Blind, Sexy Dancers, Peaches and Lap Lap

March 12th, 2008 by Pete

I saw the Blind Boys of Alabama open for Tom Petty many years back. I wish I was at the Knitting Factory in LA a few nights ago to catch the purple one jumping on stage to jam with them on “I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord”.

So a few years ago, British electronic duo 7 Hurtz hooked up with Bitch Lap Lap and Peaches for a version of Prince’s “Sexy Dancer”. Bitch Lap Lap? That’s indie queen Leslie Feist. I guess she used to lurk on stage at Peaches shows back in the day and called herself Bitch Lap Lap (they lived together in Toronto for a spell). I did not know that until tonight. You see, I was doing some exhaustive research trying to figure out who was acting out the Brenda part to Peaches’ Apollonia in the song (the banter mimics an inter-song segue on the Apollonia 6 album. Pre-”Ooo She She Wa Wa” to be exact. Yes, I am a 37 year old married father of two, and I know that.). I searched 7 Hurtz’s MySpace page and the only picture of a female I could find was this one…

After another minute of research, I discovered that the mystery voice was Feist. I hope you don’t mind, though, that I intend to picture the young lady above when listening to this version. In fact, I’ll picture her in both roles…. as twins. Antennaed twins.

The song appears on an album of Prince covers called ‘Controversy: A Tribute to Prince‘. It’s got some interesting versions from some artists I’d never heard of (except for D’Angelo, who does “She’s Always in My Hair”): Blue States, Stina Nordenstam, Kode Nine and Space Ape, to name a few. A reggae version of “Girls & Boys”? This album’s got it.

So give it a listen. Picture the antennaed twins, and go with them to Prince’s house.

7 Hurtz w/ Peaches & Bitch Lap Lap - Sexy Dancer (mp3)

Buy: Controversy: A Tribute to Prince (UK Amazon)

Links: Peaches.com | 7 Hurtz | Feist

Posted in Electronic, Prince | 2 Comments »

Prince and the Boss: Nominations at Tonight’s Grammys

February 10th, 2008 by Pete

Here are the categories where Bruce and Prince are nominated tonight. [Source: Grammy.com]

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Prince, The Boss | No Comments »

The Time + Rihanna = Jungle Umbrella Love? - Watch the Grammys

January 25th, 2008 by Pete

Here’s a newsworthy item for a Prince geek like me… According to this Billboard article, Rihanna will be joined by none other than the Time for a performance at next weekend’s Grammys.

I’ll be adding my sometimes snide, sometimes cynical, but honest commentary all night in year 2 of my live blogging of the Grammys. Believe me, it works better than barking mean-spirited comments to my wife all night!

There should be some blog-worthy moments, especially if Amy Winehouse shows up. They tried to make her go to rehab and she said Yes Yes Yes - this time around. But she’s expected to be there for the ceremony.

Here’s Morris, Terry, Jimmy, Jesse and the boys throwin’ down on American Bandstand back in ‘82-’83 with “777-9311″ (quality = shiteous, but fun nonetheless):

Posted in Miscellaneous, Prince | 6 Comments »

Stephen Colbert’s Prince Dance

January 16th, 2008 by Pete

Thanks Gonzo.

Posted in Prince, Video | 8 Comments »

Prince: available for a Bar Mitzvah or Sweet 16 near you

December 18th, 2007 by Pete

Prince Roger$ Nel$on may not believe in Christmas and birthdays, but he sure makes himself available for the almighty dollar!

How ’bout a U.S. tour, purple guy?

