prince's protegees - sharing the magic

its a common misconception that all of prince's protegees were:

1. short - and i do mean short, as in shorter than prince, who is a certified dwarf
2. female - prince had so many associates, it wasn't really necessary for him to be able to sleep with all of them...

we need to make a distinction here. prince wrote and produced for many artists but these are those whose success he can legitimately claim as partly his own.

its difficult to say whether or not they could have been successful without him, most were launched as 'prince's latest project'. but their music is so much an extension of his own that it's literally like discovering a whole new prince back catalogue. as is the man wasn't prolific enough already...

ten artists who pretty much owe prince their career - download here




vanity 6 - undress me - 1982
originally named 'the hookers', the group wisely vetoed prince's idea that they should perform in lingerie and heels. fronted by his then-girlfriend denise matthews, their biggest hit was 'nasty girl' in 1982.

apollonia 6 - blue limousine - 1984

after rows with prince led to lead vanity 6 member denise matthews fleeing paisley park, patricia kotero stepped in and the project became apollonia 6. they only released one album, and still didn't wear much.

jill jones - violet blue - 1987

former back up singer to teena marie, she was recruited to provide backup vocals for the 1999 album. her debut album in 1987, written and produced by the man himself, received rave reviews and now sells on ebay for several hundred dollars.

mazarati - strawberry lover - 1984

originally given one of prince's biggest hits 'kiss 'to record, as soon as he heard it he kept it for himself. if only he'd done the same with tom jones. they managed to make off with an album's worth though and had brief success in the mid 80s.

sheena easton - sugar walls - 1984

reality tv isn't actually a new phenomenon, especially search for a star type programming. in 1980, sheena, then 21, was followed in her attempts to gain a record contract. after landing one, she soon decamped to the US and after some dodgy country music attempts, regained her senses and hooked up with prince in 1984. this track was banned by some stations - an interesting development for sheena but something prince had become a veteran of by this point.

wendy and lisa - satisfaction - 1989

originally part of 'the revolution' one of prince's earlier backing bands. they doubtless learnt a lot form touring and working with prince but in fact, achieved their success alone. the girls felt underappreciated and rebelled, leading to prince firing them in 1986, interrupting and delaying work that would become the 'sign of the times' album. they parlayed their industry expertise and talent into several successful albums, most notably 'fruit at the bottom' in 1989.

taja sevelle - love is contagious - 1987

taja joined paisley park in 1987 at the age of 25, and became instantly successful with this track, a worldwide hit. despite going on to sell many albums, she promptly disappeared, re-emerging a decade later with a radically different sound and image, now favouring indie twanging and tori amos style wild and unkempt image. hmm - very alternative (yawn)...

morris day and time - 777-9311 - 1984

a former classmate of prince and the remainders of the group flyte time who had a decent amount of success and exposure throughout the 80s. morris, who went solo in 1984, almost stole the show in under the cherry moon. this exaggerated persona was evident throughout his musical catalogue. like prince, he tried and failed to manage his own girl band, the day z's. tlc paid homage when they covered the morris day and time track 'get it up' for 1993's poetic justice soundtrack.

sheila e - a love bizarre - 1985
multi-talented instrumentalist sheila escovedo first collaborated with jazz bassist alphonso johnson in 1976 when she was just 18. soon after she met prince and he took her under his wing. she had several hit albums and appeared in the 1985 movie krush groove with ll cool j and blair underwood. lucky girl. she also appeared on the beyonce track 'work it out'. and had to dodge lots of flying weave.

elisa fiorillo - on the way up - 1990

i didn't know much about this girl except that she sang with jellybean and dated jordan knight of nkotb at some point. grr. apparently, she won star search at age 14 in 1983 and is mostly a back up singer.