sign o the times

INTRO

2mins - The Dirty Mind era, the Prince persona begins to form, riding the New Wave...and that Trench Coat!

3mins - The 1979 period and working with costume designers...

7mins30s - The second punk period: Slave and the 1990s

10mins - Veils and Masking - the Exodus Has Begun...

11mins30s - Count The Days, style signifiers and finely tuned 'unconventional tailoring' in the new millennium

15mins30s - Art Official Age, moving away from tailored garments with age...and softer fabrics, kinder to the body

18mins - Memories of Lovesexy posters in Virgin Megastore in Edinburgh

20mins - Casci's sartorial take Lovesexy...and Prince's working wardrobe department at Paisley Park

21mins30s - "Prince in Polka Dots is just perfection..."

23mins - Working with very well known designers?

25mins - First concert costing £31.21 pence... getting the Mega Bus down from Galashiels to the O2 and 'getting my first tattoo in Camden'

31mins - Legacy as a fashion icon, 'his influence is all encompassing', and Prince's passing...crying with Mum and blaring his music on the double-decker bus.

33mins - Prince's influence on other artists and fans around the world.

34mins - Thank You 

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

INTRO

2mins - First memories of Prince, and standing next to the TV...feeling the static from Gett Off! Listening to Prince's Hits cassette in the Green Mondeo.

4mins - Born in the year of Lovesexy!

5mins - When did you realise that Prince's work could become a lifetime pursuit? "First and foremost I'm a fan...". Obsessed with John Waters, Pee Wee Herman and Bette Davis too. 'Eccentric, creative and fabulous people'.

6mins - Seeing Purple Rain at 14 and getting into fashion. "Prince was always on my mood board."

7mins30s - Studying Prince for years as an independent researcher alongside work...'when you do a PhD it's just the beginning of your research.'

9mins30s - 'The idea of Prince & Fashion, with a focus on the labour aspect and fan culture as well...'

11mins30s - What's going on with the Prince of the late 1970s? Casci unpacks the different sartorial elements. 'Very typical of a young adult finding themselves...through dress.'

14mins - Prince's experiments in fashion, thrift stores, borrowing, wearing women's clothing...

17mins - 'Becoming Prince': The Beautiful Ones book, and understanding elements of Prince's early imagination and dress-sense. The influence of his parents, musicians in North Minneapolis...and getting dressed to the 9s in the 1970s.

22mins - Heroes and influences...

23mins - Make Up.

26mins - World Building...'in a world called Fantasy'

30mins - Prince's female kinship. 'He surrounded himself with incredible women...and loved female energy.' Sly Stone's fashion, and James Brown's performances...expressing sexuality and sensuality. 'He liked the way particular fabrics felt on his body...'

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

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

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

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

1mins30s - Prince's music in the 90s, albums Jim liked, plus bootleg tapes from '93/'94 - The Beautiful Experience and stripped back versions of Come and Endorphinemachine after hours in London.

3mins15s - Emancipation was a major artistic statement, but was it a seminal work? Plus liner notes for The Gold Experience (and not getting paid for it).

5mins - "Fighting for the freedom he knew technology offered...". And Chance The Rapper winning multiple Grammys from a self-produced tape...missing Prince

6mins - Hit n Run part 1: 'A Creative Approach'.

7mins30s - Getting commissioned to write the liner notes for The Gold Experience.

9mins - A rebirth in the 90s & 'Bud Lite on guitar!' on NBA All Star weekend.

13mins - Getting up, then staying up late, to watch Prince play aftershows...

17mins - Prince & Madonna on the same stage...and still seeing some of the NPG and The Revolution around town

18mins - In admiration of Morris Hayes

19mins30s - Going back to Paisley Park...how do you feel about it?

21mins - Opinions on the music after 2002...remaining 'an avid listener'. The Current radio show in MPLS.

22mins30s - memories of the last show, a Piano & Microphone performance

24mins - When Prince passed away...an energy change in Minneapolis: writing an obit 'through the tears'

26mins30s - 'I would never write that now...' an open letter to Prince in the media

28mins - Playing with local musicians on the night Prince died

29mins30s - Jim's view on the music coming out retrospectively & Welcome 2 America

32mins30s - 'Context is everything with Prince...', so stay open

33mins30s - Favourite live show of the 1980s, and which live DVD should be released?

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

Author Neal Karlen, in conversation with Sam Bleazard.

Introduction - New York Times, Rolling Stone magazine, author...friend?

1-3mins: "Please don't let my scoop go away!" - Memories from another lifetime...and the BBC Omnibus documentary

4mins ...time to stop writing - and talking about - Prince, wanting to be a fan again and not a critic...

