THE RITUALISTIC LIFE and MURDER of PRINCE:
PT. 4 SEGMENT 4: “The Origins of Mind Control and Indoctrination of Prince"
Released on Patreon 11/13/2017
Run Time: 1 HR 44 MIN
-"The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince" series is available to Patrons on the "Sign O' The Times" tier of support and higher on the Spooky Electric XPOSED Films Patreon channel.
The "Dirty Mind" Look and Sound are influenced by the European Club scene
In this episode, Lisa Coleman settles into Minneapolis with Prince and the band.
Around this time, Prince began frequenting clubs in Europe, so the "Dirty Mind" music was heavily influenced by punk, new wave, and the "New Romanticism" music and fashion of the European club scene.
In early 1980, Prince is writing and recording his 3rd and final album under his 1977 contract, "Dirty Mind", from his home studio in Minnetonka.
Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli "suggest" changes to Prince's act, and Bring in "Music Business Mind-Control Guru" Howard Bloom
Keep in mind, the new managers Bob Cavallo and Joe Ruffalo are prominent entertainment managers with deep roots in the LA music business. This is why Warner Brothers referred them to Prince for management. Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli, have already begun "programming" or "suggesting" changes to Prince's stage act and dress, and Steve Fargnoli in particular became a close confidant to Prince. Because of Fargnoli's "control" of Prince, he then became a partner in the firm, and the firm became, “Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli”.
Warner Brothers does not like the new music, and they really do not like the changes to Prince's attitude and dress (or lack of). The quiet, shy Prince of 1977 seems to have “left the building”, replaced with a brash, smart-mouthed, bikini-brief wearing Prince.
Warner Brothers was also concerned with the money making prospects of this last album “Dirty Mind” under Prince’s 1977 “3-album” deal with the label, feeling it wouldn't appeal commercially to consumers like the first two albums did.
Cavallo and Fargnoli brought in the 1970's and 1980's music business “mind control guru", Howard Bloom and his PR firm to "work with" Prince. Howard Bloom began his career in 1974 heading PR for ABC Records. In 1976, he founded his own PR Firm, The Howard Bloom Organization.
Through the years, Howard Bloom has worked as a publicist for some of the music business’s biggest stars: Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Talking Heads, Lionel Ritchie, Billy Joel, AC/DC, John Mellencamp, Earth, Wind, and Fire, KISS, and Bob Marley to name a few.
But it is reported by many of the stars who Bloom has worked with, and by Howard Bloom himself; that he takes a unique approach to “constructing the images of stars for the masses”. Bloom has said that his interest in rock and roll had more to do with the study of “mass psychology in action” than furthering the aggrandizement of spoiled rock stars” and that he “approached PR as an applied science".
Bloom’s method involved a minimum of a "non-stop" 12 hours alone with the artist, in a sort of “psychoanalysis session” where Bloom takes the artist back into their childhoods and early lives to find “pressure points” or moments that made the artist who they are at a deeper level. Bloom says that his “sessions” are designed to bring out “energies” within an artist in line with a “desired image” that can be projected to the masses, leading to great success for the artist.
So in early 1980, Bloom began his “sessions” with Prince and the band members. And in the 8 years that Bloom would work with Prince, he would also work with Sheila E, Vanity 6 members, The Time members, and many more in Prince’s inner circle in this same fashion.
In this episode, we look at a video of Howard Bloom from April 21, 2016: the day of Prince’s death where he talks about his time working with Prince. He describes his “methods” for getting into Prince’s psyche and manipulating and controlling his behaviors onstage and off.
The viewers had very visceral reactions to seeing Howard Bloom talk about Prince, in his unusual and even “spooky” manner. Howard Bloom’s interview shown in this episode is one of the most talked about moments in Part 4 of “The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince” series.
Prince's Mind Control Triggers and Indoctrination becomes a problem for the Band
In this episode, we also take a look at some "mind control triggers" for Prince from those early days. Many of these "triggers" Prince has kept and continued to incorporate into his stage show up until his death in 2016
The mind control and “indoctrination” ushered in by "The managers" and Howard Bloom, causes problems between Prince, Dez Dickerson, and Andre Cymone.
Dez Dickerson is becoming more and more uncomfortable with the new music Prince is creating, feeling that a lot of it conflicts with his religious beliefs, and he tries to talk to Prince about potentially leaving the band.
Andre Cymone will leave the band amidst drama surrounding song writing credit on one of Prince’s most famous ballads; and he and Prince are having spats, mainly triggered by Prince’s growing “ego”.
Mark Brown, a “19” year old local Minneapolis bass player will join the band and replace Andre Cymone by the time the “Dirty Mind” tour concludes.
*13 Unreleased Prince tracks from the episode posted for Patrons of the “Lovesexy” Tier of support and higher.
-STREAM EPISODES of “The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince” series ONLY available on The “Spooky Electric XPOSED Films” Patreon channel and the Patreon App
