"Come Back, Nikki!" - Prince's Backmasking Part 1

Hey, everyone! Ok, I'm super tired and fighting a horrible case of hives, but I wanted to make sure I stayed on schedule with a blog post today.

Yesterday, one of my best friends found this beauty at a trade show for $5, and kindly bought it for me (whenever anyone who knows me sees or hears something Prince-related, they automatically think "Erica."):

 So, I immediately tried to do what I've always wanted to do with "Purple Rain" on vinyl: play the end of "Darling Nikki" backwards.

Prince used the backmasking technique--recording sounds or messages backwards (rapper Tupac Shakur actually sampled this backmasking on his song Heartz of Men). Like many Prince fans, I know what the message says, but I've never heard it for myself.

Because I have very limited knowledge about vinyl, I thought that this task would be easy, but it's not.  I've learned from a couple YouTube videos (found here and here) that it's going to require tools. So, I'm going to wait until this weekend to try it again.

For those of you who are wondering what the message says, I'm not going to tell. Hint: it is relevant to my book. It's going to be fun to confirm it for myself. I know you're going to Google it, but why not try it on your own?

By the way, did you catch the cover of "Darling Nikki" by Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live alum and daughter of the late singer Minnie Riperton)? She performed the song with The Roots on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." She even mimicks the backmasking as part of the performance! Watch here via Gawker.

What do you think of Maya's performance?

"From the Heart of Minnesota" - Minneapolis Research

Quick post tonight! This week is all about researching Prince's hometown, Minneapolis. I'm particulary interested in the number and type of churches in the city, church attendance, and number of families that identified themselves as "religious" over the years. When writing a biography, it's important to examine your subject's environment.

I'm also trying to look into Prince's involvement in the Seventh-Day Adventist church as a child. According to several books and articles, he was raised an Adventist, but no one has identified which SDA church he attended. I feel that I'm getting closer to finding out.

That's all for me.  I just watched a clip of Prince on "The View" today, where he talked about the "Welcome 2 Chicago" concerts and the Rebuild the Dream organization. He also released a new song, “RnR Affair.”

What do you think of Prince's appearance on "The View" and the new song?

"Stand Up! Organize!" - My New Purchase & More Pics

I'm super excited! I finally bought my mini file cabinet for my Prince research:

I've been organizing the content by category (don't say anything about my handwriting):

I keep my Prince-related books, DVDs and VHS tapes (yeah, that's right) on my bookshelf. There's a Bob Dylan book in there, too, but I promise it's relevant:

Here's a closer look at some of the things I've taped on VHS...and "Graffiti Bridge":

I keep my Prince music in various places. Here is some of it:

That "Musicology" CD is from the actual tour in 2004. I've saved that ticket, and my ticket from the "Welcome 2 America" concert at Madison Square Garden, of course:

 

Unfortunately, I won't be attending the "Welcome 2 Chicago" tour. I promised myself that the next time I see Prince live, I will be in the front row or VIP. So, I need time to get my purple savings account right. I also need to save for my inevitable trip to Minneapolis! :)

Who is going to Welcome 2 Chicago?

"Nothing Stays the Same, Anyway" - Changes to the Blog

Happy Labor Day!

As you know, I'm always trying to improve this blog. I took the time today to make some aesthetic changes and a content change:

Where's the Blogger Favicon?

Although this blog is powered by Blogger, I want it to stand on its own as much as possible. I asked my boyfriend to create a new icon in Photoshop for me. You should see this image in the left-hand corner of your browser very soon:

If you take a look at the right panel of this website, you'll see that I've added my picture and contact information (about time, right?). You'll see that my blog posts are still duplicated on my website. In the past, I thought about switching to Wordpress completely, but I decided to stick with Blogger. Now, I have to figure out if I want to keep the blog on my website.

The other visual changes are more subtle. I'm going to be consistent with my font type (Verdana) and size going forward. Unfortunately, I still need to update the font in a good chunk of my previous entries. Also, the purple that you see in this blog is the exact purple from the "Purple Rain" album cover:

Amazon.com

All hyperlinks are purple, but they turn green when you hover over them, and change to pink once you've clicked on them.

In terms of content, I've altered the blog summary/purpose at the top of the page.When I started this blog in December 2010, I wanted to expand my book and meet Prince by December 2011. I then changed the end date to December 2012. Well, I am going to be more realistic. Obviously, I would still love to meet Prince and interview him for the book. While that would be extremely significant for my project, it is not mandatory. I am still going to finish the book whether or not I speak to him. Additionally, I am giving myself until 2015 to secure more interviews and add 80 pages to the 80 that I've written. I have to turn the book in to Ohio University by the summer of 2016 as part of my graduate school program.

So, follow me on a journey to expand my book on Prince in roughly five years, or on "a purple day in December" 2015!

"They Love Me Too Much" - Who's Talking Prince on the Web?

A few months ago, I made a list of people talking Prince on Twitter.  As part of my research, I’ve also started to keep an eye out for other blogs, articles, posts and videos about Prince on the Web at large.

