{In honor of the 20TEN review, I thought I’d post access to an interview I did with th Royal One back in 1991. Hope you enjoy it!}
Back when I was a cub reporter (ha!) at SPIN magazine, Bob Guccione, Jr, dispatched me to Paisley Park to “interview” Prince. I put that word in quotes because Prince never really wants to be “interviewed.” I’m convinced that what he likes is to chill with journalists, pick their brains a bit, tease them with some new tunes, then send them on their merry way. In other words, I got to Paisley Park and was told to check my tape recorder at the door. Of course, since my expected hour with Prince turned into a coupla days—filled with a tour of Paisley Park (including a few minutes in his private aerie-office), a “hangout” of sorts at Glam Slam, a personal, full-band performance (I was the only audience member) of the upcoming Diamonds and Pearls tour, a look at the archives (where I saw homeboy’s Oscar), and a chill-out session in the studio where Prince himself played me Diamonds and Pearls—I had to run to the bathroom a coupla times to try to write down the things he said. Eventually I just gave up and gave myself over to the experience. And what an experience it was, starting with the moment he stepped up to me, offered me his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Prince.”
PS: I saw Prince again a few years later, at a Grammy party in Manhattan. He had me summoned over to his table and looked at me for a full minute before he smiled and said, “I like what you said about me on TV.” I’d had his back in a discussion, on a TV show I used to do on VH1, about his “slave” period versus Warner Brothers, and it took me a second to remember what he was talking about. Eventually we chatted for a few more minutes, then I left him to his peeps and went back to mine. It’s not often that you meet the artist you love more than any other, and he sorta gives you props….
I hope you enjoy the “interview,” really the jottings of a young journalist at the start of his career and way out of his league, but having the absolute time of his life…
Go to Google Books here for the interview, pics and all…
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