MY NAME IS PRINCE AND I AM FUNKY

Because of this topic, I'm playing the "Symbol" album now (I actually just played it a couple days ago as well), and it's terrific. I'm sorry now that I didn't give Prince enough credit during this period. I would seriously recommend anyone who's interested in the man check this stuff out.

What's interesting about this song/video is that no one (to my knowledge) has ever pointed out the interesting origin of it. (And, I'm not being facetious - draw your own comclusions, but I'm not making any of this up) ...

Several months before this song was released, there was a Cheers episode featuring Ted Danson's attempt at rapping. I think he was trying out to be a sports broadcaster or some such. Problem was that he was a stiff piece of wood onscreen, so in a desparate attempt to keep his job and "jazz things up", he rapped on the air about the travails of having "a groin in-jur-ee .. a groin in-jur -ee! ... A GROIN IN-JUR-EEEEEE!!!"

Big deal, you say. But, now get this, the song sounded EXACTLY like "My Name is Prince and I'm Funky" - BEFORE that song was even released.

Coincidence, you say?

Ah, but then notice how the Prince video in question features a cameo by none other than ... Ted Danson's Cheers co-star Kirstie Alley (why???) as a TV reporter!

Explain this, go ahead. I dare you.

YEAH YEAH YEAH

MOUNTAINS EXTENDED MIX

i was wrong way back when ... i like this song now. though i still think that the video is silly.

Did you know that this song was originally called "My Name Is Bart"? It was supposed to be released on the second Simpsons album, with Bart Simpson doing the vocals, but the album got delayed so Prince decided to take song back and make it into "My Name Is Prince". I have the "My Name Is Bart" version, but I always thought it was just a parody or something... However, I just read a book on The Simpsons which said it's actually the original version.

lol wtf

This song suuuucks, and I like the Symbol Album a lot.

I love the song. its better than the 'rap' shit he was doing on The Gold Experience, which is an ok but uneven album.

Do you enjoy the rap shit on this single?

even though it's corny, yea....I mean, I prefer "Thunder" from the following album, but still.

Bart Simpson - My Name Is Bart

I wish Prince hadn't cut Lisa's sax parts from his version of the then, they're pretty dope!

Oh man how did I ever forget this song existed? This thread has made my morning.

I have no problem with the corny rap shit on this tune. Prince's monotone delivery fits the beat well, and the beat is one of his best from the 90s. Also, I've never really understood why Tony M gets so much hate. Sure, he's not a particulatly good lyricist, but he has a good flow and nice booming voice that works well enough with most of the tunes he's featured on.

"from his version of the tune"

the NPG albums were a bit underrated. at least the first two. Gold Experience I could take or leave, which sucks considering how awesome "most beautiful girl in the world" is

I haven't heard the first NPG album, but the second one does have a few nice tunes, especially "Count the Days", "Return of the Bump Squad", and "Hallucination Rain". If only it didn't have so damn many skits!

The Gold Experience >>>> Symbol Album >>>>>>>>>>> Diamonds and Pearls

D&P has "Push," "Jughead," and the title track, none of which I ever want to hear again. The others don't have songs quite so desperate.

i wasn't really into the album i just bought of his that had the song 'guitar' on it. it was a bit hit and miss for me. which sucks as i liked 3121 to a degree and loved musicology.

yea but the Gold Experience has the really boring "Now", the dull "If I Came Back as a Dolphin", the extremely generic r&b ballad (considering prince's normal standards) whose title i forget....

Oh, it's not a great album, but it and Emancipation are his best nineties records.

i can't keep up with his yearly releases now tho

Yeah, D&P is definitely worst of the NPG era albums. "Push", "Insatiable", and "Live 4 Love" are among the most boring tunes Prince has put on his own albums. What's even weirder is that some pretty great tunes that were recorded around the same time were left to B sides of D&P singles. I'd much rather hear "Horny Pony" and "Violet the Organ Grinder" on the album than "Live 4 Love".

(xxxx-post)

man D&P is getting not enough props from you all. I like the symbol album a lot better, but "insatiable" rules!

D&P is the only NPG album that was somewhat decent. Generally electronic Prince >>>>>>>>> organic Prince though.

Can we poll Geir's false dichotomies, please?

the npg sucked. mostly cos they had shitty production and generally so-so material to work with but that was half to do with their influence on prince anyway.

sexy mf and my name is prince were both pretty bad really.

"D&P is the only NPG album that was somewhat decent"

yep. although even that could have been improved with less tony m and less bombastic production.

they were, as musicians, 30 times more talented than the Revolution as a band.

(Note that I didn't say they were better songwriters or that their albums were better than the Revolution's but....it's true!)

maybe. but they had a less distinct/interesting sound. and what good is it being a better musician unless you have good ideas to go with them?

well, they DID have good ideas. the symbol album is pretty fucking awesome. even Diamonds and Pearls, which has more than its share of boring moments, is pretty good.

You're making the NPG sound like they were the Funky Bunch or something...

"The Morning Papers" ruled....totally could be a good singalong for concerts

"You're making the NPG sound like they were the Funky Bunch or something..."

lol. i dont really rate the symbol album though (apart from the morning papers and damn u/sweet baby/god created woman). theres a good 'best of the 90s' album you could make though.

Good songs on Symbol Album: "The Morning Papers," "Blue Light," "I Wanna Melt with U," "7,"And God Created Woman."

