1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 2: This is the story about a murder. 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: It's the story of a band member with a gun 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: shoved in his face, a bodyguard selling his boss's story 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: for drug money. It's the story of an earthquake, a 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: cop stuck with a dirty AIDS infected needle, of a 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: beating with a baseball bat. It's the story of a 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: revolution and a Sign of the Times. It is, of course, 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: a story about Prince, a man who might be the 10 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: greatest pop musician of all time, a man who made 11 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: great music, some of the greatest music ever made. Unlike 12 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: that music, I played a few at the top of 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: the show that wasn't great music. That was a preset 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: loop from my melotron called Brown Mark's Lament MK one. 15 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: rights to live in on a Prayer by bon Jovi. 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 18 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: slippery when wet Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on February eighteenth, 20 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, And that was the day that Prince 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: released the song Sign of the Times, his first single 22 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: in four years. Without his legendary band The Revolution, a 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: song from an album about death, rebirth, change, crime and 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: strife from one of the greatest to ever do it. 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: On this episode, Bodyguards, drug habits, guns, gangs, and oh yeah, 26 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: an ejaculating guitar and I mentioned the ejaculating guitar and 27 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: of course Prince, I'm Jake Brennan and this is disgrace slant. 28 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: As Prince stood up in the audience to accept the 29 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: first of three American Music Awards in Los Angeles. 30 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 2: His bodyguard, Charles. 31 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: Huntsbury aka Big Chick, stood up with Big Chick came 32 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: as advertised six foot eight, three hundred or maybe four 33 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: hundred something pounds, depending on who you asked. There's a 34 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: big white dude in a big white Sanda beard wearing 35 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: a big old black wife beater. He was not just 36 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: a protector, but he was an ally, the kind of 37 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: guy who, when he walked into an establishment alongside a 38 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: black member of Prince's band, would immediately clock the racist 39 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: shit heads inside say without hesitation, this is my friend 40 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: and if you little pussies have a problem with him, 41 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: then you have a problem with me. Big Chick was 42 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: Prince's big shadow and Prince, all five foot two of them, 43 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: though a little taller tonight on account of those heels 44 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: he was wearing, cut a path to the stage with purpose, 45 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: where representatives of the previous generation the Beach Boys, handed 46 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: him his award. He strolled to the mic and said, simply, 47 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: said very much. 48 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 2: No one else brought. 49 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Their bodyguard with them to the American Music Awards that night, 50 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: But there was no one else like Prince, not that night, 51 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: not any night. But on January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five, 52 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: the evening of the American Music Awards, no one could 53 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: do what Prince could do, which specifically was beat Michael 54 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: Jackson in his unbeatable album Thriller in the Favorite Pop 55 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: Album category. Right now, Prince was no longer in the ascendant. 56 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: At twenty six years old, Prince was at the mountaintop. 57 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: The album for which he won those awards, Purple Rain, 58 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: was also the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, 59 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: released the year prior, a number one movie that generated 60 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: two number one singles, When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy. 61 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: But the most impressive statistic was that now, in January 62 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighty five, the album Slash soundtrack Purple Rain 63 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: had just ended its twenty four week streak at number 64 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: one on the Billboard Album Chart. Twenty four weeks, that's 65 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: six months. If you don't want to do the math, 66 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: and you're not alone. Prince didn't want to do the 67 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: math either. Prince just wanted to do things the way he. 68 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 2: Wanted them done. 69 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: Doing it his way was how he made his first 70 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: album For You back in nineteen seventy eight, while he 71 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: was still just a teenager. He produced it, arranged it, 72 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: and performed everything entirely by himself. Doing it his way 73 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: was how he made his third album, Dirty Mind, at 74 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty. That record's raw, funk and brazen lyrical content 75 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: was so game changing that the Village Voice rock critic 76 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: Robert chris Gau wrote, and I quote, Mick Jagger can 77 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: just fold up his penis and go home. And his 78 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: way was also the only way when it came to 79 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: training his band, The Revolution. The rehearsals went on for 80 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: hours with no interruptions. And you better learn to play 81 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: that bass with one hand so that if you get hungry, 82 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: you can make a sandwich with the other hand and 83 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: not miss a beat. You want bathroom breaks, go ask 84 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: Bruce Springsteen if he's hiring and speaking to Bruce. 