I remember this song being played on MTV. Back in the day, before stereo televisions were common, cable TV companies offered this service where they hooked your TV up to your stereo, and you could listen to MTV, HBO, etc in stereo on the radio. Anyway, I used to make tapes from this signal, and one tape had this song on it, but I never knew the name of who it was. I only "It sort of sounds like Prince, but it's not Prince". Always dug this song!
I remember when this joint came out! After "Living In the New Wave" I expected a really good follow-up. Although "Survivin'" wasn't totally wack, "Living" was the better LP. I thought with this video getting some play on MTV it would have become at least a minor hit. I guess it'll remain one of those joints that only those who are aware of it will dig it. I think he modeled his band's look a little to close to the Revolution though. Cool song!
@31769 I remember when this joint came out! After "Living In the New Wave" I expected a really good follow-up. Although "Survivin'" wasn't totally wack, "Living" was the better LP. I thought with this video getting some play on MTV it would have become at least a minor hit. I guess it'll remain one of those joints that only those who are aware of it will dig it. I think he modeled his band's look a little to close to the Revolution though. Cool song!
@lorimneal - Funny thing is, I was listening to his first LP, "Living in the New Wave" a few months ago with a friend. He said something I hadn't thought of. I was accustomed to hearing people compare Andre to Prince that I didn't realize that Andre's wailing vocal style is actually closer to Rick James's style!
@lorimneal : Funny thing is, I was listening to his first LP, "Living in the New Wave" a few months ago with a friend. He said something I hadn't thought of. I was accustomed to hearing people compare Andre to Prince that I didn't realize that Andre's wailing vocal style is actually closer to Rick James's style!
They all played in the places in Minneapolis in the late 70s/early 80s. Its a little surprising that Andre didn't make it considering that when all three of them were in bands, Andres band got the biggest crowds and Morris ended up being a alter-ego for Prince professionally.
actually the 3rd black person to be on mtv in terms of video was sylvester, i forgot the name of the song, but they actually played one his videos....it's in sylvester's biograpghy book from a few years ago.....peace
Super duper rare tune from Prince's former bass ace! I'm told that this was the next video by a black artist after MJ's "Billie Jean" to be shown on MTV. But I also heard Shalamar's "Dead Giveaway" was the second. Hard to say which one, especially since I also heard that Prince was already on MTV before MJ with "1999". Nonetheless, it's a classic video.
MTV's first few years,very few black artists were on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. The very first non-white act played on MTV in the US was UK band The Specials, which featured an integrated line-up of white and black musicians and vocalists. The Specials' video "Rat Race" was played as the 58th video on the station's first day of broadcasting.
MTV rejected other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak,"
That's right, there were the other black artists who were like token members of New Wave bands like The Specials, Haircut 100, Culture Club, The Waitresses, etc. Also, I believe the Reggae group, Music Youth, had their video for their hit song "Pass The Dutchie" on MTV too. So yes, there were some before MJ and Prince, but not as prevalent.
Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled to receive airtime on MTV. To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier",president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, denounced MTV in a statement, threatening to take away MTV's ability to play any of CBS label's music videos. MTVdecided to air Jackson's "Billie Jean" video without pressure from CBS records
MTV began showing the "Billie Jean" video in regular rotation in 1983, forming a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black music artists Jackson's video for the song "Billie Jean" was "the video that broke the color barrier, even though MTV was responsible for color barrier in the first place."
After airing Jackson's music videos, MTV, then a struggling cable channel, became very popular. Jackson's videos were credited for this success and MTV's focus switched from rock to pop and R&B This move helped other black artists such as Prince, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson break into MTV.
WIth all the shit thatis on CD these days, you would thuink that some label could find a way to release Andre's albums. I mean, there were other some Paisley Park artists that shuold not have gotten more CD releasses than Andrem(ie. TOny LeMans, Good Question, Carmen ELectra)
Oh Man!! I absolutely Love Andre Cymone!! Wonder what he's doing these days. I'd love to see the reunion of the band he had with Prince on Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals, Dez Dickinson on Rhythm Guitar, Matt Fink on Keys and Bobby Z on Drums. That would be a most Funky Reunion.