7mins - MPLS, segregation and the 'Minneapolis Sound'

9mins30s - Prince as an 11-year-old kid, and a story from one of his substitute teachers

11mins30s - Was Prince's life a sad story or a triumphant story of success?

13mins30s - 'This Thing Called Life' - were you worried that by being so candid it would create a backlash on the book?

17mins - the audiobook, the showman and Prince off the record in the 1980s

19mins - small aspects of the real guy being revealed: showing the imperfect human being behind the star.

20mins30s - "I Love U..."? And how it feels...

22mins30s - Humour in the book and 'The Crusher'!

24mins30s - The dilemma of releasing tapes of Prince speaking from the 1980s...'the most compartmentalised person I've ever met'

27mins - "Prince who?" - "The real Prince!"

29mins - The only person still awake at 4am and happy to shoot the breeze...

30mins30s - Different personalities and the blurring between friendship and employment

33mins - Not deifying Prince...and his relationship with his mother and father

49mins - the last conversation with Prince (3 weeks before his passing)

50mins - any things you wished you'd put in the book?

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

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

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

Listen in to our latest podcast to hear more about the career path of one of the UKs most loved artists and performers, Queen of UK Soul, Beverley Knight. 

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

Duane Tudahl has spent his career working on TV series, but also producing numerous documentaries and music videos.  

He is a writer and researcher, who has contributed many articles for Uptown magazine – the key Prince fanzine – for 12 years, from 1991 to 2003.  

In recent years he received praise for his books documenting Prince’s studio sessions in the 1980s, which are extensive in their research and provide an in-depth insight into the period.

Thank you to all of our listeners around the world who've been tuning in and downloading the show from Europe to the USA, South America, India and Australia, your support is much appreciate.

And our thanks to Gavin Calder for the music on today's show, which features the original album mix of True Funk Soldier, from the album Deep Field, by Balveda. Go to the Bandcamp website to hear more.  

Please keep clicking on subscribe, leave your reviews and spread the word, whether you're listening on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, Gaana or Jiosaavn.

Chapters & themes

- Did Prince have any regrets from the mid 80s period? 'Prince was a control freak - he was a decider...after Purple Rain who's going to tell you what to do?'

- Duane discusses the We Are The World? recording and the aftermath of the Purple Rain tour.

- Prince goes to the beach and Duane's favourite stories - 'the ones that humanise him in some way'.

- We discuss Prince's legacy and the threat to his legacy from potential revisionist history in the future.

- The questions Duane would most liked to have asked Prince.

- Future projects - what's next for Duane?

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

This week, we discuss Prince for the SIXTH time on Heat Rocks with musician/scholar Vijay Iyer. We get into Prince's love of the drum machine, Vijay's love of the 80s, and the many sides of Prince we see on this record. 

More on Vijay Iyer

• Floating Along In Uncertainty With Vijay Iyer (NPR)
• Check out Uneasy
• Twitter | Instagram

More on Sign o' The Times

• Is Prince’s Sign O’ The Times the greatest album of all time? (BBC)
• The Story of Prince's Sign o' The Times (Classic Album Sundays)
• Prince's 'Sign O' the Times' Turns 30: All the Songs Ranked (Billboard)

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Sign o'The Times unless otherwise indicated): 

• Housequake
• Starfish and Coffee
• Vijay Iyer: Night and Day
• Prince: Little Red Corvette
• Slow Love
• Sign O' The TImes
• Starfish and Coffee
• It
• Housequake
• If I Was Your Girlfriend
• The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
• If I Was Your Girlfriend
• It
• Hot Thing
• The Cross
• Adore
• U Got The Look
• It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
• Hot Thing
• The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
• Lords of the Underground: Flow On (New Symphony)
• The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
• Forever In My Life
• The Cross
• Slow Love
• Vijay Iyer: Human Nature
• Mystic Brew
• If I Was Your Girlfriend
• The Cure: Just Like Heaven
• Madhouse: Three
• Prince: Sometimes It Snows in April

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Duane Tudahl has spent his career working on TV series, but also producing numerous documentaries and music videos.  

He is a writer and researcher, who has contributed many articles for Uptown magazine – the key Prince fanzine – for 12 years, from 1991 to 2003.  

In recent years he received praise for his books documenting Prince’s studio sessions in the 1980s, which are extensive in their research, and give further insight into one of the most fascinating periods in popular music.

A big thank you to all of our listeners around the world who've been tuning in and downloading the show from Paris, to Detroit, from Bombay to Brazil, we really appreciate your support.

And our thanks to Gavin Calder for the music on today's show, which features a Quiet Storm remix of True Funk Soldier, from the album Deep Field, by Balveda. Go to the Bandcamp website to hear more.  

Please keep clicking on subscribe, leave your reviews and spread the word, whether you're listening on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, Gaana or Jiosaavn.

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