It seems terribly silly to mourn the death of someone you don't even know. But considering that person was inadvertently a large presence in my early teens and wasn't necessarily that old when he passed, well, it just gives you pause. And when Poppa Don calls in the middle of the day to tell you about it, then it must be pretty important.
According to my phone log, he called at 12:15, telling me it had come up on the news that Prince had died. Now, what with media being what it is today, you can never be too sure if stuff is true or not. (Willie Nelson is usually pronounced dead about once a year, and he, as well as Keith Richards and Cher, will probably live forever.) So I Googled it. It actually seemed legit, because it was on the major news sites and not on...JerkRage.com, or something like it.
About a half hour later, it really was true.
Tweets and Facebook posts exploded. Artists from every genre, TV & movie actors, and sports heroes, all paying their respects. All of the Star Wars parody accounts, even BB8, were expressing their sorrow. *Sad beep*
I got out my Purple Rain CD, opened my office door, and cranked up the Yamahas. I also found my other tracks from a collection of music files I was given by David Burris, the original Groovetones drummer. I found 6 tunes, including "U Got the Look." (I'll even excuse the Sheena Easton appearance, just this once. You'll understand why some other time.) I also had the two songs from Batman. The first big Batman movie, with Michael Keaton, back in the Dark Ages of the Early Nineties. No "Raspberry Beret," but I have "Pop Life." I also found "Kiss" and "Little Red Corvette."
Why is this important? Why is this artist's passing more significant than the other tragic losses we've had this year? Yes, I loved David Bowie. Glenn Frey. Lemmy. Merle. But Prince? That was something else entirely.
I vaguely remember "I Wanna Be Your Lover," from the late 70s, but it wasn't until 1999 came out that everyone really took notice. Since there was no MTV in my town, I saw "Little Red Corvette" and "1999" on TBS's Night Tracks, ALL THE TIME. Not only was he just very cool, but I noticed that he had girls in his band. That played instruments. And played them well. Wendy Melvoin was an A-prime BA guitar player. Lisa Coleman on the keys, oh yeah. And Dez Dickerson, (the pre-Wendy guitarist) was just very cool, as well. One of my favorite tunes from that album was "DMSR."
In 1984, Purple Rain came out, and there was no turning back.
I couldn't go watch it, of course, what with the R-rating, but the videos were everywhere. "When Doves Cry" was THE song of that summer. The bathtub and the rose petals and the ruffly shirt that didn't detract from the whole Alpha Male musician thing. And doves, of course. A purple motorcycle. Keyboardist Matt Fink dressed like a....Doctor?
"Let's Go Crazy." We all had to memorize the opening speech: Dealy beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life... You had to do the hand motions, the dance steps. It was like doing the "Thriller" dance.
I didn't see the movie until New Year's. I'd got the soundtrack (on cassette!!!) for Christmas, or maybe I'd had it a while before that, I don't remember. McChristian Christmas was at our house that year and I remember my cousin Janet telling us all about the movie, because the rest of the cousins, aside from Aunt Liz, were, like me, too young to have seen it in the theater. She explained the whole idea behind "Darling Nikki", possibly the dirtiest song I'd ever heard in my life at that time, second only to another Prince-coined tune, "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6. Anyway, I invited a bunch of my friends over for a New Year's Party and we were going to watch it on HBO, where it had just debuted.
Wow. My friend Wes Sunderman already knew all the dialogue. And there's more to this story, but I won't really go into that. It had to do with another friend who had also planned a party but there was this whole "Prince thinks he's God" thing which that person was thinking and that it was an R-rated movie and we were possibly going to hell for watching it, and...I guess my friends did the right thing by coming to my party first and then going to the other person's to keep everybody happy, but I think at least two people stayed to finish the movie and ring in 1985 with me. So far, I think we're still okay and weren't damaged for life.
I'm pretty sure I recorded Purple Rain via the VCR and then it got watched A LOT. And the soundtrack was played A LOT. When I listened today, I still know every word. (I did turn it down when "Darling Nikki" came on). As I listened, I'm still awestruck by the production, the sound, the sheer musical genius that is Prince. A true individual. He was mysterious. He was controversial. He was...who he was. And his influence was everywhere, and he supported so many other people.