I was so heavy in this scene back in the early 80s. For those who were in the scene Ya know what I am talking about. I actually met my wife from the scene and yes we are still married.
Nu Wave R&B at it's finest, I have all of Andre's albums and he believed in the Nu Wave and should get credit along with Prince, Midnight Starr, Zapp for creating a subgenre of Black Music with Nu Wave, Funk, Rock. Today it would be indie music if some white surburban kid played this music.
I dont think the black audience supported it much. Even the new wave songs that Prince did were not huge hits on the black charts (as they were called back in those days). Black people have very narrow musical tastes. The stuff that pssses for R&B and gospel, and ignorant Rap - thats pretty m,usc it. Blacks invented rock and jazz and dont support it at all now. If Wynton Marsalis had to count on blacks to buy his records, he would have to get a second job.
plenty of blacks and latinos who support these guys...however, records sales are based on demographic appeal, they are marketted to a wide audience. Guess what blacks are a minority, thus whites are majority. Thus if you want to make it big, you got to go to a mainstream audience.. It is like rap, most of the rap albums/cd are brought by young white kids from the burbs. You are right to a point that once black groups become a crossover, some blacks pretty write them off as " pop music bs"
i have a hard time classifying his music as "new wave", it's more a marriage of Prince's/Minneapolis funk scene to "new wave", there are many influences of both in andre's music.
"This clip actually aired on MTV and BET a few times."
The words "MTV" and "BET" and his name should be removed right away, because copyrighters like viacom and Music Publishing Group will remove this video and may have youtube close up your account.
Nope. Now, if the clip had either MTV chyrons or a VH1 logo on it, Viacom would have a weak, but valid claim to it. But since the source of this video is NOT a Viacom owned entity, it would be up to the copyright holder to file a DCMA with YouTube.
Under my old account (Soulchild01), I had Evelyn King's "I'm In Love" video that came from Video Music Box from the early 1980's and the video had no logos embedded. Before they cancelled my account, youtube removed the video (copyright issues by viacom), all because I used the word "BET" on the comment post and tag. They also removed my Rick James' "69 Times" for the same reasons (no logos, but I used BET on the tag).
Also note that Andre Cymone is a Prince related artist and Music Publishing Group and Warner Bros is always lookin' to take down videos by Prince and his protogees (you notice why Vanity 6 and The Time videos are almost non-existent on youtube as they were before)
"Dance Electric" video was removed from youtube because of Prince and NPG Music although the user did'nt use either Prince or Andre Cymone on the title box and tags. Video ID matches can sense audio and claim rights to these great songs, but its their descion whenever the video stays or goes.
Yeah, I heard that MTV played this video (at 2-3 in the morning) although at the time they were limiting their "black" playlist to Michael Jackson, Prince, and Lionel Richie. Another exception is that they started to play Herbbie Hancock's "Rockit" too, since he was barely in the video! MTV did'nt start to get their racist acts together until they recruited Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle.
Rick James was the first one to bitch about blacks not getting on MTV. According to History of Vibe biography, there was a report on it on Niteline in January of 1983. Around the same time, President of CBS records was about to properly tell the public how racist MTV was when they initially refused to play Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" videos and was going to pull out all his artists' videos off MTV (which was more than half of the playlist).
Azone01 you are so correct. Rick James Did have the testicular fortitude to stand up and call MTV out. Maybe he did not use the right tact and approach, but his message was correct. They were so overtly racist it was not funny. I was in high school when MTV started and we were so pissed that so few black artists could get on. Honestly, I am still not a big fan of MTV or more so the people that ran MTV the first few years. Really can't stand them!
MTV's first few years,very few black artists were on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. The very first non-white act played on MTV in the US was UK band The Specials, which featured an integrated line-up of white and black musicians and vocalists. The Specials' video "Rat Race" was played as the 58th video on the station's first day of broadcasting.
