Jessica Tandy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born
June 7, 1909
London, England, United Kingdom
Died
September 11, 1994
Easton, Connecticut, USA
Jessica Tandy, christened Jessie Alice Tandy (June 7, 1909 - September 11, 1994) was a noted Academy Award-winning British-American theatre, film and TV actress.
Personal life
Tandy was born in London and she was educated at the Dame Alice Owen's School in Islington. She was married twice:
1) The British actor Jack Hawkins (1932-1942); one daughter Susan Hawkins (born 1934)
2) The Canadian-American actor, the late Hume Cronyn from 1942 until her death in 1994. She is the mother of actress Tandy Cronyn, as well as a son, Christopher Cronyn, and was chosen by People magazine as one of the fifty Most Beautiful People in the world in 1990. Later the same year she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which she battled fiercely for five years, during which time she continued to work. She had also been treated for angina and glaucoma previously.
Career
After an acting career spanning some sixty five years, Tandy found latter-day movie stardom in major-studio releases and intimate dramas alike. From a young age she was determined to be an actress, and first appeared on the London stage in 1926, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's "King Lear". She also worked in British films. Following the end of her first marriage, she moved to New York and met Canadian actor Hume Cronyn, who became her second husband and frequent partner on stage and screen. She made her American film debut in The Seventh Cross (1944), in her only screen apparance with Cronyn. She also appeared in The Valley of Decision (1945), The Green Years (1946, as Cronyn's daughter!), and Forever Amber (1947). After her Tony-winning performance as Blanche DuBois in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, she concentrated on the stage and only appeared sporadically in films such as The Light in the Forest (1957) and The Birds (1963).
The beginning of the 1980s saw a resurgence in her film career, with character roles in The World According to Garp, Best Friends, Still of the Night (all 1982) and The Bostonians (1984), and the hit film Cocoon (1985), opposite Cronyn, with whom she reteamed for *Batteries not included (1987) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). She and Cronyn had been working together more and more, on stage and television, to continued acclaim, notably in 1987's Foxfire which won her an Emmy Award (recreating her Tony-winning Broadway role). However, it was her colorful performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), as an aging, stubborn Southern-Jewish matron, that made her a bonafide Hollywood star and earned her an Oscar. She was the oldest actor to ever win an Academy Award, beating out the late George Burns by less than a year. She subsequently earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grass-roots hit Fried Green Tomatoes (1992), and co-starred in The Story Lady (1991 telefilm, with daughter Tandy Cronyn), Used People (1992, as Shirley MacLaine's Jewish mother), To Dance With the White Dog (1993 telefilm, with husband, Hume Cronyn), Nobody's Fool (1994), and Camilla (also 1994, with Cronyn). Camilla was to be her last performance, and it was bold in one way that she, at the age of about eighty four and knowing that she was dying, had a brief nude scene, which could also be called "cheeky".
She died at home on September 11, 1994, in Easton, Connecticut, of ovarian cancer at the age of eighty five.
Good morning, time for a drive I think
Hot Rod Lincoln
As recorded by Commander Cody
(Spoken)
Have you heard the story of the hot rod race,
When the Fords and Lincolns was settin' the pace
That story is true, I'm here to say,
'Cause I was a-drivin' that model "A".
It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up,
That model "A" body makes it look like a pup
It's got 8 cylinders and uses 'em all,
Got overdrive, just won't stall.
With a barrel carb, and dual exhaust,
With 4-11 gears you can really get lost
It's got safety tubes but I ain't scared
The brakes are good, the tires, fair.
Pulled out of San Pedro late one night,
The moon and the stars were shining bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill,
Passin' cars like they was standin' still.
All of a sudden, in the wink of an eye,
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me,"
By then the tail light was all you could see.
Now the fellas ribbed me for bein' behind,
So I thought I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my foot off the gas and man-a live,
I shoved it on down into overdrive.
I wound it up to a hundred and ten,
My speedometer said that I hit top then
My foot was glued like lead to the floor,
That's all there is and there ain't no more.
Now the boys all thought I lost my sense,
Them telephone poles looked like a picket fence
They said, "Slow down, I see spots,
The lines on the road, just look like dots."
Took a corner, sideswiped a truck,
I crossed my fingers just for luck
My fenders was clickin' the guard-rail posts,
The guy beside me was white as a ghost.
Smoke was comin' from out from out of the back,
When I started to gain on that Cadillac
I knew I could catch him, I thought I could pass,
Don't you know by then we'd be low on gas.
They had flames comin' from out of the side,
You can feel the tension, man what a ride!
I said, "Look boys, I got a license to fly,"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by.
Now all of a sudden she started to knockin',
Down in a dip she started to rockin'
I looked in the mirror, a red light was blinkin',
The cops was after my hot rod Lincoln.
They arrested me and they put me in jail,
I called my pappy to throw my bail
He said, "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin',
If you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln."
