Funky Funko Update!

So a year ago I questioned the funkiness of the Prince Funko set and whether I would support them. Was there ever any doubt?

I grabbed all four of them! I guess they could've done worse. Well, until next time, peace and stay funky!

Funky Funko?

Funko, the company that brings you vinyl figurines and bobbleheads based on the latest in pop culture, is apparently looking to bathe in the purple rain.  Sometime this fall, they are set to release their version of Prince-inspired figurines.  So far they have shown four designs with versions appearing to be based on the 1999 era(?), Purple Rain era, Raspberry Beret and the 3rd Eye Girl era. Now, I have a tendency to be biased when it comes to all things Prince and rush out and collect all I can, but I am still not sure I how I feel about these.Take a look.

I am not too sure that Funko got the funk right on these but to each his own I guess. What do you think? If you want to check out the website, you can you find the Pop Rocks - Prince here.

Until next time, Love4OneAnother, Love4EachOther, Lover4UsAll!  Peace!

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Revolution!

This is a post that is two months overdue but it is finally here.  Back on May 15th, I had the privilege of attending a very special concert at the Mercury Ballroom in Louisville, Kentucky.  What band was playing that night? None other than The Revolution. That's right, Prince's former band was performing and there was not a chance in hell that I was not going to be there.  Not only was I there, I was at the very front of the stage rocking along with all the deep purple concord jams that I grew up with.  From the opening drum beat of Computer Blue that kicked off the show, The Revolution took us on a whirlwind tour of the soundtrack of my life. America was next followed by Mountains from Parade.  Next up was Automatic which led to Take Me With U.  Then special guest Stokley Williams (from Mint Condition) came out to take over lead vocalist duties on Uptown and D.M.S.R..

The then unreleased Our Destiny with Wendy and Lisa on lead vocals was next and this segued straight into Brownmark leading on the then unreleased Roadhouse Garden. Both of these songs have since been released on the Remastered Deluxe Edition of Purple Rain.  Stokley came back out as the band jumped into Raspberry Beret which was more of a crowd sing-a-long.  Next up was an extremely funky Erotic City with some slinky guitar work by Wendy.  I mean baby girl was playing that thing and I guarantee if Prince would have been there, he would have definitely been making one of his funk faces! Keeping that funk groove going, the band slid right into Let's Work with Stokley sharing vocal duties with Wendy. After a rousing version of 1999, which had the entire place rocking and chanting "PARTY!" at the top of our lungs, Wendy took to the mic for a brief monologue.  She spoke about Paisley Park and the time of Around the World in a Day and how it was a great time for Prince as a lyricist. She spoke about what Paisley Park meant and how much the song meant to him and the band and asked the crowd to sing along with them so that Prince could hear us.  And boy did we ever get loud because we let everyone know that "Paisley Park is in your heart!"

The Revolution went old school next with Controversy which segued into Mutiny rather nicely.  Then came one of the most heart-stopping, gut-wrenching moments of the night.  The band left the stage except for Wendy and Lisa and Wendy spoke about the day that Prince died.  And then she spoke about going through songs that they (Wendy & Lisa) had done with Prince and they came across Sometimes It Snows In April. They realized that they had recorded that song on 4/21/85 and that Prince had died on 4/21/16. So they said they had to play it for him.  They then performed Sometimes It Snows In April with Wendy on guitar and Lisa on piano and I cried like a baby.  I think we all did.

After a short break, the band reappeared and those familiar organ chords began playing before those famous words of "Dearly beloved..." were spoken and the band launched into Let's Go Crazy. Delirious and Kiss were next  followed by When Doves Cry.  Then we heard that familiar guitar chord from Wendy and the crowd lost their minds as Purple Rain was played.  Wendy played an amazing solo at the end that would have made Prince proud and then they were gone. But they weren't through with us as they came back out once more for I Would Die 4 U and then finally Baby, I'm A Star! After that, they took a bow and then left the stage for good.

