Prince in the 1980s: a documentary

June 19, 2014 10:34 PM

A documentary of unknown provenance on Prince in the 1980s.
posted by MoonOrb (10 comments total)

According to the reviews at amazon this has been released as Prince: The Glory Years and Prince: In The 1980's.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 11:11 PM on June 19, 2014

22 seconds in and I'm getting a VH-1 vibe, what with the unknown celebrity reading cue cards about How the 80's Were.

Back to the video.
posted by kanewai at 11:31 PM on June 19, 2014

The thing with Prince and being a celebrity who rises out of nothing to become a celebrity and becomes known around the world by the name "Prince" is that one naturally assumes that it's all an act. The way Lady Gaga wasn't born with the title "Lady" (but rather Stefani Germanotta) or the way Duke Ellington wasn't really a Duke (Edward Ellington).

But Prince is real. That's his actual first name. Look it up if you don't believe me.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:05 AM on June 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

So, not 'Purple Rain' then?
posted by Runes at 4:40 AM on June 20, 2014

Let's not dump on the Duke. He didn't name himself. But he did deserve the name, for damn sure.
posted by lodurr at 5:36 AM on June 20, 2014 [4 favorites]

Obligatory link to Kevin Smith's famous Prince story. 31 minutes long and funny as all hell and absolutely worth every minute.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:07 AM on June 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

Better yet, Duke Ellington is Edward Kennedy Ellington, which is almost the same name as Edward "Ted" Kennedy. Ironically, I think Duke Ellington was a Republican.
posted by jonp72 at 8:47 AM on June 20, 2014

It's a DVD documentary extra from Chrome Dreams.
posted by yellowcandy at 11:09 AM on June 20, 2014

I've just looked at bits of it, but it's very interesting as a contrast to Purple Rain, which might be one of the best bits of self-mythologizing by any musician ever. In particular, I was struck by Gayle Chapman, his original keyboardist, talking about how one day Prince just decided that she was going to wear what was basically lingerie on stage. (In this doco, she bears an uncanny resemblance to Meryl Streep.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:00 PM on June 20, 2014

I will just leave this here.
posted by gottabefunky at 2:50 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]