Tom Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), best known by his stage name, Tom Jones is a Welsh pop singer particularly noted for his powerful voice. He was born in Treforest, near Pontypridd in South Wales.
Musical career
He rose to fame in the mid-1960s, with an exuberant live act which included wearing tight breeches and billowing shirts, in an Edwardian style popular amongst his peers at the time. He was known for his overt sexuality, before this was as common as it became in subsequent years.
In 1963 he became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a local beat group. Clad all in black leather, Tom soon gained a reputation in the South Wales area. The Senators were still all unheard of in London.
That year they laid down seven tracks with maverick Telstar producer Joe Meek, and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal - with no success. (Only after "It's Not Unusual" became that massive hit, Meek was able to sell the tapes to Tower (USA) and Columbia (UK)). The group returned to South Wales and continued to play gigs at dance halls and working mens clubs. One night, at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Tom was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Tom's manager, and took the young singer to London. He also renamed him Tom Jones. Gordon Mills gave many rock stars their stage names, among them Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey). The Senators became the Playboys, and later still the Squires.
Jones was awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1965. "It's Not Unusual" (co-written by Les Reed), was an instant smash hit. The song reached number one in the UK and the top ten in America. In the same year Tom sang the theme tune to the James Bond film Thunderball. In 1966 Jones' popularity began to slip somewhat, causing Mills to redesign the singer's image into a more respectable, mature tuxedoed crooner. Tom released his most successful single ever, Green, Green Grass Of Home (written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. in 1965), and began to sing material that appealed to a broad audience. The strategy worked, as he returned to the top of the charts in the U.K. and began hitting the Top 40 again in the U.S.
On February 9, 1964 Tom appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1967 he performed for the first time in Las Vegas, at The Flamingo. In 1968, starting at New York's Copacabana night club, women would swoon and scream, and some would throw their panties on stage. Soon after, he began to play Las Vegas, where he began recording less, choosing to concentrate on his lucrative club performances. At Caesar's Palace Tom's shows were traditionally a knicker-hurling frenzy of raw sexual tension and good-time entertainment. There, they started throwing hotel room keys.
At the end of the decade Jones had an internationally successful television variety show from 1969-1971 titled This Is Tom Jones. The 1970s saw Tom's popularity leveling off somewhat. But the hits kept on coming: Daughter Of Darkness, She's A Lady, Till and The New Mexican Puppeteer were all hits in the UK. On 5 August 1986 Gordon Mills, Tom's long-time manager, died of cancer. Tom's son Mark became the singer's manager. In April 1987 the singer re-entered the singles chart again. With the hit "A Boy From Nowhere" Tom got back in the public eye. A few months later he performed a version of Prince's Kiss, and recorded it with The Art Of Noise, and it was an instant hit. In 1993 he signed to Interscope Records and released the album The Lead And How To Swing It. In 1998 he performed a medley of songs from the film The Full Monty with Robbie Williams at the Brit Awards. That same year, Space and Cerys Matthews released The Ballad Of Tom Jones.
In 1999 he recorded the blockbuster album "Reload", a collection of duets with some of the year's brightest stars, which brought him back into the limelight. On New Year's Eve 2000 President Bill Clinton invited Tom to perform at the Millennium Celebrations in Washington. Throughout 2000, Tom garnered several honours for his work, including a Brit Award for Best Male. In 2001 Tom toured throughout the Middle East and Europe. In subsequent years Tom recorded albums in collaboration with such artists as Wyclef Jean and Jools Holland.
In celebration of his 65th birthday, on 28 May 2005 Tom returned to his homeland to perform a spectacular concert in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd. This was Tom's first performance in Ponty since 1964.
His early hits include:
"It's Not Unusual" (1965), Jones' signature song.
"What's New Pussycat?", written by Burt Bacharach for Woody Allen's What's New, Pussycat? (1965)
"Thunderball", the theme for the James Bond film (1965) - an urban legend states that when he hit the final high note of this song, Jones actually passed out, but Jones later denied this. However, the take was so good it was the one that was released.