I grabbed some swag at the merch table but my fav stuff is the autographed poster from the band, the setlist from the show and a guitar pick from Wendy! I went to celebrate Prince's music and it ended up being a very healing night.  I also met some new Prince friends and can't wait to see them again!

So there you have it folks! It was an awesome experience and if you have a chance to see them, go see The Revolution. They put on one hell of a show and you will not regret it.  If nothing else, go see them for the healing aspect and to honor the music of Prince! Until next time, peace & be wild!

The Prince of Music

Please welcome The Revolution!

A Tribute 4 the Fans

There have been countless tributes to Prince since his untimely death. Some were very good and some were...well...not so good (Madonna anyone?).  But this video in my opinion is one of the best tributes I have seen.

Another Photoshop

Just more Photoshop experimenting!

Thank You, Prince!

What If time's only reason'
Was to give us all somethin' 2 fear'
And if so y'all, the end of the journey's so clear

It is time. Time? Interesting choice of words.  I'll explain later, but for now it is time for me to finally try to express this onslaught of emotions that have been constantly bombarding my brain since last Thursday.  You see, last Thursday was April 21st, 2016 and at 10:07 a.m., my world greatly changed.  Wait, that is a very selfish thing for me to say for it was not MY world that changed.  It was the ENTIRE world that changed for we lost one of the greatest musical icons of all time.  For it was at that time that Prince Rogers Nelson was pronounced dead at his Paisley Park Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota.  The collective hearts of thousands of fans skipped beats when we heard the reports. We held our breaths hoping to hear it wasn't so, but eventually it was confirmed that Prince had left the building and was headed to the after-show.  While I have fought with how to put down the words to mourn his loss, I came to the realization that I was approaching this all wrong.  I don't want to mourn him.  I want to celebrate him.  I want to tell the world how he saved me! How much his music changed my life and how much it has affected my life over the years! I'm going to do my best to put this into words and into some kind of coherent form, so bear with me. 

It's not a thousand years away, it's not that far my brother
when men will fight injustice instead of one another
its not that far if we all say yes and only try
then Heaven on Earth we will find

I first remember seeing Prince on American Bandstand back in 1979 when he performed I Wanna Be Your Lover and remember thinking, "What a strange, little man!" But the music had me interested.  Then 1980 rolled around and Prince taught me that it was okay to have a Dirty Mind.  He had me wanting to go Uptown where we could Partyup and Do It All Night.  I was hooked after that.  Then when Controversy dropped, I went to my friends and was like, "You have to check this out!" But most of my friends weren't jumping on the purple-party bus yet. YET! That is until they heard those words, "Don't worry, I won't hurt U, I only want U 2 have some fun." Yeah, 1999 brought about a bunch of them to my way of thinking and the ones that didn't come around then sure as hell did when Prince dropped his next album.  But we will talk about that in a minute. 1999 was a revelation for a lot of people to the musical genius of Prince but that was because they hadn't been paying attention in class.  School had been in session for four years now and they were a little tardy.  My boy was bad! From the synthesizer -laden funk of 1999 and DMSR all the way to the rock-a-billy sound of Delirious, he could do it all.  Plus this was the first album cover to mention The Revolution.  Then when we wondered how Prince  could top these last three albums, he threw down the purple gauntlet to the musical world and announced, "I am here!!! Where are U?"

Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called life

It was 1984 and Prince only wanted to see us in the Purple Rain and things would never be the same.  For him, for me, for the world.  He would become a musical icon like the world had never seen.  The world would forever know Prince because of this album and his music would resonate around the globe. As for me, it was a dark time for my soul.  I was in that rebellious teenage time of my life and much like the movie, didn't have the best home life.  My step-father was a drunk (I won't say alcoholic because they go to meetings) and would often fight with my mother.  To say things were bad at home would be an understatement.  Unlike the kid, I didn't have music to fall back on since I can't play an instrument or carry a tune to save my life.  But there is one thing I discovered I could do.  I could write.  I studied his lyrics and even the back of the Purple Rain album cover and thought, I can write just as well.  And I started putting pen to paper.  I grabbed a notebook and started writing.  Before I knew it, poem after poem flowed from my pen.  That was my escape from the world. When things got bad, I would drive outside of town to this abandoned road and sit near this condemned bridge and just write.  Imagine my surprise when I saw Graffiti Bridge. But if it wasn't for Prince's music back then, I don't know if I would have made it out of those teenage years in one piece. He taught me how to find my Paisley Park and made me want to find The Ladder.  The funny thing about my writings, I was very protective of them and let very few people read them.  They were too personal.  I did have some that were somewhat generic that I didn't mind letting people read and it was always funny to watch their reaction. It was always the same.  "It feels like you are talking about me." they would say.  I've been told it is a gift I should share but I can't.  I am too afraid.  Maybe one day, after I am gone, they will be shared with the world, but not now. 

Is it me or did the room just get darker
Is it me or did I just lay down and die
Is this a dream or did the world just crumble at my very feet
How in heaven will I ever be alright

As I grew older, I still continued to listen to Prince and I still continued to write.  But it was different now.  I would close my eyes and I could see sounds in my head and hear colors.  Then I was able to translate that to the paper and sometimes even I was amazed at what I wrote. My senior year in high school, I took a dual credit English class where we had to not only do our normal high school work but also the work for our Freshman year of college.  We had do a lot of writing in this class and the teacher would often have us read other students papers.  It got to the point where people would argue over who got to read mine.  The teacher even wanted to so she pulled rank and started reading mine to the class after we turned in each assignment.  I was mortified.  I wanted to crawl under the desk and hide but I couldn't.  One day she asked me, "How do you do it?" What's your inspiration?" Staring down at my desk, I whispered back my answer, "Prince." Then the bell rang signaling the end of the class and I ran out of the room as fast as I could.  I don't think I mentioned this, but I hate public speaking and crowds and when she called on me, I freaked out.  I wasn't just writing poems anymore though.  I was writing short stories too and the notebooks were piling up.  So was my Prince musical collection. Then it was off to college and a whole new world.  After a while, I decided that this (college) is not what I wanted to do with my life and left.  This was another one of those dark trying times for my soul so who did I turn to? Yep, you guessed it, Prince.  And what was his answer?  "The feeling U get when U fall in love, not with a girl or a boy but the Heavens above! LOVESEXY!" It was 1988 and the Lovesexy album had just come out and I must have played Anna Stesia 100,000 times.  I found a lot of comfort in that album. I am not religious per se but I do believe in God.  I just have a hard time with the different churches that say that they are right and the others are wrong.  For a while there though, I had lost faith but that album got me believing again.  Then when I saw the Lovesexy concert in Cincinnati, it was like a pilgrimage.  Prince took us to church that night and I swore that it had surpassed even the Purple Rain concert. There was something in the air that night that I can't describe.  It was Lovesexy or maybe it was Love4OneAnother but there was definitely a connection amongst the entire crowd.  Once again, Prince and his music had "saved" me at a low point in my life.

And when my voice rose, so did the sun
When the trees sang the harmony as one
Every living soul sang the most beautiful
Melody ever sung

