Raw talent. A great ear. An uncompromising spirit. also an eye for talent, while he played most of the instruments on most of his albums when he DID bring somebody in (or on stage) they had chops, and frequently a career later. And he had the will and skill to do anything. Just check all the different musical styles on Purple Rain, the movie stinks but that is probably the best movie soundtrack ever, certainly top 10, it is just plain a great album with styles ranging from hooky pop, through power ballads, all the way to minimalism.
Apollonia certainly was not guilty in Purple Rain.
Thanks for your great post.
Gene Siskel had ‘Purple Rain’ as the 5th best film of 1984! But Dave Kehr said it best...
“Prince’s 1984 movie debut seems more like his deification, with an aggressively stupid plot line (supposedly autobiographical, but if that’s true, Prince must have grown up in a retirement community for burned-out screenwriters) that serves only to set him up as a paragon of artistic integrity, sexual prowess, and superhuman sensitivity. The story dynamics dictate that the film should have climaxed with Prince graciously accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, but instead director Albert Magnoli casually tosses the story aside, ending with half an hour of the concert footage that is the film’s only reason for being. “