Prince On The Road Again
A New Album, U.S. Tour and a new protégé Keep Mr. P. Busy in ‘92

Even at Los Angeles International Airport, which plays host to everyone from famous faces to bomb-toting terrorists, this was a big deal: the sight of Prince and a sizable entourage of musicians and aides, preparing to board a plane for the Orient and four sold-out concert dates in Japan. Most of the New Power Generation are dressed casually—in everything from jogging suits to jeans—in preparation for the weary, day-long flight across the International Date Line but not Prince. He’s dressed to kill in an outfit that could easily double as stage wear, topped off by a leather coat. “He looked more like an object than a person,” observed an airport employee who got close enough to check out the star. “Everything was in place—the make-up, the hair—he looked like a porcelain doll.” The man who travels under the name Mr. Nelson was quiet and cordial, but kept his distance: while the seating assignments of band members were scattered throughout the plane, Prince—who, to the mild annoyance of airline personnel, insists on boarding at the last possible moment,—sat in first class, and bought up thousands of dollars worth of passenger seats in front of, in back of and to each side of him to insure his privacy. While stewardesses joked among themselves about how to address the star (“What do we call him—Mr. Prince?”) and went on about what a ritual stars in general put them through, the real spectacle was reserved for a few days later, when Prince and the NPG, during two nights at the Tokyo Dome, nearly burned the place down. The tour, which included dates in Japan, Australia and Europe, marked the beginning of a heady year for Prince that includes U.S. tour dates, a new album and a period of simply getting his house-Paisley Park Enterprises—in order. Putting out a new album so soon after the release of Diamonds And Pearls, which sold more than one million copies, may seem a hasty move even for someone as prolific as Prince, but according to sources, Mr. P actually wanted to put the new tracks out even sooner. Titled Love—Prince uses the love symbol—the album is leaner and funkier than Diamonds—and in many ways, harks back to Prince’s more raucous days. He’d shot the video for the first single, “Sexy MF,” long before he and the clip’s co-star, actress Troy Beyer, appeared together at the “Soul Train Music Awards.” How- ever, aside from simply wanting to release new material, the new album makes him more of an attraction on the American tour circuit. “He was seriously thinking about touring the States behind the last album, but just didn’t get around to it,” said a source close to Paisley Park. “He didn’t want to go out leaning solely on the old album, so he put out a new one.” Even though he’s never made records for the critics, with the Love LP, Prince might also be telling them to get lost As a rule, Prince couldn’t make a bad album for literary groupies like Rolling Stone and other members of the rock press, but Diamonds largely left them cold. “So, now it’s as if he’s saying ‘Forget you’ with the new album,” that source speculates. “It’s as if he’s saying, ‘I don’t care if you guys think it’s too early for another record—I’m doing what I want to do.”’ Something else Prince obviously wants to do is launch another successftil protégé. Covers of Prince songs have been recorded by other artists such as Sinead O’Connor, Martika, and Patti Labelle, but it’s been years since Prince’s glory days 7of launching careers as he did with the Time, Vanity 6, Jill Jones and The Family. Thus, he has a lot of faith in Carmen, a pretty 19-year old singer/rapper/dancer whose debut album he produced. Carmen has gotten the A-list treatment from Warner Brothers, which distributes Paisley Park; long before her album was released, there were teaser ads on MTV and talk about her in the international press. Prince is hoping that Carmen’s success will be the shot in the arm so badly needed by his Paisley Park label, whose only hit act has been Prince himself. “He’s paying a lot more attention to the label,” says a Warners exec. “He’s hired new people to help run the company, and he’s interested in seeing it blossom. He’s serious about Paisley being a contender, especially with the new small labels like Jam and Lewis’ Perspective Records and L.A. and Babyface’s LaFace label doing well.” Things may see-saw on Prince’s corporate side, but as a performer, the Kid still has it. During the 12 sold-out gigs in Australia, Prince and band wowed arena and stadium audiences every night before packing up and doing the same thing in small local clubs and bars. “Prince loves performing, and I think the international tour did something for his morale,” says the source. “The records aren’t selling like they used to and his last film wasn’t a commercial success-but then, neither were Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane or The Wizard Of Oz, and later they found their audiences, too—so he needs to know he’s still got it. And he has. The people will really see that this year.