Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Prince: A magical, mystery ride.

I was 18 and had moved here, fresh out of Michigan for only a few months when we met. Coming from the home of Motown I was a lover of Prince ...anything and everything he did. What a carpet I would cut to his funky beats in my bedroom. How many nightclubs I had snuck into and as they spun only a few notes of his unique music I would be up, screaming and running to the dance floor. He was the prince, my prince ...I would fantasize. I thought he was so beautiful, so sexy, so well, soooooooo! I did not dream of Leif Garrett or whoever the teen mags showed, I dreamed of Prince. He was my Prince Charming.

I went with my oldest brother Leo, also a huge fan [Sorry but Micheal who????] to see his Controversy show while we were still living in Michigan. Vanity 6 played first, then The Time, then the man of the hour. It was fantastic. All music penned by my Prince, I was in awe and in love. I watched him running around backstage and playing with the gorgeous Vanity. They looked like a perfect couple, their kids would've been scary beautiful for sure. Thankfully for me, it never went that far. But back then, as just another fan behind the railing, what did I know.

So now, in the city of Lost Angels I was. Just another angel among the masses and as lost as the next..... still sneaking into nightclubs and being a crazy 18 year old. One night me and my brothers girlfriend Judy went to dance at Carlos and Charlies. It was on the infamous Sunset Blvd and was an exclusive nightclub above a restaurant. Dressed beyond my 18 years in my hot 80's garb, a white leather mini and matching motorcycle jacket. Camisole, inspired by Vanity 6, a look Madonna would later steal as her own as she stole MANY things from my Prince. And short sexy silver and white boots. It was on, crouton. Dancing, drinking, and gasping as I looked over and saw my Prince walk in the door. I almost died and am certain I cried.

He was small, my size, not the giant from the concert I remembered. He had on colorful clothes and high heeled boots which did little to increase his physical stature. He was still a god to me. As pretty as I thought he'd be. Maybe prettier. And oh, so sexy. The club parted like the red sea as he made his way to a great table right next to the dance floor where he could partake of a favorite habit of his. Watching people dance, sometimes getting up himself. Seeing what the pulse of the crowd was in terms of what music they were listening too.

The DJ would of course begin spinning as many of his records as he could get away with. Not realizing that it irritated Prince a bit because to him all of his current music on the radio is very old now. He has written so much new music since then and does not even like the old stuff anymore. He is prolific. Has 100 times mores music that anybody has or will ever hear. Some is simply for his own enjoyment. But he did enjoy when the people danced to it with enthusiasm, which was partly fueled by the fact that he was sitting right there.

Some of the women were simply embarrassing themselves, bumping and grinding frenetically, desperate for a glance from him. He is a somewhat shy man and that was just a turn off. "Act your age, baby, not your shoe size & maybe we can do the town!" He would almost always say no thanks when people came and asked him to dance. Drunk, overt, slutty girls on drugs did not interest him in the slightest. This was after all part of the research for his artistry.

There was no entourage, just a huge bodyguard with long white hair and a mustache. He looked like he was in a motorcycle gang, threatening. A part of Hell's Angel's in the city of Lost Angels. I would later get to know his name was Chick. He was a gentle giant but took care of the business of keeping the prince safe at all costs. Lets face it, drunk fans can be a bit daunting. In a word...R-U-N !!!!

Judy and I watched him from the background for awhile. Truth be told, I could not take my eyes off of him. Then Judy, bold as she was with the ever present valium in her bloodstream wanted to go ask him to come sit with us. Oh my god....no!!! He won't. Are you crazy I asked her!!! Why would he??? He has turned down WHATEVER the numerous girls that had approached him asked. God no!!! Just leave it Judy. My night had been made just laying my eyes upon him..... But Judy would not take no for an answer and literally dragged me over to him.

As we stood in front of him ,Chick arose the ever vigilant protector of the crown. I froze. Deer caught in the headlights. Heart pounding out of my chest. I had never been this close to a star, let alone THE star. The star of my secret love and fantasies..... She said simply,"Do you want to come sit with us?" It seemed an eternity before he answered. The pulse of the music unable to beat the rate of my heart. My mouth turned dry as sandpaper. Standing there, ugh, what should I do with my hands. A selfconcious thought I often had when first started doing film work as an actress. I nudged Judy, lets just go I indicated. He looked me up and down, then Judy.......Then stood up and said,"OK." And followed us to our humble table.