"The Green, Green Grass of Home" (1966), his most successful single, which became associated with his native Wales, despite being written about the USA
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" (1967)
"Delilah" (1968), the usual choice of song for impressionists "doing" Tom Jones, occasionally being criticised for the violent nature of the song
"Help Yourself" (1968)
"Without Love" (1969)
"She's A Lady" (1971), his highest charting US single, peaking at #2
Jones's recording career slumped on the pop charts during the seventies and eighties, although he placed sixteen singles on the Billboard Country Music charts between 1976 and 1985, and his touring continued successfully. When his son Mark became his manager in 1987, his musical style was taken in a different direction. His recording career was revived with his first major hit single in over a decade, "A Boy From Nowhere'", taken from the musical Matador. In 1988 he collaborated with The Art of Noise to record Prince's popular song Kiss. Following this, he started to record in collaboration with a younger generation of musicians as listed below:
Prince's "Kiss" (1988, with The Art of Noise)
EMF's "Unbelievable" - a staple of his 1990s live shows
Talking Heads' song "Burning Down The House" (1999, with The Cardigans)
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" (1999, with Cerys Matthews of Catatonia)
Iggy Pop's song "Lust for Life" (1999, with The Pretenders)
Randy Newman's song "Mama Told Me Not To Come" (2000, with Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics)
Sex Bomb (From 1999's "Reload", with Mousse T)
"You Need Love Like I Do" (2000, with Heather Small of M People)
His Reload album, released in 2000, became the biggest hit of his career. An album of cover versions recorded as duets with contemporary artists, using their record producers, and utilizing their recording methods, it reached number one in the United Kingdom, and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[1] In 2002, he released the album Mr. Jones, which was produced by Wyclef Jean and included the singles "Tom Jones International" and "Black Betty". In 2003, he was honoured with a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004, his "Sex Bomb" single became a major US club hit.
For his contribution to the recording industry, Tom Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.
In 2005 the album Together In Concert, was recorded live with John Farnham and his band.
On 28 May 2005 Tom Jones played a massive homecoming concert in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd. This concert was 41 years in the making. It was 1964 when Tom Jones last played in Pontypridd and to celebrate his 65th birthday.
He has collaborated with Chicane for Stoned in Love, a dance track that was released 24 April 2006. It entered at number eight in the UK charts the following Sunday.
The singer was awarded an OBE in 1999 and a knighthood in the 2006 New Years Honours list for his services to music, and was subsequently knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London on March 29, 2006.
Although his manager and public relations staff has attempted to change Tom's sex-bomb image and neutralize the knicker-throwing fans, to the delight of his audiences Tom has never felt the need to tone down his behaviour in his shows. Tom Jones has remained highly respected by other singers and continues to attract audiences of all ages. As of 2006, Tom Jones continues to tour and record. He performs shows at the MGM Grand Las Vegas ten to twelve weeks each year, as well as performing concerts internationally.
Personal life
Born Thomas Jones Woodward, the son of coal miner Thomas Woodward (died 5 October 1981), and Freda Jones (died 7 February 2003, of cancer), of Pontypridd, South Wales, Great Britain. Tom began singing at an early age. He'd regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings and also sang in his school choir. He was struck down by tuberculosis and bedridden for almost a year. It was a critical time for him, but he could do little else but listen to music and draw. At the age of sixteen Jones married Linda Trenchard in 1957 and had a son named Mark, long before becoming a pop idol. Tom quit school with no qualifications and took a variety of jobs including a builder's labourer and a door-to-door vacuum salesman.
In 1974, Tom moved to America, buying the mansion formerly belonging to Dean Martin in Los Angeles' Bel Air.
Despite frequent and much publicised infidelities, including an affair with the dethroned Miss World of 1973, USA's Marjorie Wallace, and a one night stand with Elvira in which he claimed her virginity, he has remained married and a family man. One of his dalliances with a fan produced a love child, Jonathan Berkery born June 27th, 1988. He lost a paternity suit when DNA testing proved to be positive.
Tom has two grandchildren, Emma and Alexander Woodward. Alexander competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, representing Wales as a Full-Bore marksman.
Tom Jones was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 29 March 2006, granting him the title of "Sir". The honour was officially for his contributions to music. He carries his love of Wales with him and has become an informal world ambassador for his homeland.
Jones lives in Los Angeles, California and continues to tour extensively.
Prince
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country United States
Years active 1978-present
Genre(s) Rock, Funk-rock, Funk-metal, Funk, Pop, R&B/Soul, New Wave, Dance, Psychedelic Rock, Hip-Hop
Label(s) Universal
Arista
NPG Records
Warner Bros.
Columbia
Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article.
Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958), known as (or, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) from 1993 to 2000, is a popular and influential American musician. His music has spanned myriad styles including funk, pop, rock, R&B/soul, and hip hop, and he is widely regarded as a musical genius and the definition of the "Minneapolis sound". He is also known to have hundreds of songs unreleased in a vault under his own alias, as well as other names. Regarded as a perfectionist, Prince has a reputation as being difficult to work with, and for being highly protective of his music. He writes, composes, and produces most of his music single-handedly, and plays most of the instruments on his albums. He also is a well-known songwriter for other artists, and some of those songs have topped the charts as well.
Biography
Uptown: Early years
A young Prince composing in 1977Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Mount Sinai Hospital on June 7, 1958 to John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw. John L. Nelson played in a jazz trio The Prince Rogers Trio, hence Prince's birth name. There are a number of myths regarding Prince's ethnicity and gender, some spread by Prince himself. The most pervasive is that he is the child of a black father and white mother, a myth later bolstered by the cult film Purple Rain starring Prince and fellow artists Morris Day of The Time, and Apollonia. In more recent years, it has been noted in numerous publications that Prince's parents are in fact African-American. His mother had Italian ancestry. After the birth of his sister, Tika Evene in 1960, Prince saw his parents gradually drift apart. Prince's parents formally separated and he had a troubled relationship with his stepfather causing him to run away from home. He lived briefly with his father, who bought him his first guitar. Later, Prince moved in with a neighborhood family, the Andersons, and became friends with their son, Andre Anderson (later called Andre Cymone).