85 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 2: Let's get back to. 86 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: The evening of January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five, because 87 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: on this night, immediately following the awards ceremony, the Boss 88 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: and every other major artist in the room are headed 89 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: over to A and M Studios in Hollywood. There they'll 90 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: record a charity single to benefit famine in Ethiopia called 91 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: We Are the World but not Prince corneass supergroup charity 92 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: songs follow that under things Prince does not want to do. 93 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: What do you mean Prince isn't coming? Quincy Jones was pissed. 94 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: The iconic arranger and producer had assembled a who's who 95 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: of talent for this song, Michael Lionel, Cindy Huey, Bobby, Billy, Tina, 96 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: both Kennies. But if he didn't have Prince, the man 97 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: of the hour, the man who dominated popular culture for 98 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: the last six months, and what did he really have? 99 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: Prince's manager, Bob Cavallo could sense Q's patience wearing thin, 100 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: so we threw him a bone. Prince says he'll come 101 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: play guitar on that track. Quincy Jones was now straight 102 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: up offended. 103 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 2: I don't need him to play guitar, Bob. 104 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: We've got fucking guitars, and Bob Cavallo panicked. He lied 105 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: and told Quincy that the real reason Prince couldn't make. 106 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 2: It it was because he was sick. 107 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: And then he hung up and called his client Prince 108 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: and made it very clear that because of that lie, 109 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: it was imperative that Prince lail for the evening. Prince 110 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: heard this kind of thing his whole life. Do this, 111 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: don't do that. As a kid, his father forbade him 112 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: from playing his family piano, and because his father, an 113 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: accomplished jazz musician, saw himself as the talent in the family, 114 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: and the one with the talent was the one who 115 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: get to play. And of course Prince was not just 116 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: as good as his father, but far better. He had 117 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: that pure God given ability from an early age. But 118 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: I firmly believe that it was this gatekeeping that drove Prince, 119 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: first as an unknown and then as an award winning icon, 120 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: to prove not just to his dad but to the 121 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: whole world that he could play better than anyone on 122 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: any instrument. And by the time of Purple Rain, that talent, 123 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: that fame, and that power it was a potent combination 124 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: that any twenty six year old would find hard to handle. 125 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: As Wendy melvoy and the Revolution's other guitarist, said, Prince 126 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: at this time was quote almost like a kid with 127 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: too much candy unquote. And Prince was and sharing his candy, 128 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: not with Quincy Jones or Kenny Rogers or Kenny Loggins 129 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: or Kenny whoever the fuck. So not only was Prince 130 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: not participating in We Are the World, he was going 131 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: to ignore the advice of his manager go hit the 132 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: town and party like it was well, you know. First 133 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: off was Carlos and Charlie's, a Mexican joint on the 134 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: Sunset step Prince and the Revolution. That's Wendy Melvoyne, along 135 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: with keyboardists Lisa Coleman and Matt doctor Fink, bassist Mark 136 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: Brown aka Brown Mark, and drummer Bobby z. They had 137 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: the run of the place and after some food, they 138 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: all transitioned upstairs to l Pravado, which, yes, movie Ben 139 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: was a private club where the band could be treated 140 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: like the VIP rock star as they were. But Wendy 141 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: and the rest of the Revolution weren't feeling the VIP vibe, 142 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: especially while their peers were collaborating on a collective good deed. 143 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: Prince told him the chill to the victor, go the spoils. Besides, 144 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: who is gonna find out. It was late when they 145 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,079 Speaker 1: left the club and Prince, flanked by his shadow of 146 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: Big Chick and his other bodyguard, Wally Safford, slipped into 147 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: a car outside on the strip. As they did so, 148 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: the other rear passenger door flung open and a man 149 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,239 Speaker 1: with a camera jumped inside and began snapping photos. 