Welcome once again to the L*A*W homage blog series where musical innovators and artist get their respects. Today's homage blog is definitely gonna raise some eyebrows but that's normal in my Planet 12 world. I'm often cited because of my musical taste and influences. Five boys from Boston or Beantown as its called.......I know what you are thinking....the guys that made "Candy Girl" ?  nope....the white teenagers that caused a Beatles-like frenzy among young teenage girls all over the world. The only white group to single-handedly win over the mostly black & rough Apollo Theatre audience: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - Jordan, Donnie, Danny, Jonathan and Joey !

The dance moves, The songs and the looks or they say "The Right Stuff"....they definitely had the tools of what all singing groups should have no matter what color or race they are. They had a huge influence on me after I saw them at the Apollo back in 1986 where they made skeptical black folks into believers as they sang and breakdanced their asses off. I can honestly say I got a lot of my approach to songwriting from those NKOTB albums and most definitely "stole" a lot of their moves to implement in my own stage shows. These guys weren't trying to do steps and sing, THEY WERE DOING THE STEPS AND SINGING !  oh and btw, historic fact: that infamous move that they do during the "uh-uh oooo" part in the "The Right Stuff" Video is straight from legendary Funk/R&B band Morris Day & The Time and it's called the Penguin and ironically, that band's members, producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were responsible for the growth in New Edition's sound for their "HeartBreak" album (read my homage blog on them when you get a chance as well)....see how the history between NKOTB and NE connects ?

To sum it all up, Bobby Brown calls them "The white New Edition" and he couldn't be no more right than that !  With classics that will never die like "Please Don't Go", "I'll be Loving You" , "My Favorite Girl" , "Games" , "Treat Me Right" and three of my all-time favorites "This One's For The Children", "Step By Step" and "Hangin Tough", They were to New Edition what the Osmonds were to The Jackson 5 back in the 70's: white counterparts that truly and sincerely respected the tradition of R&B/Pop groups and black music in general.  Maurice Starr - The same guy that discovered and produced New Edition's first album created the white template of his former proteges after they parted ways with him citing money mismanagement.  Maurice went about to show the NE crew that they made a big mistake by leaving him. 70 million albums and a multi-million dollar franchise in endorsements alone later, NKOTB became the most successful boy band of their generation. Though they didn't have same historic impact as New Edition (READ MY HOMAGE BLOG TO THEM TO UNDERSTAND WHY AND SO I DON'T GET HATE MAIL), they definitely had them beat in the sales department and capitalization forum.  

It's safe to say that if it wasn't for them, the boy bands of the late 90's like Backstreet Boys, N'Sync and 98 Degrees would have never existed. Especially since Lou Pearlman, the man who was responsible for most of those 90's groups, was the former pilot for NKOTB...Talking about studying the blueprint huh (LOL).....well let's go back to the blueprint

In the early 1980s, Maurice Starr discovered R&B/Pop quintet New Edition, and guided their early success. After breaking ties with them, Starr and his business partner, Marty Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act in retaliation or as he simply puts "NE had appealed more to black teenage girls but the white teenage girls did not have a group of that caliber that they can latch on to". Auditions were held around Boston, at which some 500 teenaged boys auditioned. Among them was 15-year-old Donnie Wahlberg, who immediately impressed Starr with his singing/dancing skills, and would become the first member. Wahlberg assisted in helping to recruit other local talents to audition. Among them were his younger brother Mark and his best friend Danny Wood, who was a skilled breakdancer. He coaxed schoolmate and neighbourhood friend Jordan Knight, into auditioning for the band, and he was immediately accepted. Jonathan, Jordan's 16 year old brother, was also recommended to Starr by Jordan, and he made the group on the same day as Danny.

As the group began to take shape, Mark became disillusioned with its direction of clean-cut bubblegum pop and opted to quit. He was intending on working with a more harder edge. Another one of Donnie's neighborhood friends and classmates, Jaime Kelley, took his place. Kelley, though, would eventually be dismissed for lack of concentration and discipline. Seeking an even younger singer to sing the high solos, Starr replaced him with 12-year-old Joey McIntyre from Dorchester, whom the other guys initially resented for being the one to replace their friend. With the final line-up in place, Starr rehearsed the boys diligently after school and on weekends and scored the group (which was being called Nynuk) a record deal at Columbia Records. The label, however, demanded Starr change the name of the group. Subsequently they settled on New Kids on the Block, after a rap song that Donnie had written and arranged for their first album. It was a unique winning combination especially since ALL the boys were serious breakdancers especially Jordan, Danny, Joey. Jordan had a serious falsetto which reflected his R&B roots while Joey's voice had a Michael Jackson-like quality. Donnie had a raspy-tenor voice that served as a balance between him and Jordan plus he could rap and penned mostly all the rap parts for the group. Danny had a deep baritone voice beyond his years and his breakdance skill made him second chief choreographer of most of their routines. The main and first chief of their choreography was Jordan.

