Friday Music Day

Friday Music Day: Purple Edition

39 Comments

More regularly scheduled nibbishment next week, but today, we'll talk about Prince.

I listened to Purple Rain again for the first time in a long time last night. I've never been a massive fan, but giving a "new ears" listen was a lot of fun. That was one talented dude.

And now, the obligatory...

39 thoughts on “Friday Music Day: Purple Edition”

  1. Purple Rain movie came out not long after I'd just moved out of MN (for good, although I didn't know it at the time) to LA. Saw it with some other MN expats, and when the movie reaches "Purple Rain", well...

  2. I think my first "exposure" was an appearance he made on American Bandstand in January 1980. I wasn't quite sure what to think at the time. But by the time I got to the Alma Mater, his music was already becoming an essential part of the vibe there.

    I may have mentioned this once or a few times before, but my housemate my last 2 years had a Betamax. One of the few movies we had was Purple Rain. We must have watched that a few dozen times.

    His first tv appearance, on Midnight Special.

  3.     a. Purple Finch "Song" (Cornell Essential Set)
        b. Nelson's Sparrow "Song" (Cornell Essential Set)
    1. F--- Buttons “Prince's Prize” Slow Focus
    2. Justin Townes Earle “Rogers Park” Harlem River Blues
    3. Oliver Nelson “Stolen Moments” The Blues And the Abstract Truth
    4. Ken Nordine “Purple” Colors
    5. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince “Summertime” Will Smith—Greatest Hits
    6. Roger Knox & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts “Blue Gums Calling Me Back Home” Stranger in My Land
        c. Nelson's Sparrow, Interior Subspecies "Song" (Cornell Master Set)
    7. Pantha Du Prince “Abglanz” Black Noise
    8. Kenny Rogers & The First Edition “Just Dropped In” Greatest Hits
        d. Nelson's Sparrow "Calls" (Cornell Master Set)

    9. Gang Gang Dance “Princes” Saint Dymphna
    A. Whale “Darling Nikki” Pay For Me
    B. Kode9 + The Spaceape “Sine” Memories of the Future
    C. Jimi Hendrix Experience “Purple Haze” Are You Experienced?
        e. Purple Martin "Male Song" (Cornell Master Set)
    D. Miles Davis “Someday My Prince Will Come” The Essential Miles Davis
    E. Purple Penguin “Raw Deal” Question
    F. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy “After I Made Love 2 U” Ease Down the Road

    10. Prince “Johnny B. Goode / Anotherloverholenyohead” Super Bowl XLI press conference
    11. Prince “Medley: We Will Rock You / Let's Go Crazy / Baby I'm a Star / Proud Mary” Super Bowl XLI Half-Time Show (Feb. 4, 2007)
    12. Prince “Medley: All Along the Watchtower / Best of You ” Super Bowl XLI Half-Time Show (Feb. 4, 2007)
    13. Prince “Purple Rain” Super Bowl XLI Half-Time Show (Feb. 4, 2007)

  4. I haven't been feeling quite the same level of loss as a lot of people seem to be feeling. I'm not Minnesotan and I don't remember the 80s. I like Prince's music, and his talent is undeniable, but I just don't have that deep connection so many people here do.

    1. I think we all have a special attachment to the music of "our time", whatever that time happens to be. We can come to enjoy and appreciate other music, but the impact of it on our lives just isn't quite the same.

    2. I think the Minnesotan thing is a big deal. Maybe others here have different experiences, but when living in D.C. I felt like I noticed that there was something unique about Minnesotans and their relationship to home/their own. A higher level of pride for where we were from, and a desire to get back there, in some form or another. Something that didn't quite match up with folks from other places. So when you add "once in a life time" talent to that mix... I mean, Prince was a worldwide star, and he chose to live with us. That's cool.

      It's the exact same reason why I'm so disappointed by the treatment Mauer gets. He is our talent. Let us celebrate him.

      1. You've nailed it. When you are living elsewhere, I think you find yourself clinging a bit to Prince, Bob Dylan, Garrison Keillor, Paul Wellstone, the Twins, Target stores...really, anything at all Minnesotan.

        1. I think that's part of my problem - I don't necessarily feel like I'm "from" somewhere. I guess I'm Iowan if asked, but really that's a fairly tenuous, sorta by-default, feeling.