150 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 2: Prince was startled. He threw up his. 151 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: Hands in front of his face and then just blurted out, 152 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: get the film, get the film. 153 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 2: And the photographer quickly bailed. Pauling ass on foot down. 154 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: Sunset bodyguard Wally Safford gave Chase and the sight of 155 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: this very capable man, a man who learned his trade 156 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: from the Nation of Islam and had paid his dues 157 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: protecting hot shot bands from the Commodore's to Parliament, funking 158 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: delic set more paparazzi running out of the shadows. Wally 159 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: didn't care about the rest of him. He just wanted 160 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: that fucker who had taken the photos of Prince in 161 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: the car. Wally closed in, and the photographer stopped, turned 162 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: around and took a swing at Wally's head with his 163 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: long lens camera. Wally's memories of hanging around Muhammad Ali 164 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: as a kid came flooding back. He ducked, then rose 165 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: and drilled a shutterbug right in his eye, knocking them 166 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: into some bushes. The next morning, just as manager Bob 167 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: Cavallo had predicted, and just how Wendy and the others 168 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: had feared, the story was all over the papers. Wally 169 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: Safford was arrested. Prince was disgraced, exposed as a selfish 170 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: outlier who is now being hit along with his bodyguards, 171 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: with a fifteen million dollar lawsuit. Big Chick freaked out. 172 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,599 Speaker 1: This was more than the usual crowd control bullshit he 173 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: normally dealt with. He worried the next time it would 174 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: be worse, the next time someone would really get hurt. 175 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,359 Speaker 1: His next move shocked Prince as much as that paparazzo 176 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: who jumped into his car. Big Chick quit, but he 177 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 1: wasn't out of Prince's. 178 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 2: Life just yet. 179 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: Big Chick had an equally big cocaine problem, and in 180 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: order to pay for that problem, he sold a scandalous 181 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: story about his one time boss to the National Inquirer 182 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: for a quick buck, and the resulting article would play 183 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: a huge part in how the general public's perception of 184 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: Prince began to shift. But you can't really blame Big Chick. 185 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: The wheels were already in motion as early as the 186 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: night of January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five, the night 187 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: of the American Music Awards and of We Are the World. 188 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: The Prince may have reached the mountaintop, but that meant 189 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: that there was nowhere to go but down. And so 190 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: as a photographer nursed his wounds, as the La Times 191 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: ran the kind of headline that Bob Cavallo could have 192 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: written himself, and as the lawyers started to come for 193 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: Princess Wallet, all of it so clearly pointed to the 194 00:11:36,400 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: next phase of Prince's career, the backlash. Four years earlier, 195 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty one, nineteen year old Mark Brown, just 196 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: out of high school, had yet to flip his name 197 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: around to create the stage name Brown Mark. 198 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 2: He had also yet to. 199 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: Be drafted by Prince for a role in the Revolution, 200 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: but being a Minneapolis kid playing bass in a band 201 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: on the city scene, of course, Mark already knew about Prince. 202 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: Everybody in the Twin Cities knew about Prince. He was 203 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: the local prodigy, the one they called the kid, a 204 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: sonic wizard who was putting their Midwestern town on the 205 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: musical map. Prince was the success story that all other 206 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: Minneapolis funk and R and B bands measured against when 207 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: they dreamed of scoring their own big break. At the moment, however, 208 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 1: Mark wasn't thinking about big breaks or about Prince. He 209 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: was thinking about the gun aimed at his head, a 210 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: gun that had been pulled on him by his own bandmate. 211 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: Mark was used to this sort of thing, the threat 212 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: of violence that was always bubbling under the surface, especially 213 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: in the north side of town, where a local disc 214 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: jockey DJ Kyle Ray have been shot dead the year prior. 215 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: But to have your own bandmate pull a gun on 216 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: you and threaten to pull the trigger all over creative 217 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: differences that was fucked up Mark with the guy would 218 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:18,719 Speaker 1: in the argument over how to play the song or 219 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: whatever bug was up his ass. Besides, the gun was 220 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: all for show, the tool of an insecure musician who 221 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: is likely overcompensating. Mark knew then and there that it 222 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: was time for a change. Change was good, it was healthy, 223 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: change was survival. And when change literally came calling, Mark answered. 