Tag: donald trump

Press Rewind: “America”

Cover art for the single release of "America"; © Warner Bros.

It feels like forever since the last time I guested on Jason Breininger’s Press Rewind podcast, but I came back this month to talk about “America,” the third and final chapter of Prince’s informal “Cold War Trilogy.” As always, it was a very fun (and long!) conversation; I’m not sure what was going on with my Skype connection that made it sound like I recorded my voice on a wax cylinder, but I hope you enjoy the episode anyway:

Press Rewind: “America”

For anyone eagerly awaiting the return of my own podcast, I assure you it’s coming! There is still a lot of editing left to do, however, so I would put the current ETA at next week for patrons, the week after for everyone else. Thank you for your patience.

Uncategorized

DM40GB30: Pandemonium Roundtable Panel

Post author By Zach
Post date July 13, 2020
No Comments on DM40GB30: Pandemonium Roundtable Panel

Last Friday, July 10, was the 30th anniversary of the Time’s fourth and (technically) final album, Pandemonium; so, to mark the occasion, the fantastic De Angela Duff has shared the Pandemonium roundtable from last month’s DM40GB30 symposium with myself, Darling Nisi, and Ivan Orr and Ricky Wyatt of the Grown Folks Music podcast.

I think it’s obvious from the conversation that we all had a great time (and if you’re looking for an extra great time, try taking a drink every time De Angela–whose favorite Time album is famously Pandemonium–pops into the live stream to interject). It was extremely flattering to be asked to share the “stage” with folks as knowledgeable about the Time and their place in the R&B scene as Ivan and Ricky, and KaNisa did a stellar job as always moderating. Can’t wait to do this again next year!

Tags 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1999 tour, 2011, 227, 777-9311, alexander o'neal, anil dash, anita baker, arsenio hall, arthur turnbull, atlanta, bambi, bet, betty wright, bird, blondie, c + c music factory, celebration 2017, celebration 2019, central park five, cherrelle, chocolate, clare fischer, coming to america, cool, corporate world, cream, d'angelo, darling nisi, data bank, de angela duff, dirty diana, dm40gb30 symposium, donald trump, donald trump black version, duane tudahl, earth wind & fire, eddie murphy, elephants and flowers, eric leeds, family, fishnet, flyte tyme records, free world, gangsta glam, gerardo, get it up, gigolos get lonely too, glam slam club, grammy awards, grown folks music, i didn't mean to turn you on, ice cream castles, ivan orr, janet jackson, jellybean johnson, jerk out, jesse johnson, jill jones, jimmy jam, joy in repetition, jungle love, kansas city song, karyn white, kirk johnson, klymaxx, latest fashion, love machine, mc hammer, michael dean, michael jackson, michael jordan, mike tyson, minneapolis, mint condition, monte moir, morris day, mtv, murph drag, muse 2 the pharaoh podcast, my drawers, my summertime thang, new attitude, new york city, new york times, nude tour, on time, onedayi'mgonnabesomebody, original 7ven, paisley park records, paisley park studios, pandemonium, pete escovedo, pleasure principle, power, prince, prince and the purple rain era studio sessions, public enemy, purple rain film, purple rain tour, question of u, questlove, release it, ricky wyatt, rico suave, robin yount, rosie gaines, scott woods, shake, sheila e, sign o the times tour, skillet, sly and the family stone, snap, sometimes i get lonely, sophisticated bitch, stevie wonder, superwoman, teddy riley, temptations, terry lewis, thieves in the temple, time, tony toni tone, trendin, vanity 6, vernon reid, video soul, walk, what have you done for me lately, why should i cry, yount, zz hill

Ephemera, 1981-1982

Don’t Let Him Fool Ya

Automotive engineer/cocaine trafficker John DeLorean and wife Cristina Ferrare, circa 1981; photo by Tony Korody/Sygma.

Of the many “orphan” tracks Prince recorded in 1982–enough to fill at least two additional double LPs beyond the one that actually did come out, as the Super Deluxe edition of 1999 demonstrates–“Don’t Let Him Fool Ya” is not the most exciting; nor is it the rarest, the most ambitious, or the most thematically compelling. As the 500 Prince Songs blog noted back in 2017, it’s “barely even a song, more a tantric joy in bass-led repetition.” To say that it’s the kind of thing Prince could have written in his sleep does Prince, and sleep, a disservice; after all, we know by his own admission that “Little Red Corvette” came to him between “3 or 4 catnaps” (Dash 2016).

But for all that, it’s easy to see why “Don’t Let Him Fool Ya” was chosen as a pre-release single to promote Warner Bros.’ aforementioned 1999 reissue, following a live version of the title track from Detroit’s Masonic Temple and the live-in-studio first take of “International Lover.” Simply put, “Don’t Let Him Fool Ya” is a banger, with an infectious bassline and a sparkling, rhythmic keyboard part not unlike the one from the Time’s “I Don’t Wanna Leave You.” And while it’s also clearly a throwaway–the chorus literally goes, “Hey, hey / Hey, hey / Hey, hey, hey, hey”–I defy anyone to get through it without at least a head bob and a smile.

