, I used to wear leotards and Danskins and stuff, because our stage show is really athletic and I wanted something comfortable. And my management said, "You have to at least start wearing underwear, because...." Musician: You weren't wearing any underwear? Prince: No. Kind of gross. So I said, okay and started wearing underwear.
(B.G.) #59

Prince to Graustark: "I tried 2 or 3 (interviews) and they were fiascoes. They didn’t believe anything I was saying, from my name on down to my background, so I said I’m not going to let anything get out in the public eye that is going to be misquoted. They didn’t believe I ran away as much as I did and not at such an early age. They didn’t believe I got out of school early-no black kid in Minneapolis does."
(S.I.) #72

Prince: I don’t want people to get the impression that sex is all I write about. Because, it’s not and the reason why it’s so abundant in my writing is mainly because of my age and the things that are around me. Until you can go to college or get a 9 to 5 job, then there's going to be a bunch of free time around you. And free time can only be spent in certain ways.
(B.G.) #59

(Engineer David) Leonard elaborates. "Most people in LA will get a band, cut all their tracks one week and for the next few months do overdubs and vocals. Then they’ll sit down for a month and mix the whole record. Prince does not do things that way. He’ll go into the studio with a song in his mind, record it, overdub it, sing it and mix it all in 1 shot, start to finish. The song never gets off the board. That's the way 'When Doves Cry' was done."
(S. I.) #72

Musician: So what will be first thing you do when you get back to Minneapolis?
Prince: Probably take a bath. I haven’t one in a long time. I’m scared of hotel bathtubs...
Musician: Is it easier to work alone rather than others?
Prince: Oh, much easier. I have a communication problem sometimes when I’m trying to describe music.
Musician: Were you always a musical loner?
Prince: When I first started, I always had buddies around me. I never wanted to be a front man. It felt spooky to be at the mike alone. I had a bad habit of just thinking about myself-if I just moved constantly, then people would think I was comfortable. But that wasn’t right....
Musician: I once heard you described as a child prodigy.
Prince: Don’t. That’s all fabricated evidence that the management did to make it happen. I don’t want to say that I was anything less than what they thought, but I just did it as sort of a hobby and then it turned into a job and just a way to eat and now I do it as art.
(B.G.) #59

He’s got a problem with his attitude and it comes across on record. Prince has to find out what it means to be a Prince. That’s the trouble with conferring a title on yourself before you’ve proved it. That was his attitude when he opened for us on the tour and it was insulting to our audience. You don’t try to knock off the headline like that when you’re playing Stones crowd.
(Keith Richards to Vic Garbarini) #62 Dec. 1983

Prince is no longer petulant but smiling and winsome with a short haircut and no makeup. He grinned as the crowd broke into a robust chorus of "Happy Birthday" and responded with a 90 minute jam session...Between songs, Prince chatted amiably with the audience and begged his father to stop taking pictures....
(Stephanie Jones) #84 Oct. 1985