Tag: apollonia 6
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D / M / S / R Subscriber Dispatch #9: December 24, 2025
These are dark and challenging times; and if writing in excruciating detail about 40-year old pop songs is the way I’ve found to bring an iota of positivity into some small corner of the larger world, then I will forever be thankful for finding it.
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The Belle of St. Mark
While “Glamorous” sounded tailor-made for Sheila’s particular talents (even if it wasn’t), “Belle” is well-crafted but faceless, embodying the essentialist cynicism of the publishing imprint Prince used for his female side projects: “Girlsongs.”
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Oliver’s House
A “weird” guitarist with multiple girlfriends, a piano in his bathroom, and an Oedipal complex? They may as well have called the song “Prince’s House.”
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The Glamorous Life
Prince had tried before with his protégées, most notably Vanity, to Pygmalion a female version of himself; but while a few of these femme-Princes (Princesses?) could emulate him as a sex symbol, none before Sheila had the stage presence or musicianship.
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17 Days
With “Doves” now on deck for his next single, Prince was in the market for a suitably killer B-side–a role “17 Days” would fill with aplomb.
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D / M / S / R Subscriber Dispatch #2: August 12, 2024
I did not expect to be sending out another newsletter so soon after the first one, but there’s a compelling reason for it: Recordings of this past weekend’s #Come30 virtual symposium are available to watch on Zoom Events until this Sunday, August 18 at 11:59 pm ET.