Originally published November 9, 2010. I’ve edited this entry a little more than the previous two to make up for a couple of grammatical errors and a few turns of phrase that I’m not entirely comfortable with six years later. Everything’s been good on the Prince ride so far, right? We’ve already covered his ascension to superstardom, and now we’re at the tail end of the Eighties, when cracks in the Purple Armor were beginning to show. Nothing good lasts […]
Posts tagged "Prince"
Blerd’s Notes: A Guide To The Music Of Prince (Part Two)
Originally published 11/1/10 When dealing with someone whose released approximately 600 albums during his lifetime, it’s best to go piece by piece. When it comes to Prince, we’re gonna go five at a time. When we last left the Purple Yoda, he was on the verge of megastardom. “1999” was his biggest pop success, and set the stage for… “Purple Rain” (1984)– By the time “1999” hit, Prince was feeling himself so much, he convinced his label (and film studio […]
Prince Delivers News at the Apollo (Just Not the News I Wanted)
I’ll admit, I was hella curious about the press conference Prince planned for Friday evening at the historic Apollo Theatre in New York City. Visions danced through my head of several different scenarios: a Revolution reunion, a massive (and long overdue) reissue project (which would mean making nice with the honchos at Warner Brothers), another tour with the reformed (and allegedly making a new album) Time? Nah, none of that happened. Prince did announce that he will be headlining a […]
Ushering in a New Era of Mediocrity with “Versus”
I stand corrected. When Usher’s “Raymond V. Raymond” came out earlier this year, I predicted that after a solid first week, it was going to flop hard. Well, I guess I have egg on my face. Thanks to the inexplicable success of the will.i.am-assisted hit “OMG”, “Raymond” has already outsold Usher’s (much better qualitatively but not as pop-friendly) previous record “Here I Stand”. In order to keep the momentum going (and maybe to hoodwink Usher’s fans into buying material that […]
All You Need to Know About the Music of…Madonna
Doing a series on Popdose dedicated to the music of Michael Jackson got me to thinking. How many other artists (or bands) are out there whose entire discography I’m familiar with? Of course, there are always means by which you can familiarize yourself with an artist’s entire oeuvre, but there’s a handful of acts that I can pretty much go in on without having to do a shit-ton of research (or listening to bad albums), which is why the Popdose guides to […]
Critical Mass: What Does Everyone Think of Prince’s “20ten”?
Despite the fact that the internet is dead, people have been tossing around Prince’s new “20ten” like wildfire. Hell, the album hasn’t been released in the U.S. (and has no American release date scheduled) and it’s being given away with newspapers in Europe…what are we Stateside Prince fans supposed to do? I’ve had the album for about a week, and totally intended to write my own review of the album, but over the course of the past several days, a […]
Blerd Briefs: Prince, George Michael and Baseball!!
In an interview, with a British newspaper called The Daily Mirror, Prince declared the internet “dead”. The legendary performer, who is prone to making completely befuddling public statements, stated that the reason he wasn’t making his new music available via digital venues is because “all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you”. So says the man who has at various times, sued internet fan sites […]
Happy 4th!!: Songs About America
On Friday, we posted a Billboard article about the best and worst versions of our national anthem. Yesterday, we posted a video for a song that makes for great driving music on this holiday weekend. Today, I’m posting videos for a couple of my favorite songs about America. Hey, when I find a theme, I stick to it!! Pay special attention to this first one, ’cause you KNOW it’s gonna get taken down sooner or later. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyh_U32gbOo
America, Have You Heard?? The Time is Back!!
Those of you who watched the Prince tribute on the BET Awards last night would not be wrong for wondering what happened to his many proteges. To that, I ask one question: WHAT TIME IS IT??? As my man Jason Mewes would say (OK, he’s not really my man), “Morris Day and the Motherfuckin’ Time” are back and preparing a new album for release this year. All of the original members are along for the ride, including super-producas Jimmy Jam […]
Blerd Briefs: Mariah, Xtina & That Purple Guy
Don’t you hate it when you go on a website and all they do is direct you to another website? Yeah, me too. So go on Popdose and check out my review commemorating the 20th anniversary of the debut album by Mariah Carey. Hard to believe it’s been two decades since MC stepped on the scene. Her debut album still sounds pretty fresh. Thankfully, she’s stepped up her choreography game a little bit since then. Remember the “Someday” video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeyhROv8utM