History Music / PrincesAssociates

* YouMakeMeSic: Mich'''e'''langelo, not Mich'''ae'''langelo.[[note]]Maybe it's actually about a guy named Michael Angelo?[[/note]]

So, there's this guy named Music/{{Prince}}, you may have heard of him...[[SelfDeprecation Skinny motherfucker with the high voice]], [[IAmTheBand played every instrument known to man]], made some really catchy tunes, [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder wrote nearly a thousand songs]].

* BlatantLies: Several early songs (notably "777-9311") include moments where Morris calls for band members by name, so that they can solo. In actuality, Prince played every note for them. Averted on 1990's "Jerk Out" and everything on "Pandemonium" past it: once Morris declares, "Cut 'em, Jesse", Jesse Johnson actually solos for himself. The version of "The Bird" heard on their album ''Ice Cream Castles'' is a live cut, and is also the only time the band is heard playing their own instruments.

** From "Wild and Loose": "Don't worry baby, I can keep a secret for as long as snow is white / Hey Jesse, come here man, guess what I did last night?"
* CallAndResponseSong: A staple of their repetoire. Live performances transformed more of their catalogue into this type of song.
* CatchPhrase: "What time is it?", "Ain't nobody bad, like me", "Now I know that's right" and "Somebody bring me a mirror (so I can look at X)"[[note]]the X usually being a variation of "myself"[[/note]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Despite being TheCasanova, Morris sang both a ballad about pining over a love that had moved on, and a new wave track about the end of high school, on the band's first album. These topics were never revisited.

* IgnoredExpert: Prince recruited an absolutely killer lineup of top-shelf musicians like Jesse, Jellybean, Jam & Terry... and then arranged and played every backing track himself on the studio recordings. According to Jesse, Morris had the biggest role out of all of them because he would sing lead ''and'' be delegated as the drummer on many tracks, meaning that Prince hadn't even replaced Jellybean so much as outsourced his replacement to someone who was already the face of the band. Naturally, as the Revolution's frequent opening act, Morris and the Time began taking it upon themselves to play their hearts out whenever they were on stage, just to show him up.

* StealthParody: "After Hi School", "Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" and "Gigolos Get Lonely Too".
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The heavy rock of "Skillet".
* SpokenWordInMusic: Some of their songs eschew ending in favor of repeating the backing track and adding dialogue that may or may not be all that funny. The song "Chili Sauce" is five straight minutes of seductive dialogue, while "Wild and Loose" features two sets of dialogue at once: groupies who were happy to have met Morris in the left channel and the band in the right, culminating in Morris meeting the girls again in the center channel, unable to remember who they are.

Somehow, presumably through his immense charm, he managed to convince them to record a few demos. He then met nude model and B movie actress Denise Matthews, famous for [[SarcasmMode her widely acclaimed roles in]] ''[[SarcasmMode Terror Train]]'' [[SarcasmMode and]] ''[[SarcasmMode Tanya's Island]]''. Also, a certain part of the body. An awestruck Prince kicked out Shoop and installed his new girlfriend Matthews as the frontwoman instead, giving her the StageName "Vanity". YouDoNotWantToKnow one of the stories about its origin. But if you do: [[spoiler:Prince wanted to name her "Vagina", clarifying that [[ItIsPronouncedTroPay it would be pronounced "vag-EE-na"]], because [[SarcasmMode that's how you pronounce it in Minnesota or something]]. She predictably went "dude, WTF?" and managed to bargain it down to "Vanity".]][[note]]Hey, we warned you.[[/note]]

!!Carmen Electra

More info can be found [[Creator/CarmenElectra at her dedicated page]].

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carmen_electra_c7ea2f8dab33df383efb7ad42d33c99d.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, ''that'' Carmen Electra.]]

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993 which was mostly written by Prince and the New power generation, though Carmen is credited with co-writing 7 of the 12 tracks. The album's famous for being... less than well received. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]].[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined it]] as did [in a slightly more positive way] [[https://ultimateprince.com/carmen-electra-album-prince/ Ultimate Prince.com]]

Childhood friends Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, much like Sheila E. above, had musical families: Wendy's father Mike and Lisa's father Gary (not to be confused with Gary Coleman the actor) were highly in-demand session musicians, and Wendy's brother Jonathan also went on to become a musician and served as touring keyboardist for Music/TheSmashingPumpkins... until he [[AuthorExistenceFailure died of a heroin overdose]].

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993 which was mostly written by Prince and the New power generation, though Carmen is credited with co-writing 7 of the 12 tracks. The album's famous for being... less than well received. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]. Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E]].

* CoverVersion: Besides the aforementioned Prince cover, she covered "Brick House" by The Commodores (renamed to "House of Brick" for Prince knows what reason).

