PRINCE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE and JOURNEY:
Pt. 10(c): "The New Power Generation, Legal Claims and Lies, and Light Rituals"
Released on Patreon 3/1/2022
Run Time: 1 HR 55 MIN
Episodes of "Prince's Spiritual Life and Journey" are available to view ONLY on The SPOOKY ELECTRIC XPOSED Patreon channel for patrons of the "Sign O' The Times" tier of support and higher.
Part 4 of “The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince” series has concluded with SEGMENT “19” of the series, so in this companion series, “Prince’s Spiritual Life and Journey”, we will go back and review Prince’s spirituality at a central time in his career: 1989 to 1996.
"The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince" series will pick up Prince's story in 1996 with Part 5, in early 2022.
"The New Power Generation" and the "Diamonds and Pearls" music
Prince’s 13th album, “Diamonds and Pearls” was released October 1, 1991, but it was written and recorded over an 18-month period: December 1989 to May of 1991, and was the first album credited to "Prince & The New Power Generation".
We review the 13 tracks of “Diamonds and Pearls”, and discuss how they were written and recorded, and which band members contributed to or worked on the tracks with Prince.
Prince allowed "The New Power Generation" unprecedented input into the creation of the “Diamonds and Pearls” music, that surpassed even Prince's collaboration with "The Revolution" on the “Purple Rain” music. And this collaboration is also why the “Diamonds and Pearls” music was infused with rap and hip hop.
The 3 man dance troupe, “The Game Boys”: Tony Mosley, Kirk Johnson, and Damon Dickson, contributed mostly to the sound of the album, writing and performing raps, and creating sampled beats and rhythms.
In SEGMENT 16 (Pt.2): The “Graffiti Bridge” Movie, Album, and the “Nude” Tour”, we discussed the spats and fights in Prince’s band between mainly guitarist Miko Weaver, keyboardist “Doctor” Matt Fink, and Prince. By tracking the creation of the “Diamonds and Pearls” music back to December 1989, we see that the dismissals of Miko and “Doctor” Fink, were planned since before the “Graffiti Bridge” movie was filmed in early 1990. This contradicts what “Doctor” Matt Fink has said in the years since his dismissal, about his termination from Prince’s band coming as a complete surprise to him since everyone could see Prince recording the new “Diamonds and Pearls” music with keyboardist Tommy Elm, and bass player, Sonny Thompson.
Prince was recording the new music, that would become “Diamonds and Pearls” with drummer Michael Bland, guitarist Levi Seacer Jr., and Rosie Gaines on Keyboards and backing vocals with Prince. In Fink and Miko’s place however, were Tommy Elm on keyboards, and Sonny Thompson on bass after Levi switched over to guitar, replacing Miko. This recording went on from December 1989, into 1990 before, during, and after the “Nude” tour of Europe and Japan.
Tommy Elm and Sonny Thompson were on the “Nude” tour of 1990 too, because they were part of Paisley Park artist Margie Cox’s backing band called, “Flash”, and they were singing and playing behind Mavis Staples, who was opening for Prince on the tour. When the “Nude” tour concluded, Miko left, and Sonny Thompson officially joined the band.
Then, Prince was asked to headline the “Rock in Rio II” festival in Brazil in January of 1991, and “Doctor” Fink was permanently replaced by Tommy Elm, who was then renamed Tommy Barbarella.
The Light Ritual of "Rock in Rio II" Festival: January 19, 1991
With the lineup of Prince’s new backing band, “The New Power Generation” secured, Prince signed on to headline the “Rock in Rio II” festival in Brazil, that ran from January 18, 1991 to January 27, 1991. This first, debut performance of Prince & "The New Power Generation" was very important, since Prince had just come off of the “flop” of “Graffiti Bridge”, and he wanted to ensure future success for himself with the new band.
There were dozens of acts that played the festival over its 10 day run, but the headliners: Prince, Guns N Roses, George Michael, and A-Ha, each headlined 2 nights over the span of the festival.
What I came to understand was that Prince turned this debut performance of “The New Power Generation” into a “light ritual” for success and blessings.
And also, this was an obvious "19" coded day, and we have seen all through "The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince" series, the significance of "19" to Prince's lifelong contract ritual with Warner Brothers Records.
But what of the 40 additional security guards and the clearing of the backstage?
As I was writing this episode, Prince asked me to remember back to an astral experience from a few months ago, where we were walking towards a blindingly light filled stage while flanked by “44” angelic beings. I understood that I was shown this months before, so I would make the connection when writing about the light ritual of “Rock in Rio II”.
So Prince added 40 security guards so that he would have a total of “44” officers escort him to the stage. “44” is another number we are familiar with from the series, as number of angelic protection and guidance.