Prince and Anderson joined Prince's cousin Charles Smith in a band called Grand Central, formed in junior high school. Initially his involvement was just part of a mainly instrumental band that played clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. As time went by and Prince's musical knowledge broadened he found himself dictating the arrangements to the rest of the band. Before long he had become the band's frontman. By the time Prince had entered high school, Grand Central evolved into Champagne and started playing original music already drawing on a range of influences including Sly Stone, James Brown, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.
In 1976, he started working on a demo tape with producer Chris Moon in a Minneapolis studio. He also had the patronage of Owen Husney, to whom Moon introduced him, allowing him to produce a quality demo. Husney started contacting major labels and ran a campaign promoting Prince as a star of the future, resulting in a bidding war eventually won by Warner Brothers Records. They were the only label to give Prince creative control of his songs and offered him a contract.
Controversy: 1975-1981
Pepe Willie, husband of Prince's cousin, was an influential presence in Prince's early career. Willie acted as mentor and manager, along with Husney, for Prince in the Grand Central days, and employed Prince in the studio for his own recordings. In 1977, Willie formed 94 East, a band with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry. Willie enlisted the talents of Prince and Andre Cymone as session musicians for their studio recordings and in 1986 released the re-recorded tracks (except for Prince and Cymone's parts) from 1975-1977 as Minneapolis Genius. In 1995, the original recordings with Prince and Cymone were released by Willie as 94 East featuring Prince, Symbolic Beginning.
Prince's first album for Warner Bros, released in 1978, was titled For You. The majority of the album was written and performed by Prince, except for the song Soft and Wet (Music by Prince; Lyrics by Prince and C. Moon). Tommy Vicari was the Executive Producer in For You. Starting with For You, you can read in all of Prince's albums the now ubiquitous legend: Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince. Prince spent twice his initial advance recording the first album, which sold modestly, making the bottom reaches of the Billboard 200, while the single "Soft and Wet" performed well on the R&B charts. In the album For You, Prince used Prince's Music Co. for publishing his songs.
By 1979, Prince had recruited his first backing band with Cymone on bass, Gayle Chapman and Matt Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z on drums and Dez Dickerson on guitar. Prince intentionally enlisted a multi-racial, mixed-gender group, much like the backing band of one of Prince's most salient influences, Sly Stone. He recorded his second, self-titled album still mostly on his own, which made the Billboard 200 and contained two R&B hits in "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover". These two R&B hits were performed [1] on January 26, 1980 on the TV show American Bandstand with his first backing band. For his second album, Prince used Ecnirp Music [2] - BMI for publishing his songs, which he would also use for the album Dirty Mind.
Prince first attracted attention for the colorful clothes he put on his 5 foot, 2inch frame. He wore high-heeled shoes and boots, and when questioned by the press he remarked he liked the way he looked in them. In his early years, he liked to dress provocatively. He also was known to strongly flaunt and express his sexuality while on stage and in his music, which had people questioning his sexual orientation early on. This bought him some trouble as an opening act for The Rolling Stones' two Los Angeles Coliseum shows in 1981, where he was infamously pelted with garbage whilst wearing underwear and a trenchcoat. Prince was actually booed off the stage that night, a clip of which was later used by Prince for his "Pop Life" single in 1985 (if you listen, you can actually hear one member of the audience yell "throw the bum out.")
In 1980, Prince released Dirty Mind, a solo effort released using the original demos. On stage, Lisa Coleman replaced Chapman in the band, who felt the sexually explicit lyrics and stage antics of Prince's concerts conflicted with her religious beliefs. Dirty Mind was particularly notable for its sexually explicit material.
Prince supported Rick James in a 1980 tour with the label "punk funk" being applied to both artists, although it didn't sit comfortably with Prince. He recorded the album Controversy, released in 1981, with the single of the same name making international charts for the first time. In October of 1981, Prince perfomed "Party Up" on Saturday Night Live. Starting with the album Controversy, Prince used Controversy Music [3] - ASCAP for publishing his songs, which he would use for his following sixteen records until Emancipation came out in 1996.
Prince also wrote, produced, and in some instances performed on, the debut album for The Time, containing former members of Flyte Tyme, including frontman Morris Day. In the coming decade, Prince would also collaborate with Vanity (of Vanity 6), Apollonia (of Apollonia 6) and Sheila E. He also composed material, using former bandmates as another outlet for his prolific output. He also wrote hits for artists such as Sheena Easton and The Bangles and his songs would be covered in hit versions by artists as diverse as Chaka Khan, Tom Jones with The Art of Noise, and Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor's cover of a song Prince initially wrote for The Family, "Nothing Compares 2 U", was a huge commercial success in 1990.