224 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: The phone rang not at Mark's house, but in the 225 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: rehearsal space where he and his group Fantasy were in 226 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,719 Speaker 1: the middle of a band practice. It was none other 227 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: than Prince calling for Mark. No shit, Prince asked Mark 228 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: if he would come audition for his band tomorrow night, 229 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: and this required careful exit strategy to avoid another gun 230 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: to the face when Mark broke the news to the 231 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: rest of his band, and when it came to showing 232 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: up a Prince's place to audition, that also required another 233 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: kind of strategy, this one even more delicate than the last, 234 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: because everybody in Minneapolis knew about Prince, and I'm not 235 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: just talking about the kid's musical talent. They'd all heard 236 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: the gossip. The Prince was a freaky motherfucker, as freaky 237 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: as they came. Just look at the cover of his 238 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: latest record, Dirty Mine Dudes, wearing a trench coat and 239 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: black briefs and rocking that mustache, singing songs about oral 240 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: sex and incest. In that falsetto rumor had it, there 241 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: was one particularly shocking and taboo initiation right the Prince 242 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: made all of his auditionees perform, or so one of 243 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: Mark's friends told him, and that friend further told him 244 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: that Prince's house where the audition was to be held, 245 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: was not a house, but instead a compound right by 246 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: armored tanks and German shepherds. As Mark would discover firsthand, 247 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: the craziest part of Prince's house was the automatic driveway 248 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: gate opener that split the black chain link fence in two. 249 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: And there were no tanks, no dogs, and no sexual favors required. 250 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: Prince was Prince, which is to say, he was just 251 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: cool as shit, and yes, Mark Brown aka Brown Mark, 252 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: passed the audition. A few years later, in nineteen eighty five, 253 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: Mark was doing the thing live in the Dream, an 254 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: integral part of the Purple Rain Tour, which was, let's 255 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: be honest, more than a tour, it was a daily 256 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: grind which consisted of the following. You pull into a 257 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: new city, set up the equipment, and soundcheck for hours. 258 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 1: The sound check is like its own show, and often 259 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: it doesn't end until that night's audience starts to arrive. Next, 260 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: you grabbed dinner, but you don't get to savor it 261 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: because you got to rush back to the. 262 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,040 Speaker 2: Venue where sometimes over one hundred thousand. 263 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: Pe people are waiting to see you perform. The show 264 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: is two hours long, give or taken. It's huge, as 265 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: huge as the loads. The Prince's custom made guitar shoots 266 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: over the crowd one hundred feet into the air, all 267 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: that white ivory, liquid, soap, ejaculate and I'm not even 268 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: fucking kidding here. This is the thing that happened. Prince 269 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: had a guitar that he could make come in a 270 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: jack u castor he called it. 271 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 2: Look it up. 272 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: But after you know, the load is blown and all that, 273 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: the night's not over, because next you have to play 274 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: yet another full set, this time at an after party 275 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: at a club somewhere in town, and that takes you 276 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: into the wee hours of the morning, and some nights 277 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: you get lucky. Some nights Prince wants to record new 278 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: music instead, which he does in the mobile recording truck 279 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: that is part of the touring caravan er, maybe at 280 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: a local studio, you know, don't forget. 281 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 2: On many days you also have to fit into that 282 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 2: a tenerary. 283 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: Another show, a full two hour set in the afternoon, 284 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: perform for sick children because contrary to do is freaky reputation, 285 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: Contrary to all that negative press he received over the 286 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: We Are the World bullshit, Prince was as charitable as 287 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: they came. But he didn't do it for the publicity, 288 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: not like the rest of them mugging for the camera 289 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: in that video that was playing every day on MTV. 290 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 1: They were the ones who made a brighter day. Prince 291 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: was out here doing the work, real work for real 292 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 1: people who needed it, while Quincy Jones's crew was mugging 293 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: for the cameras and patting themselves on the backs. 294 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 2: It didn't matter. 295 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: Many were now approaching Prince with the same kind of 296 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,679 Speaker 1: skepticism that Brown Mark once had, because stirring the pot 297 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: was that new National Inquirer article courtesy of the tell 298 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 1: all payday earned by Prince's former shadow Big Chick, who 299 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: took the three thousand dollars check you receive for spilling 300 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: his supposed guts and promptly snorted it. 301 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 2: Up his nose. 302 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: The headline of that article read, the real Prince He's 303 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: trapped in a bizarre, secret world of terror. They said, 304 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: Prince lived in an armed fortress, not with a girlfriend 305 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: or a wife, but with a food food taster who 306 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: ensured that every meal was safe for the Purple Ones consumption. 