Fictions of the Interlude

Sometimes you have to hear a statement in the timbre it was is born in to absorb it. Sometimes you have to hear Prince Rogers Nelson speak. During this era, he was touring with Chaka Khan and many others under the monicker “New Power Generation,” and breaking with traditional concert formats by denying spectators the ready-mades they had come to demand of performers. Spontaneous collective improvisation replaced set lists. He disavowed idol worship. He claimed he had found God. He proselytized Jehovah. And he discovered loopholes in his deal with the demons of industry. Though they refused to let him completely loose. He remained very beautiful.