MTV rejected other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak,"
dburse66, so true, it wasn't until Michael Jackson Thriller, then they were forced to play at least him. MTV fact, Rap videos had to have at least one white guy in the vidoe for MTV to play it. If you watch some old Dr. Dre videos from the Chronic there was always some random out of place white guy in the video.
vdogg43 Thanks for recognizing the statements. Now I will say that of course MTV, BET, VH1 all play a better variety of videos now. Good to see more county acts, crossover, and true Latino acts, etc. By the way, All three of these entities are owned by Viacom now. Plus isn't it great to see guys like Eminem and Pall Wall who are white guys, true to their game and flourishing in Hip Hop. And those two for sure are not sellouts and pushed by an industry for their color. They can put it down!
BUCKAROOBONZI...THIS CAT IS AN UNDER RATED MINNEAPOLIS MUSICIAN..PLAYED WITH PRINCE FOR A WHILE..
TheButtascotchbro1 1 month ago
fresh!
ysaiy 5 months ago
I personally think that DeVante Swing studied Andre Cymone as a producer before DeVante came up in the game in the early 90s.
SuavecitoBro2 7 months ago
I remember this song being played on MTV. Back in the day, before stereo televisions were common, cable TV companies offered this service where they hooked your TV up to your stereo, and you could listen to MTV, HBO, etc in stereo on the radio. Anyway, I used to make tapes from this signal, and one tape had this song on it, but I never knew the name of who it was. I only "It sort of sounds like Prince, but it's not Prince". Always dug this song!
Kohntarkosz 1 year ago
Oh wow! I remember when this came out... I played it to DEATH on my high school radio show!! Thanks for posting!
clutch0311 1 year ago
I remember when this joint came out! After "Living In the New Wave" I expected a really good follow-up. Although "Survivin'" wasn't totally wack, "Living" was the better LP. I thought with this video getting some play on MTV it would have become at least a minor hit. I guess it'll remain one of those joints that only those who are aware of it will dig it. I think he modeled his band's look a little to close to the Revolution though. Cool song!
MrMarques72 1 year ago
Very Rare,and worth listening to...!!!
Nubias 1 year ago
I lived at First Avenue in the early 80's. Best time of my life, period. I remember this song like it was yesterday. Good stuff!
31769 1 year ago
@31769 I remember when this joint came out! After "Living In the New Wave" I expected a really good follow-up. Although "Survivin'" wasn't totally wack, "Living" was the better LP. I thought with this video getting some play on MTV it would have become at least a minor hit. I guess it'll remain one of those joints that only those who are aware of it will dig it. I think he modeled his band's look a little to close to the Revolution though. Cool song!
MrMarques72 1 year ago
he sounds a lot like Prince. i wonder why Andre's career wasn't as prolific as his peers. he and the looks and the talent.
lorimneal 1 year ago
@lorimneal - Funny thing is, I was listening to his first LP, "Living in the New Wave" a few months ago with a friend. He said something I hadn't thought of. I was accustomed to hearing people compare Andre to Prince that I didn't realize that Andre's wailing vocal style is actually closer to Rick James's style!
MrMarques72 1 year ago
@lorimneal : Funny thing is, I was listening to his first LP, "Living in the New Wave" a few months ago with a friend. He said something I hadn't thought of. I was accustomed to hearing people compare Andre to Prince that I didn't realize that Andre's wailing vocal style is actually closer to Rick James's style!
MrMarques72 1 year ago
Great stuff. I use to wear this album out back in the day. Anybody got his first 2 albums that they could copy for me??
