Read other letters about this article
the appeal or value of BD to me.
He whines instead of singing. So ok, some singers sound even worse. Macy Gray comes to mind somehow.
He is supposedly a good poet. That's one thing he has for him, but Springsteen, Neil Young and many others are as good or better.
He did that switching-out-the-acoustic-guitar thing. People pull such stunts all the time. "We are out of bagels today, do you want a bialy?"
My best guess is he is a good marketer.
He plays both muse and clown artiste.
He leaves everything open to interpretation by others. He acts passive, like Warhol, to cement his reputation in his fool followers' minds.
He acts like the star, the ultimate star. But in this world of followers who follow based not on substance but on image, what else to expect?
In this way his followers remind me of those who worshipped Nazi Germany even after WWII ended. They lost their own personalities once they cleaved to their leader. So they had nothing left to go back to.
Ultimately, a case of right place, right time.
I do like Hendrix's version of All Along The Watchtower though.
But really, Prince is a much more talented export from Minnesota.