In April 1986, Columbia Records released the group's now classic self-titled debut album. The album, almost exclusively written and produced by Maurice Starr, featured mid 80s bubblegum pop material with a mix of hip-hop & R&B. Sounds familiar ? it should because Maurice made sure that The New Edition blueprint was followed to the 9's especially in the personality realm. Jordan Knight was the main lead singer like Ralph Tresvant. Donnie Wahlberg was the bad-boy of the group like Bobby Brown. Jonathan was the shy one like Ronnie Devoe. Danny Wood was the street wise rapper guy who did occasional leads like Michael Bivins and Joey Mcintyre being the youngest of the group was like Ricky Bell cause he did leads on certain when Jordan didn't but his age factor made him look more like a little Michael Jackson.  The first single, "Be My Girl" received minor airplay around the group's native Boston, but failed to capture nationwide attention. The album's second single, "Stop It Girl," fared even worse. The New Kids went on tour around the New England states, singing wherever Starr could book them: in bars, school dances, and strip club. Nevertheless, Starr remained diligent and persuaded the label to allow the group to record a second album. The album, however, would later go on to be certified triple platinum and sell over seven million copies, largely on the strength of the popularity the group attained with their next album. But keep in mind that true fans like myself knows that a classic album is not determined by record sales.

After the failure of the first album, Starr had the group back in the studio for most of 1987 and 1988 recording their second album. Each of the boys were disatisfied with the clean, cheesy bubblegum sound their first album, and they wanted to have more input on their look, direction and song material which was rare and unheard of especially since Maurice Starr wasn't the most humble dude and New Edition never got that chance under his tutalage. As a result, Donnie, Danny and Jordan received associate producer credit on the final product. The new album's first single was "Please Don't Go Girl," a ballad released in spring 1988. Failure seemed destined a second time when the song became another that went unnoticed by the listening public, and Columbia Records made plans to drop the New Kids from the label. At the eleventh hour, however, a radio station in Florida began playing the song. Scoring listener approval, it soon became the most requested song on their play list. When Columbia caught wind of the positive response, they decided to keep the group on its roster and put more effort into promoting the single. National attention soon followed and it eventually climbed to 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart—becoming the group's first hit.

New Kids on the Block's second album, Hangin' Tough, was released to modest fanfare in September. In the meantime, the group began making national televised appearances on such music programs as American Bandstand, Showtime At The Apollo, and Soul Train. They later landed a spot as an opening act for fellow teen-pop act Tiffany on the U.S. leg of her concert tour. Sales of Hangin' Tough steadily increased as the group's national attention slowly rose. At year's end, the album's second single "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" was released. The song was given a huge boost when MTV took notice of the group and began playing the video in regular rotation. By early 1989, it cracked the top five. The New Kids hit paydirt with their next single, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," which reached 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in June. The group had been scheduled to open for Tiffany once again on a second tour, but their sudden popularity caused a reversal, and she wound up opening for them (although the two acts were technically billed as "co-headliners.")

More top five singles from Hangin' Tough followed into the summer and fall, including: the title track and "Cover Girl." Columbia Records also released, from the groups previously overlooked debut album, "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)." The song went top 10 on the strength of the group's popularity and effectively jump-started the sales of that album as well. By the end of 1989, Hangin' Tough had climbed to 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and had gone eight-times platinum. They, subsequently, became the first 'teen' act to garner five top 10 hits from a single album.

Meanwhile, a top ten charting holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas, was released in the fall—spawning another top 10 hit, "This One's for the Children" and going 2x Platinum in the US. The proceeds were donated to United Cerebral Palsy, the New Kids' favorite charitable cause. Hangin' Tough would go on to spend 132 weeks on the chart, and in January 1990 it won two American Music Awards for "Best Pop/Rock Album", and "Best Pop/Rock Group."

By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the world. The following May, they followed up Hangin' Tough with the classic Step by Step, which featured slightly more than half of the songs co-written and produced by the members themselves. A New Jack Swing sound and a Michael Jackson style became a new part of their repetoire. They started incorporating live instruments into their songs and concerts. The first single, the title track, raced to 1 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and became their biggest selling single. It was followed up with the top ten "Tonight," which extended the consecutive top ten singles chart run to an amazing nine records. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to twenty million copies worldwide.