Awful songs: "Arrogance," "The Flow," "3 Chains of Gold," "The Sacrifice of Victor."

Overrated: "Sexy MF," which, as Chuck Eddy pointed out long ago and I have finally realized, is unfunky and not particularly sexy.

Has this album been polled?

the dull "If I Came Back as a Dolphin"

NEVER LEARN NOT TO LOVE "DOLPHIN"

If I came back as a dolphin
Would U listen 2 me then?
Would U let me be your friend?
Would U let me in?
U can cut off all my fins
But 2 your ways I will not bend
I'll die before I let U tell me how 2 swim
And I'll come back again as a dolphin

^^ i mean come on! that is incredible! it is the dumbest thing i have ever heard in my life!

Anyone who thinks "Sexy MF" is bad most be off their rockers! That's like one of the top 5 best Prince singles for the groove alone. And the Love Symbol album is great too. I know many folks don't like NPG albums because the don't sound like 80s Prince, but why should they? I think in the early 90s Prince's take on hip-hop/dance sounds of the era were still quite interesting, in their own way "My Name Is Prince" or "7" or "The Max" are just as experimental as his 80s synth funk. And if you get past the sound, Love Symbol has the strongest set of songs Prince has put on any album besides SOTT and Purple Rain.

the groove is ok, in a JB tribute kinda way but the lyrics and general crapness of rapping ruin it. its never been sexy though. nor even that funky.

dolphin is great though.

You're right generally, Tuomas, but not about "Sexy MF."

("You're right generally" = Love Symbol IS his best b/w SOTT and The Gold Experience.

D&P is stronger song for song than love symbol. sexy mf isnt really a song, my name is prince is too silly to be taken seriously, the rest of the album is either crappy dance, overblown rock, bad reggae, or bad sub-queen opera (but with a few nice ballads). 7 is the one most people say stands out, but its pretty leaden and that chorus really does seem to go on forever (plus the line about 'smoking them all' is another bad example of prince trying to assimilate hip hop into what he does. experimental doesnt always = good).

the rainbow children is 10 times better than symbol if were talking about post-90 albums. or the truth even.

Mentalist.

holy shit "My Name Is Bart" is ridiculous

they were, as musicians, 30 times more talented than the Revolution as a band.

In the 80s, most of Prince's best stuff utilized not much more than synths anyway.

the rainbow children is 10 times better than symbol if were talking about post-90 albums.

You must have been an acid jazz fan.

haven't heard the Rainbow Children but I've heard its dreadful from fellow Prince fans

exodus album is way underrated imo, i like the little world he created on there, first album my parents took away from me, too much motherfuckering. girl spread eagle on the cd too. i must've been about 9 or something. attempted to do "get wild" in a primary school dance talent contest too o_0

crystal ball was my favourite thing to come from him during the 90s, yes, i know most of it is 80s stuff. still. i think you could make two or three solid albums out of crystal ball and emancipation.

tuomas is right about sexy m.f. the band are on fire. never been sexy or funky??? so wrong.

rainbow children always disappoints. that's one of the tightest bands he'd had but it sounds so lifeless. it's really badly produced, i think it was just after they started using the pro tools rig in paisley park and it sounds like a by the book pro tools recording. that was the last prince album i bought, after collecting pretty much everything available up until that point. i discovered hardcore, indie and err, shh, pitchfork, and just stopped listening to him for a few years.

i wish i could find all my npg music club mp3s, there are some real gems hidden in there. especially on a couple of the radio show things.

just listening to that "there's a brand new groove going round" covers cd. meh, it's alright. lots of the mungolian jet set related people doing prince covers.

I don't get it -- the way people talk about Rainbow Children it's as if they never heard the thing. There's crazy Lotus-era Santana stuff in there ("Digital Garden"). There's the Fifth Dimension choral thing going on (title track). There's weird Funkadelic stuff (the narrator). There's ridiculously LIVE-sounding (ie, not Pro Tools-sounding) JB stuff on there ("The Work"). There's the best and most effortless return to "Erotic City"-era Prince in 20 years ("1+1+1=3"). And it also has the best drummer he's every played with in John Blackwell. It's easily the weirdest record he's every put out -- by a fucking mile -- and that's saying something.

At any rate, I always liked "My Name Is Prince" -- if only for the fact that it came out at, like, the exact time he was telling everyone that...well, his name wasn't Prince anymore and it was some symbol.

But nothing touches that fucking remix of "P Control" on Crystal Ball with the gospel choir singing "PUSS-SAYYYY!! PUSS-SAYYYY!! PUSS-SAYYYY CUHN-TROH-OHHLLL!!!!" Easily a top ten Prince moment for me and nobody ever fucking knows it.

I listened to Rainbow Children once, to me it had some nice grooves and tight playing, but nothing that would stand out. Saying that it's the weirdest record he's ever put sounds totally wrong, when albums like Come exist. The only really weird thing on it is "the voice of God", and to be honest that's more embarrassing than cool.

rainbow children just isn't sexy.

Naive Teen Idol's review of The Rainbow Children is sexier (and funkier) than The Rainbow Children.

"You must have been an acid jazz fan."

you must have not heard acid jazz or the rainbow children.

"rainbow children just isn't sexy"

but it is sensual. which is good enough. prince's sexy moments these days are generally cringey.