alphabet street

Explore " alphabet street" with insightful episodes like "Nik West visited Prince at Paisley Park to work with him, before his untimely passing in 2016. She tells us what she thought of the purple one and discusses his legacy.", "Raised on the Gospel music of the Clark Sisters, Nik West played the class clown at school, but discovered Prince, and became Rolling Stone magazine's Queen of bassists. Listen in to her Purple, and Cotton Candy, reflections with us.", "Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. In Part 2 we go behind the scenes of the creative process - what was Prince really like to work for? As the Musicology and 3121 eras create a commercial career resurgence in the early 2000s.", "Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. Growing up in Chicago, he went from throwing fan parties during the 'Wild West' years of the internet in the 1990s, to becoming a very meaningful contributor to Prince's art, design and visual presentation." and "#001 - Back to the Future" from podcasts like ""How can U just leave me standing? ...in search of Prince Rogers Nelson.", "How can U just leave me standing? ...in search of Prince Rogers Nelson.", "How can U just leave me standing? ...in search of Prince Rogers Nelson.", "How can U just leave me standing? ...in search of Prince Rogers Nelson." and "Tales of Us"" and more!

Episodes (10)

Nik West visited Prince at Paisley Park to work with him, before his untimely passing in 2016. She tells us what she thought of the purple one and discusses his legacy.

PART 2: Talking Prince....

INTRO - Can you remember the first track of Prince that you heard...?

3mins - Rhonda Smith, and inspiration from female bass players

7mins - Nik West's Favourite Prince bass line?

8mins30s - Alphabet Street & This Is Not Music, This Is A Trip...

11mins - Daisy Chain: Prince and Larry Graham

14mins - Paisley Park, practicing in the hotel room and jamming with Prince

15mins30s - Talking solo careers with Prince

17mins30s - Recording with Prince and unfinished projects

19mins30s - In what ways was Prince not like you expected?

22mins - Going back to his musical origins and Prince taking inspiration from younger musicians...

27mins - Advice to young girls in the world of social media?

30mins - Where does Nik draw her style influences from?

32mins - Nik's feeling on Prince's legacy...

35mins - Nothing Compares to Prince shows in Australia with St Paul Peterson

38mins - What's next for Nik? She shares exclusive news on a new project!

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enOctober 21, 2023

Raised on the Gospel music of the Clark Sisters, Nik West played the class clown at school, but discovered Prince, and became Rolling Stone magazine's Queen of bassists. Listen in to her Purple, and Cotton Candy, reflections with us.

INTRO

2mins - Nik talks about her Cotton Candy World Tour and playing at The Jazz Cafe in London

4mins - Shredding with lead guitarist Joey and why chemistry is so important to the band dynamic

5mins30s - learning guitar from her Dad at an early age

6mins45s - Playing gospel music by the Clark Sisters

9mins30s - Use of bright colours, a distinct visual style and being everything that you are...'the class clown'

11mins - is there a separation between superhero bass player Nik West, and Nik West offstage as a mum and an everyday person?

13mins - How did Nik come to meet (and work with) bass hero - and inventor of slap bass - Larry Graham

14mins30s - Recording with Larry Graham

20mins - Career and playing advice from Larry: valuing space in music, being yourself and letting your tribe find you...

24mins - Supporting George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic!

29mins - Creating a career your way and being very independent in the music industry.

30mins - Black Beauty, working with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics and auditioning in the music industry.

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enOctober 06, 2023

Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. In Part 2 we go behind the scenes of the creative process - what was Prince really like to work for? As the Musicology and 3121 eras create a commercial career resurgence in the early 2000s.

INTRO

2min - Do you have a most cherished Prince related possession (from the 9 years you worked together)? "I joke with my friends that I only buy vinyl with my name on it!"

4mins - Biggest 'pinch-me' moments working with Prince...? 3121 era, cherished memories.

6mins30s - Which kind of people engaged Prince best behind the scenes?

7mins30s - Prince and his heroes...and a fierce competitive streak.

8mins - Memories of the Musicology tour, Sam's favourite shows.

10mins - When did you last speak to Prince?

11mins - Where were you, when you heard...

14mins - View of The Prince Estate and posthumous releases overall

17mins - What was it like getting tapes in the post from Prince??

17mins30s - Any tracks that you personally heard for the first time that blew you away?

19mins - Studio version of Prince & The Band

22mins - What's the piece of work that you're proudest of?

23mins - The creative process of working with Prince

26mins - NPG Ahdio Shows

31mins30s - DJing on Twitch: how does it work?

33mins - Prince album battles! Lovesexy vs The Black Album...Cindy C vs Alphabet Street??

36mins30s - Legacy

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enJune 18, 2023

Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. Growing up in Chicago, he went from throwing fan parties during the 'Wild West' years of the internet in the 1990s, to becoming a very meaningful contributor to Prince's art, design and visual presentation.