The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer, called The Magic Summer Tour, sponsored by Coke. Their pay-per-view special was the biggest in cable-TV history to that date. During this time, the group became heavily merchandised; more than one hundred and forty products that were licensed with NKOTB trademarks. These included lunch boxes, packing trunks, sleeping bags, pillow cases, T-shirts, comic books, dolls, and even a Saturday morning cartoon in their likeness. That series was on ABC from 1990-91 (with reruns the following year on Disney Channel). Though the band appeared in live action clips, the voices of the New Kids were done by other voice actors (two of them also did Captain Planet). A video game based on the group was set to be introduced for the NES, but was never released.

New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over one hundred thousand names, and received thirty-thousand letters a day. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDS, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. The group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. Further capitalizing on the fame, at year's end, Columbia Records released No More Games/The Remix Album—a compilation of the group's biggest hits remixed. Sensing their audience was growing up, Donnie led the group in remixing their songs into a more rap, hip hop style. It was here that they started using the name "NKOTB" as a way of trying to change with the times.

By 1991, the group had become very over-exposed, and public and commercial backlash started to form. Now calling himself "The General," Starr began repeatedly reinforcing that he had written, produced and played on all their albums. Sensing that it was time to give the American market a break, the group released no new material that year, but they went overseas and continued to tour throughout Europe and Asia. That summer, Wood and Wahlberg co-wrote and produced the debut album from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch—headed by Mark Wahlberg, Donnie's brother and former New Kid. Mark's album scored a 1 hit with "Good Vibrations," and a platinum album.

As their touring itinerary was nearing its end in early-mid 1992, the group released a new stand-alone single, "If You Go Away." The song became a top 20 hit, peaking at 16 on the charts. Although relatively popular, it was not as big of a hit as their previous material. Meanwhile, as the music industry was still reeling from the Milli Vanilli lip-synching scandal, the group found themselves accused by a former engineer of not having sung all of the 1988 hit album Hangin' Tough. They immediately struck back, going on a minor publicity blitz to refute the allegation. Culminating with an interview and live performance on The Arsenio Hall Show, they managed to successfully quell the claim. Eventually, their accuser confessed to fabricating the claim out of spite. Nonetheless, it still didn't stop them from noticing that their popularity had waned as teen-pop had now gone out of fashion. With Gangsta rap and Grunge becoming more popular, the group went into hibernation while plotting their next move.

Faced with the constant derision of people outside their teen market and the maturation of that base, the fact that they themselves were no longer teenagers, and that the type of music that had once made them famous had faded from the lexicon, the group split off from Maurice Starr and signed with Columbia Records. Since the name "New Kids" had an overexposed following, they shortened their name to NKOTB, at the request of the label. They attempted to make a comeback in January 1994 with Face the Music.

Their first studio album in close to four years, Face the Music, was an excellent musical departure from the group's previous efforts. All of the members finally had a chance to sing lead, nearly all the songs were written and produced by the group, etc. In spite of some positive critical reception, the album was not a commercial success. The group's final single to chart was another one of my favorites "Dirty Dawg" (which featured a rap cameo by Nice & Smooth.) The video was banned from Canadian music video network, due to its suggested violence and misogynistic imagery.

NKOTB went on tour to support the album, but faced with the reality that their time as pop music icons had peaked, were forced to play smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they had become accustomed to playing when they were at the height of their fame. Group member Jonathan Knight, meanwhile, departed the tour early after increased panic attacks and anxiety. As a cover story, it was explained to the media that he had fallen off his horse and injured his back. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to cancel the rest of the tour, and the group disbanded altogether in June 1994.

After the group's demise, most of the group members started families and began to venture into other avenues.

• Joe McIntyre
  In 1999, McIntyre released a solo album, Stay the Same, on Columbia Records, scoring a top 10 hit with the album's title track. He has also released further albums Meet Joe Mac, One Too Many — a live compilation album of his work — a pop album 8:09, and most recently, a standards album called Talk to Me. McIntyre later became a regular on the FOX television show Boston Public and has performed in Broadway musicals including Wicked. In 2006, he was a contender on the reality show Dancing with the Stars and toured with the series in a 2006 live show. He still continues to record music and tour. In 2007, he starred in an independent film titled On Broadway and released his recent solo album, Talk to Me, was released December 20, 2006
• Danny Wood
  Formed a Boston-based record label. Produces other acts and occasionally performs with other musicians, but largely prefers to remain out of the spotlight. He was featured in MTV follow up to Totally Scott-Lee called Totally Boyband, as a member of a new group with other former boyband members called Upper Street. With D-Fuse, he released a 1999 album called Room Full of Smoke. In 2003 he released Second Face, and in 2007 Coming Home.
• Donnie Wahlberg Has followed in the footsteps of his brother Mark Wahlberg, forging a career in acting and appeared in movies such as Ransom (1996), Southie (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), the Saw film series, and the critically-acclaimed mini-series Band of Brothers. He has starred in two short-lived television series: Boomtown and Runaway. In 2007, he starred opposite John Leguizamo on the TV series The Kill Point.