Purple Reign: 1982-1993
Prince was backed in the 80s by The Revolution, and in the 90s by the New Power Generation. He also worked on different occasions with famous jazz and funk musicians, such as Miles Davis, Larry Graham, George Clinton, and Maceo Parker. Throughout his career, Prince has also recorded with Ani DiFranco, Madonna, Kate Bush, Rosie Gaines, Carmen Electra, Gwen Stefani, Chuck D, Angie Stone, Chaka Khan, and Sheryl Crow.
In 1982 Prince released the 1999 double-album which proved to be a breakthrough album both in the U.S. and internationally, selling over three million copies. The title track was a protest about nuclear proliferation and become his first top ten hit internationally. With "Little Red Corvette" he joined Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie as part of the first wave of black artists on MTV and "Delirious" also went top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was placed at number six in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. Stevie Nicks related a story in a television interview that she had come up with her 1983 song "Stand Back" after being inspired by the synthesizer part in "Little Red Corvette." When it was time to record the song, it happened that Prince was in Los Angeles near her recording studio. She called his people and soon afterwards Prince came by the studio, sat down at the synthesizer, and played the song-opening riff.
The original theatrical poster for Purple Rain (1984).Purple Rain (in conjunction with the film of the same name) sold over thirteen million copies in the U.S. and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. The film, while dismissed by humorist-critic Joe Queenan as "sexist, juvenile, and moronic", grossed over $80 million in the United States alone. However, Purple Rain would prove to be Prince's only cinematic success. Although Prince would later direct and star in Under The Cherry Moon (1986) and Graffiti Bridge (1990), both films were met with public indifference and critical derision. Two songs from Purple Rain, "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" would both top the U.S. singles charts and were hits around the world, while the title track would go to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Simultaneously, Prince held the spot of number one film, number one single, and number one album in the U.S. Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Purple Rain, and the album ranks in the top 100 of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, released in late 2003. When she overheard her twelve-year-old daughter, Karenna, playing "Darling Nikki" Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, which has spurred the use of "explicit lyric" stickers and imprints on album covers.
In 1985, after the U.S. Purple Rain Tour, Prince gave up live performances and making videos on the release of Around the World in a Day, which went to the top of the U.S. album charts for three weeks. Prince's ban on videos ended as the album stalled in the charts with a video for "Raspberry Beret" which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1986, Prince released the album Parade as a soundtrack to the film Under The Cherry Moon. The album went to number three on the Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the R&B album charts. The first single, "Kiss", would top the Billboard Hot 100. At the same time, "Manic Monday" by The Bangles reached number two on the Hot 100, which Prince had written under the pseudonym "Christopher". Following the film and album, Prince returned to touring with a stripped-down show.
1987's acclaimed Sign "☮" the TimesSome of Prince's music mixes spirituality and sensuality. "I Would Die 4 U", refers to Jesus. "The Cross", from Sign "☮" the Times, is a stronger reference to Prince's Christian beliefs. Sign "☮" the Times, released in 1987 as a double album, reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and achieved perhaps the greatest critical acclaim of his career, topping the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll, and reaching the top 100 of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
Following the album, Prince launched the Sign "☮" the Times Tour in Europe. At the end of the last tour Prince disbanded his long-time performance band, known since the release of the movie and album Purple Rain as The Revolution, and parted ways with Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Bobby "Z" Rivkin, and Mark Brown (Brown Mark). His follow-up live performance band retained Matt Fink on keyboards, and added Boni Boyer on keyboards, Sheila E on drums, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass, and Miko Weaver on guitar. In 1987, a live concert film was shot of the Sign "☮" the Times Tour in Rotterdam and Antwerp. Portions were re-recorded and the performances mimed in the soundstage of his newly-opened Paisley Park Studios complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Housing three complete recording studios, and a complete soundstage for performances and video production, the studios have been Prince's playground since their opening. Situated near his home in Minnesota, Paisley Park has allowed Prince to record at the drop of a hat.
1987 saw the potential for two of pop's biggest stars coming together to perform a duet. Michael Jackson talked with Prince about performing a duet together for the title track of his new album Bad. Prince liked the idea, seeing as Jackson was his main rival in pop stardom, so he agreed to it. However, Jackson and Prince ended up having creative differences in the lyrics and beats for the song. Finally, Prince left the project when he thought Jackson wasn't making the song dark enough. Jackson ended up cutting the title track for the album on his own, and it went to number one on the charts. [citation needed]
Also In 1987, Prince recorded The Black Album, a funk-oriented album whose erotically-charged lyrics were considered so blatant that it was not officially released. The album circulated through the bootleg underground music world until it was finally given an official release in 1994. The 1988 album Lovesexy was Prince's spiritual answer to the dark message of The Black Album. Lovesexy was a disappointment in its chart performance, only reaching number eleven on the Billboard 200. The Lovesexy Tour in the U.S. also proved to be commercial disappointment. Prince lost money as dates failed to sell out. Prince recouped his losses with the European and Japanese legs of the tour.
