Prince remembered: Trevelise and music reps remember the legacy

Learning of Prince’s death for me definitely qualifies as a “where were you when you found out?” moment. I was driving on 537 and heard Matthew White lead with it on the news. I was stunned. 57 is way too young to lose anyone and we've already had way too many losses in the music industry this year.

I remembered a time back in 1983 at WYSP coming out of a meeting where we were told we were going to broaden our album oriented rock format by adding Prince. I was sitting in the air studio while Pam Merly was on, I remember her looking at me and saying “if these people only knew what was coming,” as she cued up “When Doves Cry.” Up until then, I think the only rocker of color we played was Jimi Hendrix, when she played Prince the switchboard lit up with calls of protest.

By the time I went on air Saturday midday, the protest calls had turned to requests as Prince would go on to become an icon of the 80s. If Michael Jackson were “The Beatles”, then Prince was “The Rolling Stones.” Whereas some questioned the sexuality of Michael Jackson, you knew exactly where Prince stood.

We talked about this tragic loss on air, I spoke with George Stone, the Warner Brothers promotion & marketing manager for Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. Stone introduced Prince to the Delaware Valley, who described him as "a quiet shy man who cared very deeply about his music."

Scott Segalbaum, president of “Rock Art Show,” constantly went to the “First Avenue Club" where Prince often performed and told some inside stories about the things he did quietly for his home city.

If you’re a Prince fan, you’ll want to hear these interviews, as for that feeling of sadness among his true fans, perhaps he summed it up best when he sang “this is what it sounds like when doves cry.”