In 1999, MTV attempted to reunite the group and get them to perform on that year's VMAs. All members were on board, except Jonathan Knight. Consequently the performance didn't happen.

In 2004, Aamer Haleem, host of VH1's Bands Reunited, also attempted to coerce each of the members of New Kids on the Block to reunite for a one-night performance for the show. This time Jonathan Knight agreed, as did Jordan Knight. However, Joe McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood all declined. McIntyre cited that the only way he would perform with the band was if the group would make the decision to reunite permanently.

On January 26, 2008, People magazine reported that a New Kids on the Block reunion was in the works. An announcement was expected to be made on the band's once-defunct official website in February 2008. However, Danny Wood denied the report, stating there has been "no discussion" of a reunion or new tour for the band. Despite initially denying the reunion rumors on his MySpace blog, Wood soon posted a follow-up entry stating:

"I wanted to clarify since my first post this morning regarding the NKOTB reunion".
"I loved being a part of the group, and have always thought 'maybe someday we'll get back together' — you just never know when your someday will come. "I can guarantee all the fans that if this reunion were to happen, they would hear about it first on www.NKOTB.com.

On March 31, 2008, People magazine reported that all five original band members will appear on the Today show on April 4, 2008.

HERE ARE CLASSIC BANGING ASS PERFORMANCES FROM NKTOB IN CELEBERATION OF THEIR RUMORED REUNION:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5eZSa7URA - "STEP BY STEP"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV9Il0eF9t4&feature=related "MY FAVORITE GIRL"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUSPDGQ-fPQ - NEW KIDS MEDLEY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyUM4XDcUnY&feature=related - TRIBUTE TO SMOKEY ROBINSON !

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS

Welcome back to my homage blog series where my influences get the respect and honor that they deserve . This one is the most important blog of all the ones I’ve ever written. As everyone knows, I have such a vast range of influences that made me create the Planet 12 sound. But of all these people, there was one dude that held my musical attention from the time I was five. A man who defied all musical boundaries and incorporated every genre of music while creating a mystique that held the visual....the man that made it extra cool for a black artist to be versatile...There are many kings but there is only Prince....My number 1 influence and favorite singer of all time !  Before I even knew how to really play guitar, I always wanted to be like his Royal badness and made my first professional money at 8 years old imitating him complete with ruffle shirt and wig (no tight pants or boots) and at 10 years old, I cried to my mom about the "Computer Blue" electric guitar she brought me and how it wouldn’t make the same sound as Prince’s guitar when he does that solo at the end of "Let’s Go Crazy" (till I discovered the distortion pedal - LMAO)

His career has spanned several styles: from his early material, rooted in R&B, soul and funk, he has consistently expanded his musical palette throughout his career, absorbing many other genres including New Wave, pop, rock, jazz, and hip hop. The distinctive characteristics of the early-to-mid 1980s work that brought him to super-stardom--including sparse and industrial-sounding drum machine arrangements, and the use of Obrehiem synthesizer riffs to serve the role traditionally occupied by horn riffs in earlier R&B, funk and soul music--was called the "Minneapolis sound" and has proved very influential. From D’Angelo, Maxwell, Lenny Kravitz, Outkast, Alicia Keys to Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Brittney Spears, Robert Randolph, Ready For The World....there isn’t a single artist that has not profitted off the influence of Prince whether it be sense of fashion or balls out musical defiance. Even new artist like J. Holiday and The Dream don’t even deny it with songs like "Bed and "Falsetto" which totally pays Prince the homage he deserves for how much he changed the game.