Prince was scheduled to headline January 18th and January 24th: The 1st and 7th days of the festival. Prince was scheduled to go onstage in the late evening hours of Friday, January 18, but he delayed the performance until 1:40 am of January 19th, due to his insistence upon clearing every living soul from the backstage area, and his demand for an additional 40 security guards to escort him to the stage.
Long time viewers of the series understand the importance of the number “119” to Prince’s coding, and by delaying the show, Prince took the stage on January 19th, not January 18th as scheduled. January 19th is a “119” coded day. In high vibrational light Gematria coding, it is a number that bestows divine blessings, light energy and power to your creations. So Prince made sure he and his new band performed on a “119” coded day.
Add to this that the concert was held at the legendary Maracana Stadium, in the shadow of the iconic giant “Cristo Redentor” (Christ the Redeemer) statue that overlooks Rio de Janeiro. Prince tells me he could see the statue from his dressing room, and this helped him call in higher angelic energy, and focus this energy on the band and their performance.
Other details of note: Prince was also scheduled to perform on the 7th day of the festival January 24th. We discuss briefly, how Prince carries a “7” vibration, and often used the number “7” ritually in his music and onstage. I couldn’t find any information on the January 24th show, but it would be interesting to see if Prince managed to delay that show as well, to start on January 25th, a “7” coded day.
Decades of legal issues and lies: Prince, Steve Fargnoli, and Sinead O'Connor
We have discussed the legal issues that Prince went through after firing Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli, in early 1989 in SEGMENT 15: “Batman”, SEGMENT 16: The “Graffiti Bridge” Movie, Album, and the “Nude” Tour (Pt.2), and SEGMENT 17: “Diamonds and Pearls”(Pt.1). In this Part 10(c) episode, we discuss these issues in more detail.
We talked about in past episodes how Steve Fargnoli’s artist Sinead O’Connor was allowed to record the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U”, and it became one of the biggest hits of 1990. Fargnoli constantly badmouthed Prince in the media all through 1990, stating that his “artist made a hit out of the song, when Prince couldn’t”.
In December of 1990, Sinead O’Connor tried to publish to “Rolling Stone” magazine, claims that Prince physically and verbally assaulted her after she visited his Los Angeles home. She also stated that after the assault, he sent his driver away, and kicked her out of his house in the early morning hours without a ride home.
When contacted by “Rolling Stone” for comment on the story, Prince replied, “That never happened. I have no idea what she’s talking about.”
Then, in February of 1991, Prince was sued by Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli for $600,000 in severance pay and other damages for breach of contract, fraud, and denial of contract in bad faith. The lawsuit also stated that Prince ignored his managers’ advice since 1985, and that he flooded the market with competing product.
Prince countersued his former lawyers (Including John Branca’s management firm) whom he let go as well in early 1990, for negotiating a bad faith settlement with Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli, after their firing. You see, Prince discovered in the course of Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli’s most recent case against him, that the Branca firm and the other lawyers had negotiated a deal with Cavallo, Ruffalo, and Fargnoli back in 1990, allowing them to unjustly avail themselves of $3 Million of Prince’s money.
This whole legal mess was settled out of court, and both parties signed “Non-disclosure agreements”, barring either from discussing this matter again.
The “Diamonds and Pearls” album was released on October 1, 1991, and when Steve Fargnoli heard a track on the album “Jughead”, where Tony M raps about managers as “parasites” and “money minders”, he immediately filed a $5 Million lawsuit against Prince. Fargnoli felt that the song was a breach of the “non-disclosure agreement” pertaining to the case that was settled a few months earlier, because he felt Prince was talking about him in the song. Fargnoli’s case was dismissed.
Steve Fargnoli died in 2001 of bladder cancer, but Sinead would continue his vindictive campaign against Prince for decades, even after Prince’s death.
Sinead's lies about Prince escalate after his death
In the weeks following Prince’s death in 2016, Sinead O’Connor contacted the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, making outrageous claims about Arsenio Hall supplying drugs to Prince in the 1990s, and that Prince has been a hard drug user for decades, among other claims. Prince’s Death Investigation documents released in 2018, confirm that Sinead contacted them making these claims. Sinead also posted these claims on Facebook in May 2018.
When Arsenio Hall got wind of this from the investigators, he filed a $5 Million defamation lawsuit against Sinead O’Connor. But Sinead, still not having learned her lesson, posted more lies to Facebook, attacking Arsenio and challenging him to prove her wrong.
Someone must have doused Sinead with a touch of reality, because a few months later, Sinead issued a public statement: an apology, retracting her claims against Arsenio.
But Sinead’s vitriol and hatred of Prince continued, when in 2021, she published a memoir titled, “Rememberings”. In the book, Sinead revisits the alleged 1990 physical and verbal assault claims against Prince, but added dozens more outrageous details that make the 31-year old story even more ludicrous and unbelievable. We discuss the story presented in the book and debunk the lies.
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