In 1989, Prince would record the soundtrack for Batman, which would return him to the top of the U.S. album charts, with the single and worldwide hit "Batdance" reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Prince next released the film sequel to Purple Rain, titled Graffiti Bridge, which performed poorly at the box office. The soundtrack featured Prince and other artists such as Tevin Campbell, Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers, and Morris Day and The Time. It would reach a chart peak of number six in the U.S. and number one in the UK.
The Diamonds and Pearls album in 1991 gave Prince album charts success with the song "Cream" giving him his fifth U.S. number one single. Diamonds and Pearls also marked the debut of the New Power Generation featuring rapper Tony M, Rosie Gaines on vocals, Michael Bland on drums, Levi Seacer and Kirk Johnson on guitar, Sonny T on bass, and Tommy Barbarella on keyboards.
Having mysteriously thanked Kate Bush in the credits of his Diamonds And Pearls album, Prince worked on Bush's 1993 album, The Red Shoes. Collaborating chiefly on the song "Why Should I Love You", Prince added bass, guitar, keyboards, his vocals and other arrangements to the mix. This would be the final "Prince" credit, until 2000. Kate Bush reciprocated in 1996 and is featured on background vocals on the Emancipation track, "My Computer".
Prince's twelfth album was titled "", dubbed by critics as The Love Symbol Album. It reached the top ten of the U.S. album charts. In 1993, he would change his name to (often represented in ASCII text as O(+>. The symbol is said to be a melding of the symbols for male and female. Due to being unpronounceable, he was often referred to as "The artist formerly known as Prince," "TAFKAP," or simply "The Artist." In 1993, at the request of Warner Bros., released a 3-CD greatest hits compilation entitled The Hits/The B-Sides. The first two discs were also sold separately as The Hits 1 and The Hits 2. In addition to featuring the majority of 's hit singles (with the exception of "Batdance", which was strangely omitted), The Hits includes an array of previously hard-to-find recordings, notably B-sides spanning the majority of Prince's career, as well as a handful of previously unreleased tracks, such as the Revolution-recorded "Power Fantastic". A new song, "Peach", was chosen as a promotional single to accompany the album. Unfortunately, neither the album nor single performed as well on the charts as and Warner Bros. would have hoped. To this day, however, The Hits remains the closest thing to a definitive overview of 's musical output from 1978 to 1993.
Behind the name change
In 1994, during negotiations regarding the release of 's album The Gold Experience, a battle between Warner Bros. and ensued, struggling over the artistic and financial control of 's output. During that time, appeared in public only with the word "SLAVE" written on his cheek. explained his name change as follows:
The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Brothers was to change my name from Prince to . Prince is the name that my Mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros....
I was born Prince and did not want to adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my name, and my identity, was , a symbol with no pronunciation, that is a representation of me and what my music is about. This symbol is present in my work over the years; it is a concept that has evolved from my frustration; it is who I am. It is my name.
's strategy behind the name change seems to have been to reinvent himself, going back to a smaller audience to redevelop his style. One commentator noted:[4]
Prince started his career as a big R&B star with limited mainstream success. At that point, he left the middle of the road and headed for the ditch. In 1980, it was risky to record new wave songs with lusty lyrics that assured no radio airplay (the classic Dirty Mind), but it paid off. Critics took notice and he became an underground favorite. This paved the way for his huge success with 1999 and Purple Rain. Certainly that was the pinnacle of his career, as far as worldwide earnings and universal adulation are concerned. But by heading for the ditch again, by changing his name and experimenting with his style, by lowering his stock value and escaping his record contract, has become an underground artist again. In late 1996, the first collection of music since his break with Warner Bros. appeared in record stores, a sprawling three-hour extravaganza integrating great dance grooves and slow-burning ballads. Critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, and sales have been brisk despite the high price of a 3-CD set. It's no coincidence that he titled this album "Emancipation".
Chaos and Disorder: 1994-2003
Prince's look, circa 1995.In 1994 Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting he release albums on a more sporadic basis. He also blamed it for the poor commercial performance of his latest work (namely The Love Symbol Album), feeling it had failed to market the album effectively. Out of this state of affairs a proposal came about to subject the aborted Black Album to an official release, approximately seven years after its initial creation. This new release, which was already in wide circulation as bootlegs, also sold relatively poorly.
Following that disappointing venture, Warner Bros. succumbed to Prince's wishes to release an album of new material, to be entitled Come. The label had refused to grant the album a release in the past, believing the music on it to be dreadfully mediocre and lacking a potential hit single. When Come was eventually released, it confirmed all of Warner's worst fears. It became Prince's poorest-selling album to date, struggling to even shift 500,000 copies. Even more frustrating was the fact that Prince insisted on crediting the album to "Prince 1958-1993".
