How can U just leave me standing? ...in search of Prince Rogers Nelson.

INTRO

2mins - Working on Andy Allo's material...and two horn sections in the mix!

4mins - "Regular is not a word I would ever use about Prince...he was very mysterious and difficult to read. But he understood how to be a leader."

8mins30s - Getting the group to be performance ready in Paisley Park.  

11mins30s - Phil talks about Prince's former drummer Michael Bland.

13mins - Sound engineers and Prince's unique approach to onstage monitors. "We all put ear-plugs in otherwise we were going to go deaf!!"

17mins - Phil's luggage goes missing, the story of the White Suit at Montreux...

22mins - Meeting his wife Josephine at a Prince gig in Curacao.

24mins30s - Favourite live moment with Prince?

30mins - Reflecting on the end of an amazing career...going down in history as a great musician and bandleader.

33mins - Cassandra playing a leadership role in Prince's band, and the underrated nature of great musicians.

35mins - Big City, an arrangement of Mutiny in the Vault and working with Nik West on Hair.

36mins - When The Wooten Brothers played at Paisley Park...

39mins30s - https://philthyfunk.com/ - PhilLassiter.com - https://www.instagram.com/philiplassitermusic/

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRO

2mins - Developing a sound and working with major artists

3mins30s - A love of music that developed in childhood in a church background. 'I learned to read music in school, but I learned to play in Church.'

6mins - Music programme at St Louis with wind ensembles, marching and jazz bands. 'That was really a big step for me...'

7mins45s - Listening to Christian versions of what was on the radio. 'I was influenced by some good music...'

8mins30s - New Orleans music 'was always there...'

10mins - The battle between the sacred and the profance, God vs The Devil?

10mins45s - Ultimately, where has Phil's love of music come from?

12mins - The importance of music teachers, and their approach...

13mins30s - What Phil's kids are listening to... 'funk'?

16mins - Teaching and further studies

20mins - Having an open-mindedness in music.

22mins - Meeting extraordinary musicians in Texas including the 'cats' in the jazz clubs.

25mins - Working on strings for Ariana Grande...and for Roberta Flack.

29mins30s - What's the difference between a musician and an arranger?

32mins - Making the connection to Prince via Gospel...in 2012.

36mins - Working on purple projects behind the scenes, while struggling financially.

38mins - Flying to Paisley...

40mins - Crossing paths with Andy Allo...

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRO

2mins30s - Working on two albums with Meshell NdegeOcello... 'I respected her greatly'

4mins30s - Lisa talks about ambitions that remain for the rest of her career - 'I'm always trying things, because I have a limited technical ability'

6mins - Working with Annie Lennox, and hoping to release an album soon!

8mins - Feeling frustrated by politics, racism and the extreme brutality in the world...Lisa's social media presence and activism.

11mins - What would Prince be doing, and what would he make of the times we're living in right now?

15mins - '...he couldn't be that vulnerable, the older he got, the harder it was to change...'

16mins - Carousel, and Power Fantastic...The Revolution 'were all in different rooms in the house...'

18mins30s - Prince second guessing himself...? 'It should have gone on forever...'

20mins - "Do you remember your last conversation with Prince?"

21mins - The 21st April... and Sometimes It Snows In April...

26mins - 'I've been blessed, this life has been great to me...'

28mins - The Coleman and Melvoin family influence on Around The World In A Day....  

30mins - "Keep sharing the pieces you do - sharing footage of your hands..."

31mins30s - Finding old cassettes in the attic...Venus de Milo (long)

33mins - "You just put a bit of magic out into the world...!

34mins - Solo album, would you ever perform it... and will The Revolution go back out on the road again?

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRODUCTION - 2mins

2mins30s - Bootleg tapes begin to circulate at High School

3mins30s - Lisa remembers recording All My Dreams at Sunset Sounds...

5mins - Steiner School Highland Hall recitals and morning prayers make it on to unreleased songs with Prince

7mins - 'Sometimes we hurt each others feelings...and it meant a lot to me. There was always some kind of repair immediately afterwards.'  

10mins - Rehearsals and cassette decks in the studio... 'I just found 4 boxes!'