INTRO

2mins30s - Growing up in Chicago Illinois

4mins - Pursuing a career in the Web back in the mid 90s..."it was an interesting time, it was kind of like the Wild West"

5mins30s - Nona Gaye & The Beautiful Experience

6mins30s - Finding all of the other Prince fans on the internet via online communities...and organising parties at the Berlin club in Chicago

9mins - When did Sam first have contact with Prince? Fans coming together on a 'community project'...and AOL chat rooms.

11mins - How long did you think it would last?

13mins - Confidentiality and Prince...

14mins - Love4OneAnother.com in 1999 and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

16mins - Prince's legacy in the digital world - one of the first to have his own internet business and music distributing artist

17mins - Releasing a 'ton of music in 2001'...'a tremendous explosion of activity for him...' and The Prince Museum online.

19mins - If Prince had lived and you had to design a digital presence for him now, what would that be?

21mins30s - What was the Prince music you first became aware of, early memories and favourite unreleased recordings...

27mins30s - Meeting Prince in person for the first time...

30mins - Maintaining professionalism as a fan...

32mins - How difficult was it to challenge Prince? Fan websites

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enJune 05, 2023

#001 - Back to the Future

Back to the Future, dt.: Zurück in die Zukunft war kein cineastisches Meisterwerk, aber für die Pop Culture der 80er und 90er Jahre einer der prägendsten Blockbuster. In dieser Episode von "Tales of Us" geht es vorrangig um den ersten Teil der Trilogie, der von allen der erfolgreichste war. Ab und zu schweifen wir auch auf Teil 2 und 3 ab. Wenn ihr also wissen wollt was zwei Jungs aus dieser Zeit über den Film denken, wissen wollt warum Ronald Reagan auf den Film stand oder einfach nur Lust habt eine kleine Zeitreise zu unternehmen, dann kommt rein und seid herzlich eingeladen. Der Titel "Back to the Future" steht auch stellvertretend für den Rest das podcasts, da wir mit euch auch sehr oft in die 80er und 90er zurück wollen. Viel Spaß beim Hören!

Folgende Songs haben wir in dieser Folge auf die Playlist gesetzt:

Für Euch stehen folgende Songs zur Auswahl:

Die "Mother of all Playlists" findet ihr bei Spotify und AmazonMusic.

Erreichen könnt ihr uns unter
talesofus.de oder über Facebook und Instagram

deMarch 19, 2023

Trailer TALES OF US

Am 20. März erscheint unsere erste Folge von Tales of Us. Hier ein ganz kleiner Auszug aus der Sendung.
Erreichen könnt ihr uns unter https://talesofus.de/. Dort gibt es auch die Links zu den üblichen Podcast Plattformen.

deMarch 13, 2023

"It's amazing what you can do if you try..." - join us for part 2 of our interview with Dave Rusan, who made Prince's iconic white cloud guitar for the movie Purple Rain.

Intro

1mins30s - Wishing he could have spoken to Prince during the making of his Cloud guitar, the instrument specs, and making something great instinctually.

3mins30s - Guitar specific questions for Dave on the Cloud guitar and how it was made - how much was stock, and what was bespoke?

5mins - Prince and his heavy strings, and Takumi the guitar tech.

6mins20s - One month and a half to come up with a world famous guitar!

9mins30s - Wendy Melvoin's clear body guitar...and the story behind it.

12mins - Sam asks Dave how he felt when he first saw Prince play the guitar in the movie...and also when he first saw Prince playing the cloud guitar live.

13mins - sitting in on the Purple Rain rehearsals with Prince 'every day was exciting'

15mins - going to Paisley Park, and taking part in 'the Celebrations'

18mins - How did Dave feel when Prince passed away? "I couldn't say anything, I was just speechless..."

21mins - The Prince Estate asking Dave to give up the trademark on his guitar design.

25mins - Which Minneapolis musicians did you get to know along the way?

26mins30s - Still making the signature White Cloud guitar, and taking orders from around the world.

30mins - Meeting other Prince guitar makers, and knowing a network of musicians.

33mins - What happened to the original cloud guitars that Dave made?

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enFebruary 25, 2023

Scotland's pop, jazz and soul duo Hue and Cry talk about the inspiration of 'The Teacher' Prince. We also discuss the 1980s and masterpieces such as Parade and Sign 'O' The Times. Essential listening.

INTRO

With pianist Greg Kane

1min - "Prince is the teacher", and why the 1980s needs more respect. Funk as social commentary.

3min - Covering Sign 'O' The Times, audiophiles, working with jazz musicians and having no fear.

5mins30s - Seeing Prince after hours at the Garage in Glasgow.

7mins - Near misses with Wendy and Lisa, Bobby McFerrin and Paisley Park.

With vocalist Pat Kane

10mins - Musical background, jazz heritage, hearing Prince for the first time and the ambition of 1999.

13mins30s - the 80s as the era of 'half-punk, half synthesizer'.

15mins - the influence of 1986 album Parade on the band, and its 'majestic landscapes'.

17mins - The Family album, Prince's side projects and Eric Leeds ('the best funk saxophonist ever').

