Tag: rebirth of the flesh

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Patreon Exclusive: So, Let’s Talk About That Sign “O” the Times Reissue

Cover art for the forthcoming Sign "O" the Times Super Deluxe Edition; photo by Jeff Katz, © Warner Bros./NPG Records.

Last Thursday, after weeks of rumors and leaks, it finally became official: the next expanded reissue from Warner Bros. and the Prince Estate is Sign “O” the Times, and it’s a doozy: 8 CDs (13 LPs, for the wax-inclined) and a DVD covering the full breadth of Prince’s output from late 1985 to early 1987. I won’t be “officially” writing about this music until 2021 at the earliest (more on that later), but damned if I can’t share some preliminary thoughts about it now. Here they are, disc by disc (and, in the case of the Vault discs, track by track)…

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Prince Track by Track: “Crystal Ball”

From Sign "O" The Times, Prince, 1987; © Showtime Films.

My recent run of guest appearances on Prince: Track by Track has taken me out of my comfort zone, into some albums that I frankly don’t care much for. But now we’ve finally reached Crystal Ball, allowing me to return–however briefly–to the warm embrace of 1986. But first, Darren Husted and I had to address the elephant in the room that is Crystal Ball’s disastrous 1998 release. As I note, there may be a lesson to be learned in this for those who want Prince’s estate to be run “the way he would have done it.” Listen to both episodes below:

Prince Track by Track:
Crystal Ball Album Introduction

Prince Track by Track: “Crystal Ball”

I’ll be back on Track by Track to discuss another epic from Crystal Ball later this month; before then, you can expect another track or two from Controversy. It’s taken some time, but I’m finally getting back to the grind!

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Podcast

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!

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From Dystopian Dance Party: Me, 3 Women, & Prince

© Warner Bros.

Note: As I’m sure you’re aware, tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Prince’s passing. The following is a piece I wrote a few hours after hearing the news, and posted on my other blog (my only one at the time), Dystopian Dance Party. These were my most personal feelings about Prince and what he meant to my life, specifically to my relationships with women. The post is more about me than it is about Prince, and it’s still one of the most intimate things I’ve put up for public consumption–so much that I’m still not thrilled about sharing it. But if you don’t mind digging a little too deep into my psyche, you’re welcome to read it. We’ll be back tomorrow with another, (somewhat) less personal tribute.

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Dystopian Listening Party Podcast: Prince, 1958-2016

Prince tribute outside First Avenue; photo by Jeff Wheeler, stolen from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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Yesterday, I spent an unbelievably self-indulgent six hours on Skype with Jane Clare Jones, preparing and recording a podcast to mark the first anniversary of Prince’s death (because of our unbelievable self-indulgence, it will actually be several podcasts). The first installment of our conversation should be ready to post by Friday; but in the meantime, here’s another conversation from last year with my sister Callie, which ran on our blog Dystopian Dance Party just over a week after we heard the terrible news. In case you’re concerned–I know emotions are raw this week–it’s mostly a joyous discussion, focusing on Prince and what he means to us rather than the tragic conditions of his end. I thought now was as good a time as any to share it with a wider audience. Show notes are here, and I’ll be back tomorrow with a review of another recent addition to the canon of Prince literature.