Prince’s Closest Friends Share Their Best Prince Stories
December 8, 2016 2:44 PM   Subscribe

 
Because I'm short, I'm five three…and he's shorter than me. But, that aside, he is a unicorn. He's somehow floating when he's talking.

I worked at a used record shop in the 90s, and the Prince divider in our LP bins just had the symbol and, "little. purple. nassssssssssssty" on it.

In retrospect, we should have added a floating unicorn.
posted by ryanshepard at 2:56 PM on December 8, 2016 [9 favorites]


Once the lights turned on [after a Paisley Park event in September 2015], I left quick because I'm super claustrophobic and can't take the cattle-exit style of most rock shows. So I'm walking real fast in the parking lot, trying to get to my car quick when—zoooom!—I see this dude on a bike ripping around the parking lot coming at me. I was ignoring him, trying not to engage, when he circled me and slyly said, "Where you goin'? The party's just getting started." WTF. It's Prince...on a white mountain bike, wearing his full rock-star outfit—white, to match the bike, of course, with a multicolor print on it. So I returned to the doorman at the advice of Prince—only to be schooled that Prince plays this joke often and that the party was indeed over.
The mental images of Prince biking around town and shows are HILARIOUS.

And oh, I love how tech savvy Prince was. Most great artists, like Bowie, seem to be like that.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:59 PM on December 8, 2016 [14 favorites]


Most great artists, like Bowie, seem to be like that.

I dunno about most. I mean, it was two people and two people who were known for being way out there. It's really quite exceptional.
posted by GuyZero at 3:06 PM on December 8, 2016 [4 favorites]


That Time I Opened Tower Records Early So Prince Could Shop

Me: "What is that scent you're wearing, it's amazing!"

Prince: "Magic."

posted by RobotVoodooPower at 3:16 PM on December 8, 2016 [25 favorites]


Thank you for this. Profound, profane, and delicious, just like Prince. ☔️
posted by mynameisluka at 3:30 PM on December 8, 2016 [4 favorites]


Both Prince and MJ really liked to prank call people, huh.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:30 PM on December 8, 2016


Dirty Mind came out when I was 14. Girl at school said I had to hear it. We couldn't catch our breath and giggled in class the next day.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:35 PM on December 8, 2016


Oh how I love this! Thank you for posting it.
posted by juliplease at 3:45 PM on December 8, 2016


I always liked this anecdote from Bono (related in U2 by U2):

"Myself and Anne-Louise Kelly stayed late every night trying to get people to go on the [Amnesty International] tour, ringing everybody we knew, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Prince. Prince was at the height of his popularity and his manager said, 'Well, just ring this number between seven and eight.' I said, 'Oh, great, is that his home phone number?' He said, 'No, it's in the studio.' 'Will somebody pick it up?' I asked. He said, 'Well, we don't know but he sometimes walks past between seven and eight.' I said, 'Can I have an appointment to speak to him?' He said, 'No, he doesn't take appointments. But if he's passing and the phone rings, he'll pick it up.'"
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 3:48 PM on December 8, 2016 [17 favorites]


He didn't look at all like he looked later on. The clothing he was wearing was not the clothing of a wealthy man, trust me. But he had put it together as deft as one could.

Is that GQ's interpretation of "def" do you think?
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:50 PM on December 8, 2016


The only good thing to come out of Prince's death was listening to people calling into The Current to share their Prince stories. The best were a few people with stereotypical Minnesota accents:

So dis one time me and my friend Bahr-ber-a went out to Paisley Park cus we heard dat Prince was goin to have a party or some'tin'. So we get in and I lose track of Barbera and den I turn around and would'n'cha know it der was Barbera up on stage, dancin' with Prince!
posted by nathan_teske at 4:19 PM on December 8, 2016 [18 favorites]


These are great. Prince seems to be simultaneously very normal and very... not normal, without being anything in between the two. I miss him.
posted by Fig at 4:22 PM on December 8, 2016 [10 favorites]


"I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon."

Sick burn!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:51 PM on December 8, 2016 [16 favorites]


The only good thing to come out of Prince's death was listening to people calling into The Current to share their Prince stories.

One of the DJs at the Current mentioned seeing a mural in Prince's house that had depictions of all his musical influences. He recognized most of the faces on the mural, but there was a group of white guys in one corner of the mural he couldn't quite make out. When he asked Prince who they were, Prince said, "That's Grand Funk Railroad. It's foot-stompin' music."
posted by jonp72 at 10:04 PM on December 8, 2016 [9 favorites]


"I was hoping that Obama, as soon as he was elected, would get up and announce there'd be no more Christmas presents and no more birthdays—we've got too much to do."

Heh, there's the Jehovah's Witness coming out.
posted by PenDevil at 10:59 PM on December 8, 2016 [7 favorites]


I really needed this thread today. Thank you.
posted by Beholder at 3:32 AM on December 9, 2016


Warning: Neal Karlen's last article on Prince is a real tear-jerker.
posted by muddgirl at 8:58 AM on December 9, 2016 [2 favorites]


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