          1. I do mean to suggest there is something unique about being from Minnesota, in addition to the "being from somewhere" effect. You're here now. Embrace it!

  6. The news hit me harder than I would have expected. I've never been a huge fan of Prince, though I appreciate his contributions to music in general and can sing along to his well known stuff when I hear it (lack of availability of his music on subscription music services has been a real barrier for me). It is probably the Minnesotan angle, and the fact that I do feel a bit of a connection with First Avenue.

    1. PJ Harvey - "Meet Ze Monsta" - To Bring You My Love
    2. Phoenix - "Bourgeois" - Bankrupt!
    3. Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built" - Celebration Rock
    4. The Bottle Rockets - "Rich Man" - 24 Hours A Day
    5. Drive By Truckers - "Primer Coat" - English Oceans

    6. Bob Dylan - "If Dogs Run Free" - New Morning
    7. Drive By Truckers - "When The Pin Hits The Shell (Live)" - It's Great To Be Alive!
    8. Titus Andronicus - "Four Score And Seven" - The Monitor
    9. The Jayhawks - "Settled Down Like Rain (Live)" - Live at the Belly Up
    10. The Beatles - "Cry Baby Cry" - The Beatles

    1. "When the Pin Hits the Shell" is one of my favorite DBT songs.

      You can lie to your mama
      You can lie to your race
      But you can't lie to nobody
      With that cold steel in your face

  7. My God that halftime show just kills. Of course I saw it when it happened, loved it and have always maintained it was the greatest halftime show ever. But I hadn't watched it since then. I was worried that time had elevated it to mythical status, that it wouldn't be the same. Boy was I wrong. The guitar work alone was amazing, throw in the "Tron" marching band, the rain, the glyph guitar behind a sheet.... did I mention the guitar work. The NFL should be using their billions in taxbreaks from the Superbowl to recreate a holograph and replay that at the USBank Superbowl.

    Yesterday was an emotional day for me as it was also the wife's birthday. Plus I hurt my back so I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I didn't have the energy to go to the Dance Party but I didn't want to sit at home alone watching Prince videos and reading memoriums. So I hauled my sorry ass to Jim Walsh's weekly Hootenanny at Harriet Brewery where it was a nice little Prince celebration. Man did I need that.

    One final thing, I had seen Prince long ago at I think the Civic Center but haven't seen him since. I'd been meaning to, but never got to it, which is unfortunate because I've been "checking the boxes" in seeing acts before they go. Thank God I got to see Haggard with AMR before he passed and EmmyLou Harris was another recent one. So I'm urging myself and all citizens is to go out and see your favorite acts. You just don't know if you end up never getting a chance.

    1. I knew that as soon as I heard it was Prince, that the Halftime show would be awesome. I got a tape lined up on my VCR and everything. Still have the tape... somewhere.
      As U have all heard countless times, Prince was the perfect artist for a halftime show and should have been given the slot in perpetuity once he showed that he could pull it off.

    3. My wife texted or called every one of her friends who loved Prince, and none of them were willing to head downtown.
      First work night party/concert I've seen her both excited about, and willing to attend in probably 7 years.
      I'm glad you were able to get out and celebrate his music.

  8. I've mentioned before that my parents divorced before I turned one, and that I lived most of my life through about age 16 splitting time between their homes on opposite sides of the river. Even though Pops moved to Wisconsin in '85, and even though I live there now myself, I've never felt like a Wisconsinite. I'm a Minnesotan. Except, I'm not. At least when it comes to Prince.

    'Prince's Death & Imposter Syndrome' SelectShow

    This feels like the only place in my life that I can say this, so if you read it, thanks.

    2. Yes, thanks for this.

      Not Prince related, but your perspective on your Pa/Pops relationship and their interactions with each other hits me where I've been dwelling for the past few weeks.

  9. In my house, my wife is the true Prince fan. I knew and enjoyed most of the "Top-40" hits of the 80's (was always most partial to When Doves Cry & Little Red Corvette) but until we married, the only album of his I owned was

    because I loved the tunes 7, Sexy MF and My Name is Prince. She owned probably 8 of his other albums, older and newer than the Love Symbol Album and really introduced me to stuff I'd never heard before. I can still remember when she and her cousin got all dressed up to go see him at the Xcel. She came home flushed with joy and excitement at how amazing it was. I came home yesterday (she was home with Kernel - strep) and the television was on to ongoing coverage of his passing, the iPad was streaming Prince tunes in the kitchen, and she was texting and FB chatting with friends, remembering Prince.