From The Miami Herald’s Scene in the Tropics section…

OK, so now we’ve officially seen it all. And heard it all, thanks to Jeffrey Soffer, heir to the Turnberry throne, who threw himself a 40th birthday spectacular (to the tune of $2 million, we hear) in the Turnberry Aviation hangar Saturday night at Opa-locka Executive Airport. Besides the elaborate open bars, flowing Veuve Cliquot and gourmet food, all tied together in that inimitable, over-the-top Karla Dascal way, Soffer hired Prince — the Prince, his purple highness — to perform a private concert for a few hundred of his closest friends. KC and the Sunshine Band opened. It wasn’t just a quick sampling of Prince’s greatest hits, either. It was a mind-blowing, full-blown concert (he sang Cream, Purple Rain, 1999, U Got the Look, Controversy, Let’s Go Crazy, I Feel For You, Nothing Compares 2 U and several others), featuring marvelous backup singers, dancing twins, a brass band and a legend who seemed to be in his element performing for such an intimate crowd. He also spoke to and made eye contact with fans. At one point, Prince invited dazed and dazzled audience members to join him on stage for a group dance. Spotted in the crowd with the rest of us: DJ Tracy Young; movie director Brett Ratner, who told us that he was working on his next flick — the story of Playboy titan Hugh Hefner; Ingrid Casares with A-Rod; Rony Seikaly; Jorge Perez, and Soffer family friends James Caan and George Hamilton, who joined the elder Soffer, Donald, on stage to wish Jeffrey a fab 40. (The two actors were also spotted at the opening of Michael Mina’sBourbon Steak at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Club last weekend.) Meanwhile, Prince, who was staying at The Setai, was also seen with a bodyguard Friday night at Macarena, where he hung out for three hours.

Posted in Prince | 5 Comments »

Prince’s Response Song: PFUnk

November 8th, 2007 by Pete

Prince’s response to Prince Fans United? Why, Prince Fams United, of course. Which features a “response” song, I guess, called “PFUnk”. And it just happens to be one of the funkiest songs we’ve heard from him in years.

This is what we’ve been aching for…

My natural instinct is to post the mp3. But I’ll resist temptation *slap* and point you toward the tune. Click on either of the links to hear it.

Prince Fans United (Fan Site)

Prince Fams United (Prince/NPG Site)

Fans vs. Fams: for some quick background, Prince doesn’t refer to his admirers as “fans” , because he says it’s short for fanatic. He prefers “fam” because we’re like - um - family.

This is going to get interesting….

Posted in Prince | 10 Comments »

Dear Prince

November 7th, 2007 by Pete

I’m glad to see that your strong armed tactics against your own fans are starting to get some more media attention. Your hired goons (Web Sheriff, your legal team, et al) have been trawling the internet for copyright violations. Going after sites that post your released works? Totally understandable. But threatening your most loyal fan sites for posting pictures of Prince-inspired tattoos, license plates, and any image or likeness of you? Universal Music Group going after a young mother on your behalf for posting a video of her toddler dancing to “Let’s Go Crazy”? Come on, Kid.

Don’t forget how you got where you are now. It’s people like me who have spent our hard earned money on concert tickets to see you over the last 20-30 years. It’s people like me who have purchased every last piece of art you’ve released. We’re the ones who carried you through the tough times.

We bought New Power Soul.

We bought Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.

We paid to see Graffiti Bridge on opening night in a movie theater, for crying out loud!!

We bought your “internet only” Crystal Ball 3 disc set in a cheap plastic ball with no booklet, only to find it in Best Buy a few weeks later for less money, with normal packaging and a booklet! Man, I almost fell off the boat on that one.

Give this one a rest, Prince. Enough is enough. You’ve been a pioneer in so many ways, including your use of the internet to further your career. You seem to be savvy in so many ways. And your Jehovah’s Witness-ness seems to find you in a good place spiritually.

But the threats directed at your most loyal supporters, and your obsession with tracking down all copyright “violators” - as you choose to define them - seems… counterproductive. You know the clichés: shooting yourself in the foot… biting the hand that feeds you.

I’ve removed all images of you on this web site. I have permanently shut down my Prince forum, a place where a hundred or so like-minded people from all over this world gathered to discuss your art. This is what you want? You don’t see that sites like this benefit you more than hurt you?