307 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 2: They said the Prince had. 308 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: Walled wall portraits of Marilyn Monroe, that he talked to 309 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: them as if they were real. They said about his 310 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: erotic song Darling Nikki, you know the one that US 311 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,440 Speaker 1: Senator Al Gore's wife, Tipper Dean pornographic and wanted censored 312 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: thanks to the financial backing of the Beach Boys Mike 313 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: Love The one and the same we resent to Prince 314 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: with an American Music Award in nineteen eighty five, that 315 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: little weasel. But I digress, they said the National Inquirer. 316 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: They said that if you played the weird backwards section 317 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: of Darling Nicky in reverse, you'd hear a creepy satanic message. Prince, 318 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: of course, didn't publicly reply to all of this, just 319 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: as he didn't publicly share that he performed shows on 320 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: the regular for kids in need. Instead, he let the 321 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: mystery play out, mystery being the thing that sells. Copies 322 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: of The Inquirer are sure, but mystery sells records too, like. 323 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 2: Around the world in the day. 324 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: The follow up to Purple Rain, released just weeks after 325 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: that record breaking tour ended. It too, went right to 326 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: number one on the album chart, even as Prince's reputation 327 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:12,479 Speaker 1: was taking hits on all fronts. Unlike Purple Rain, Around 328 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,679 Speaker 1: the World in a Day, only held the top spot 329 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: for three weeks. So Prince tried a new tactic that fall. 330 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: He granted Rolling Stone and interview to show that he 331 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: wasn't what everyone had made him out to be, and 332 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: also to show that truth could be stranger than fiction, like, 333 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: for instance, the backwards section of Darling Nikki. That wasn't 334 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: some subversive satanic message. In fact, you play that part 335 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: in reverse and you hear a message about God. That 336 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: right there, that was fantasy versus reality, and reality at 337 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: that moment and all of its beautiful and ugly forms 338 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: was playing out in real time on the streets of 339 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: Prince's beloved Minneapolis. 340 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. We're We're, We're. 341 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: John Scruggs, the self appointed leader of the Black gangster 342 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: Disciple Nation aka the Disciples, told Sandra White to bring 343 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 1: her twenty two revolver to tonight's meeting. It was October thirteenth, 344 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, just after midnight. Sandra White did as 345 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: she was told, as any loyal disciple would do. When 346 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: John Scruggs spoke, If Scruggs said jump, you asked how high. 347 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: So White showed up with the gun and then listened 348 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: carefully as Scruggs laid out the plan to her and. 349 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 2: The rest of the group. 350 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: Three weeks earlier, their street gang had robbed a gun 351 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: store in their hometown of Minneapolis. The crime was almost perfect, 352 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: but the cops managed to get their hands on sixteen 353 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: year old disciple well, Christine Krites, and Scruggs was concerned 354 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 1: that she had turned snitch. That's why Christine Kritz had 355 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 1: to go. Sandra White and the others would make that happen. 356 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: They were to take her out tonight with Sandra White's gun. 357 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: John Scruggs laid it all out, follow Christine Krit's home 358 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: and shoot her dead. This was their mission. Sandra White, 359 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: Mary Braxton, and Grayland Williams did as John Scruggs told them, 360 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: and they followed sixteen year old Christine Kritz back to 361 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: her place, stopping just shy at her front door at 362 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: the tennis courts near Martin Luther King Junior Park in 363 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: South Minneapolis. There, Graylen Williams took hold as a twenty 364 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: two He thought again of John Scruggs's orders, follow her 365 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: home and shoot her dead. 366 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 2: This was their. 367 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: Mission, as grayln Williams did so. Sandra White and Mary 368 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: Bruxton lit a joint and try to look nonchalant, and 369 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: they didn't even notice the moment when Williams pulled the 370 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: gun to Christine Kritz's head and pulled the trigger. Nine 371 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: months later, in the summer of nineteen eighty six, Prince 372 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: was reading all about the murder of Christine Kritz in 373 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: the arrest of the Disciples gang and the impending trial 374 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: on the pages of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Kids killing Kids. 375 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 1: Prince thought, man, what the hell was going on? The 376 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: crime rate in his hometown was reaching a fever pitch, 377 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: but it was obviously just a small part of a 378 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: larger narrative happening everywhere. He turned the page to read 379 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: about ballistic nuclear missiles locked cocked and ready to fly, 380 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: US bombs and Libya aids, drugs and famine. Another page, 381 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,120 Speaker 1: the ongoing investigation into the Challenger space shuttle explosion. Another page, 382 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: an earthquake out West in nineteen eighty six. The fault 383 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: lines weren't just out in southern California. They lay beneath 384 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: the ranks of the Revolution, many of whom were beginning 385 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: to feel iced out by the new members Prince was 386 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: bringing on board, including Susannah Melvoyn, Wendy's twin sister, who 387 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 1: was also princess fiance at the time. Those shaky fault 388 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: lines were also undermining Prince's unwavering desire to change. Creatively speaking, 389 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: he knew this, just like Brown Mark knew it as 390 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: a musician on the come up with a gun in 391 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: his face. 392 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:26,199 Speaker 2: Change was survival. 