I thought I’d share a handful of search results—some silly, some serious—that I’ve found over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

1) This little girl likes Prince...A LOT. She even has a special message for him in the video.




2) The good news is that there are numerous posts about Prince on Tumblr. The bad news is that many of them are GIFs, which I personally can’t stand--they hurt my eyes. For those of you who love them, you can find a sample here.

3)

This is an interesting one. When I saw the title for this post in Jacqueline J. Holness’ s blog, which she describes as a “forum for Christians,” among other things, I thought it would  be about Prince’s spirituality. It turns out that she just used Prince’s song “Controversy” to frame the post. 

4)

I really enjoyed this blog post matching certain Jeffrey Campbell shoes with rock stars including Prince, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. Fun stuff!

5)

Ok, so I'm not familiar with this type of writing (is this considered fan fiction?). People are writing fictional stories based on Prince and/or his work here.

6) The A.V. Club reviewed "I Wanna Be Your Lover" last month. I thought it was an interesting read.


Prince has also been in the news for allegedly putting together an outdoor show in St. Paul, but you can see those types of stories on Prince.org and Princefams.com. I just wanted to give you a taste of some quirky content that you may not easily find.

Which one of the above is your favorite?

“Don’t You Touch My Stereo!” – New Gift & Other Updates

Hey, peeps! Check out my anniversary gift!

Ever since I moved in my new apartment, I’ve been talking about getting a record player, and my boyfriend surprised me with one last Saturday! As you can see, he also gave me my first Prince vinyl record—“Around the World in a Day” (he bypassed “1999,” “Sign O’ the Times” and “Parade” in our local record store, but he still came home with a good choice).

I’ve been so excited to hear Prince’s albums on vinyl, especially after learning about the benefits on the Peach and Black Podcast’s first “Sign O’ the Times” episode (see my comments about the show here). I’ll be making a trip of my own to the record store to get that classic album.

As I mentioned some time ago, analysis of Prince’s performances is an important part of my book. My new record player will make listening to his albums even more fun!

Besides my new gift, I have some other updates for you:

• The Jon Bream interview is not going to happen. He no longer gives interviews to other Prince writers. However, he was super nice about it. It’s fine; you win some (see my interview with Art Erickson), and you lose some.
• I’m waiting to hear back from Mayte Garcia’s “people.” It would be awesome if she agreed to chat. Whatever the case, “Hollywood Exes” has produced some great quotes.
• I’m starting to get better at scheduling time after work and on the weekends to work on the book. This past Saturday, I worked on the book from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (I’m approaching it like a second job). During that time, I learned a lot about Prince’s family. I’ll have more on that later.
• My next immediate tasks will be to track down the Seventh Day Adventist church that Prince attended as a child, and give myself a lesson in Minneapolis geography.

Thanks for sticking around!

"Remember All the Way Back in the Day?" - Interview with Art Erickson

As I promised last week, I have details to share about my interview with former Park Avenue United Methodist Church youth group leader, Art Erickson. Prince participated in the church's summer programs from sixth to ninth grade.

Erickson was very, very kind and patient with me. I enjoyed speaking with him and even transcribing the interivew afterward!

Other writers have interviewed Erickson, but I contacted him because I want to rely on my own research as much as I can. I also wanted Erickson to elaborate on some things I'd read.

Erickson provided more details about Prince's involvement in the church. We talked about the messages that Prince would have heard in sermons from Dr. Hinerman, the pastor at the time. Erickson also shared his input on Prince's early music, and those anguished chats with God onstage during the "Purple Rain" tour.

Of course I asked Erickson the same question I asked Gayle Chapman and Howard Bloom: "Are you surprised that Prince is a Jehovah's Witness now?" The responses have been so intriguing. Chapman said, "No," and Bloom said, "Yes." Erickson gave the same answer as Chapman.

My chat with Erickson really showed me that I need to learn more about the Jehovah's Wintess doctrine. We discussed it a little bit, and I'm not sure I comprehend it as well as I thought I did. I'll be heading back to the library soon...

As for other sources, Erickson recommends Jimmy Jam, of course. I told him that I wanted to speak with Keith Johnson, the pastor who presided over Prince's wedding to Mayte, and Keith's brother Kirk, who was the best man. Erickson said that Kirk, who was a member of Prince's New Power Generation band, would be the "key person," because he knew Prince better (I wrote Keith a letter a couple weeks ago, but I haven't tried Kirk just yet).

Erickson gave me his blessing to mention that I spoke with him, and to follow up with him, if needed. Also, like many other people who knew Prince in the early years, he wishes he could chat with him today. In fact, a few years ago, Erickson wanted Prince to compose music for a movie that was filming in Minneapolis, but he couldn't reach him.

"You can keep in touch with me," he said, "and you can put on the Intenet that you talked to Art Erickson, and he'd love to talk to Prince again."

Prince, did you get that? They still love you.