Rmepapi69 1 year ago
LUVd this obscure & awesome song!! I remember when I taped this off the radio onto cassette tape lol
Thanks for posting it for us - I'll try to get it on mp3 for the gym since I used to work out to it 'back in the day' =)
NadineLuvs 1 year ago
I think Andre is a combination of prince and Morris Day. Atleast image wise. But he is less accentric.
jilberia86 2 years ago
They all played in the places in Minneapolis in the late 70s/early 80s. Its a little surprising that Andre didn't make it considering that when all three of them were in bands, Andres band got the biggest crowds and Morris ended up being a alter-ego for Prince professionally.
brucestrav 2 years ago
@brucestrav, Andre Cymone, use to play guitar and was in Prince's band.
vdogg43 1 year ago
@vdogg43 HE played bass with prince
giugnhgbvinierngvb89 1 year ago
Presented in ThinVision™!
reichmarshall 2 years ago
I have always LOVED this song out of all the music Andre' created, THANK U FOR POSTING THIS RARE VIDEO!!
(If anyone has Ritz Club, could u post that as well?)
Talyn91 2 years ago
actually the 3rd black person to be on mtv in terms of video was sylvester, i forgot the name of the song, but they actually played one his videos....it's in sylvester's biograpghy book from a few years ago.....peace
mazaratialbum 2 years ago
"do you wanna funk?" patrick cowley feauturing sylvester, 1982 # 4 dance hit
joeblow394 2 years ago
Super duper rare tune from Prince's former bass ace! I'm told that this was the next video by a black artist after MJ's "Billie Jean" to be shown on MTV. But I also heard Shalamar's "Dead Giveaway" was the second. Hard to say which one, especially since I also heard that Prince was already on MTV before MJ with "1999". Nonetheless, it's a classic video.
therealsoulproduct 2 years ago
on mtv i think it was mike,prince then andre far as black artist on mtv
ericcontroversy 2 years ago
MTV's first few years,very few black artists were on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. The very first non-white act played on MTV in the US was UK band The Specials, which featured an integrated line-up of white and black musicians and vocalists. The Specials' video "Rat Race" was played as the 58th video on the station's first day of broadcasting.
MTV rejected other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak,"
joeblow394 2 years ago
That's right, there were the other black artists who were like token members of New Wave bands like The Specials, Haircut 100, Culture Club, The Waitresses, etc. Also, I believe the Reggae group, Music Youth, had their video for their hit song "Pass The Dutchie" on MTV too. So yes, there were some before MJ and Prince, but not as prevalent.
therealsoulproduct 2 years ago
Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled to receive airtime on MTV. To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier",president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, denounced MTV in a statement, threatening to take away MTV's ability to play any of CBS label's music videos. MTVdecided to air Jackson's "Billie Jean" video without pressure from CBS records
joeblow394 2 years ago
MTV began showing the "Billie Jean" video in regular rotation in 1983, forming a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black music artists Jackson's video for the song "Billie Jean" was "the video that broke the color barrier, even though MTV was responsible for color barrier in the first place."
joeblow394 2 years ago
Joeblow394, Amen...You could not have stated this better!
dburse66 2 years ago 3
After airing Jackson's music videos, MTV, then a struggling cable channel, became very popular. Jackson's videos were credited for this success and MTV's focus switched from rock to pop and R&B This move helped other black artists such as Prince, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson break into MTV.
joeblow394 2 years ago
dot let the future come down on you,remember that 1 ?any one got it?
deckydee32 2 years ago
luv dat!
deckydee32 2 years ago
JASEI25
montre72 2 years ago
Wow I like this song! Thanks for posting it.
roaming80 2 years ago
What a cool early 80's video.
themightycelestial 2 years ago 2
WIth all the shit thatis on CD these days, you would thuink that some label could find a way to release Andre's albums. I mean, there were other some Paisley Park artists that shuold not have gotten more CD releasses than Andrem(ie. TOny LeMans, Good Question, Carmen ELectra)
cllamont 2 years ago
He was so FINE!
ilrslr3 2 years ago
yeah but you should see him now
cllamont 2 years ago
Well.... I will always have the old image of him:-)
ilrslr3 2 years ago
Whoa, whoa, whoa! You've seen him?? Where? I am desperately seeking...
stormurr 2 years ago
they were trying so hard to be new wave - When this forst came out, I remember liking them for the effort if nothing else
cllamont 3 years ago
Oh Man!! I absolutely Love Andre Cymone!! Wonder what he's doing these days. I'd love to see the reunion of the band he had with Prince on Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals, Dez Dickinson on Rhythm Guitar, Matt Fink on Keys and Bobby Z on Drums. That would be a most Funky Reunion.
dvproducer 3 years ago 3
I was so heavy in this scene back in the early 80s. For those who were in the scene Ya know what I am talking about. I actually met my wife from the scene and yes we are still married.