393 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: Just look at Miles Davis. You change your clothes, you 394 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: change your sound. Do you think Miles gave two shits 395 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: about what Columbia Records thought about bitches Brew. Change is 396 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: why Prince refused to repeat the playbook for Purple Rain, 397 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: moving on to psychedelia, funk and pop for Around the 398 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: World in the Day in the underrated Parade. But by 399 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: doing so it cost him first with R and B fans, 400 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 1: who accused Prince of turning his back on black music, 401 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: and then it cost his bottom line too. Neither album 402 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: sold nearly as well as Purple Rain and the movie, 403 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: for which Parade also doubled as a soundtrack. Under the 404 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,159 Speaker 1: cherry moon was a box office bomb. And now that 405 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: commercial failure was putting unexpected pressure on his construction of 406 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: Paisley Park, his sixty five thousand square foot complex twenty 407 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: minutes outside Minneapolis, which included three private recording studios. It 408 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: was nearing completion, a complex into which Prince had sunk 409 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: ten million dollars. Financial pain, box office poison, the disgrumpled 410 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: members of his own band. None of it could stop 411 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: Prince from finding energy in change. But there was another 412 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: form of energy right now, a dark energy wrestling with 413 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: the light, the energy of total existential dread, staring him 414 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: dead in the face. Every time he opened a newspaper 415 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: or turned on the TV. Prince tapped into them, both 416 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: the light and the dark, and he used them to 417 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: power his next move, which was happening behind closed doors 418 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: in the one place where Prince felt capable of real transformation, 419 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: the recording studio. So hold up to understand this, I 420 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: have to make sure you understand exactly how Prince worked 421 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: in the recording studio and how his process differed from 422 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: his peers. First of all, and I don't mean to 423 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: get into another Prince versus Michael Jackson thing here. But 424 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: as legendary producer Jimmy Jam observed, when Prince went into 425 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: the studio, he would leave at the end of the 426 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: day with a classic song like nineteen ninety nine fully 427 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: written and recorded. 428 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 2: Now, when Michael. 429 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: Went into the studio, he would leave at the end 430 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: of the day having spent the entire session obsessing over 431 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: the volume of the handclaps on the track. I'm not 432 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: saying there's anything right or wrong about either method here, 433 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 1: I'm just illustrating the difference. As Jimmy Jam's example demonstrates, 434 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 1: Prince's genius was largely rooted in inspiration. But and this 435 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: is the second thing, Prince's genius was also the result 436 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,359 Speaker 1: of impatient You know why Prince used real drums on 437 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: some songs and a drum machine on others. The call 438 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: was made based solely on whichever one is. Engineer Susan 439 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: Rogers got set up. 440 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 2: First, if the. 441 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,439 Speaker 1: Drum machine was plugged in and ready to rock, the 442 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: drums were made by a machine, he simply could not 443 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: wait for a drummer to get his or her shit together. 444 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: And Third, when inspiration struck at any time of the 445 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: day or night, he called Susan again, his engineer who 446 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: would meet him in the studio to get to work. 447 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: It was like a constant flowsting. And there's one particular 448 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,880 Speaker 1: kound of a day in the studio when Prince recorded 449 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: four songs simultaneously without saying anything to anyone, without having 450 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: anything written down. He had susan roll tape, and then 451 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: he sat behind the drums and recorded the drum track 452 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: for one song, and the tape kept rolling, and he 453 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: proceeded to record the drum track for the next song, 454 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: and so forth, and then he went back and put 455 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: down the bass for the first song, and then the 456 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,719 Speaker 1: next song, and he get the idea. He started at 457 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,160 Speaker 1: four pm, and nine and a half hours later, at 458 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: one thirty am, he had four brand new who completed 459 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,920 Speaker 1: songs with all the instruments, all the vocals, the whole nine. 460 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: And these are the first four songs on the Parade album. 