As the years went by, I continued my "obsession" with all things purple music related and my pen continued to put words on paper.  Then it happened.  I met her.  I met my Apollonia.  My Mary Sharon.  I met my wife. And how did I do it? By listening to Prince. That started us talking and then the rest was history.  She even helped me try to organize my writings which were just notebooks stuffed into boxes.  When we finally got things somewhat situated, I counted what I had.  Turns out I had written just over 1600 different pieces since I had started. That's a lot of writing but believe it or not, it wasn't a lot of time.  When I first started writing, it would take me a while to write something but there have been times where it takes me no time at all.  I once wrote a poem for a friend to give to their girlfriend. She told me how she felt.  In less than five minutes I had a 36 line poem for her and she loved every line.  So did her girlfriend who to this day has no idea I wrote it. Anyway, things were going great for a while. But after several years, I would be turning to Prince once again to get me through another dark time, the break-up of my marriage. It was 1995 and The Gold Experience was just coming out.  So I had the previous year's Come album, The Black Album (Even though I already had it. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone!) and The Gold Experience to get me through this.  So I funked out a lot with The Black Album and listened to a lot of Dark and I Hate U.  As for my writing, it stopped.  Not because of lack of inspiration because I was flooded with emotions right now and should be able to pen page after page but I couldn't.  My wife, in an attempt to hurt me, destroyed all my notebooks, while I was out of town on business (at the time I was doing executive protection).  The only thing I had left of my writing was the notebook I had with me that had around 20 pieces.  After that, I had no urge to write.  I don't know why.  I just didn't.  I retreated to my purple music world and let the music flow over me and through me and that's how I eventually got my stuff together.  I remembered how I felt after the Lovesexy concert and vowed that I would try to see Prince every chance I got to see if I could reach that purple high again.

From out of the darkness, before there was time
There came a sound that enters the mind
Through a door that's deep in your soul
Through every pore of your body it goes
And in a light too bright to behold
Is a truth more shiny than gold
And as sure as this candle burns
Every soul must return

Into the light, into the light

Since then, I have seen Prince in concert several times.  I saw the Love4OneAnother Tour at the State Theater in Detroit and then the opening night of the Jam of the Year Tour in Pine Knob (outside Detroit), both in 1997. After the Jam of the Year show, I started writing again.  Not only that but I added painting to the mix.  I had always been an artist but never really pursued it.  Back in school, I had taken art because my family wanted me to and I wanted them to leave me alone but I didn't enjoy it.  How is it art if the teacher says you have to do it this way or that way? That's not art.  But now I was back to painting.  Mostly landscapes.  Earlier I talked about escaping to the middle of nowhere, well, now I painted the middle of nowhere and escaped into my painting.  Want to know a secret? When I was in school, I was so sad about my home life, I placed a teardrop into every art project I did and no one ever knew.  I still do that to this day even though I am not sad.  I guess it's my thing.  Or maybe I'm just weird.  Anyway, it's a secret so don't tell anyone.  Oh, wait, I went off on a tangent there. Sorry.  Back to the concerts. Let's see... oh yeah,  next up was the 2000 Hit N Run Tour when I saw him here in Nashville (where I moved to in 98).  It was my birthday present from my girlfriend.  Because of my childhood, I have a hard time from just before my birthday in November until after Christmas.  I don't have the best memories during that time of year and this year wasn't much different.  But Prince made it all better and partied like it was 1999 even though it was 2000.  Next was the Musicology Tour in 2004. My girlfriend and I had broken up and I had no one to go with so a friend of mine who is a nurse said she would go but warned me she didn't like Prince.  She basically went out of pity I think and couldn't stand to see me alone.  She was impressed with our seats.  Since I was a member of the NPGMC, I was on the front. Then the show started and I forgot about everything and partied the rest of the night.  Afterwards, I told my date thanks for coming and putting up with Prince, her response? "Oh my God! That was the best concert I have ever been to in my life! Are they all like this?" We spent the next several hours talking about his other shows I had seen and his music.  I think I converted her that night. It would be eight years before I would see Prince again.  This time I drove all the way to Chicago for opening night of the Welcome 2 Chicago shows in 2012.  This show seemed different. I don't know why but I didn't feel that same rush afterwards. I contributed it to having heard so many of the Welcome 2 shows that I knew the show by heart. But I was worried if Prince had lost his magic to rejuvenate me.  I still bought his music when it was released and still got a thrill from the new music but the live shows was where it was at.  Now it wasn't and that scared me. Then last year, I saw Prince & 3rdEyeGirl on their HitNRun Tour in Louisville, Kentucky.  Turns out Chicago was just a fluke for me.  Because that magic was back.  Before the show, Hannah made an announcement about recording saying that "your technology cannot capture what you are about to witness on this stage tonight" and she was right.  I walked out of the Louisville Palace, no, I floated out of the Palace on a purple high that lasted weeks.  Then a few weeks ago I see a tweet that Prince bringing his Piano & A Microphone Tour to Atlanta which is only 3 1/2 hours away.  I knew I was going to be there and I was.  This time I didn't need him to get me through any trying times.  I have a loving woman by my side that will be there the rest of my life that supports me through every trial and tribulation.  This time I was there for him.  I was there to witness Prince in this once in a lifetime opportunity.  Just him, his piano and a microphone.  Oh, and that voice.  Don't forget that voice.  That's why I was there and when it was over,  I knew I had witnessed something special.  What I didn't know was that I had experienced Prince live for the last time.  As I left The Fox Theatre that night, I was already game planning my next Prince concert and thinking what cities were close enough to me for me to attend.  Little did I know that one week later, I would be crying while staring at the TV in disbelief at the headline, "Prince Dead at 57!"

