Dance / Music / Sex / Romance

Here we are again, my first podcast in more than a year, and I couldn’t have asked for better guests than Harold Pride and De Angela Duff to discuss Prince’s fourth and quite possibly most underrated album, 1981’s Controversy. If you’ve been listening to these deep-dive album retrospectives, Harold needs no introduction; and, since the Prince scholarly community is a pretty small one, De Angela may not need one either. Suffice to say that she’s the biggest advocate of Controversy I know, and she makes a convincing case that it’s not only a great album in its own right, but also the linchpin of Prince’s entire career.

One quick note: you will likely notice that there was a significant drop in audio quality this episode; this was due to a perfect storm of technical issues that, unfortunately, left the low-quality Skype call recording as the only usable audio source from our conversation. I think you’ll get used to it, but my apologies anyway!

00:03:18 “The Second Coming” (“Live” at the Met Center, 1982)

00:07:20 De Angela on Prince’s Friend

00:19:58 Daphne A. Brooks’ review of Controversy in Pitchfork

00:21:08 Allen Beaulieu’s iconic cover art for Controversy

00:22:05 Allen Beaulieu’s iconic cover art for Dirty Mind

00:25:30 Controversy round table from the #1plus1plus1is3 symposium with Joan Morgan, Jason Orr, Tonya Pendleton, Scott Woods, and Arthur Turnbull

00:32:11 “Sexuality” (Live at the Warner Theatre, 1981)

00:32:51 Zach’s presentation from the #SexyMF30 symposium

00:33:20 Inklings of Prince as world builder: the back cover of Prince (1979)

00:42:36 “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” (Live at the Warner Theatre, 1981)

00:46:57 Learn to play the “Let’s Work” bassline from Brown Mark himself!

00:54:25 “Controversy” (from Controversy, 1981)

01:03:40 Zach’s three-part post on “Controversy” (Parts 1, 2, and 3)

01:06:45 Morris Day’s 2019 memoir

01:10:50 Harold and KaNisa’s recent Twitter thread on Prince and electronic music/Detroit techno

01:11:34 Our podcast on The Time with more discussion on the Detroit/Minneapolis connection

01:15:25 Techno Rebels by Dan Sicko

01:23:28 Zach’s #1plus1plus1is3 presentation on the Controversy shower poster

01:30:00 Bruce Gowers’ “Controversy” music video

01:36:55 KaNisa’s #1plus1plus1is3 presentation made connections between the Prince of Controversy and the Prince of The Rainbow Children

01:37:17 “Sexuality” (from Controversy)

01:45:25 Bruce Gowers’ “Sexuality” music video

01:46:11 The very similar lighting in Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” video (not incidentally, also directed by Gowers)

01:53:25 “The Rainbow Children” (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)

01:59:50 “ShoYoAss” by the Coup (from Pick a Bigger Weapon, 2006)

02:02:25 The 2015 Washington Post article about Prince’s “apolitical purple wormhole”

02:03:08 Crystal Wise’s “(A)Political Prince: An Analysis of Prince’s Political Consciousness”

02:07:08 C. Liegh McInnis’ The Lyrics of Prince Rogers Nelson

02:07:37 “Do Me, Baby” (from Controversy)

02:18:13 Grown Folks Music’s podcast on the “Prince Flood” of 1987 with De Angela, Harold, and Zaheer Ali

02:19:48 “Do Me, Baby” (1979 Demo)

02:30:00 “Private Joy” (from Controversy)

02:38:05 Zach’s ranking of the songs on Controversy

02:39:15 Alfonso Ribeiro demonstrates how to dance to “Private Joy”

02:41:52 “Private Joy” by the Revolution featuring Bilal (Live at First Avenue, 2016)

02:49:42 “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” (from Controversy)

02:57:17 “Let’s Work” (from Controversy)

03:02:00 “Let’s Work (Dance Remix)” (1982 single)

03:06:15 “Let’s Work” (Live on the VIBE show, 1998)

03:09:35 “Annie Christian” (from Controversy)

03:15:49 Zach’s post on “Annie Christian”

03:19:02 “Annie Christian” (Live at Saenger Performing Arts Center, 1982)

03:20:45 Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children

03:25:00 Allen Beaulieu captures “mad scientist” Prince for the 1999 inner sleeve

03:30:36 “Jack U Off” (from Controversy)