Prince pushed to have his next album The Gold Experience released simultaneously as "" material. As a test case, Warner Bros. allowed the single "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" to be released via a small, independent distributor, Bellmark. The release was successful, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in the UK, but this was not to be a forerunner of what was to come. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing The Gold Experience, fearing poor sales and citing "market saturation" as a defense. When eventually released, The Gold Experience failed to sell well, despite reaching the top 10 of the Billboard 200 initially.
The Chaos And Disorder album of 1996 was his final album of new material for Warner Bros., and was one of his least successful. Prince attempted a major comeback later that year, when, free of any further contractual obligations to Warner Bros., he released Emancipation. The album was released via his own NPG Records with distribution through EMI. To publish his songs, in Emancipation, Prince for the first time did not use Controversy Music - ASCAP, which he had used in all his records since 1981, rather he used Emancipated Music Inc.[5] - ASCAP. While certified Platinum by the RIAA, some critics felt that the sprawling 36-song, 3-CD set (each disk was exactly 60 minutes long) lacked focus. Emancipation would be Prince's first album in which he would include covers of songs of other artists; for example, CD number three includes Joan Osborne's top 10 hit song of 1995 "One of Us" [6]. Other covers on the album include "Betcha By Golly Wow!" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and Linda Creed) [7], "I Can't Make U Love Me" (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid) [8] and "La, La, La (Means I Love U)" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart) [9].
Prince married Mayte Garcia, a backup singer and dancer, on Valentine's Day, 1996. Emancipation was largely dedicated to their union and their then-unborn child. The child, rumored to have been named Gregory, was born with Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare skull disease and died shortly after birth. This tragic event may have contributed to marital troubles, leading to an eventual annulment of their marriage in 1998.
Prince released Crystal Ball, a 4-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was shambolic, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventually shipped to them, and months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The Newpower Soul album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts.
In 1999, Prince once again teamed up with a major record label, this time Arista Records, for a new album, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. However, it also failed to make much of a commercial impression. A few months earlier, Warner Bros. had also released The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale, a collection of unreleased material recorded by Prince throughout his career, and his final recording commitment on his contract with Warner Bros. The greatest success he had during the year was with the single "1999: The New Master", released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original 1999. Both critics and fans panned "The New Master", declaring it unimaginative.
2002's One Nite Alone...Live!On New Year's Eve of 2001, Prince married his former Paisley Park employee Manuela Testolini and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In May 2000, he ceased using the name "" and started to use the name "Prince" again after his publishing contract with Warner Chappell expired. In a press conference stating that he was now free from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he formally reverted to his original name and opened the door to endless "The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" digs. However, Prince still uses the symbol as a logo occasionally, and continues to play a -shaped guitar.
For the next three years, Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription services, first NPGOnlineLtd.com, and now NPGMusicClub.com. However, two albums which showcased the substantial influence of jazz music on Prince did surface for the general public: The Rainbow Children in 2001, and the all-instrumental N.E.W.S in 2003. The latter received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In 2002, he released his first-ever live album, One Nite Alone... Live!, which features recordings of performances from the One Nite Alone tour. The costly 3-CD box set, which also includes a disc of "aftershow" music called It Ain't Over!, failed to make an impact on the charts. During this time Prince sought to engage more effectively with his fan base via the NPG Music Club, pre-concert sound checks, and at yearly "celebrations" at Paisley Park. Fans were invited into Prince's studios for tours, interviews, discussions and music-listening sessions. Some of these fan discussions were filmed for an unreleased documentary, directed by Kevin Smith. Smith discusses what happened during those days at length in his An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD -- more information here [10] and here [11]. Performances were also arranged to showcase Prince himself, as well as related artists and guests (including Alicia Keys, The Time, Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, George Clinton, Norah Jones and others).
The Return of Prince: 2004-present
On February 8, 2004, Prince made a significant leap out of obscurity by appearing at the Grammy awards with Beyoncé Knowles. The duo were allegedly selected as a last-minute replacement for Janet Jackson, whose controversial incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII the week before had made her an undesirable choice to appear at the awards ceremony. In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Beyoncé ripped through a medley of classic Purple Rain songs, namely the title track, "Let's Go Crazy" and "Baby I'm a Star". The performance also featured a rendition of Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love".
The following month Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The award was presented to him by Alicia Keys, along with Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast. As well as performing a trio of his own hits during the ceremony, Prince also participated in a tribute to fellow inductee George Harrison in a rendition of the deceased artist's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". The performance was mostly led by Tom Petty, but also featured Jeff Lynne and Harrison's son, Dhani. The tribute shed notable light on Prince, who concluded the performance with a lengthy guitar solo (video)[12].
