Maybe now they'll have a puzzle that's challenging.
It'll come to ya.....

Aw geez. There's some other guy from Minnesota, you know, and he mumbles when he's not singing through his nose, and some folks treat every word of his as Received Wisdom.

In the Twin Cities, everyone of an age has a Prince Encounter Story. The woman of the house used to ride the city buses with him back when he lived in Nordeast, and she remembers him as polite and friendly.

Me, I apparently have driven past Paisley Park several times. I'm pretty sure I have, anyway. But they're gonna be singing Purple Rain outside the First Avenue club he made famous for another couple of nights.

I know I've heard of the guy for years, perhaps decades. But I don't know much about him, and I'm not sure whether I've ever even heard that Purple Rain tune of his. (If so, I wouldn't know it.)

I was surprised to hear a few facts about him quoted on the radio today. For one, they said he was a Jehovah's Witness. I didn't even know that the JWs let their members play the kind of music that would get you famous. The other thing they said that he was actually quite conservative, and a Republican, though apparently he didn't vote much. Surprising, given that he was a popular musician, but not so surprising, given that he was a JW.

So it goes.

So which one of his many hits is the one you vaguely remember?

"Purple rain, all in my brain
Lately things they don't seem too dry
Actin' funny, but I don't know why
Excuse me while I drain the sky
Purple rain, all around
Don't know if it's fallin' up or down"

You're a dumbass. I like your site otherwise (or odds are, I never would have seen this)…

Grizzly,

The JW stuff came later. In the late 70s and 1980s he was, pound for pound (he was 5' 2") the most active and successful pussy hound on the planet. When his mom was dying she made him promise to become a JW.

He seems to have been sincere about it. People all over the Twin Cities have reported that he knocked on their door with copies of the Watchtower, wanting to talk about God. I suspect he was more successful at getting in the door than others.

pretty cool Star of David around Sly's neck. who knew he was a Jew?

The only song I remember of Prince goes something like ".... you don't have to be rich to rock my world, you don't have to be a girl, to be my girl ....". something like that.

Sorry for double post.

"You're a dumbass. I like your site otherwise (or odds are, I never would have seen this)…"

Speaking of dumbasses, you say that as if you think anyone cares.

Hanzo, you misquote the lyric. Go back and read it.

I guess Prince had more talent, but I'll bet Sly was a lot more fun to be around...

The wife is indignant, "no, he was straight, really!" me: "Yeah, Little Richard and the guy in The White House have kids too!"

shakes her head and walks off in a huff.

Prince's persona was seen as an insult to traditional America, hence his idolization by the left.

Ahhh...James, I don't think so. He was seen as apolitical by most folks here in Minnesota and they knew him best. In his later life especially he was rather conservative in values.

In his 20s he was pretty much your typical Rock and Roll God, with all that implies in terms of living large and chasing pussy. And that was part of his appeal. He was not a funk or soul artist. He was rock and roll first, with a funky vibe.