Suckerman12 3 years ago
This was my anthem of the summer of 08
Nocofella 3 years ago
Nu Wave R&B at it's finest, I have all of Andre's albums and he believed in the Nu Wave and should get credit along with Prince, Midnight Starr, Zapp for creating a subgenre of Black Music with Nu Wave, Funk, Rock. Today it would be indie music if some white surburban kid played this music.
newsoul 3 years ago
New soul can you run some copies of those CDs?
Prince,Andre,Dez & Morris where the Rebels I would love to hear that Bootleg from the "Brown Beatles"!
Cosmictalk 3 years ago
Definitely, some of the best music
BajiHand 3 years ago
makes me sad to think that there wont be any music like this anymore - that time is gone forever
cllamont 2 years ago 2
I played this song to death back in the day. It still sounds fantastic.
marcello09 3 years ago
THank God - an Andre Cymone clip that isnt posted by that loser drummer guy that adds all those lame home videos to them
cllamont 3 years ago
hey give the drummer a break - these were obvious great time for him. Let's not hate - this is such awesome music!
cbruns71471 3 years ago 2
what a nasty thing to say.
emzedess 3 years ago 2
Damn! This song brings back some good memories!
bdub24j 3 years ago
They didn't let blacks florish in this cool genre.
magirecords2004 3 years ago 4
I dont think the black audience supported it much. Even the new wave songs that Prince did were not huge hits on the black charts (as they were called back in those days). Black people have very narrow musical tastes. The stuff that pssses for R&B and gospel, and ignorant Rap - thats pretty m,usc it. Blacks invented rock and jazz and dont support it at all now. If Wynton Marsalis had to count on blacks to buy his records, he would have to get a second job.
cllamont 3 years ago 4
Fans around the world is the only reason I record.Blacks don't support my ambient/instrumentals too tough either.
In the 70's they would buy sum jazz wit da quickness.
magirecords2004 3 years ago
this is very true....blacks dont even support guys like lenny kravitz or even a terrance trent darby....
ericcontroversy 3 years ago 3
plenty of blacks and latinos who support these guys...however, records sales are based on demographic appeal, they are marketted to a wide audience. Guess what blacks are a minority, thus whites are majority. Thus if you want to make it big, you got to go to a mainstream audience.. It is like rap, most of the rap albums/cd are brought by young white kids from the burbs. You are right to a point that once black groups become a crossover, some blacks pretty write them off as " pop music bs"
BajiHand 3 years ago
u are right on point.....
ericcontroversy 3 years ago
this is pathetic...only value is the (unintentional) humorous element...damn this is wack! LOL!
soulfuck9 3 years ago
How can I get the rare videoclips which are canceled in youtube. Specialy Prince and the other funky guys.
76Oktay 4 years ago
Slap a lead guitar on this and you got your current indie rock act
jcraig37 4 years ago
Hey, I know this drummer, It's Bam Bam.
A great guy!
buddabellybaby 4 years ago 3
i have a hard time classifying his music as "new wave", it's more a marriage of Prince's/Minneapolis funk scene to "new wave", there are many influences of both in andre's music.
jktoooo 4 years ago
viewer 420 I rock!!!!
dualnature360 4 years ago
"This clip actually aired on MTV and BET a few times."
The words "MTV" and "BET" and his name should be removed right away, because copyrighters like viacom and Music Publishing Group will remove this video and may have youtube close up your account.