461 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: If you want to go take another listen now that 462 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: you know how they were made. By September of nineteen 463 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,439 Speaker 1: eighty six, six months after the release of Parade, the 464 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 1: new songs he was recording were really piling up, and 465 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 1: there were so many that he planned for his next 466 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: release to be a triple album. Bruce Springsteen's new five 467 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,399 Speaker 1: record live box set set the precedent as far as 468 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: Prince was concerned. But Springsteen was just coming off of 469 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: the incredibly successful Born in the USA, A triple album 470 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: from a guy like Prince whose last two records had underperformed. 471 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 2: That was the kind of thing that gave. 472 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: The executives at Warner Brothers heartburn. But Prince was unfazed. 473 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:49,160 Speaker 1: He kept his head down and his vision tunneled. Warner Brothers, 474 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: like his father, could go ahead and try and tell 475 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: him what he could and couldn't do, and ditto for 476 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: his fans, clamoring for another purple rain, for a return 477 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 1: to his dirty mind, roots to anything that wasn't what 478 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: he'd been doing. He used it all. He used the 479 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: pain of whatever was going on between him and Susannah. 480 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: He knew the relationship was ending, just as the revolution 481 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: was ending. But there was another revolution happening right here 482 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: in the studio where Prince was alone save for his 483 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: loyal engineers, Susan Rogers. He told Susan rolled tape, and 484 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: he laid down a pattern on the mL one drum machine, 485 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: and then to the Fairlight digital workstation for a bubbling 486 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: synth sound and a bluesy bassline, and he kept building 487 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: more tracks, more instrumentation, but then he abruptly stripped most 488 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: of them away, until the song was reduced to just 489 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: the drums, the fairlight, and his guitar, most likely his 490 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: iconic Honer MadCat Telemodel. And he mixed the music down 491 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: onto a cassette, popped it into the tape deck of 492 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: his Ford Thunderbird, hit the gas, and wrote around town. 493 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: Listening to the mix while writing lyrics. In his head, 494 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: Prince thought again about the Disciples gang. He thought about 495 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: bombs and missiles, of health crisis and society on the brink, 496 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: and the collective pain of a world that needed healing. 497 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: He was calling this one the sign of the times. 498 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 2: He knew he was onto something. 499 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: New, something that could match the power of Purple Rain, 500 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: even if it sounded completely different, So much so that 501 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: he did something he didn't normally do. He played the 502 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: song for Lenny Waronker, then president of Warners, the father figure, 503 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:34,479 Speaker 1: the Gatekeeper, and Lenny listened. Four minutes and fifty six 504 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: seconds later, when the song ended, Lenny was speechless. It 505 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: totally freaked me out, he later said, When I heard 506 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,479 Speaker 1: the record I thought, oh my god, he's gone to 507 00:29:45,520 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: another just another zone. It was just unbelievable. On March 508 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: thirty first, nineteen eighty seven, a police officer in Baltimore 509 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: was placed on medical leave after being stuck with a 510 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: hypodermic needle hidden in the pocket of the purp. He 511 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: just arrested a purp who had tested positive for the 512 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: AIDS virus. Over in Chicago, elementary school students fearfully passed 513 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: through an infamous playground on their way to class. We're 514 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: just months earlier, a kid was attacked by a local 515 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: street gang, beaten so badly with a baseball bat that 516 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: he lost an eye. In New Jersey, twenty one men 517 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: went on trial for running drugs, gambling, and other illegal 518 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: activities out of the Hole in the Wall luncheonette in Newark, 519 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: allegedly as part of the Luksey organized crime family. Meanwhile, 520 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: nightly news broadcasts from coast to coast continued to report 521 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: on the fallout from President Reagan's recent admission that the 522 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: United States government had been trading arms with Iran in 523 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: return for hostages. On that same day, March thirty first, 524 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, Prince released sign of the Times, his 525 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: ninth studio album, which led off with the title track 526 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: that Warner Brothers president Lenny Warniker had described as unbelievable, 527 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: and that song, which had been released as a single 528 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: a month prior, was as timely as anything Prince had 529 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: ever released. It was as potent in eighty seven as 530 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: Marvin Gaye's What's Going On was in seventy one or 531 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 1: Stevie Wonders Living for the City was in seventy three, 532 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: and as a number one single on the R and 533 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: B chart. It was also sweet revenge against those who 534 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: kept calling him out for crossing. 