18mins45s - Sign O The Times: 'his sense of taste, and his choices are incredible'. Prince's phrasing and genius.

23mins - Horn riffs and discord in Prince's music, Alphabet street and arrangements in jazz, pop and soul.

26mins - the musical work and career of Clare Fischer and Rufusized by Chaka Khan.

28mins30s - Prince's solo piano and microphone work, Pat's favourite eras of Prince and reflection on his late career.

32mins30s - Acoustic album The Truth and solo piano album One Nite Alone.

33mins30s - Money Don't Matter 2Nite and Diamonds & Pearls (big band version on Bandzilla).

35mins - Music as protest, social commentary and rebellion in Prince's music.

36mins30s - Prince as the 'link' in African American roots music.

37mins30s - Gett Off: "Jazz is the preacher, but funk is the teacher" and the Pharaoh Saunders mode.

38mins - Funk like an elephants foot, George Clinton and musical theories.

39mins - Creating a zone of freedom for black artists, and The Work.

41mins30s - Creating tracks and new songs forming organically at jam sessions.

43mins - Memories of musical celebrations at Paisley Park with Prince.

45mins - Hoping to work with Quincy Jones at the height of their fame in the 1980s (and recording at Paisley Park).

47mins - Jamming with Stevie Wonder and D'Angelo.

49mins - Pat asks a Prince fan for thoughts on his untimely death.

56mins - Funk revivals, snap bass and Pop Life.

58mins - A Prince cover the band are ashamed of! And 80s nights at Butlins.

60mins - What question would Pat ask Prince if he were still alive today?

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enApril 18, 2022

Beverley Knight saves the best for last in the final episode of this revealing interview. In it she talks with genuine passion about some of the most magical moments spent with her idol Prince, discusses his Mozart-esque genius and her personal sadness at his passing. She also shares her thoughts on his long-term legacy, and the forthcoming posthumous release: Welcome 2 America.

Part 3 of this interview features music from the Beverley Knight album Affirmation (released in June 2004), including short excerpts from Supasonic, Tea & Sympathy and No One Ever Loves In Vain. Music used by permission.

Additional music - Signs - was written, arranged and produced by Gavin Calder.

Queen of British Soul Beverley Knight, has been one of the UK's most consistent artists for over two decades. She has had gold and platinum-selling albums, 14 Top 40 hits, sold-out tours, 3 MOBO Awards, Brit Award and Mercury Music Prize nominations - plus an Olivier Award nomination for musical theatre. She's also a massive Prince fan...tune in to parts 1 & 2 of this exclusive interview to hear more memories of Prince, and the influence he had on her career.

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: bleazas@hotmail.com if you have any ideas for future episodes, or if you'd like to share any feedback on the show.

#prince4ever #love4oneanother

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

enJuly 22, 2021

#JCsMusicology - Prince (1987 - 1988)

In our Season 3 return of #JCsMusicology, we take a trip through the making of Prince's Lovesexy album. 1987 was a big year for Prince, with the release of Sign O The Times, opening Paisley Park and establishing a new band, he was set to cap the year off with the release of The Black Album. After a drug-induced epiphany and a new acquaintance, Prince cancelled the release, sending thousands of copies for destruction. He then commences work on its rebuttal and replacement, Lovesexy. Using rarely heard early versions and unheard session tapes, we explore the makings of Prince's spiritual declaration. Interview Credits: 07.5 WBLS, MTV Presents Prince, The Electrifying Mojo, Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, VH-1 To 1, CNN Cover Version, BET Talkback, Fast Forward, Larry King, MTV News, NBC Today Show, The View, TROS, BET - Words and Music, CBS Early Show, CNBC, Much More Music, Tavis Smiley and The Biz. Special Thanks: The heavens above.

#JCsMusicology

en-usJanuary 06, 2021

On this page

alphabet street

Episodes (10)

Nik West visited Prince at Paisley Park to work with him, before his untimely passing in 2016. She tells us what she thought of the purple one and discusses his legacy.

Raised on the Gospel music of the Clark Sisters, Nik West played the class clown at school, but discovered Prince, and became Rolling Stone magazine's Queen of bassists. Listen in to her Purple, and Cotton Candy, reflections with us.

Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. In Part 2 we go behind the scenes of the creative process - what was Prince really like to work for? As the Musicology and 3121 eras create a commercial career resurgence in the early 2000s.

Sam Jennings worked with Prince for 9 years. Growing up in Chicago, he went from throwing fan parties during the 'Wild West' years of the internet in the 1990s, to becoming a very meaningful contributor to Prince's art, design and visual presentation.

#001 - Back to the Future

Trailer TALES OF US

"It's amazing what you can do if you try..." - join us for part 2 of our interview with Dave Rusan, who made Prince's iconic white cloud guitar for the movie Purple Rain.

Scotland's pop, jazz and soul duo Hue and Cry talk about the inspiration of 'The Teacher' Prince. We also discuss the 1980s and masterpieces such as Parade and Sign 'O' The Times. Essential listening.

#JCsMusicology - Prince (1987 - 1988)