Prince's "Dirty Mind"...

  In 1980, Prince released an album that sorta shook up America.
  The cover featured a picture of him dressed in a pair of black Speedos and a scarf around his neck...nothing else.
  He was standing in front of a box spring mattress.
  The album was entitled " Dirty Mind."
  Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Prince Rodgers Nelson was an enigma.  He sang about stuff most people only thought about...sex, drugs, sex, sex and more sex.
  The songs on the album are very indicative of this.  First is "Dirty Mind"  which has a chorus of "In my daddy's car...it's you I really wanta drive...underneath the stars.", and "Head" which is about the joys of oral sex.
  Then there's "Sister" which explores the world of incest and "Uptown" which discusses gay life.
   There is also 'When You Were Mine" a great little song about unrequited love.
  You can buy this LP on amazon.com and I have to tell you it is for adult ears only but it is worth a spot in your record collection.

Top 5 Party Songs...

  Being a "Party Animal" back in the 80s, I've noticed that some things never change...and neither does good music.
  Following is my Top 5-Songs-You- Will-Need-At-Any -Party.
1-"Atomic Dog" by George Clinton
2= "Flashlight" by Parliament/Funkadelics
3-"Let's Go Crazy"-Prince
 4-'It's Your Birthday"-50 Cent
 5-"Word Up" Cameo

  Five songs guaranteed to get people out of their seats...I know...I'm an expert (ahem)

'Ol Blue Eyes...

One of my later "loves" in life happens to be Frank Sinatra.
  I discovered Frank one night while working the night shift in 2004.
  The company had just installed a system that played music over the intercom and one of the albums was an lp by "'Ol Blue Eyes."
  As I listened to cuts like "Send in the Clowns", and "Luck Be A Lady", "Just The Way You Look Tonight" and my favorite "St angers in the Night"...I realized how great this guy really was.
  I started watching his movies on TCM "From Here To Eternity" (for which he won an Oscar) and "Guys and Dolls".and became an even bigger fan.
  You can buy any album you please on amazon.com as well as his movies.
  Frank has truly inspired me and to this day I am still doing it "My Way."

Chuck Berry...

I may have already written about Berry in the past but I have recently been listening to a greatest hits album called "The Great Twenty-Eight."
There is a song on it called "Little Queenie"...that song really is what rock and roll is all about! I love the guitar and the lyric...fantastic.
The album also features all the standard Berry hits..."School Days", "Maybelline", "30 Days", Johnny B. Good"...
It also has "Nadine". That was the first song I ever heard by Chuck...in the mid-sixties. My Daddy was a huge music fan (Thank God) and he introduced my sibs and I to all this incredible music. I think this is why I love it so much.
He used to say "Music is music...it has no color."
Amen.

( Previously published 8/16/2010)

The Bee Gees...

  Whenever I am depressed or want to think about the "good 'ol days"...the 70s and 80s (ahem), I listen to The Bee Gees.
  Barry, and the late great Robin and Maurice (RIP) always manage to perk me up.
  Right now it is 7:30 am and I am listening to cuts like "More Than A Woman", and "Rest Your Love On Me", and "Nights On Broadway."
  Now I am ready for the rest of the day.

The Mills Brothers...

I became of fan of music at a very early age. My Daddy usued to sing songs of the '50s and 60s to me and my brothers when we were around 6 or 7 years old.
I have been told that I have the soul of a 70 year old guy because of all the classic stuff I enjoy.
Add The Mills Brothers to my list...
I was watching an old episode of "The Jack Benny Program" on a digital channel a couple of months ago and the musical guests were The Mills Brothers. I had heard of them before but I had never heard their music . When they sang "Up A Lazy River", I was hooked.
I don't know much about them or even if they are still alive and performing, but I am doing some research. I also bought a "Greatest Hits" album on Amazon.com for about $4.00. It includes "River" and "Paper Doll", "Glow Worm" and other hits.
Classic music never gets old...

(Rerun)

Prince...And Why I Love His Music...

...and now the truth.
  I have been a fan of Prince since 1978. 
  Let me tell you why...
  I was a fan of the music of the 70s...Air Supply, Chicago, Barry Manilow, Chic...when one day my brother Wayne told me to listen to this new cut by a guy named simply Prince.  The song was called "Soft and Wet" and since I was a fan of all things "soft and wet...ahem) I listened to it and I was blown freakin' away!
  Then a few months later, the album "Dirty Mind" was released and (again)  I was blown away.
  Songs like "Head", and "Sister", "And "Uptown", and "When U Were Mine"...oh my God!
  This was the beginning of my love of Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson...my love of his sounds.