Your music has been a huge part of my life for the last 24 years, and will be for the next 24 too. You’ve hooked a lot of us in, and call us crazy, but we - the hardcore supporters - are still going to support you - we’re still going to hit the record store or iTunes on release day.

But beyond what is your totally legitimate right to have full control over your music and how it is disseminated to the public, give us a break on the rest of it, will you? We’re here to help you. And going after the internet this voraciously is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge - once you think you’re done, it’s time to start all over. There has to be a happy medium, my friend.

I’d much rather promote your latest projects and live gigs (and bring in a few new fans in the process). But for the foreseeable future, it looks like I’m relegated to posting pictures of Prince spaghetti and whining about copyrights and web sheriffs.

• Visit Prince Fans United

11/8 Update: from the PFU web site….

PFU has been contacted by Prince’s Management and we are currently in discussions.
We are hopeful that an amicable resolution can be reached wherein all can co-exist peacefully on the internet. However, if the talks are unsuccessful, the Prince Fans United Group vows to continue its fight. In the meantime, Prince has provided “Prince Fans United” with the song named “PFUnk” for your listening pleasure. [emphasis mine]

Go to PFU to listen to “PFUnk”. Camille returns…

Posted in Prince | 20 Comments »

Prince In London Video

September 22nd, 2007 by Pete

Since Prince is deputizin’ Web Sheriff to take back the internet from the Youtube’s and those troublesome fans of his music, I won’t try to embed the sweet video he has up on his site, or post an image of his purpleness. But that looks like a pretty sweet Prince tennis racquet.

The video is Prince during one of his recent London shows, plowing with great force through “Joy in Repetition”, “Anotherloverholenyohead”, and “Peach”. But ya can’t view it here. That would be unacceptable.

Here’s the Link to the video on Prince’s site, 3121.com; All Praise to Paisley Park Enterprises; May U Live to See the Dawn and not a Cease & Desist Letter from the purple lawyers: http://www.3121.com/joy/

Posted in Prince | 10 Comments »

Sometimes It Snows In September

September 11th, 2007 by Michael

Outside of the guitarist community there are probably not too many folks who know Israeli born guitarist Oz Noy. A long time fixture of the NYC music scene he seamlessly blends jazz, soul, funk with a dash of pop for good measure into his own very distinctive groove. His resume includes backing everyone from Harry Belafonte to Toni Braxton to Nile Rodgers but it’s his solo outings where he truly shines and his new release Fuzzy is no exception. And how pleasantly surprised was I to find a very familiar title in the track list. “Sometimes It Snows In April” is (for me) one of Prince’s masterpieces and I think that Oz pays beautiful homage.

Buy Fuzzy: | Amazon

Link: Official Site | MySpace

Posted in Jazz, Prince | 4 Comments »

Prince’s Paris Affair

August 10th, 2007 by Pete

While Prince is in the midst of his 21 night stand in London town (which doesn’t include his early morning aftershows), I thought I might take the rest of us back to ‘87 for a “Paris Affair”. Sign o’ the Times turned *gasp* 20 years old this year! It was released as a double album, and soon after as a “concert” movie. I say “concert”, because the majority of the footage in the movie was filmed at Paisley Park outside of Minneapolis. The original intent was to include footage from some shows in Belgium and Holland, but the quality was apparently lacking, so they re-shot it at Prince’s home sound stage.

As you’ll hear, Prince and his gang are in prime form this night in Paris, and lucky for us all, the sound quality of this show is Superb.

Prince
Palais Omnisports de Bercy
Paris
June 17, 1987

1. Sign O’ The Times
2. Play In The Sunshine
3. Little Red Corvette
4. Housequake
5. Girls & Boys
6. Slow Love
7. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
8. Hot Thing
9. Now’s The Time - Sheila E Drum Solo
10. Let’s Go Crazy
11. When Doves Cry
12. Purple Rain
13. 1999
14. The Cross
15. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night

Posted in Prince | 9 Comments »