Everybody’s Chattin + A tribute to Prince… a towering music icon gone too soon

On By ruthIn Everybody's Chattin', Music Break

Oh what a day it’s been… It’s another sorrowful day for music lovers as another music icon just passed away. I had prepared this post for community links & highlight some new trailers, but in light of Prince’s death, there’s obviously a change of plans. But before we get to that…

Let’s get to those awesome blog posts…

My friend Cindy posted her monthly series sharing music, books, and films that absorbed her

The Minneapolis Wizard World is coming next weekend. Well, Mikey posted some fun cosplay pics from the recent Edinburgh Comic-con!

My pal Mark is hosting another Decades Blogathon, I urge y’all to take part!

Rodney just reviewed the Aussie-set drama The Dressmaker, which I’ll rent for Kate Winslet!

One of my fave films that premiered at TCFF last year, It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong finally got a wider release. Check out what Nostra thought about the film.

Alex talked about music covers that are better than the originals

Steven reviewed his April Blindspot pick, Killer (1989)

Zoë reviewed a 90s classic, Good Will Hunting 

Allie of the lovely duo Flick Chicks blog just posted a trio of reviews

Last but not least, Margaret posted another great ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ entry on her boy du jour Harrison Ford’s earlier work, Witness.

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RIP_Prince

It’s a sad day for music lovers… well sad year really given that we just lost David Bowie in January. But given that I’m practically a Minnesotan, this is an especially tough day and I haven’t quite processed it yet. In fact, it’s just before lunch that my colleague shouted that Prince had died and then he retracted saying, ‘no, someone died on the premise of his Chanhassen studio.’ But of course minutes later it was confirmed that it was Prince himself had died and my heart sank.

My hubby drove to Paisley Park after work today to take some photos. Even the gloomy sky seemed to have mourned the icon. There had been traffic jam in the area since the news broke early afternoon and it apparently hadn’t let on. First Avenue, the club appeared in his film Purple Rain, is currently hosting an outdoor concert tribute for him as I’m typing this.

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Though Paisley Park is less than 20 miles away from my home and I used to drive by his studio every week as my church was within 5 minutes from it, I’ve never actually met Prince in person. I haven’t had the privilege of seeing him live in concert either [yes I know, bummer!] but I’ve heard many stories of my friends/colleagues’ encounter with him, whether at First Avenue or at Caribou Coffee house (which is as numerous as Starbucks in my neck of the woods). One of my good friend Tom actually bumped into Prince, literally, and said how he only came up to his chest. Tom wasn’t even 6 feet tall so Prince must not have been wearing his high heels then.

PurpleRain

Despite his small stature, Prince was a giant in terms of his contribution to the music industry. On my way home today, MPR was covering the death of an icon by interviewing journalists, as well as First Avenue’s general manager Nate Kranz, and even they had a hard time defining the Minneapolis Sound is that Prince pioneered. Apparently it’s a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, synthpop and new wave…well whatever it was, it certainly sounds cool to me.

I feel so inadequate posting a tribute for him… there are far more qualified people who has followed his career faithfully from the late 70s and has been influenced deeply by whether directly or indirectly. But at the same time I still want to honor his amazing legacy as an artist and what better way than to feature even just a tiny sampling of my favorite Prince’s music.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate Prince’s music… 

https://vimeo.com/150445815

And of course, this being primarily a film blog, I had to include this clip from Tim Burton’s 1989 BATMAN, as the music is certainly one of the best parts about that movie.

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Rest in peace, Prince Rogers Nelson.
Thank you for your gift of your timeless music
that shall forever live on.
…

Do you have a certain story about Prince you’d like to share? What’s your favorite Prince’s song(s)?
…

43 thoughts on “Everybody’s Chattin + A tribute to Prince… a towering music icon gone too soon”

  1. I posted something on Prince earlier today as I’m just as shocked as everyone. I saw it on CNN and I couldn’t believe it. This is too much. I also learned that my sister went to his last show. I’m pissed that I never got to see him as I love his songs. Anything he did from Dirty Mind to the original release of The Black Album is a must in my opinion while I also love a lot of the songs he’s done since though some of his albums have some spotty moments.

    If I have to say what is my favorite Prince song… there’s too many. He’s made a lot of good songs as I was just listening to “Sometimes It Snows in April” from the Parade album which is my favorite ballad of his while I also love “7”, “Cream”, “Endorphinmachine”, “Dinner with Dolores”, “Black Sweat”. There’s too many. I’ll just say it. Fuck 2016.

    Reply

    1. I still am trying to process it. Wow, where was his last concert? How fortunate your sister got to see his last show but must be so bittersweet for her.

      Yeah, it’s been a tough year for music fans indeed :\

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      1. It was more than a week ago in Atlanta. Actually, I don’t think she’s really a Prince fan as she unfortunately has a tendency to be into one trend and then another.

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    1. I had left off the Batman video featuring Prince’s song when you left the comment, Vern. It’s one of my fave things about the movie.

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  4. PrairieGirl

    Hey Ruth, such a very sad day, so glad to see your touching tribute. I’d seen him live at First Avenue (yes, this really dates me!) and the St. Paul Civic Center (now the Xcel Energy Center). Still watching cable news (they’re talking about Purple Rain right now), can’t sleep. Had no clue he was a Jehovah’s Witness and how much he gave to charity.