Azone01 4 years ago
Nope. Now, if the clip had either MTV chyrons or a VH1 logo on it, Viacom would have a weak, but valid claim to it. But since the source of this video is NOT a Viacom owned entity, it would be up to the copyright holder to file a DCMA with YouTube.
leshaunfossett 4 years ago
Under my old account (Soulchild01), I had Evelyn King's "I'm In Love" video that came from Video Music Box from the early 1980's and the video had no logos embedded. Before they cancelled my account, youtube removed the video (copyright issues by viacom), all because I used the word "BET" on the comment post and tag. They also removed my Rick James' "69 Times" for the same reasons (no logos, but I used BET on the tag).
Azone01 4 years ago
Also note that Andre Cymone is a Prince related artist and Music Publishing Group and Warner Bros is always lookin' to take down videos by Prince and his protogees (you notice why Vanity 6 and The Time videos are almost non-existent on youtube as they were before)
Azone01 4 years ago
i think they should leave the videos up, i dont even see this music on tv.. or hear it on the radio. this introduced me to whole new styles..
somekidnamedold 4 years ago
"Dance Electric" video was removed from youtube because of Prince and NPG Music although the user did'nt use either Prince or Andre Cymone on the title box and tags. Video ID matches can sense audio and claim rights to these great songs, but its their descion whenever the video stays or goes.
Azone01 4 years ago
Yeah, I heard that MTV played this video (at 2-3 in the morning) although at the time they were limiting their "black" playlist to Michael Jackson, Prince, and Lionel Richie. Another exception is that they started to play Herbbie Hancock's "Rockit" too, since he was barely in the video! MTV did'nt start to get their racist acts together until they recruited Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle.
Azone01 4 years ago
MTV has never been called out properly for their early racism. Where would they be now without black artists?
cllamont 4 years ago 3
Rick James was the first one to bitch about blacks not getting on MTV. According to History of Vibe biography, there was a report on it on Niteline in January of 1983. Around the same time, President of CBS records was about to properly tell the public how racist MTV was when they initially refused to play Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" videos and was going to pull out all his artists' videos off MTV (which was more than half of the playlist).
Azone01 3 years ago
Your so damn right!!!! Thumbs Up!!
l0velyyounglady 3 years ago
Azone01 you are so correct. Rick James Did have the testicular fortitude to stand up and call MTV out. Maybe he did not use the right tact and approach, but his message was correct. They were so overtly racist it was not funny. I was in high school when MTV started and we were so pissed that so few black artists could get on. Honestly, I am still not a big fan of MTV or more so the people that ran MTV the first few years. Really can't stand them!
dburse66 2 years ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
MTV's first few years,very few black artists were on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. The very first non-white act played on MTV in the US was UK band The Specials, which featured an integrated line-up of white and black musicians and vocalists. The Specials' video "Rat Race" was played as the 58th video on the station's first day of broadcasting.
MTV rejected other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak,"
joeblow394 2 years ago
dburse66, so true, it wasn't until Michael Jackson Thriller, then they were forced to play at least him. MTV fact, Rap videos had to have at least one white guy in the vidoe for MTV to play it. If you watch some old Dr. Dre videos from the Chronic there was always some random out of place white guy in the video.
vdogg43 1 year ago
vdogg43 Thanks for recognizing the statements. Now I will say that of course MTV, BET, VH1 all play a better variety of videos now. Good to see more county acts, crossover, and true Latino acts, etc. By the way, All three of these entities are owned by Viacom now. Plus isn't it great to see guys like Eminem and Pall Wall who are white guys, true to their game and flourishing in Hip Hop. And those two for sure are not sellouts and pushed by an industry for their color. They can put it down!
dburse66 1 year ago
@Azone01 Yeah Mtv literally like 4:23 am, on a sunday.
Rockvoxxx 1 year ago
Andre Cymone was in Prince's group back in the day.
lildudebj 4 years ago
Have not seen this video since 1983 on a local music video channel. Nice to see this up. Cool memories.
71brighteyes 4 years ago 3
I haven't seen any record copies for this artist. Cool song!
rauch77 4 years ago