11mins30s - Purple Rain 'it got bigger than we thought... we didn't expect it to become the mainstream, it was our version of alternative...'

16mins - The incredible well-spring of creativity taking place in 1985 with Prince, the Purple Rain tour, Around the World In a Day and Parade!

18mins30s - Prince seeks sanctuary, in the confines of the recording studio with The Revolution...

20mins30s - Any regrets looking back, about what could have been released? 'We were headed in this really interesting direction at that time...'

23mins30s - Sam asks Lisa if it's true that Prince re-recorded all of the Around the World In a Day album close to release?

25mins - Prince's bodyguards are drafted in to join the group as backing singers and dancers, as The Revolution band swells to double its original size.

27mins - Swapping musical ideas with Prince, conversations about classical music with Lisa...and listening to Bolero.

29mins30s - A shared love and appreciation of Joni Mitchell's music...'it turns out that he and Andre used to listen to Joni when they were kids.'

31mins - 'Prince didn't listen to The Beatles at all...' Lisa explains why!

32mins - After The Parade... 'I think we were both shell-shocked...'

34mins - Getting back together briefly in the new millennium...'there was that high', and getting onstage at The Brit Awards.

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRO

2mins - Waldorf Salad in the early 1970s

3mins30s - Making music as a child with friends and neighbours

5mins - Born into music while growing up in Los Angeles

7mins - Early musical memories

8mins - Dissonance / discordance in music

10mins - Prince's Pop Life...'those chords...it's almost the wrong note every time!'

12mins - 'He knew I had that weird ear.' and Sometimes it snows in April

14mins - Learning Bach on the piano as a child, and 'unlocking something'

17mins - Meeting Wendy Melvoin for the first time...

20mins - 'Our steel mill was the recording studio...', and synthesisers in the 1970s.

23mins - Hearing about Prince for the first time, and flying out to Minneapolis to meet him.

25mins - Lisa on being really shy as a teenager...and feeling her way.

28mins - The Dirty Mind era, and Head....'from Bach to this!'

30mins - "Station Wagons and vans, with our amps in the back, it was down and dirty!"

32mins - Living, and growing with, Prince...'there was a lot to adapt to.'

35mins - Things started to change...

38mins - "Prince is still with me, and I think of him every day. I loved that guy..."

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRO

2mins - Prince's working methods, a remarkable ability to complete songs...but also dip into his vault of recordings

4mins - Was Sign O The Times the last time that Prince didn't second guess himself artistically?

6mins - Prince's talent for mentoring musicians and artists across the board vs Madonna and MJ working with established producers and stars.

7mins30s - The mythology of The Crystal Ball project - did the world lost a masterpiece?

9mins - Q: What would you change about the album Sign 'O' The Times?

10mins - Unreleased tracks creating a huge amount of mystique...

12mins - Quirky stories about Prince - some made the book, some didn't...

13mins - Appreciation of the album as a format - Beyoncé & Taylor Swift.

14mins - Not just mystery and myth - the most self actualised popstar of all time, and the ultimate editor.

16mins30s - Michael Jackson's trucks readying themselves to roll into Paisley Park? Prince planning ballet lessons?

18mins - Are there parallels between 1999 and Sign O The Times as Prince solo projects?

21mins - Creative mountain tops...and a food fight between The Time and The Revolution.

22mins30s - First concert at Birmingham NEC on the Nude Tour 1990, and going to MPLS and Paisley Park for a birthday present.

23mins30s - Memories of great shows - 'treat him like a new artist...when you see him'.

26mins - Who does John want to reach - ambitions for his book?

29mins30s - Did Prince exist in a unique moment of time and circumstance? And staying rooted in Minneapolis.

31mins30s - The importance of Oakland, California on Prince's sound.

33mins - What is the legacy of Sign O The Times, album and concert film?

34mins30s - Beverley Knight's favourite track...and SOTT being a singers record

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

INTRO

2mins - Just back from seeing the concert movie from 1987 in London, lovingly restored on IMAX screens

3mins - "For me Sign O The Times is the high watermark..."

5mins - Living out a dream at Smash Hits & Q Magazine, as editor...after starting out in music writing and journalism.