    We moved a few years ago and most of the discs are still in jewel cases in a box, or CD wallets.* I dug through three boxes of cases and paged through 8 different wallets to find discs for her to listen to today. One she wanted in particular was missing. She took the kids to daycare and I kept looking. She seemed very disappointed that it was "lost." Surprisingly, I did find it and raced to catch her at daycare, giving it to her just as she was getting into her car to head to work. I knew how much it meant to her, even though (other than listening the The Current the past 24 hours) I'm not nearly on the level of fandom she is.

    Prince seemed a bit like fluff when I was first getting into music, i.e., grunge. I was confident enough to appreciate much of his music, but wasn't going out of my way to buy it or see him. I feel about his passing the way I felt about Bowie's passing - saddened at the loss of a remarkable talent, but not touched the way so many people seem to be.

    1. 10 Days Late – Third Eye Blind
    2. I Want to Tell You – Matthew Sweet
    3. Unbreakable – DJ Sammy
    4. From the Right Angle – Dawes
    5. Stop Breaking Down – The Rolling Stones

    6. Living and Living Well – George Strait
    7. Rockin’ In the Free World – Pearl Jam
    8. Showerhead – Eve 6
    9. Visions of Johanna – Bob Dylan
    10. Reservations – Wilco

    B1. Java Jive – The Manhattan Transfer

    *I copied every CD we own to a hard drive, but her iPod is dead and mine only holds 80GB, less than half of the total on the external containing the music collection.

    1. I'll bet your wife (whose moniker I'm Batteying) definitely appreciated that gesture today. Good on ya for making it happen, Corn.

      I'm in the same frustrating place with HD capacity vs. music library size. I've currently got both my music library & my photo library on an external because the SSD I bought when my old HD died only holds 250 GB. The SSD made my laptop a lot faster, and I have iTunes Music Match to cover for the difference in size with my phone & iPad, but it's feels like a ridiculous work around. And I'm just waiting for that external HD to die before I can replace both our MacBooks (8 & 6 years old, respectively) with an iMac.

      1. No worries, I don't have a moniker for her ... "my wife" (or, "my better half") is the usual reference.

        She seemed very appreciative; it was worth it.

  10. I think I was too young to really appreciate Prince at the time. Still, he was from Minnesota and so was I and I had a weird kind of price about Prince being from Minnesota even though I'd never heard more than a handful of his songs that became hits.

    I'm reminded of one of my favorite Atmosphere tracks:

    I wanted to make a song about where I'm from
    You know? Big up my home town, my territory, my state
    But, I couldn't figure out much to brag about
    Prince lives here, we got 10,000 lakes

    1. Love that tune ... fun fact: it was the first song played when The Current came on the air in 2005. The Current gets panned around here once in a while, but it's still preselect #1 on my car radio.

      1. I have been listening to The Current online today--it's been a while--and generally speaking I think I like it better than KEXP, the rough Seattle equivalent. So often I feel like I tune into KEXP and it feels like it's programmed by people who used to listen to cool music but got old and now they're into Lite Rock, but they don't realize it yet.

      2. The only thing I have against The Current is that MPR killed St. Olaf's delightful WCAL to make it happen.

  11. EAR rarely listens to pop radio, but every now and then wants to survey the pop music universe.
    Last Friday night was one of those nights and we were driving to St. John's for a weekend retreat for her.
    We stopped for gas and snacks at the Kwik Trip in Brooklyn Park.
    The music in the store was "Kiss" by Prince.
    Upon getting back into the minivan, pop music played from the radio, but it was not "Kiss" but something much less interesting by someone much less talented.
    "What's the point of radio stations if they're not going to play Prince all the time?" I asked her.

    I guess we got what I asked for.

  12. I think Prince on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of my favorite clips, has been since it happened in...'04 (!!!!) Probably my favorite Beatles song, and Prince just kills it.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

  13. Various thoughts I’ve been unable to work into an actual essay, numbered for ease of response:

    1. Prince seemed to unite everyone I ever talked music with. Punks, technoheads, hiphoppers, metalheads, poptimists, musical-theatre enthusiasts. (I didn't talk music with country fans). Everyone liked him to some degree, at least found him the most agreeable of pop musicians.