If you're not a devoted Prince fan, this is just going to be more ArchivePanic for a man with an already huge discography. But Prince had lots of talented musicians in his entourage back in TheEighties, and the records of his associates are mostly interesting, with the occasional stinker, and at best just as catchy and well-made as his own. Thanks to the lack of availability of these albums, one can even claim that these associates would [[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove need more love]], although exactly who does is best left to the listener. Indeed, barely any of the artists listed below actually garnered their own fanbase to sell albums to; many only listen to them because of Prince's involvement with their careers.

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993 which was mostly written by Prince and the New power generation, though Carmen is credited with co-writing 7 of the 12 tracks. The album's famous for being less than well received. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]. Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E]].

Prince first met Sheila when attending a concert where she was playing with her dad. He quickly brought her into her entourage, where she contributed drums and percussion in the studio and provided vocals to "Let's Go Crazy"'s famous B-side, "Erotic City" (and some other vocals here and there, like the "transmississippirap" on "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"). She secured herself the position of drummer for Prince after The Revolution disbanded, but left Prince in 1989 due to a collapsed lung. This split has notably been free of the ''really'' bad blood that other splits engendered, and the two have collaborated occasionally to this day.

Prince produced and co-wrote one solo album for her in 1995 (possibly in his sleep; it's kind of what he does...), entitled ''Child of the Sun''. Nobody really noticed its existence and it's since gone out of print. In fact, the most notable song it contained was a [[TheCoverChangesTheGender a gender-reversed]] version of arguably the TastesLikeDiabetes-est song, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Yeah, it's like that. And a cover of "Brick House" by The Commodores, which is at least not as corny.

The second disc of Prince's ''Emancipation'' was [[TheMuse inspired]] by their marriage and her pregnancy. Yes, this means Mayte is partially responsible for TastesLikeDiabetes-fests like "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife". We hope she enjoyed the gift, because we might have not.

* PissTakeRap: Carmen herself raps for the full duration of the album. And it is ''awful''.

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993 which was mostly written by Prince and the New power generation, though Carmen is credited with co-writing 7 of the 12 tracks. The album's famous for being [[SnarkBait less than well received]]. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]. Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E]].

So, there's this guy named Music/{{Prince}}, you may have heard of him...[[SelfDeprecation Skinny motherfucker with the high voice]], [[IAmTheBand played every instrument known to man]], made some really catchy tunes, quite the SmallNameBigEgo sometimes, [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder wrote nearly a thousand songs]].

Vanity 6 broke up a year later in 1983, when Vanity suddenly dropped out of the Prince camp and gave up her role in ''Film/PurpleRain''. Undaunted, Prince replaced her with Patricia "Apollonia" Kotero and re-named them "Apollonia 6". Vanity went on to release two albums on the Creator/{{Motown}} label and dated Music/MotleyCrue's bass player, Nikki Sixx. She also started to abuse drugs, to the point where she was hospitalized and given a kidney transplant in 1994. From that point onward, Vanity reverted to her birthname and dedicated her life to God, becoming an evangelical minister in 1998. She died in 2016 at age 57.

While Sheila did attract attention for her vocals on "Erotic City", she quickly proved she was not another Vanity: while Prince did produce her first two solo albums, she got some co-writing credits and added her drumming all over the place. Most notably, Sheila at first broke from the very explicit "personas" that had been assumed by Prince's previous {{Girl Group}}s: her lyrics were decidedly PG-rated, dealing with love (not IntercourseWithYou, at least not yet) and sung in a pleasant, girl-next-door voice. In fact, many of the funk-pop songs existed solely for the sake of lots and lots of percussion solos. Nobody seemed to mind though. These two albums, ''The Glamorous Life'' and ''Romance 1600'', were well-received and spawned two ''[[EpicRocking really long]]'' hits, the super-catchy ditty about how materialism's, like, superficial, man, "The Glamorous Life" (9 minutes) and a duet with Prince entitled "A Love Bizarre" (12 minutes!). Prince was noticeably less involved with the self-titled ''Sheila E.'', letting David Z. produce the album and writing only a few songs.

Prince decided to repay their hard work by being a complete JerkAss towards them, turning each tour between 1984-1986 into a game of "How can I piss off Wendy and Lisa today?" (answer: giving Leeds Wendy's solos on "Purple Rain", expanding The Revolution with more musicians, antagonizing Wendy by bringing her twin sister Susannah in the band and getting romantically involved with her, etc). Prince's asshole behavior towards Wendy and Lisa in ''Film/PurpleRain'' [[FunnyAneurysmMoment wasn't exactly acting.]] In fact, Prince's conflict with the two was one of the key intra-band conflicts that eventually led to Prince's disbanding of The Revolution in 1986.