03:35:07 “Jack U Off” (Live at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 1981)

03:39:41 If for some reason you want to hear more thoughts from Zach on “Jack U Off” and “Ronnie, Talk to Russia,” here you go

03:40:41 “I Can Make You Say” by Twista (from Freestyle Week, 2009)

Last October, I had every intention to mark the 40th anniversary of Controversy with another installment of our in-depth album retrospective podcast series, but life (i.e., my increasingly-predictable end-of-year burnout) intervened. Now, having finally gotten my shit together, I’m putting the finishing touches on the episode, and it will be dropping next Friday (tomorrow for patrons)! I’m joined as always by Harold Pride and, for the first time, by longtime friend of the show De Angela Duff, who was actually the one to get my butt in gear because she’s just that passionate about the album! Very excited for you to hear it and (knock on wood) to be back with more in less than a year.

As promised/threatened, we’re back to a monthly schedule on the D / M / S / R podcast! For this month’s episode, it was my pleasure to speak to music writer Jack Riedy (Pitchfork, GQ, VIBE) about his new book Electric Word Life: Writing on Prince 2016-2021. It was a really fun conversation, running through each of the pieces collected in his book and covering everything from Prince’s influence on Chicago house to the degree to which the Batman album goes (spoiler: it’s hard). Check it out, and if you’re so inclined, get yourself a copy of Jack’s book! It’s a great read and highly recommended.

00:00:00 “The Future” (from Batman, 1989)

00:14:59 “We All Wanna Be Prince” by Felix da Housecat (2009 single)

00:17:09 Michaelangelo Matos: “We All Wanna Be Prince: Exploring The Purple One’s Impact on Dance Music”

00:18:22 “Music is the Key (House Key)” by J.M. Silk (1985 single)

00:19:29 Cat Glover recycles the “Music is the Key” rap on “Cindy C” (from The Black Album, 1987)

00:21:29 “Gett Off (Houstyle Remix)” by Steve “Silk” Hurley (1991 single)

00:23:56 Chuck Zwicky’s Keynote at the Batdance30ATL Symposium

00:25:31 “All the Critics Love U in New York” (from 1999, 1982)

00:29:23 Ethan Hawke explains the “Black Album” in Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)

00:31:32 Zach’s Take on Purple Rain as a Double Album

00:36:09 “Nothing Compares 2 U” (from Originals, 2019)

00:38:01 Chris Stapleton’s 2016 cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U”

00:39:01 Girl Talk samples Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” on “Play Your Part (Pt. 1)” (from Feed the Animals, 2008)

00:39:34 The tweet Jack references in his book

00:41:33 “Four” by Madhouse (from 8, 1987)

00:45:26 “Batdance” (from Batman)

00:50:41 Simon Pegg and Nick Frost use Batman as a projectile in Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)

00:52:17 “Batdance” in Tom Breihan’s The Number Ones

00:54:43 “Dance with the Devil” (1989 recording)

00:57:48 The mysterious bubbling noise in “Lady Cab Driver” (from 1999)

01:00:39 “F.U.N.K.” (2007 single)

01:10:24 “Sometimes It Snows in April” by D’Angelo featuring Princess (Live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2016)

01:17:24 Scott Woods’ Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods

01:18:35 Mary Gring (who illustrated Jack’s book)

01:19:10 Cereal Box Studio (who designed it)

01:20:30 “Welcome 2 America” (from Welcome 2 America, 2021)

01:20:40 Daniel Bromfield’s Pitchfork review of Welcome 2 America

01:21:53 Zach also wasn’t a huge fan of “Hot Summer”

01:26:12 Buy Jack’s Book

01:26:52 “The Dance Electric” (from Purple Rain: Deluxe Expanded Edition, 2017)

This month, it was my pleasure to speak to music writer Jack Riedy (Pitchfork, GQ, VIBE) about his new book Electric Word Life: Writing on Prince 2016-2021. It was a really fun conversation, running through each of the pieces collected in his book and covering everything from Prince’s influence on Chicago house to the degree to which the Batman album goes (spoiler: it’s hard).

July 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the self-titled debut album by the Time; so, I decided to commemorate the occasion by bringing back Darling Nisi and Harold Pride for one of our trademark track-by-track deep dives. As always, the conversation left me thinking about the album in new ways: from KaNisa’s interpretation of it as Prince’s tribute to the funk music of his youth, to Harold’s insight on its significance to the development of electronic dance music. I remain grateful to be able to talk about music with these two brilliant people.

