Why Prince?

THE PAST… I’ve never really stopped to wonder, "why Prince?" I mean, my brother Mark listened to different bands growing up. There was KISS, Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, The Doors…all of the great rock bands from the mid 1970’s to the early 1980’s. But I never attached myself to any particular band or music. For me, music was always in the background. I don’t recall ever going to any concerts prior to my sophomore year at Albion. I don’t think I owned any Albums. And I’m certain I did not have a stereo system.

Whatever my roommates played, was fine by me. For the most part, music always went in one ear and out the other.

So why Prince? This guy by the name of Paul D. loved to play Prince full blast on his Cerwin Vega speakers. For whatever reason, the music struck me. Prince’s beat and lyrics got my attention. I started to listen to Prince. In fact, I listened to nothing but Prince.

Let’s face it; Prince’s lyrics were sexually suggestive from day one. In fact, they were more sexually suggestive on day one than they were as he entered the 1990’s. Early albums such as Dirty Mind, For You, and 1999 helped bring the M is equal to mature rating to music as a result of public outrage and congressional action.

There’s something pretty important here you need to understand. I was short growing up. I mean, really short.

But it was more than being short. I looked young. When I was sixteen, I didn’t look a day older than 12. Being short and looking young defined my childhood, teen and post-teen years.

So when I was introduced to Prince, I was introduced to a whole new way of thinking. Despite the fact that I looked incredibly young for my age as a college freshman, I actually stood a chance in the marketplace for the opposite sex starting my sophomore year at Albion. After all, there were always the freshman girls. Even a young looking sophomore carried a swagger and status around campus. And freshman girls are largely confused half the time and drunk the other. I wouldn’t say that getting dates or one-night stands as a sophomore at Albion was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. But I have never been able to stand at the stand at the edge of the barrel before. Life was looking up. So why Prince? There are a lot of levels to the answer to this question. But the most basic one had to do with girls. It didn’t take me long to figure out that when Paul D. blared Prince’s song "Dirty Mind" full blast from his Cerwin Vega speakers, our fraternity house room filled with girls. Not just any girls. Girls in short skirts who loved to dance to Prince. This Prince guy was looking up in my book. There is little doubt he added fish to the barrel I was attempting to dip my line in.