It’s strange but I find myself drawn to him in the month of April more than ever since his untimely passing almost two years ago. I know he is still so missed in the hearts of many, especially by the women who loved him. I know personally because I was one of those women. It often makes me chuckle at how Prince could size you up as a woman and know exactly how to seduce you to fall hopelessly madly in love with him. It became art for him to explore you as a total woman, which meant all of Prince’s romances began with real friendship first. Sheila E, Vanity, Susannah Melvoin, Mayte, Manuela, all started out as friends with Prince before ever progressing to the bedroom. Prince needed to get into your head and mind first. I think that’s why he went out of his way to try and impress you by being such a gentleman. And he was indeed the ultimate charmer and seducer.
Only Prince could rock his unique style that captured your fashion sense and made you want to dress up with him or borrow his clothes. In my case, he would give me many of this clothes to wear because I think he liked seeing me rock his clothes and he loved that everyone wondered who I was because I was wearing them. He got such a kick out of this. I remember asking why couldn’t I talk to his band “The Revolution,” but he wanted me to remain a mystery to everyone. He knew once my Playboy hit the stands that everyone would know, so he seduced me mind, body and soul up until that moment. I remember him looking at my Playboy data sheet when my June 1985 issue hit the newsstands with a big smile on his face seeing that I wrote Prince as my favorite music artist; and that I liked my dream guy to be honest, which is why he broke things off with me to reveal that he was going to be living with someone. That someone was Susannah, whom he was seeing on again off again before he met me and after Vanity left him.
Prince, according to his first wife Mayte, said that there were always one girl coming to Minneapolis and one girl leaving. She came after Carmen Electra in the early 90s. Since I was the mid 80s and during the “Purple Rain” tour, I can now see Prince always had one girl coming and one girl going. I understood that Vanity had jealousy issues about Susan Moonsie, Prince’s first love who was also a part of Vanity 6. Prince also never left any of this girlfriends, lovers, he sort of floated in and out of your life like air or water and the girls ultimately all left him out of suffocation, or out of lack of communication once he decided to move on to someone new that struck his fancy.
Just when you thought you could get even closer he would push you away. His music during any given time in history is like his own autobiography. He wrote songs that were inspired by the women he hung out with at that period and time. “Little Red Corvette” was most certainly written about Vanity. Having intrigued Vanity away from Rick James when he met her at the “American Music Awards” made Vanity a great seduction for Prince. They were mirror images and wild sex to look at in person. I happen to have spent time with Vanity also and can clearly see the ultimate attraction for both them. Vanity and Prince were both way too career oriented and married to their careers more than to each other. That breakup left him heartbroken and Susannah Melvoin picked up those pieces and inspired him to love more.
I inspired him to be honest because I think he wanted me to only remember him the purest form of that fantasy guy. Susannah ultimately left him and Minneapolis. I think Prince meeting me in Chicago and my moving to LA showed him I would never live in Minneapolis, so the way I stayed around his world was under the management of his managers at that time who were handling my acting career. He even had to ultimately seduce Sheila E and get her in his band as his drummer to make her fall in love with him. Only a woman that hung out with Prince can attest to how much he could stimulate all your senses. If you were on his level regarding music like Sheila or dance like Mayte, you were going to have a lot of fun in his world.
Since I was a Playboy model with no singing or dancing aspirations, Prince didn’t know how to fit me into his world. That’s why I was under the umbrella of his manager for my career as an actress was then taking off with movies like, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” I was indeed his friend and he and I both knew we would always want to be friends. That’s why he entrusted me to hang out with his father, Mr. Nelson when going to events like the premiere of “Under The Cherry Moon.” He taught me the art of being cool since I would be the fantasy of so many, it was a necessary art to learn looking back. He knew my being a Playmate would mean many Hollywood directors and producers would want to know me.
Prince inspired all the women in his life to be their best in every area. He wanted his women to be sexy and beautiful at all times, he wanted perfection in music and required it or he would take penalties out in the form of your pay for mistakes. He wanted many of his women to be virgins and that he be your first and someone you would have a hard time getting over. He was very possessive and jealous even when you were no longer with him. That’s why the music he wrote around his relationships are so very important. It tells you right where he was at that time period in his life. Sex was always a big thread in his music, but so were politics, love and God. He wanted to showcase his life and how he loved women through his music.
In honor of Prince this weekend I am offering the kindle version of my memoir, “The Day It Snowed In April” for only .99, so you all have a chance to know my unique story with this amazing iconic musician we all will forever love! It’s so strange that we celebrate his life on the anniversary of his death, but again I don’t feel he’s really gone because his music lives on and his life was indeed so vibrant and full that we should always celebrate him in our hearts. Those of us who had the privilege to know him personally will forever be grateful for these cherished memories.
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