00:00:00 “The Stick” (Live at the Roxy Theatre, 1982)

00:02:17 Harold’s Presentation at De Angela Duff’s #1plus1plus1is3 Virtual Symposium

00:02:22 KaNisa’s Presentation at #1plus1plus1is3

00:02:26 KaNisa’s Podcast, Muse 2 the Pharaoh

00:03:13 The (Kinda Underwhelming) “Expanded Edition” of The Time

00:03:36 The #1plus1plus1is3 The Time Roundtable with Big Sexy, Richard Cole, Michael Dean, Eloy Lasanta, and Ricky Wyatt

00:03:54 Zach’s Controversial Roundtable on the Time’s Pandemonium from the #DM30GB40 Virtual Symposium

00:04:38 Allen Beaulieu’s Iconic Cover Photo for The Time

00:05:26 Zach’s Original Takes on The Time Tracks from 2018

00:08:11 Songwriting Contract between Prince/Tionna Music and Dez Dickerson for “Cool”

00:13:57 Our Podcast on Prince (1979)

00:19:28 Our Podcast on Dirty Mind

00:20:35 “Partyup” (Live with Morris Day at First Avenue, 1982)

00:24:03 “Rough” (1980 Recording)

00:32:16 “Get It Up” (from The Time, 1981)

00:33:43 “Dazz” by Brick (from Good High, 1976)

00:34:48 Morris Day’s recent appearance on the Questlove Supreme Podcast

00:40:34 “Get It Up” could have gone over well at the party in Cooley High (Michael Schultz, 1975)

00:42:06 “Get It Up” by TLC (from Poetic Justice: Music from the Motion Picture, 1993)

00:45:32 “Get It Up” (Live at the Roxy)

00:51:53 “Girl” (from The Time)

00:53:10 Morris’ recent interview in Rolling Stone

01:00:29 “Girl” by Full Force (from Don’t Sleep!, 1992)

01:03:09 “After Hi School” (from The Time)

01:14:51 “Cool” (from The Time)

01:21:52 “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson (from Off the Wall, 1979)

01:24:33 “Cool” (Live at the Roxy)

01:25:10 Chuck Statler’s music video for “Cool”

01:25:56 If you don’t know what happened with Chuck Statler’s The Second Coming movie, now you know

01:26:27 Another artifact from Prince’s “standing in front of a classroom” period

01:29:33 “Oh, Baby” (from The Time)

01:36:01 “The Stick” (from The Time)

01:39:47 “The Stick” (from NPG Ahdio Show #9, 2001)

01:44:48 “Get It Up” (Live at the Capitol Theatre, 1982)

01:54:06 “Oaktown” by Hammer (from The Funky Headhunter, 1994)

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the self-titled debut album by the Time; so, I decided to commemorate the occasion by bringing back Darling Nisi and Harold Pride for one of our trademark track-by-track deep dives. The episode will be available on your podcast service of choice next week; in the meantime, here’s a short preview.

Way back in February of 2020, I asked Darling Nisi and Harold Pride to record a third episode in our series of in-depth retrospectives on Prince’s albums, this one for the 40th anniversary of 1980’s Dirty Mind. The podcast was intended to predate De Angela Duff’s DM40GB30 symposium, which in those simpler times was still scheduled to be held in-person at New York University.

Well, you know what happened next: DM40GB30 was delayed, then went virtual, while I slipped into a pandemic-related depression fog that only lifted, appropriately enough, after I participated in the virtual symposium back in June. Meanwhile, the podcast continued to lavish in the D / M / S / R Vault (a.k.a. the “Documents” folder on my computer) until the end of last month, when I was promptly reminded of just how laborious a task editing a three-hour podcast recording can be.

Now, the wait is finally over: the D / M / S / R podcast is back, in all its wildly self-indulgent glory. I want to thank everyone for their patience, and assure you that there won’t be a two-year wait before the next episode; in fact, I’d recommend you go ahead and use one of the links above to subscribe on your podcast service of choice using one of the links above, because I’m aiming to put out one of these bad boys (i.e., podcasts, not necessarily review episodes) per month. As always, let me know what you think, and feel free to leave a review on your podcast provider if you’re so inclined.