I think I barely spoke three words but I danced with he and Judy. Then with just him. He had golden eyes that were playful and mischieveous. He would watch me as I moved around him to the beat. I thought I was Vanity, I rocked. I shimmied and shook and felt so alive. I had so much fun. Sure I had gone mute but I still had fun. That ever illusive fun I seem to have lost the ability to have now as a 44 year old woman.

He was also very smart and funny when he did speak over the blaringly loud music. He was wise and flippant and would tell jokes. He had this low kind of husky sexy voice. Not high pitched like a woman's as I would later experience MJ to have when I met him with Prince. He was simply cool. Either you are or you aren't and he was. Still is. "I'm so cool...ow.ow.ow. Ain't nobody bad like me!"

The crazy part came a little bit later when he asked if we wanted to come to the recording studio with him. Jesus, what was happening. This was not, could not be real. Of course we took the invitation floating on cloud 9, hoped in my little cream corvette and off went following he and Chick in his limo.

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship/relationship that would span the next decade of my life...

to be continued...... hehehe....if you like??!!!



29 comments:

  1. haha! yes please continue! prince is amazing! when i was a kid i use to pretend i was him in purple rain, trying to mimic all that coolness was very difficult. maybe i should pull off a prince move next time im on stage?!? haha

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  2. What a great story, Sherilyn. I'd love to read more blogs about your past experiences (like people you knew, your studies in acting class, filming on location, etc). Your're a wonderful writer.

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  3. Wow that was awesome. I also had a fascination with Prince... back in the day I can remember dancing to his Purple Rain album in my bedroom with all his posters on my wall. HE WAS/IS AWESOME... what an entertainer and so talented way beyond his time. Thank you thank you so much for sharing.. what an honor and priviledge.. Please share more. We love it... Love to hear more about your behind the scenes experiences its fascinating.. Your an awesome writer. Such a descriptive way of writing. You just draw us all in like a vacuum... Can't wait to read more.. Your awesome~

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  4. WOW. I've been listening to his Lotusflow3r album--been on a Prince kick lately, actually. Reading this makes me want to giggle and scream...how exciting. More more more, s'il vous plait, and thank you very much. :)

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  5. Of course we want you to continue!! ^__^
    I'm so glad you're back. Over the last few months I've regularly checked your blog, hoping to find a new entry.
    Everything you write is so interesting! Thank you so much for all this, I just want to read more and more of it! ^__^
    I just would like to say that I'm a huge huge fan of your work. I've seen most of it and I've read many of your interviews. I've been impressed by your performances, your versatility as an actress and your determination on avoiding typecasting and widening your range of roles, which is very rare and risky in Hollywood. So interesting to see you involved in such different projects as "Twin Peaks", "Diary of a Hitman", "Ruby", "Of Mice & Men", "Boxing Helena", "The Liz Taylor Story", "Lovelife (Friends of Friends)", "Darkness Falls (Dangerous Obsession)", "Rude Awakening", "Cement", "Off Season", "Novel Romance"...
    Stop depreciating yourself, you are stronger and more talented than you give yourself credit for. ^___^
    Can't wait to watch your new films (''The Scenesters'' oh yeah ^___^) and read your new blogs ^^

    Quentin :)

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  6. What? That's awesome. Thanks for sharing this story with us.

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  7. I've been in love with Prince since I was 6.... I call him my number one..and he is still the only man I would marry. You MUST continue. Im just waiting for the chance to woo him. LOL!!

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  8. I remember when I met Prince and I still can't describe the awe I felt meeting him. The sexy deep voice and the long pause before he answers is unforgettable. His presence fills the room. Great story. Can't wait to hear more!

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  11. Wow. Please please tell us more about how/where you met MJ with prince and how they interracted. Did they get along? Were they comfortable? There is almost no information as to what their relationship was like and what they really thought of eachother privately.

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  12. I too would LOVE to hear more (feel you on the only man to marry thing, JouJou), however unless you have spoken to him recently and he's cool with you writing about him on your blog (which would surprise me, given he's a very private person) I would keep your story to yourself and maybe a few trusted girlfriends over a glass of pinot grigio. But hey, that's just MHO.