The Time were a [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly pop-funk-rock]] ensemble that relied heavily on RuleOfFunny and [[EpicRocking very long jams]]. They were largely defined by frontman [[FaceOfTheBand Morris Day's]] hilarious lyrics and ChivalrousPervert-HandsomeLech persona, with Jerome Benton serving as his {{Foil}}. This dynamic was observed through their appearance in ''Film/PurpleRain'' as Prince's rival band, and Day's humorous persona proved to be one of the few points that critics liked, with many even commenting that he upstaged Prince's acting (not much of a compliment, admittedly... [[DullSurprise Prince's acting]] makes Creator/KeanuReeves look like Creator/WilliamShatner).

For their follow-up album, ''Fruit at the Bottom'', the two abandoned the low-key charms of their debut and tried to take a shot towards success, adding more synths and dance beats to their music. Unfortunately they came up short in the songwriting department, which was reflected in its sales: the USA pretty much ignored it completely, while [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the British again sent it up the charts.]]

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993 which was mostly written by Prince and the New power generation, though Carmen is credited with co-writing 7 of the 12 tracks. The album's famous for being [[SnarkBait less than well received]]. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]. Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E]].

Jill Jones was a backup singer for R&B star Teena Marie back at the start of TheEighties, and this is exactly how she met Prince during his 1980 ''Dirty Mind'' tour. She was quickly recruited as a backing singer for The Revolution itself, adding backing vocals to several songs on ''1999'' and appearing in the videos for "1999" and "Little Red Corvette". She had a bit part as a waitress in ''Film/PurpleRain'' and a cameo in its shittier sequel ''Graffiti Bridge'', in a scene where she [[{{Squick}} takes off an undergarment to end a conflict with Prince]]. [[{{Squick}} Squ- wait, WTF?]] Oh, wait, this is the guy who came up with the idea for Vanity 6. Nevermind.

Prince produced and co-wrote one solo album for her in 1995 (possibly in his sleep; it's kind of what he does...), entitled ''Child of the Sun''. Nobody really noticed its existence and it's since gone out of print. In fact, the most notable song it contained was a [[TheCoverChangesTheGender a gender-reversed]] version of the cheesiest, TastesLikeDiabetes-est song Prince ever wrote, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Yeah, it's like that. And a cover of "Brick House" by The Commodores, which is at least not as corny.

* TheMuse: One of the less fruitful cases?

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties. She then became a rapper, contributing a rap to 'The Continental' on Prince's Love Symbol Album in 1992 and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993. The album's famous for being a [[SnarkBait less than well received]]. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]. Prince podcast Peach and Black also examined in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZggt6Bjr_E]].

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993. The album's famous for being a [[SnarkBait complete shitburger]]. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php I-Mockery.]]

Madhouse released only two albums during their short existence, but a third one, ''26'' got released as an Eric Leeds album instead. Some of their songs tended to show up during Prince's late eighties tours, "Twelve" in particular.

In 1994, the band reformed and recorded a proper third album, ''24'' (notable for not following the regular naming of their music asides from the first track) which remains unreleased although all of the content has been bootlegged and some were officially released in some form.

* {{Sampling}}: The only vocals on both albums are either samples from ''Film/TheGodfather'' or samples of Vanity simulating an orgasm.

* EpicRocking: "The Glamorous Life", "Oliver's House", "A Love Bizarre", all of which fall squarely into EarWorm territory.

In response, Wendy and Lisa recorded their first self-titled album in 1987. They co-produced the album with Revolution drummer Bobby Z, called up contributions from family members (namely Wendy's sister Susannah, Lisa's brother David and father Gary), played various instruments, wrote and sang all the songs. The result was a quirky, low-budget pop album filled with [[EarWorm memorable melodies]] and possessing an overall ethereal character. The album received positive reviews, made a bit of headway in the USA and climbed up to a moderate position up in the UK.

Madhouse released only two albums during their short existence, but at least two others were recorded and remain unreleased to this day. Some of their songs tended to show up during Prince's late eighties tours, "Twelve" in particular.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheenaeaston.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Sheena Easton, seen here before being put through the Princegrinder.]]

-->--'''i-Mockery''''s review of ''Carmen Electra''

Yes, Carmen Electra used to be a back-up dancer for Prince (in fact, he gave her the {{Stage Name|s}} "Carmen Electra") in the early nineties and had a self-titled album produced by him in 1993. The album's famous for being a [[SnarkBait complete shitburger]]. A really funny skewering of it, complete with some audio samples, is available on [[http://www.i-mockery.com/bad-albums/carmen/default.php i-Mockery.]]