00:01:38 “Do It All Night” (Live in Paris, 1981)

00:02:58 Harold’s Presentation at De Angela’s Lovesexy 30 Symposium, 2018

00:03:55 KaNisa’s Muse 2 the Pharaoh Podcast

00:05:20 “Dirty Mind” (Live in Paris, 1981)

00:07:00 The DM40GB30 Symposium Dirty Mind Rountable, featuring Cynthia Horner

00:11:43 “You” by the Rebels (1979 Recording)

00:19:57 Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince

00:22:44 “Gotta Stop (Messin’ About)” (Live at the Ritz, 1981)

00:26:15 “Dirty Mind” (from Dirty Mind, 1980)

00:33:00 “Contort Yourself (August Darnell Remix)” by James White and the Blacks (from Off White, 1979)

00:35:35 “Dirty Mind” (Live at Paisley Park, 2016)

00:37:38 “LITTLE RED CORVETTE/DIRTY MIND” (available on TIDAL)

00:40:44 “When You Were Mine” (from Dirty Mind)

00:45:01 “When U Were Mine” (from One Nite Alone… Live!, 2002)

00:49:33 “When You Were Mine” (Live at the Worcester Centrum, 1985)

00:53:55 Dirty Mind Aesthetic Influence #1: Tim Curry

00:53:58 Dirty Mind Aesthetic Influence #2: Freddie Mercury

00:55:19 “Do It All Night” (from Dirty Mind)

00:59:53 “Do It All Night” (Live at the Ritz, 1981)

01:03:37 “Gotta Broken Heart Again” (from Dirty Mind)

01:08:11 “Gotta Broken Heart Again” (from Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas, 2003)

01:10:06 “Gotta Broken Heart Again” (Live at the Ritz, 1981)

01:15:34 “Uptown” (from Dirty Mind)

01:23:36 “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc. (from Mouth to Mouth, 1979)

01:29:06 “Uptown” (Live in Paris, 1981)

01:30:48 Prince’s Racially Ambiguous Presentation on the Dirty Mind Album Cover

01:31:51 Prince’s Obscured Face on the Back Cover of Dirty Mind

01:33:48 Prince’s “Kardashian” Look on the Prince Album Cover

01:34:02 Prince’s Darker Complexion on the Controversy Album Cover

01:35:58 “Head” (from Dirty Mind)

01:37:10 Dirty Mind’s Infamous “Please Audition Prior to Airing” Sticker

01:44:03 “Super Freak” by Rick James (from Street Songs, 1981)

01:44:18 “Head” (Live in Atlanta, 1988)

01:49:23 “Head” (Live at the Ritz, 1981)

01:53:02 “Sister” (from Dirty Mind)

01:55:37 “Sister” (Live in Dortmund, 1988)

01:57:18 Michael Dean’s Interview with Tyka Nelson

01:58:56 Zach Talks “Sister” on the Press Rewind Podcast

02:00:27 “Sister” (1980 Demo Recording)

02:04:23 “Partyup” (from Dirty Mind)

02:11:08 “Partyup” (Live in Paris, 1981)

02:21:23 “Head” by Ice-T featuring Brother Marquis (from Party O’ the Times: A Tribute to Prince, 1999)

Well, folks, after a six-month delay (and what felt like six years of editing), the next episode of the D / M / S / R podcast is finally finished. It will be available to the public in a week; in the meantime, here’s a short preview. And if you’re a patron, you’ll be able to listen starting later today!

To subscribe to the podcast, use the links above or just search “dance music sex romance” on your provider of choice… we are almost definitely already on there, and if we aren’t, just let me know and I will do my best to remedy that!

October 19, 2018 marks the 39th anniversary of Prince’s self-titled second album–not the most glamorous occasion, perhaps, but reason enough to reassemble the review panel from our For You podcast for a reappraisal. Once again, Zach is joined by Harold and KaNisa for a track-by-track discussion of this underappreciated album, its resonances throughout Prince’s career, and why it still matters.