In April 2004, Prince released Musicology through a unique one-album agreement with Columbia Records. This deal, which meant that Columbia were obliged to distribute and promote the album, was constructed in such a way that ensured Prince himself still garnered the majority of the royalties (as he had been accustomed to through his own independent music service). The album, which rose to the top 5 in the album charts of several countries (including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia), featured some of the artist's most economical and commercially appealing music in years. That same year, Pollstar named Prince the top concert draw among musicians in America. Grossing an estimated $87.4 million, Prince's Musicology tour was the most profitable tour in the industry during 2004. The artist played an impressive run of 96 concerts, the average ticket price for each being $61. [13] Further highlighting the success of the album, Prince's Musicology went on to receive two Grammy wins, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Call My Name" and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the title track. It was also nominated for Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cinnamon Girl". [14] The album became the artist's most commercially lucrative since Diamonds and Pearls, partly due to a radical scheme devised on his part which enabled copies of the album presented to those who purchased tickets on the Musicology tour to be included in the album's overall sales as compiled by Billboard.
In December 2004, Prince was chosen by Rolling Stone magazine's readers as the best male performer and most welcome comeback. During that same month, Prince was named number five on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart. [15]
In February 2005, Rolling Stone magazine published the list of top money makers of 2004; Prince was on top with estimated net earnings of $56.5 million [16]
In March 2005, Prince won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album (Musicology) and a Vanguard Award. [17]
In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with En Vogue singing backing vocals) on Stevie Wonder's first new single in six years, "So What The Fuss". The single debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard Adult R&B chart.[18] Despite rumours of an appearance or duet with Stevie Wonder at Live 8 in Philadelphia, Prince did not perform at the concert.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, Prince offered a personal response by recording two new songs, "S.S.T." and the instrumental "Brand New Orleans", at Paisley Park in the early hours of September 2. The artist, in a typical moment of inspiration, played all instrumental and vocal parts without collaboration. These recordings were quickly dispersed to the public via Prince's NPG Music Club, and "S.S.T." was later picked up by iTunes, where it reached number one on the R&B chart. On October 25, Sony Records released a version of the single on CD.
Prince's album cover for 3121.On December 9, 2005, it was reported that Prince had determined an agreement with Universal Records to release his next album, 3121. This deal is believed to be similar to that which the artist struck with Columbia Records for Musicology. The debut single put forward from the album was the Latin-tinged "Te Amo Corazon", the video for which debuted on VH1 on December 13, and was directed by actress Salma Hayek. The piece was filmed in Marrakesh, and showed Prince accompanied on-screen by Mía Maestro. She was also present at a brief press conference which Prince made in promotion of the new single and video. The video for "Black Sweat," the second single from 3121, premiered on February 2, 2006, demonstating a rather more minimalistic approach both in the sound of the song and the style of the video. Prince is also believed to have a concert tour in the works to promote the new album.
On February 4, 2006, Prince was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, where he performed two new songs, the guitar-driven "Fury" and "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed", with up-and-coming R&B singer Támar. Both are featured on Prince's own 3121, with "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed" also appearing on Tamar's album, titled Beautiful Loved & Blessed (due for release on May 2, 2006).
On February 15, 2006, Prince performed at the Brit awards alongside Wendy, Lisa and Sheila E. He played "Te Amo Corazon" and "Fury" from 3121, and "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" from Purple Rain, in a performance which was generally regarded as the best of the night.
Ultimate is the title of Prince's latest greatest hits compilation album. The album is currently scheduled to be released on 22 May 2006. Originally slated to be released in North America on 14 March 2006, the album was cancelled just days prior to its release. However, copies were already available in some retailers and have been sold.
The double disc set is slated to consist of one CD of hits, while the second disc will contain extended versions and mixes that, for the most part were previously unavailable on CD. Artwork for a promo copy [19] revealed that the selection included these tracks: "Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)", "Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix)", "Let's Work (Dance Remix)", "Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix)", "She's Always In My Hair (12" Version)", "Raspberry Beret (12" Version)", "Kiss (Extended Version)", "U Got The Look (Long Look)", "Hot Thing (Extended Remix)", "Thieves In The Temple (Remix)", and "Cream (N.P.G. Mix)". [20], [21], [22]
3121 was leaked to the internet on March 6, 2006. Prince achieved his first career number-one debut on the Billboard 200 (in the issue dated April 8, 2006) with 3121. The set sold 183,000 copies in the United States in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally. [23]3121 also took over the number one spot on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart the following week, giving the legendary artist his highest charting international album of the decade. [24]
On May 24, 2006, Prince performed "Lolita" and "Satisfied" from his album 3121 on the last results show of the fifth season of American Idol. He was the only artist to perform without any contestant in the episode. The infamous judge on the show, Simon Cowell, has recently turned his barbed comments toward the artist saying, "It just tells you how selfish he is. He comes on, not a word - 'I'm not gonna sing with anybody else, I'm not gonna say goodbye.' Thank you for your generosity, Prince." in regard to Prince's late arrival and abrupt departure.
