Prelude to Purple Rain

Yesterday, the Artist Foreverly Known as Prince left us here on Earth with our dicks in our hands saying, "Well that's it. If Prince can die then there is no hope of me living forever." And now, as tears subside, we celebrate the musical genius by honoring his work in 1984's Purple Rain. Wow, what an honor.

Trigger Alert! Trigger Alert!

We start the episode with an intro that some Western religious folk may find offensive. If you offend easily to the impression of God and Heaven then you may want to skip this one. What? It's not like we drew a picture of Moha- (the writer of Stinker Madness has been sacked).

We then treat you with one of the sweetest jams The Purple One ever made (with The New Power Generation) - Sexy MF from the 1992's Love Symbol album.

Streaming Do's and Dont's - The Prince Collection

• Purple Rain - YouTube $2.99
• Under the Cherry Moon - Amazon $2.00
• Graffiti Bridge - Amazon $2.00
• Action Jackson - YouTube $2.99
• Never Too Young to Die - YouTube!

Who wins in a knife fight? - The Prince Wars

• Prince vs Bono
• Prince vs Sting
• Prince vs Madonna

About Purple Rain/Prince - Movie Information

Sam's Boring Bullshit

John Lewis Nelson, a Louisiana native that drifted to Minnesota pursuing a Jazz Career, would eventually begin performing under the name Prince Rogers and would later form the Prince Rogers Trio. In 1956 Nelson would meet Mattie Della Shaw who would become the singer for his group. By 1958 the two were married thought Nelson may or may not have been already married to the mother of his 4 children, Vivian Nelson. The same year as their marriage, Shaw, now Nelson would give birth to a son. This child would be named Prince Rogers Nelson. In an interview John Lewis Nelson said he gave his stage name to his son as he wanted Prince to be able to do accomplish everything that Nelson wanted to. I think he did, and then did 1000x more. 

Prince would start serious recording and performing as the guitarist of Minnesota based band 94 East at the age of 17. He would receive his first solo contract at the same age in the year 1976. At 20 he had inked a multi record deal with Warner Brothers. His first album, For You, would mark the beginning of a prolific career by possibly the greatest song writer of all time, who happened to be an instrumental virtuoso. His studio album count would reach 39, the last being the double album, Hit and Run released in 2015. Some estimate that including songs he wrote for other musicians and material that went on released, his total count would be well over 1000 songs.

Though Prince is uncredited as a writer or producer the concept and story of the film were of Princes creation. Originally he had planned it to be more grim and sexual. There were many Ideas left out, such as a scene where he would have sex with co-star Apollonia Kotero in a barn. The great one, however never let a good idea go to waste and would later use that story for the song Raspberry Beret, which I guess is about having sex in a barn. 

Before I mention the director, I will mention that this film grossed 68 million against a 7 million dollar budget and holds a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Director Albert Magnoli will be back for at least Tango and Cash and possibly American Anthem as well. He is also co credited with television legend William Blinn for the script. Who knows how much they wrote or if they were just tasked with taking out the parts that were too Princey. According to Magnoli, only about a few scenes from Blinn’s version make it into the final piece.

Beyond the enormous returns that the movie generated at the box office, the album Purple Rain would go platinum 13 times in the US alone. The five singles from the album would generate some of the most popular music videos made to that point.  The home release of the movie would also generate excessive returns. It is one of Warner Brother’s most successful ventures of all time as it greatly impacted the finances of every one of the company’s divisions.

Originally Vanity was to be the co-star of this film but the relationship between her and Prince had soured to the point that she even left her own band, Vanity 6. She was replaced in not only the film but also the band by actress Patricia Kotero, who would assume the moniker of Apollonia, which was her middle name. The band would also be renamed Apollonia 6, as they still had the six boobs between them. She had mostly worked in television and even in that arena single episodes of popular shows such as CHiPS and Night Rider.  None the less she is one of the only veteran actors in this film. She also happened to be a Rams Cheerleader. After Prince she has been romantically linked with master of disguise, Lorenzo Lamas. 

KAEOF:  One of the only other professional actors, Clarence Williams III. I guess you could also keep an eye out for the scores of Minnesota based musicians.