    I remember meeting Brian Gallagher, a saxophonist from the Twin Cities, who played with Prince in Council Bluffs, IA with Taylor Hicks.

    The intermittent rain and rainbow today over Paisley Park is an unusual comfort. Again, as others, taken way too soon. I agree on When Doves Cry, have loved it ever since I first heard it.

    In sorrow, Becky

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    2. Hi Becky, how cool that you got to see him live TWICE! I remember from your post about the Purple Rain dvd commentary that you saw him at First Avenue. There are so many things I just learned about him, it seems that you learned more about an artist after they died, which is sad but that’s just how it goes.

      Ivan was driving when the rainbow showed up, so he couldn’t capture it. But yeah, it’s as if the sky was crying too.

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  5. Sad day for Minneapolis and the rest of the world. Even though he’s gone his music will last forever. RIP.
    I like the song you shared from Batman. Other favorites of mine from the soundtrack include “Scandalous” & “Trust”(featured during Jokers street parade)

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    1. Hi Chris! Yeah, Mpls mourn together w/ the rest of the world for Prince. Thanks for sharing your faves, apparently there’s a special album of Batman that only featured Prince’s work.

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  6. Good grief. What digs with 2016? He was a bona fide artist and I loved how he stood up to Capital Records demanding his artistic freedom. I need to revisit Purple Rain. The man could play the guitar!

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    1. I know!! And it’s only April 😦 Prince was a true artist and he marched to the beat of his own drum. Yeah it’s incredible he could play thousands of musical instruments (as he said in an interview), plus he could write music, dance, etc. A musical genius in every sense of the word.

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  7. I have been a Prince fan since the late 70s when I was too young to understand what he was talking about. Extremely sad he’s gone, but it warms my heart to see all the love he’s getting around the world. Great post, Ruth.

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    1. Hi Dell, thank you for your perspective. It warms my heart too to see all the tributes pouring in. He’s Minnesota’s son, so nice to see the bridge was lit up purple and throngs of people gathering at First Avenue & Paisley Park, etc. He truly is a legend.

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  8. Terribly sad news about Prince. I never found him to be a particularly accessible artist, but having spent the day listening to the radio at work, I was actually surprised at just how many of his songs I knew, and how many I really liked. A true loss.

    Thanks for the linkage too, mate. Hope you enjoy The Dressmaker when you get around to seeing it!

    Reply

    1. Hi Rodney. Interesting how you said he’s not the most accessible artist. I guess his style isn’t for everyone but I actually think he touches so many genres of music that he’s probably more accessible than you think. Like you, I’m not that familiar w/ his music but when I do take the time to listen to a lot of them, I’m surprised by how much I enjoy them!

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  9. I’ve never been to any of his concerts either but have drove by his studio/home in Chanhassen countless times on my way to visit my parents. I didn’t know anything about Prince until my family moved to the States back in 1989 and of course that’s the year of Burton’s Batman and that’s when I heard his music and been a fan of his since. His music from the 80s were constantly played on radio and MTV back in those days and I think my favorite song of his is The Most Beautiful Girl in the Word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmqSi7lulMM

    It played constantly on MTV and radio back in the early 90s and I couldn’t get enough of it. May he rest in peace.

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  10. Thanks so much for the link! I never knew much about Prince but knew some of his songs. And he was so young. This year is so terrible, we lost so many incredible artists

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    1. My pleasure! Yeah I think people will discover him more now that he’s passed. As most true artistic geniuses in history, seems that people will discover more about their work after they died. He truly was incredible.

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  11. Thanks for the links, always good to find new sites!

    I feel so out of the loop, now two iconic musicians have died and I don’t know any of their music. And I call myself a music fan…. *shakes head

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    1. Hi Jordan! I’m actually not as familiar w/ Bowie’s music either. Hey there are a bunch of musicians in the world so you can still call yourself a music fan even if you’re not familiar w/ some popular ones. I’m actually more of a classical music fan but even so I’m not familiar w/ a ton of classical artists either 🙂

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      1. yeah I love classical music too, but I couldn’t name anyone other than Bach or Beethoven. So its mainly soundtracks for me to enjoy that sorta music, ha

        I shall use the power of youtube and find Bowie’s best songs. 😀

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        1. Hey, I just saw your Blindspot review. Good that you chose a Bowie movie. Ahah, I think youtube is a good place to find all kinds of iconic artists work, even if the artists themselves hate that site.

          Btw, hope you enjoyed the French festival. I saw some gems at MSPIFF too, was hoping you’d check out some of the reviews. In any case, hope to see Mon Roi soon, that one I got the screener link so I can watch at home.

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          1. I also got to see The Measure of a Man which wasn’t bad, Lindon was fantastic, can see why he won the award. There were still a bunch I missed though!

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            1. Hey Jordan, you seemed to have disappeared. I sent you a Twitter DM about Five for the Fifth, hope you’re still interested in being a guest this month.

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    1. Thank you Sheila! I just read your post and your lovely comment on The Longest Ride post. Thanks for reaching out, hope we can catch up again in person one day.

      Reply

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