Tags 1982, beautiful ones book, chanhassen, dan piepenbring, detroit, donald trump, international lover, jealous girl, john delorean, kiowa trail, little red corvette, masonic temple, morris day, prince, purple rain film, time, warner bros records

Podcast

Podcast: Everybody Shut Up, Listen to the Band – Felicia Holman and Harold Pride on the Salford Purple Reign Conference

Post author By Zach
Post date August 18, 2017
2 Comments on Podcast: Everybody Shut Up, Listen to the Band – Felicia Holman and Harold Pride on the Salford Purple Reign Conference

"The Band with No Name"; from the Sign "O" the Times tour book, 1987.

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Settle in, folks, because today we’ve got not one, but two presenters from this spring’s Prince conference at the University of Salford: interdisciplinary artist/activist Felicia Holman and independent scholar/activist Harold Pride. Both were part of the organic community of Black artists and academics who came together in Manchester and, each in their own way, helped to reclaim Prince’s legacy as a specifically African American artist. The three of us talk about that, as well as their specific papers–Harold’s on the underrated, short-lived “Band with No Name” from 1987–88; Felicia’s on Prince’s autodidacticism and its connection to traditions of Black self-determination–and, as usual, a lot of other things along the way. It’s a great conversation that could have easily been twice as long; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I still have a handful of these interviews lined up, and will be posting them at least through Labor Day. Appearances to the contrary, I’m also still writing: I’ll be back to the ol’ grind next week. See you then!

Tags 3rdeyegirl, anna stesia, atlanta bliss, ballad of dorothy parker, batman theme, billy cobham, biloxi, boni boyer, candy dulfer, carlos santana, cat glover, celebration 2001, charles smith, chicago, dance electric, de angela duff, dez dickerson, dmsr, donald trump, dr fink, dream hampton, eric leeds, essence magazine, felicia holman, first avenue, freaks on this side, george duke, greg brooks, greg tate, harold pride, hot thing, housequake, jane clare jones, john blackwell, john l nelson, journal of african american studies, kamilah cummings, kimberly ransom, kirk johnson, kirsty fairclough, larry graham, laura tiebert, le grind, leah mcdaniel, levi seacer jr, line, lisa coleman, londell mcmillan, lovesexy tour, lynnee denise, manchester, michael b, michael jackson, miko weaver, minneapolis, mississippi coast coliseum, musicology tour, npg, npg music club, oakland, one nite alone tour, paisley park studios, ppml, prince, prince and the minneapolis sound, prince.org, purple rain tour, purple reign conference, rebirth of the flesh, revolution, rhonda smith, rosemont horizon, shaun robinson, sheila e, sign o the times tour, sly stone, steve hammer, tony m, university of salford, wally safford, wendy melvoin, xenophobia celebration, yes we code, zaheer ali

Podcast

Podcast: Welcome to the New Story – Jane Clare Jones Reports Back from the Salford Purple Reign Conference

Post author By Zach
Post date July 21, 2017
4 Comments on Podcast: Welcome to the New Story – Jane Clare Jones Reports Back from the Salford Purple Reign Conference

Artwork for the University of Salford's Purple Reign Conference.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It’s been a long gestation period, but at last, the d / m / s / r podcast has returned with our “roving reporter,” philosopher and budding Princeologist Jane Clare Jones. She’s here to talk about the University of Salford’s interdisciplinary conference on Prince, which she attended back in May, but we also (of course) cover a lot of other territory: including the connections between Prince’s much-discussed messianism and his much-less-discussed radical political consciousness. If you’re interested in hearing what’s going on in the rapidly-growing field of Prince scholarship, this will be an interesting listen.

And, as the man himself was wont to say, it ain’t over: having missed the opportunity to attend the Salford Purple Reign conference, I’m now bringing the conference to me (and you!). For the next several weeks, I’ll be lining up more conversations with attendees of the conference, to discuss their work and their ideas about Prince. If you presented at Salford and are interested in recording a podcast, hit me up! I’d love to hear from as many of you as I can. The conference may have happened two months ago, but from the looks of things, scholarly interest in Prince has just begun. Let’s keep it going!

Tags act of god, ben greenman, bernie sanders, black muse, carmen hoover, carolina coliseum, charles smith, colonized mind, controversy, dez dickerson, dig if you will the picture, donald trump, empty room, felicia holman, fred moten, free urself, george michael, harold pride, herb ritts, housequake, i would die 4 u, i'm yours, in the break, indigo2, jamie starr, jane clare jones, jeremy corbyn, jimi hendrix, joanne knowles, journal of african american studies, joy in repetition, kimberly moffitt, kimberly ransom, leah mcdaniel, little red corvette, london, manchester, marcel duchamp, minneapolis, montreux jazz festival, morris day, my time with prince, nik cohn, o2, oakland, paisley park studios, paramount theatre, pop life, prince, prince from minneapolis, purple reign conference, raven symone, revolution, ride, rudolph valentino, rupert till, sigmund freud, stockholm, sydney opera house, tom attah, twila perry, under the cherry moon film, university of minnesota, university of salford, uptown, w russell r robinson, warner bros records, we can funk, when will we b paid