535 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 2: Over into the pop world. 536 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,959 Speaker 1: Sign of the Times. The album was not a triple album, 537 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: as was originally intended under its working titles Dream Factory 538 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: and Crystal Ball, but instead a double album, the first 539 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 1: of Prince's career, and like many of the greatest double 540 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: albums in history, The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street 541 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: the Clash is London Calling. Sign of the Times is 542 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: an eclectic set of songs that tackled not just the 543 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 1: hot button issues of the day, but sex, god, love. 544 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 2: And everything in between. 545 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: Over at the Village Voice, home of the Dean of 546 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,479 Speaker 1: rock critics Robert Chriscau, who just seven years earlier had 547 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: told Mick Jagger to check his dick into a nursing home. 548 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: Sign of the Times became the biggest winner in the 549 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 1: history of the paper's influential year end Passant Job Writer's poll. 550 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: It beat out Springsteen's. 551 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 2: Tunnel of Love for the number one. 552 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: Spot by an even wider margin than Michael Jackson's Thriller 553 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:46,480 Speaker 1: had beat RIM's Murmur in nineteen eighty three. But although 554 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: Michael was nominated for his album Bad alongside Prince for 555 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: Album of the Year at the thirtieth Grammy Awards a 556 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: year later in March of nineteen eighty eight, neither artist 557 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: won that trophy went to U two for their blockbuster 558 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: album The Joshua Tree. Prince again was unfazed. It didn't 559 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: matter that Sign of the Times didn't win a bunch 560 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,720 Speaker 1: of awards the way that Purple Rain once had, Nor 561 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: did it matter that it didn't sell as well as 562 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:13,240 Speaker 1: Purple Rain. 563 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 2: Hell didn't sell as well as. 564 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: Parade or around the World Day either, But it once 565 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: and for all established Prince as a megawak craftsman an artist, 566 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: in addition to his existing status as a megawalk performer. Baby, 567 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,479 Speaker 1: he was a star, but he was a star in 568 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: his own way, not how anyone else wanted him to be. 569 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: And back at the American Music Awards in nineteen eighty five, 570 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: on the night of the recording of We Are the World, 571 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: the night that one of his bodyguards was arrested in 572 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,959 Speaker 1: another quit. While accepting the award for Favorite Pop Album, 573 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: Prince told a screaming crowd in that deep bedroom voice 574 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: of his quote, for all of us, life is death 575 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: without adventure. Adventure only comes to those who are willing 576 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: to be daring and take chances unquote, venture, change, impatience, inspiration. 577 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: Anything less than all that would be a disgrace. I'm 578 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this is disgraceland, all right. Thanks for 579 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: keeping it purple with me in this week's episode. Just 580 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:31,879 Speaker 1: a reminder to Apple podcast listeners, make sure you get 581 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: those auto downloads turned on. This week's question of the 582 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:39,319 Speaker 1: week is which artists best nailed their moment? Was it 583 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: Prince with Sign of the Times? Was it Stevie was 584 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: Living for the City? Was it Marvin Gaye with What's 585 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: going On? 586 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:45,879 Speaker 2: Was it someone else? Public Enemy? 587 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:47,880 Speaker 1: Lauren Hill lots to choose from hit me up and 588 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: let me know six one seven nine O six six 589 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,760 Speaker 1: six three eight. We'll get into it in the after Party. 590 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:53,799 Speaker 1: Leave me a voicemail, send me a text. You might 591 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: hear yourself on that bonus episode of the after Party coming. 592 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:57,720 Speaker 2: Up right after this episode. 593 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: You could also send your answers to me at disgrace 594 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: sampod on Instagram, X and Facebook. 595 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 2: Leave a review for the show on Apple Podcasts or 596 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 2: Spotify and. 597 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 1: Win some free merch All right, here come some credits. 598 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 599 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 600 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 601 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 602 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,920 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And 603 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,279 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 604 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash Membership members can listen 605 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,759 Speaker 1: to every episode of disgracelan ad free. Plus you'll get 606 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, 607 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 608 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: Visit disgraceslampod dot com slash membership for details, rate and 609 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 610 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 611 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelampod rock a roll up. 612 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,840 Speaker 2: He's a bad, bad man.