"Now, Turn the Page" - Book of the Week

Quick post tonight. I don't really like to reveal my sources of information, but I'll make an exception. I've purchased "The Rock Musician: 15 Years of the interviews - The best of Musician Magazine,” by Tony Scherman. There is a long, informative interview with Prince from the early ‘80s in there. As most fans know, Prince rarely gives that type of interview, so it’s a good find.

Amazon.com

The “book of the week” should have been “Mama Never Taught Me How to Sing,” by Tyka Nelson. Last week, I just knew I was going to have that book in my possession, but I was outbid on eBay. I was not willing to pay $100, which I predicted to be the other bidder’s “ceiling,” because the information in the book, while interesting, is not crucial to my book. Maybe I’ll get it another way in the future…

What is your favorite Prince interview? 

"Take a Picture, Sweetie!" - Odds and Ends from the Past Week

I've decided to make this a recurring post, as I like to share pictures from time to time. Besides, it's been a crazy week, and I'm still busy writing.

Great news: I finally bought a webcam!

Bad news: my webcam seems incompatible with those terrific spreecasts by Seth Everett and Dr. Funkenberry. I've tried numerous times to get on the show, but I can't. I hope to get the issue resolved soon. If you can help, let me know!

I'm going to have to buy another "Purple Rain" DVD.

I'm not sure what happened here, but the discs will no longer play. The interviews on this 20th Anniversary set are useful to me.

Random note: I am obsessed with Prince's song "Blue Light" from the "Love Symbol" album. 

Photo courtesy of my Zune (Yes, I have a Zune, and I prefer it to the  iPod)

Shout out to my blog readers and other members of #TeamPrince! So many of you have offered to help me in some way, whether it's providing research, copies of books or magazines, or giving words of encouragement. For example, this weekend, someone helped me track down Tyka Nelson's book. I hope to have it very soon.

From Prince.org

Finally, check out my Valentine's Day flowers. My boyfriend knew to throw a little purple in the bouquet. 

"You Got the News" - Twitter Lists

I live on Hootsuite. The Twitter management system allows you to schedule tweets and view your home feed, mentions, retweets and direct messages on one screen. You can also see your Twitter lists. Naturally, I recently decided to use Twitter lists to keep tabs on Prince news. Here's a peek at my Twitter lists:

This one includes some sources from my post on key Prince influencers on Twitter

Potential sources to interview for the book

This one is in progress, obviously

I'm keeping them private for now.

Who should make the lists?



Follow me on Twitter: @miss_ethompson

"Where's the Real Drummer?" - Bobby Z Spreecast & other Transcriptions

I'm back! I had to take some personal time to rest, but I'm here, and...
I'm moving my new blog posts to Tuesdays! #TeamPrinceTuesday

I still made time to work on the book, and I've been doing a lot of recording and transcribing. Dr. Funkenberry and Seth Everett's Wednesday spreecasts are not only great resources for Prince news, but their special guests provide awesome quotes for my book.

Two weeks ago, "Bobby Z." Rivkin, the original drummer from Prince's band, The Revolution, stopped by the spreecast. He shared some great memories from his time playing with Prince.

Last week, Shelby J., a singer in Prince's NPG band, visited the spreecast. I was delighted to hear Shelby and a viewer touch on spirituality a bit.

I also transcribed a great Tyka Nelson interview over the weekend.

Finally, I went WAY back on my to-do list and transcribed all Prince-related segments of Sheila E.'s "Unsung" episode.

Sometimes, interviews that others have done with sources are the next best thing, and a lot of great interviews with Prince's family, friends and associates  have been done since his other major biographies were published.

In the meantime, I would be crazy not to take advantage of talking to the special guests on these spreecasts, so I need to get my behind to Best Buy to get a webcam. I literally have to schedule the time to do it because  I rarely have free time these days. With all the Prince stuff happening--new website, new music, Billboard article, Grammy Awards appearance--I could use a few extra hours! It's getting crazy!!

Be sure to check back next Tuesday for a new blog post!