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| Prince, baby, you were much too fast | Prince, baby, you were much too fast |
| (4 months later) | |
| I laboured under the delightful misapprehension, for quite a few years of my life, that Prince was pretty much part of the family. It all began when Bellshill-born Sheena Easton appeared on Esther Rantzen’s talent show The Big Time in 1979. Sheena’s maiden name, my mother informed me, was Orr. My Dad’s cousin George was related to the Bellshill Orrs, so Sheena was some kind of cousin. This was easy for me to believe. The two of us had the same nose. Anyway, Sheena was a bit naff. It was nothing much to boast about, more a guilty pleasure than anything else, like having played in the park with Neil Reid, before he’d become famous, on Hughie Green’s Talent show, Opportunity Knocks, with the awesomely terrible hit single, Mother of Mine. | I laboured under the delightful misapprehension, for quite a few years of my life, that Prince was pretty much part of the family. It all began when Bellshill-born Sheena Easton appeared on Esther Rantzen’s talent show The Big Time in 1979. Sheena’s maiden name, my mother informed me, was Orr. My Dad’s cousin George was related to the Bellshill Orrs, so Sheena was some kind of cousin. This was easy for me to believe. The two of us had the same nose. Anyway, Sheena was a bit naff. It was nothing much to boast about, more a guilty pleasure than anything else, like having played in the park with Neil Reid, before he’d become famous, on Hughie Green’s Talent show, Opportunity Knocks, with the awesomely terrible hit single, Mother of Mine. |
| But Sheena had stopped being naff, within five years, in the most spectacular way. She got into dance-pop and started collaborating with Prince, producing hit singles with him, appearing at his concerts, guesting on his albums. The two, for some years, were romantically linked. During this time, the genius of Prince was still unfolding, and my cousin was there beside him, working with him, being his friend, maybe his lover, as all that happened. | But Sheena had stopped being naff, within five years, in the most spectacular way. She got into dance-pop and started collaborating with Prince, producing hit singles with him, appearing at his concerts, guesting on his albums. The two, for some years, were romantically linked. During this time, the genius of Prince was still unfolding, and my cousin was there beside him, working with him, being his friend, maybe his lover, as all that happened. |
| So, I boasted about my connection to Easton, and therefore Prince, for quite some time, before realising that I really did have to fact-check a bit with my mother. She had no memory of ever claiming such speculative nonsense. Prince was not pretty much part of the family at all. I didn’t have the heart to inquire as to whether my mother was absolutely certain that I really had played in the park with Neil. Still, I like to believe there’s some sort of link. It’s better than actually knowing that there’s not. | So, I boasted about my connection to Easton, and therefore Prince, for quite some time, before realising that I really did have to fact-check a bit with my mother. She had no memory of ever claiming such speculative nonsense. Prince was not pretty much part of the family at all. I didn’t have the heart to inquire as to whether my mother was absolutely certain that I really had played in the park with Neil. Still, I like to believe there’s some sort of link. It’s better than actually knowing that there’s not. |
| And until Thursday afternoon, all this was funny. | And until Thursday afternoon, all this was funny. |
| I remember the the first time I ever heard of Prince, with some friends at an Edinburgh club in 1982. We didn’t think much of the music the DJ was playing and, being rude and arrogant little sods, we decided that we’d behave like kids at a school disco and make a request. Scott, the coolest of us, announced that he was going to ask for 1999 by Prince. I’d never heard of it. The DJ looked irritated as he approached, then broke into a grin. He played the song and I bought the album the next day. I still love it, of course. | I remember the the first time I ever heard of Prince, with some friends at an Edinburgh club in 1982. We didn’t think much of the music the DJ was playing and, being rude and arrogant little sods, we decided that we’d behave like kids at a school disco and make a request. Scott, the coolest of us, announced that he was going to ask for 1999 by Prince. I’d never heard of it. The DJ looked irritated as he approached, then broke into a grin. He played the song and I bought the album the next day. I still love it, of course. |
| But there’s a bigger point to all this. People say that 2016 is proving to be a terrible year for celebrity deaths. But I think it’s how life is going to be, from now on. That Easton crossover, from local girl made good, through the agency of hokey telly and novelty-song pop charts, to global star, riding high in the Billboard charts, the chosen workmate of this extraordinary creature, Prince? It’s a perfect example of how far a bit of talent can go, how many people it can reach in the contemporary world. | But there’s a bigger point to all this. People say that 2016 is proving to be a terrible year for celebrity deaths. But I think it’s how life is going to be, from now on. That Easton crossover, from local girl made good, through the agency of hokey telly and novelty-song pop charts, to global star, riding high in the Billboard charts, the chosen workmate of this extraordinary creature, Prince? It’s a perfect example of how far a bit of talent can go, how many people it can reach in the contemporary world. |