    2. I remember some Prince songs from watching MTV at my Grandma’s house (my mom has two half-brothers from Grandma’s second marriage, and they were about only 10 years older than me). “When Doves Cry”, mostly. I remember my young uncles thought “Raspberry Beret” was the worst song imaginable. I still remember that and have never given anything from that album a legit listen.

    3. As a young kid, it was clear that pop music was Michael Jackson and Prince. More accurately Michael Jackson or Prince. MJ was who I related to when I was that age. Prince was weird and made me uncomfortable. MJ was safe and had songs about his hamster or how he didn’t sleep with Billie Jean.

    4. When I got to be a teenager, Prince was still making vital music, “Cream”, “Diamonds and Pearls”, “Money Don’t Matter 2 Nite” (got that on cassingle), “Gett Off”, “Seven”, “Sexy MF”. MJ as a genuine musical force was spent and left in the past. I liked some of Prince’s songs and got close to buying Diamonds and Pearls several times but never pulled the trigger. I was mostly listening to grunge, Metallica, and Tool at the time, with a bit of U2, Ice Cube, and Das EFX for color.

    5. In Living Color (the Wayans’ brothers TV show) had a skit that mocked Prince. “My Pants have no Ass” or something like that. I laughed. Prince was humorous, but it wasn’t a scathing mockery. Prince knew he was a bit ridiculous and stayed that way anyway.

    6. At a church rummage sale in 1995 or 1996 (putting me a junior or senior in H.S.), I found the cassette of Purple Rain for $.25-$1.00. I bought it and various other tapes and vinyl discs for similar prices. I still haven’t listened to some of those LPs, but that tape got a lot of play in the minivan I drove. I knew “Darling Nikki” from the Whale cover, and the three big singles, but the rest was new to me. I loved it, but didn’t really share that with anyone. Not that I was ashamed, can’t now put why.

    7. I rented the movie Purple Rain within a month or two… It’s a good concert movie with some Afterschool Special story built around it. A co-worker claims to have been in the audience for one of those shows and says she’s in it. I haven’t re-watched it, but it sounds like she’s not identifiable.

    8. I remember my Dad being appalled at the falsetto screams he heard from my room one day. I was listening to “The Beautiful Ones”.

    9. Someone in my class played [Glyph.jpg] at their graduation party. “Seven” for sure and a few others I had no idea anyone else really listened to Prince.

    10. One of the most exciting things about going to college in Minneapolis was the thought that when I went somewhere, to a concert, dance night, art thing, sports thing, etc., Prince could be there. It’s sad to think that’s now gone forever.

    11. I never did run into him or see him in concert. I wasn’t in with the crowd that made it to parties at his house, though friends that went to other colleges did. I was always interested in going to one of his concerts, but with so many hardcore Prince fans around, I figured I’d let them get in before me. If anyone had invited me, I would have gone. I figured I’d have plenty more chances.

    12. Unlike MJ, Prince seemed to have figured out just how to live as an international celebrity in a small metropolis without going crazy. I’ve read stories about people running across Prince and him kindly asking them not to take pictures and them obliging. He was our state’s royalty, our figurehead, by acclamation. There is no heir apparent.

    13. I don’t have any Prince on CD, but have cassettes of Sign O the Times (without j-card), Parade, and one of The Hits, plus a few more cassingles. All were used when I got them.
    Is there any other artist where a Superbowl halftime show will be used to summarize their careers? Even show up in career-retrospective anthologies? Any other artist do half covers when given a chance to play for 12 minutes for hundreds of millions of people at once?

    14. I kept wishing his digital copyright defense team was a little less active just so I could embed more videos when it was my week here.

    15. My mp3s of the Superbowl Halftime Show have never come off my iPod since they went on.

  14. I'm not sure I can sum up my thoughts about Prince, but I appreciate reading what others have written here.

    When I was about ten years old, my dance group did our jazz performance to "Partyman." I can still remember the purple lamé jumpsuits we wore. That material did not breathe at all, but hey, we looked good! I want to say we also wore black fedoras with a purple band that matched the jumpsuits. Somewhere in my parents' house is a VHS tape of that performance . . .

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