The Time. Morris Day. (I still quote him. "I want some perfection!!") We all wanted to be as beautiful and sexy as Vanity (RIP) and Appollonia. We still want to cry when Sinead O'Connor looks doe-eyed into the camera and sings "Nothing Compares 2 U." I considering learning percussion (long before I was required to) because I wanted to be like Sheila E. "Manic Monday"? "Sugar Walls?" Yeah, we knew who that was.
Just WHO was Prince? That was his real name, y'know. Prince Rogers Nelson. Michael Jackson named his own son that. What was his ethnic background? That was always a big question at the time, but simply put he was African-American. He was like James Brown meets Jimi Hendrix meets the Waxahachie Renaissance Faire meets Hugh Hefner meets some sort of alien being. Like...WOW.
I paid my homage to him with my weird little Variety Show act in early 1985 by splicing in the speech from "Let's Go Crazy." I wore a bandanna over the right side of my face, like he did. I had yellow fingerless gloves. Yes, that's me in the middle. Maybe it's a good thing you can't see my face...
Of course I rushed out and bought Around the World in a Day when it came out in late spring 1985. "Raspberry Beret" was the next "big hit" and everyone loved the cloud suit in the video. And Wendy looked ultra hot with the pixie cut. I wasn't that impressed with the album at the time and actually took it back to Wal-Mart and exchanged it for Giuffria's debut album. Yes, I know that was dumb, but my tastes were changing. (Another blog on that later.)
I paid my homage to him with my weird little Variety Show act in early 1985 by splicing in the speech from "Let's Go Crazy." I wore a bandanna over the right side of my face, like he did. I had yellow fingerless gloves. Yes, that's me in the middle. Maybe it's a good thing you can't see my face...
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| Sherri Raney, Me, Suzanne Drager. Missy Langley on drums! |
"Under the Cherry Moon" finally released in 1986. I've never seen it. My fascination with Prince had waned by then and I was deep into Hair Metal Heaven. Purple had become...Peach?? Sheila E with one-legged pants, though. I wanted a pair, but my dad would have killed me. I'm sure Prince had to collaborate with Sheena Easton because they're about the same height.
Then he did the whole Artist Formerly Known As thing...and I thought he'd flipped.
They say that those who achieve an astronomical level of fame lose touch with reality and just...lose it, period. But I think it's this: you become so famous and recognizable that you can't just "be normal," because you're swarmed by people and media everywhere you go. So, you become reclusive, so reclusive that it seems you're completely loco. People thought it was crazy that Elvis would rent the local movie theater out after hours to go the movies, but Priscilla said he did that because that was the ONLY way he could go to the movies and not be hounded by the public. I think it was much like that with Prince.
Ted, (the guitar player, not the cat) tells the story about the guy he knew who was hired as Prince's guitar tech. He was given his own "room" at the Paisley Park Compound and in it was a private phone line that connected him directly to the guy who would summon him to the studio for Prince. The guitar tech never dealt with Prince directly, but was on call 24/7. Odd, but maybe that's just how it goes when you're...Prince.
Ted also talks about seeing Prince live, something I unfortunately will never experience. Someone in the band made some kind of mistake and got a major Ike Turner-like butt-chewing, right there. Perfection is key. Poppa Don tells his own story about watching Prince rehearse for a show in Little Rock, kicking over a mike stand and popping it back up to catch it, over and over and over and over.
His performance at the Super Bowl in 2007 was one of the BEST EVER performances in the history of the game. The man can play. He's one of the most underrated guitarists; we don't hear enough about that.
Currently they're still speculating about the cause of death. The rumor is a drug overdose?? Seriously?? I'd always heard he never did drugs, or drank alcohol, much like Gene Simmons, who believes substances such as these cloud your judgment and hinder decision-making, both business and musical. I'm not really buying the drug angle. Doesn't sound right. I also figured a long time ago he was most likely a man of faith, so I'm sure he'll find peace on the other side.
I had to run some errands today and decided to turn SiriusXM over to 80s on 8 to see if they might be doing some tributes. Well, look at that! They were playing everything Prince, and folks were calling in with their Prince stories.
I remember where I was when Elvis died. Where I was when John Lennon was killed. And I will remember today, because this was someone from MY generation. Someone who contributed not only to the soundtrack of my life but to my own aspirations to become a professional musician. I still have the sheet music to the Purple Rain soundtrack; I always liked playing the end of "Computer Blue."
But this is what it sounds like:
And I'm wearing purple today. It's like I already knew.
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