A prince of a guy
I was at the Coliseum 25 years ago when the Rolling Stones capped an all-day concert that included George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the J. Geils Band and, as the opener who came on at about noon, something called Prince.
I believe he sang about three songs. The third song was called "Jack U Off," from his "Controversy" album. Surely, it was an album back then. Did we even have CDs?
So the song goes:
"If U're looking for somewhere to go
Thought I'd take u to a movie show
Sittin' in the back and I'll ..."
Right after the next line, or two, I went along with the crowd, took my shoes off, and threw them at him on the stage. He thankfully ran away.
We weren't sure who he was before this, and we didn't care afterward. Prince was canned.
(The next 24 years are a bit hazy ...)
Flash forward to Feb. 2007.
The Artist Currently Known Again as Prince, as was reported a half a year ago by SportsByBrooks.com, was officially announced today as the halftime show for Super Bowl XLI.
It will be televised by CBS, which had the fun of trying to apologize for a Janet Jackson flailing boob the last time they covered (or uncovered) a Super Bowl.
According to the press release emailed out today by the NFL and its broadcast partners, which is good info since we haven't really kept up the career of this little fellow:
"Prince is more than just one of the world’s most popular and influential musicians – he is an international icon. One of the greatest living performers of our time, he has sold nearly 100 million albums and is a member of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He has won six Grammy Awards (he’s one of the leading nominees this year with 5 Grammy nominations) and five American Music Awards. He has one of the most recognizable and successful bodies of work of any musician, consisting of 20 Top 10 hits which include “Purple Rain,� “Little Red Corvette,� “1999,� “Kiss,� “When Doves Cry,� “Cream,� “Diamonds and Pearls� and countless others. There is no question that when it comes to his achievements, Prince has made an indelible mark on rock ‘n roll history."
This is what it sounds like when viewers flip to another channel ...