RIP Prince - Prince dead at 57

Sad news from Paisley Park in Minnesota as news of a death at Prince's mansion seems to have turned into confirmation that legendary musician Prince Rogers Nelson has passed away at 57.

Since first hearing of Prince in the early 80s up to his recent Piano and a Microphone tour, his music has been a welcome and inescapable part of my life. The magic that he brought to pop music is immense and his legacy will no doubt be felt for generations. He played in the pop genre but stretched its limits greatly, ultimately influencing a generation.

As some small tribute, I bring you a list of my personal favourite Prince tunes. Obviously, I cannot begin to scratch the surface of his greatness. Those looking for details of his life and accomplishments can head to Wikipedia.

"Little Red Corvette"

"1999"

"Kiss"

"When You Were Mine"

"Raspberry Beret"

"U Got The Look"

"Let's Go Crazy"

"Take Me With U"

"Darling Nikki" especially as interpreted by Foo Fighters

"When Doves Cry"

"I Would Die 4 U"

"Baby I'm A Star"

"Purple Rain"

"Nothing Compares 2 U" as recorded by Sinead O'Connor

"Erotic City"

Rest in peace Prince, and thank you for the music.

Pic from Rolling Stone.

Prince (no, not that Prince) at The Garrison

So there's a band from Austin, Texas that calls themselves Prince. Maybe they've never heard of that purple-obsessed guy who used to be Prince and then became an unpronounceable symbol and then became Prince again? Maybe they're just seeking publicity from the lawsuit / cease and desist letter that's probably coming their way. The $200 song on their Bandcamp is another interesting tidbit. And maybe if the search engines pick up that I've got concert pictures of Prince, my SEO will improve.

Prince's December 17 show at The Garrison opening for Lemuria was their first time in Toronto. They told us about the "blizzard" they experienced. I put blizzard in quotations because that the word that the singer used to describe the snowfall that didn't even stay on the roads that we had that day. Unless they experienced a blizzard somewhere else. The singer also kept his sweater on throughout the set because of it's Christmas feel.

Prince plays tight, punky tunes that feature aggressive guitars and vocals that wouldn't be out of place in the 90s, punctuated by walls of feedback. I hope I find out what they eventually change their name to so I can hear more of their music...

Here's their 2 self-titled EPs:





And their $200 single "How Ya Been Feelin'​/​More of This":

New Prince

Would I be completely off base to hear the influence of 80s hair metal, mixed in with the usual Prince funk on this new 3rdeyegirl track "Fixurlifeup"? Check it out.

Love the noisy and unconventional solo by home town guitar goddess Donna Grantis.

Prince defines "asshole" on Fallon

Update: I thought this was a cool performance. Smashing your guitar can be a cool rock and roll move. Smashing someone else's guitar, especially a prized vintage instrument such as this 1961 Epiphone Crestwood, provides indelible proof that Prince is an asshole. He borrowed The Roots' Captain Kirk Douglas' guitar for his performance of "Bambi" and then he smashed it. What a dick!

Here's the rest of the original post:

Did you catch this? Prince on Fallon. Even better than Prince presenting an award to Gotye.

And check out that tight band. With local Toronto guitar goddess Donna Grantis rippin' it up! Awesome!

"Bambi"

"Screwdriver"

To post, or not to post? Prince's new song Screwdriver

Update: Looking for Prince's new song "Screwdriver"? You can see the live version from Jimmy Fallon in another post along with another new toon "Bambi".

So Prince has a new song out. And I can't say it's the most brilliant thing I've ever heard from the purple one, the former unpronounceable symbol. Sounds to me like something that came out of a party jam, but what the hell, here it is, if you haven't heard it yet.

And the clip will probably be taken down soon, too.

It does seem to be growing on me...

Favourites: Warren Zevon covers Prince

We used to do "Werewolves of London" in the old band. It was a really easy song to learn when we were back in high school, it had a cool lyric, and was an overall fun song. Years later the singer from my band introduced me to Warren Zevon's / Hindu Love Gods version of Prince's "Rasberry Beret". It rocks.