| We baby boomers, we grew up with access to the technology that shared creativity far and wide, and that ability to share the things we love has only intensified. It was part of what made Prince so great himself, the ease with which he was able to grow up with access to so much music, so much culture, so much inspiration and education, and synthesise it all as no one ever had before. | We baby boomers, we grew up with access to the technology that shared creativity far and wide, and that ability to share the things we love has only intensified. It was part of what made Prince so great himself, the ease with which he was able to grow up with access to so much music, so much culture, so much inspiration and education, and synthesise it all as no one ever had before. |
| It was Ronnie Corbett’s death, not Bowie’s, or Rickman’s, or Wood’s or Prince’s, that got me thinking this way | It was Ronnie Corbett’s death, not Bowie’s, or Rickman’s, or Wood’s or Prince’s, that got me thinking this way |
| People whose careers in entertainment began in or after the 1950s, when mass culture started becoming truly dominant, so many of them, their innovations and influences so rich. They are beginning to die. Grief for the lost stars of mass culture. It’s going to be part of the fabric of western life, from here on in. | People whose careers in entertainment began in or after the 1950s, when mass culture started becoming truly dominant, so many of them, their innovations and influences so rich. They are beginning to die. Grief for the lost stars of mass culture. It’s going to be part of the fabric of western life, from here on in. |
| When “youth culture” took off, in the 1950s, it was assumed that it was for young people, who would grow up and move on. This hasn’t proved to be the case. My 18-year-old son was hugely upset by the death of Bowie. He cannot believe that he’s lost Prince too. Both were considered by him to be utterly integral to his own musical education, which is a hundred times more sophisticated than mine was. The baby boomers created a new cultural canon, with millions more subscribers joining it with every generation. Prince means as much to him as he does to me –probably more. There are so many huge figures, all of whom will one day be lost. | When “youth culture” took off, in the 1950s, it was assumed that it was for young people, who would grow up and move on. This hasn’t proved to be the case. My 18-year-old son was hugely upset by the death of Bowie. He cannot believe that he’s lost Prince too. Both were considered by him to be utterly integral to his own musical education, which is a hundred times more sophisticated than mine was. The baby boomers created a new cultural canon, with millions more subscribers joining it with every generation. Prince means as much to him as he does to me –probably more. There are so many huge figures, all of whom will one day be lost. |
| It was Ronnie Corbett’s death, not Bowie’s, or Rickman’s, or Wood’s or Prince’s, that got me thinking this way. Corbett stayed British. He didn’t become an international star, trying his luck in Hollywood. He was among the finest of comic actors, and if he’d been young now, the arena in which he was expected to prove his worth would simply have been far larger than a move from Edinburgh to London. He was one of the old school and he died at the appropriate time. Prince did not. Far from it. | It was Ronnie Corbett’s death, not Bowie’s, or Rickman’s, or Wood’s or Prince’s, that got me thinking this way. Corbett stayed British. He didn’t become an international star, trying his luck in Hollywood. He was among the finest of comic actors, and if he’d been young now, the arena in which he was expected to prove his worth would simply have been far larger than a move from Edinburgh to London. He was one of the old school and he died at the appropriate time. Prince did not. Far from it. |
| Yet, surely it’s inevitable that some of these gigantic stars, these gods among women and men, will die young. Some will be unlucky, like lovely Alan Rickman. Some will have driven themselves incredibly hard, struggled with the pressures of their enormous status, as Prince did. That kind of adulation. That kind of worship. It must be hard to bear. Did the man ever rest, stop pushing, stop searching? There’s absolutely no evidence that he did. | Yet, surely it’s inevitable that some of these gigantic stars, these gods among women and men, will die young. Some will be unlucky, like lovely Alan Rickman. Some will have driven themselves incredibly hard, struggled with the pressures of their enormous status, as Prince did. That kind of adulation. That kind of worship. It must be hard to bear. Did the man ever rest, stop pushing, stop searching? There’s absolutely no evidence that he did. |
| Baby, you were much too fast. The love, though? The love is going to last. Like the music. Through the generations. | Baby, you were much too fast. The love, though? The love is going to last. Like the music. Through the generations. |