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  13. ok up at 4am this morning. my 2 yr old decided to start his day a bit early today. thankfully hubby will take over at some point and let me nap.. i have been reading the comments about prince both good and not so good. here is my opionion (a sort of knee jerk reaction after not much sleep) i don't get why some r offended sherilyn is sharing this info with us. its all complimentary to prince its nothing harmful all praise and adoration for him. its not like she is telling us how he was in bed or anything. and are we forgetting he is a celebrity he is in the public eye (so to speak). sherilyn in my opionin did not overstep any line. she wasn't being disrespectful to him. its all harmless info and what a priviledge it is to hear a tidbit from the inside track. i don't see what the big deal is. Sherilyn is putting herself out there and sharing with us & if we're not careful with our comments; we might scare her off & not hear from her again. The prince info is from a hundred years ago, so who cares. Again i mean no disrepect to anyone just wanted to share my thoughts.

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  14. Lovely story, Sherilyn. I remember one day, when I was just an 19 year old girl, as well, living on my own, and (nearly bound for H-wood) working @ Valley National Bank in downtown Tucson. One day for lunch, I just wanted to walk. Banking wasn't my thing, walking helped... "What is this?" I thought.. A movie set? Here in the middle of the day, in lazy little downtown Tucson, an acutal movie was being shot. So, I, being the naive 19 year old, walks up to one of the most beautiful brunettes I had ever seen. There she sat, on the step of her trailer, and dare I ask? I did. "Hello, may I ask, what is the name of the film u all are shooting?" The young woman, lost in her script looks up at me, w/o a bit of fear, and says, in a very concentrated way, "The Wrath." "Oh," I say. "Thank you so much. Good luck, I will be sure to check it out." You were always so dedicated to your craft. Loved you on Showtime, as well. Peace to you.

    Hugs,
    CLK

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  15. Old school fans like myself love this kind of stuff. So keep going. When I heard that you and Prince had a relationship I thought it made complete sense, and it was just another reason to be jealous of that little s***, lol.

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  16. Definitely. Please continue. I too am a Prince fan. I still listen to his albums. And to this day, I still think that Purple Rain is the best song ever written.

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  17. It's nothing to do with being offensive or not, it's the fact that the time they shared together was /their/ time, no-one elses. Why should the world hear about it?

    But hey, I suspect Sherilyn is no longer friends with Prince, or else she wouldn't be writing this.

    Sorry if this sounds snarky - I don't mean it to be - just my opinion.

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  18. Please tell me next he challenged you to a game of basketball and then made you pancakes after he won.

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  19. I hope that you story did continue and I hope to read it as I continue reading your blog.

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  20. Please continue!!! Leaving off like that after usch a build up is like ...

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  21. Finally found your blog. Love it! I think I'm 3 years late in reading this. I love Prince too, but girl, that dig on MJ though, is that necessary? and you wrote this just a few months after he died LOL. I think you were just sick of the news and tributes at that time that you feel your 'prince' was being overshadowed so you feel the need to suddenly write this post. Oh, well...

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  22. Hi, Ms. Fenn. My name is Erica Thompson. I am a graduate journalism student at Ohio University. I’m writing to request an interview with you for my thesis on Prince. May I send you an e-mail to tell you more about my project? You can contact me via e-mail here: http://ericawrites.com/contact/. Thank you for your time!

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  23. OH MY GOD, Sherilyn. I am so, so sorry for your loss...

    When I received a text from my friend telling me of Prince's passing today, I totally lost it and screamed and cried in my apartment...

    I have been a loyal fan since 1981. I was thirteen and was just amazed by this unusual and mind-blowing artist.

    I have had the incredible joy of seeing him in concert three times in the last four years, one of them during the Montreal Jazz Fest in 2012. The Metropolis is a modest venue, so I saw him play and sing up close for almost FOUR HOURS. IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE.

    I am numb now as there are no words to translate my sorrow and what his music has meant and still means to me.

    I AM INCONSOLABLE.

    Shine on forever, Sweet Prince.

    Giving you the biggest hug and thinking of you, stay strong.

    Love, Gen xxxxxxxx

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  24. Yes please do return with some more of your wonderful stories about Prince.

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