I still have a sticker for the symbol that marked the phase of Prince’s career where he didn’t wanna be called by his birth name and began protesting his contract with Warner Bros. Records. People change their name all the time, but few pick a symbol that no one can pronounce. But that’s why Prince was Prince.
November 4th, 1984 I attended the opening the Purple Rain tour in Detroit. I always thought this was the ticket to the show, but its actually the after party. I don’t remember once about the after party other than Prince looking at us look at him. I did a long, somewhat negative review of the concert itself, which may have sparked my mention in the song “Bob George” a few years later.
But, mostly, I got along with Prince after interviewing him for Record World magazine in January 1981 following the release of the Dirty Mind album. I did a short profile of him that is collected in The NELSON GEORGE MIXTAPE book available via www.pacificpacific.pub.
Enjoy black music month.