He taught an integrated world 2 sing
The color u are don't mean a thing
Everybody's a star all the everyday people sang

Prince encouraged the New Breed to stand up and started a Revolution that led to the New Power Generation who taught us Love4OneAnother so we could stop The War.  That way U can Free Urself!  I didn't always understand, stand under, what Prince said but some of his quotes, lyrics and statements had very deep meaning.  He used to talk about not paying attention to birthdays and calendars and keeping track of time.  There's an interesting quote on the internet about time that makes me think of Prince.  "Time doesn't exist, clocks exist. Time is just an agreed upon construct. We have taken distance (one rotation of the earth, and one orbit of the sun), divided it into segments, then given those segments labels. While it has its uses, we have been programmed to live our lives by this construct as if it were real. We have confused our shared construct with something that is tangible and thus have become its slave. Because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out." I could just see him saying that to someone in an interview or on some talk show.  I don't know, maybe it's just me.  But when people say it wasn't his time or it was his time, I think to myself, what is time? All we have is now! And in the now, Prince is not here.  He has transcended. He has transformed.  He had punched a higher floor.  Say what you want to about the man, listen to the rumors, listen to the half-stories but remember the music. Remember the man on stage. Remember the humanitarian. Remember the performances.  Remember how he made you feel when you saw him live. Remember the thrill of the release of the new album.  Remember how he could make you party one minute, make you feel sexy the next and then bring you to tears the next with just his music.  These are the things you should remember. Thank you for listening to me ramble on but I needed to get this out.

 

Cuz in my dreams I roam
Just trying to find, trying to find
My way back, back home

Thank you, Prince, for gracing us with your gift and allowing us to be part of your journey.  It was a great ride but to paraphrase one of your songs, "isn't it a shame this ain't a movie, then I could rewrite Ur every line." Trust me, in the rewrite, there would be a much happier ending.  Rest in peace.  "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet Prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

Thank you to the Pythian Princess and to Barbara for giving me the strength to write this.  May U both live 2 see the dawn!

The computer’s on the verge of breakdown!

Yeah, I'm talking about Computer Blue, the fourth song off of Prince's epic Purple Rain album.  We all know it from the opening "Wendy?" to the final screams.  As great as the song is on the album, it pales in comparison to the unedited versions that weren't released.  There are actually four studio versions and a live version that were recorded.  All are different lengths and some contain additional lyrics and instrumentation.  Here is what the folks over at the Prince Vault have to say about the song:

Computer Blue is the fourth track on Prince's sixth album Purple Rain, the first album to be credited to Prince and the Revolution. The song also features in the movie Purple Rain.

Before a studio recording was made, Prince and the Revolution recorded the song live on 3 August, 1983 at First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA (during the same concert where I Would Die 4 U, Baby I'm A Star and Purple Rain were also recorded).

Later in August, 1983, a studio version was recorded at The St. Louis Park Warehouse, St. Louis Park, MN, USA, with the full Revolution, before at least three other versions were recorded on 15 August, 1983 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA, with only Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman participating (during the same set of sessions that produced Let's Go Crazy).

