(Featured Image: That Poster, 1981; © Warner Bros.)
This episode, I’m taking a little break from the University of Salford Purple Reign conference to talk to musician Paul Bonomo, a.k.a. Snax. We discuss Prince’s professional and personal impact on Paul, of course, but we also speak more broadly to the two-way flow of influence between Prince and gay culture–an area that’s been vastly underexplored in the popular discourse around the artist. I’m excited to see the extended conversation that comes out of this frank and at times provocative discussion.
Next episode, we’re returning to both Manchester and queerness with two presenters from one of the Purple Reign conference’s Gender and Sexuality panels: independent scholars Chris Aguilar-Garcia and Natalie Clifford. In the meantime, remember that you can subscribe to the d / m / s / r podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play; you can also stream individual episodes on Mixcloud. If you like what you’ve heard of Snax, you can also follow him on Facebook and check out his new album, Shady Lights, when it releases on October 27.
00:00:00 “Just as Long as We’re Together (Snax’s Extended Ending Edit)” by Snax, 2017
00:02:02 One of the Earlier Episodes with Jane Jones
00:07:10 “Delirious (7” Edit) (1983 single, available on 4Ever
00:11:30 The Cover of Dirty Mind
00:13:09 “Do It All Night” (from Dirty Mind)
00:19:22 “Automatic” (from 1999
00:25:06 “Chocolate” by the Time (from Pandemonium
00:27:02 “If a Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up)” by Vanity 6 (from Vanity 6
00:35:18 “3121” (from 3121
00:37:52 “Tasty Love” by Freddie Jackson (from Just Like the First Time
00:40:00 “Movie Star” (1986 Recording, available on Crystal Ball
00:42:25 Prince and Jerome Benton: Way More Chemistry than Prince and Kristin Scott Thomas
00:45:37 Here’s the Prince Podcast Episode We’re Talking About
00:49:30 “Jack U Off” (Live at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey, 1982)
00:52:10 Troubling Prince Quote Number 1
00:52:47 Troubling Prince Quote Number 2
00:54:40 Prince’s Totally Heteronormative Performance at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards
00:55:52 Previous Episode with Erica Thompson
00:57:25 “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” (from 1999)
01:04:25 Our Facebook Thing
01:06:09 Paul’s Website
01:06:20 Shady Lights on Facebook
01:06:29 Snax on Facebook
01:06:49 “Turn It” by Snax featuring Mavin, from the Upcoming Album Shady Lights
Great heart to heart conversation. Paul, thanks for being so candid about growing up gay in the 80’s. The 60’s-70’s i am sure were even more difficult, most people didn’t even “know” any gay friends or relatives because it was closeted in the mainstream culture. Prince grew up in the 60’s-70’s. Even though he pushed the boundaries, he still grew up a physically small male, epileptic, minority kid who was often viewed as “weird,” maybe dealing with anything more would have just pushed him over the edge.
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At about the 39 minute point Paul mentions the song “Anna Stesia” and the reference to wanting love so much that it doesn’t matter if it is a boy or girl and he asks, “Am I the only one that hears this?” We all bring our own unique viewpoint and because of that we have selective hearing and seeing. So I ask the same question every time I see the MTV awards performance of “Get Off”. After all of the uproar about the “but out” suit I ask, “Doesn’t anybody else see all of the almost nude, humping, entangled bodies performing a mock orgy on the stage who are showing a whole lot more flesh than Prince?” I am left wondering what the fuss was over him showing his posterior when there are a lot of other posteriors showing. But he is showing one thing that all of the thong-laden people are not showing. “Get Off” may have been the opportunity Prince had been waiting for. In 1982, Prince (Nelson) received an award from the Minnesota Black Music Association under the category of Rhythm and Blues (There was no Pop/Rock category.) According to Prince.org(http://prince.org/msg/7/406870) Prince was quoted in his acceptance speech asking the question, “When do they give the award for the best ass?” I’ve looked around on the web for the whole article but haven’t had any luck. Maybe you will have better but it is most likely on microfiche somewhere. With this very deliberate display of the “purple moon,” on international T.V., we do not have to wonder whether he believed he should win the award about which he asked in 1982.
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