00:00:00   Ray “Eye Patch” Sawyer and Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook Introduce Prince–and Prince Performs “I Wanna Be Your Lover”–on The Midnight Special, 1980

00:01:08   KaNisa’s Muse 2 the Pharaoh Podcast

00:01:30   Harold’s First Appearance on d / m / s / r

00:01:39   Harold’s Presentation from the Lovesexy 30 Symposium at NYU

00:02:49   Our First Review Podcast of For You

00:08:33   For You’s Album Cover vs. Prince’s

00:14:15   The Infamous Dick Clark Interview from American Bandstand, 1980

00:20:25   d / m / s / r Post on the Capri Theatre Show

00:23:34   Definitely Nude: The Back Cover of Prince

00:23:51 “Sexy Dancer” (Live at Carolina Coliseum, 1980)

00:26:22   Prince Live 1979-1980: The First Tour

00:28:03   “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (from Prince, 1979)

00:34:38   The “I Wanna Be Your Lover” Music Video

00:41:10   “Disco Away” by the Rebels (1979 recording)

00:43:15   “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (Live in Dortmund, 1988)

00:46:25   “I Wanna Be Your Lover” in “Purple Medley,” 1995

00:47:47   The Alternate “Band Version” of the “I Wanna Be Your Lover” Video, with… Remastered Audio

00:49:07   The More Convincing Band Videos for “Dirty Mind,” “Controversy,” and “1999”

00:54:20   “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” (from Prince)

01:00:30   Dez, André, and Prince, 1980

01:01:12   “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” (Live in Lakeland, Florida, 1980)

01:15:04   “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” (Live in Vancouver, 2013)

01:17:13   “Sexy Dancer” (from Prince)

01:24:52   “Livin’ on the Nile (Extended Club Re-mix)” by Egyptian Lover (1987 single)

01:30:15   “Sexy Dancer (Long Version)” (1980 single)

01:33:34   “When We’re Dancing Close and Slow” (from Prince)

01:43:55   d / m / s / r Podcast with Erica Thompson

01:45:22   “When We’re Dancing Close and Slow” (Live in Seattle, 2013)

01:52:33   “When We’re Dancing Close and Slow” with Andy Allo (Live at North Sea Jazz, 2011)

01:55:17   “With You” (from Prince)

02:00:41   The Instrumental “With You” Interlude (Live at Denver Auditorium Arena, 1983)

02:03:33   “With You” (Live at Xenophobia Celebration, 2002)

02:08:13   “Bambi” (from Prince)

02:17:16   The Unaired “Bambi” Performance on The Ellen Degeneres Show, 2004

02:19:39   “Still Waiting” (from Prince)

02:24:13   “Still Waiting” (Live at First Avenue, 1982)

02:30:05   “I Feel for You” (from Prince)

02:37:25   “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan (from I Feel for You, 1984)

02:38:28   “It’s Gonna Be Lonely” (from Prince)

02:44:55   Zach’s Original Ranking of the Songs from Prince

03:04:25   “Bambi (Rap)” by T.C. Ellis (from True Confessions, 1991)

I gave myself a little hiatus from the dance / music / sex / romance podcast after Celebration 2018, but now we’re back in business with guest Takuya Futaesaku, author of the book Words of Prince. Takki and I talk about his book and his experiences as a Prince fan in Japan; it was a pleasure to speak with him, so hopefully it will be a pleasure to listen, too! Special thanks this episode go to Crystal for helping me track down the Japanese shows you’ll hear during the podcast.

00:00:00   “Around the World in a Day” (Live at Osaka-jō Hall, 1986)

00:02:39   “When Doves Cry” (Live at Osaka-jō Hall)

00:04:46   “Condition of the Heart” (Live at Osaka-jō Hall)

00:07:10   “Christopher Tracy’s Parade” (Live at Osaka-jō Hall)

00:08:58   “Sometimes It Snows in April”  (Live at Yokohama Stadium, 1986)

00:13:24   “Bambi” (Live at the Tokyo Dome, 1990)

00:16:08   “Batdance” (Live at the Tokyo Dome, 1990)

00:18:38   “Vicki Waiting” (Live at Yokohama Stadium, 1996)

00:25:27   “Let’s Go Crazy” (Live at the Tokyo Dome, 1989)

00:29:30    d / m / s / r Podcast with Duane Tudahl

00:33:55   “The Everlasting Now” (Live at the Nippon Budokan, 2002)

00:41:53    John Blackwell’s Drum Solo from “The Question of U” (Live at the Budokan)

00:47:09   “Xenophobia” (Live at the Budokan)

01:00:35   “Dance On” (Live at the Tokyo Dome, 1989)

01:01:14   Buy Words of Prince on Amazon