These versions would be edited down for the album. They are largely similar at the beginning and end of the song - differences are noticeable in the middle of the track. A longer version of the track was included as the third track on the 7 November, 1983 and 23 March, 1984 configurations of the album, but this was edited down for the final 14 April, 1984 configuration to make room for the inclusion of Take Me With U.

All recorded versions of the song contain a segment of the track Father's Song during one of the instrumental breaks. It is likely that John L. Nelson's credit on the track comes from this inclusion.

Now, most of you already know all of this so why am I wasting your time? Because it's my blog and I have been listening to the 12 minute hallway version on repeat for the last hour and I decided to write about it.  I searched the matrix and found a site that transcribed the lyrics to this version and decided I would share those here also.

Computer Blue by Prince

Wendy?

Yes Lisa

Is the water warm enough?

Yes Lisa

Shall we begin?

Yes Lisa

Ow!

Where is my love life?

Where can it be?

There must be something wrong with the machinery

Where is my love life?

Tell me, where has it gone?

Somebody please, please tell me what the hell is wrong

CHORUS:

Till I find the righteous one

Computer blue

Till I find the righteous one

Computer blue

Oh

Where is my baby?

Where can she be?

Somebody please, please tell me what is wrong with me

Where is my baby?

Where has she gone?

Somebody please, please tell me what the hell is wrong

CHORUS

Yeah

The computer’s on the verge of breakdown!

Come on

Oh baby, don’t make me

Poor lonely computer

It’s time someone programmed U

It’s time U learned love and lust

They both have 4 letters

But they’re entirely different words

Poor lonely computer

Poor, poor lonely computer

Do U really know what love is?

(Na, na, na, na, na)

Wave your hands in the air!

Now everybody sing it! (Na, na, na, na, na)

Everybody work out

Work out, work out (Na, na, na, na, na)

Everybody work out

Work out, work out (Na, na, na, na, na)

Everybody work out

 

He didn’t like living alone

The house where he lived had many hallways

It was a long walk 2 his bedroom

Because 2 him each hallway represented an emotion

Every one vastly different from the next

One day while she was with him

He decided 2 name each one

She walked by his side, one hand on his thigh

No – she was sort of half a step behind him

Yeah, the grip on his thigh intensified

As they walked slowly through the corridor

He named the hallway “Lust”

And as they passed through the next one

He named it “Fear”

The grip she now loosened

So he walked faster

Her hands now trembling

She let them drop 2 her side as he wrote the word “Insecurity”

He looked into her eyes and smiled a demon smile

And quickly walked onto the next

Corridor after corridor

He named almost all when suddenly… he stopped

He picked up the word “Hate”

She was gone

So he picked up another – “Pain”

On the verge of a breakdown

What is life without love?

It’s hell, Computer Blue!

Father, Father, the sun is gone

(Father, Father) The Dawn, the Dawn

Father, Father, where is the Dawn?

(Where is the Dawn, Father?)

(Na, na, na, na, na) {x2}

Na, na, na, na, na

Shall I go 2 church on Sundays?

Shall I stay home and pray?

Shall I try 2 make her happy?

Shall I try 2 make her stay?

Where is my love life?

Tell me, where can it be?

Narrow-minded computer
(Somebody please, please tell me…)
It’s time someone programmed U
(Somebody please, please tell me what’s wrong with me)
It’s time U learned women are not butterflies
They’re computers 2
Just like U Computer Blue
(Where is my baby?)
Chauvinistic computer
It’s time someone programmed U (Na, na, na, na, na)
U fall in love 2 fast and hate 2 soon
And take 4 granted the feeling’s mutual
(The feeling’s mutual!)
We’re computers 2
Just like U, Computer Blue

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Now, I have come up with some off the wall writing in my time, but where did that hallway speech come from?  This version is so complex that it is insane.  I don't want to say I think it's genius but, well, it is.  That's the only way I can describe it. But that is just my opinion.

Well, it's time to leave this poor lonely computer.  I have a castle to head to so I can meet a girl named Nikki!!!!!