7mins - How the book came to be written...John reflects on Prince saying goodbye to a successful band, relationships changing around him, and a triple album is scheduled.  

9mins - "If I was Director General of the BBC I would have Sign O The Times on every Christmas!" And being jealous of people seeing the Sign O The Times concert movie for the first time.

11mins30mins - Wanting to make a much broader book about Prince's career "I don't really know the guy that made this record..."

15mins - Prince's competitiveness but also his love of sports, and turning the hurt of childhood into something positive, life fulfilling and an inspiration to millions.

17mins - 'Sunset Sounds [recording studio] is like its own character in the book...', the cream of 1980s pop and rock play basketball with each other in the courtyard.

20mins - Prince, before and after 1987...

22mins - "Do you have a different feeling about Prince now? Having written the book..." And banning the word 'genius'.

24mins - Viewing Prince with a critical eye...'are you a fan or are you a journalist?'

26mins - Sam goes on a quest to find Prince...

29mins - The artist not being self-critical... 'well, good for Prince...'

30mins30s - Not playing the entertainment industry game. 'When everyone else zigged, he zagged...'

Tune in for part 2 when we discuss John's favourite Prince stories in the book, the Crystal Ball project, Minneapolis, and the legacy of Sign O The Times, the album and movie...

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

Intro

2mins - French influences in '85/86 and Prince's love of Nice and Paris

5mins - How much warning would you get before Prince arrived in Paris?

6mins30s - Anna Fantastic comes to stay...

9mins - Gathering photos of the Prince universe along the way...

11mins - Why the relationship came to an end, Prince moves to Spain and Sophie has a child.

13mins - Seeing Prince in concert in the late 90s, the last time Sophie talked to Prince.

15mins - A special invite to a very special day...

17mins30 - Sophie remembers where she was in her life when Prince passed away...

20mins - Prince: ICON book

23mins - A cat called Diva

25mins - Nice to be back in London, meeting Paddy and Steve at the Iconic Images Gallery.

27mins - Sophie's favourite Prince songs...

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

PART 2 - Sophie Roux talks to Sam Bleazard

INTRO

2mins45secs - Were you nervous? Landing in Paris - just before Prince - to look after this apartment. 'I was a little nervous...but it was something special.'

3mins30secs - Any initial instructions on arrival?

6mins - Sophie tells us about her first interactions with Prince in Paris...

7mins30secs - Sophie's main responsibilities in Paris, from Basketball courts to fashion shows to video shoots... and back again!

11mins - Night-clubs, new places and Prince asks Sophie to dance... on many occasions!

15mins30s - In a happy mood on the Lovesexy tour, and reviewing the footage...

18mins - Sam asks Sophie about famous nights after hours at The New Morning (concert hall).

21mins - Favourite concert moments...

24mins - Taking a famous photo of Prince in 1988, which went on to be displayed in the Iconic Images Gallery in London recently.

29mins - Preview to Part 3

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

Sophie Roux interview PART 1

INTRO

2mins - Where did Sophie's artistic journey begin...and how did she come to specialise in set and costume design?

5mins - a first sighting of Prince in Nice 1985...

6mins - Asking, and then getting to work on, Under The Cherry Moon...with local, and American crews

11mins - Designing elements for the UTCM film, including the logo, and getting to know Prince's work better.

15mins - Meeting Alan Leeds, Marie-France and other members of the band

22mins - America video shoot! A hot night in the Theatre de Verdure...

24mins - The journey to becoming Prince's personal assistant...

26mins - Sophie's birthday at the Warehouse in February 1987 in MPLS...with ping pong and cake!

28mins - Back to Paris France, via Phoenix, Arizona and Mexico...

JOIN US IN PART 2 when we talk to Sophie about living in Prince's Parisien property for 10 years, and all of the many amazing experiences she had in that time...

How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In Search of Prince... is produced and arranged by Sam J. Bleazard - but couldn't exist without the fabulous contribution from all of our guests!

The show also features significant original music compositions from Gavin Calder.

LINKS

Please follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to interact with the show on social media.

Email me at: [email protected] if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show. 

#prince4ever #love4oneanother