Prince arrived on the scene in the late Seventies, and it didn’t take long for him to upend the music world with his startling music and arresting demeanor. He rewrote the rule book, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the 80’S. Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative. His colorful image and revolutionary music made Prince a figure comparable in paradigm-shifting impact to Little Richard, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone and George Clinton. Prince took all these influences and made them mesh like no else had done before and not nessecarily after (except for me and Lenny Kravitz - LOL). To understand Prince, one must appreciate the extent of his musical obsession. He has always been a willing servant of his tireless muse. His uncanny musicianship, thought-provoking songwriting, unapologetic imagery and those moves.....those groundbreaking head trauma moves that had me hanging out with the mic stand on a daily basis trying to make it do what he did to it. Him and Michael Jackson to this day stand as two greatest alumnis from the University of James Brown

   Prince Rogers Nelson was born and raised in Minneapolis. Like Detroit, Memphis, NYC and the Bay Area on the west coast, Minneapolis was a melting pot for serious musicians and a mixed bag of influences. He was named after his jazz musician father John Rogers Nelson and Opera singing mother Mattie who sang in the Jazz band his father was the leader of . The product of a broken home, Prince found refuge in music. By his early teens, he’d mastered multiple instruments and was fronting his first band, Grand Central. A demo tape by the young prodigy resulted in major-label interest, and an 18-year-old Prince signed to Warner Bros., insisting on the right to self-produce. The famous story behind this was that Prince told the record label that he didn’t want to be marketed as a R&B artist especially when they tried to get him to dress like Earth, Wind & Fire....NOT !!

 His first two classic albums, For You (1978) and Prince (1979), unveiled a budding genius and one-man band in the same molding as another young prodigy by the name of Stevie Wonder (my 2nd favorite singer/musician - LOL). For You included smoking jams like "Just As Long As We’re Together", the hard-rocking "I’m Yours", "Baby", "My Love Is Forever" and his first major hit "Soft and Wet," an early glimpse at Prince’s uncensored sexuality, while the latter produced Prince’s first hit, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (11) and radio classics like "Sexy Dancer", The hard-rockers "Bambi", "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad"  and the song that would become one of Chaka Khan’s major hits in the 1980’s "I Feel For You". It was then Prince started to beef up his reputation for putting some of the greatest musicians in his band on a multi-cultural, multi-gender level the same way one of his major influences did by the name of Sly Stone ;). Dr Matt Fink, Dez Dickerson, Bobby Z, Gayle Chapman (later replaced by Lisa Coleman) and childhood friend Andre Cymone became legends overnight in this first band because of their musicianship and racy out-there outfits. They were the opening act for funk superstar Rick James which proved to be a bad match as Prince began to upstage the king of Punk-Funk every night causing a strong rivalary between the two. Transalation, Prince and his crew musically whipped Rick and The Stone City Band’s ass. Even up till his untimely death, Rick never had anything nice to say about Prince and has often dissed him plus accused him of jacking his girl group blueprint he created by forming Mary Jane Girls in 1983. But Prince created Vanity 6 in 1981 which means that there is noooo truth to that accusation. 

 Interest in the youthful rising star was further kindled by Dirty Mind (1980), a provocative and sinuously funky album that appeared like a directional marker at the start of the Eighties. With classic jams like "When U were mine", "Uptown", "Head" and of course "Sister", Prince finally found a way to bring his definitive image and Minneapolis sound altogether. From the gate, Prince knew he wanted to create shock and get people’s attention which explains the infamous wardrobe during this period that made people confused and baffled but always kept them guessing.  On the TV show American Bandstand with his first backing band, Legend has it that Prince became annoyed when, during the interview segment, Dick Clark expressed surprise that Prince and his bandmates hailed from Minneapolis "of all places". At first Prince refused to speak, instead answering a question by gesturing with his hand. It was later admitted by Dez Dickerson that it was planned from the beginning as a way to throw Dick Clark off his game. Dickerson was quoted as saying, "Great. We’re illiterate, but we play well." .

1981’s "Controversy" only kept the momentum swinging as Prince tackled politics, religion and illiteracy on songs like "Sexuality", "Ronnie Talk To Russia" and the title track but the sex persona was never far away on classic songs like "Jack U Off", "Private Joy" and the all-time favorite and often covered "Do Me Baby".

Prince’s breakthrough was 1999 (1982), a double album made at his home studio. He’d toned down, if not entirely tamed, the hardcore sexuality, and the longish, danceable tracks appealed to disco and New Wave fans alike especially with the extensive use of Linn drum machine which he first experimented with on the "Controversy" album . Whereas many saw divisions in the culture - in terms of everything from musical preferences to skin color - Prince forged a party-minded unity around the various audiences’ shared interests in "dance, music, sex, romance." Those were the priorities outlined in "D.M.S.R.," one of 1999’s key tracks. The album launched three major singles: "Little Red Corvette" (6), "1999" (12) and "Delirious" (8). As Kurt Loder wrote, "[1999] marked the point at which Prince’s seamless fusion of white rock and roll and black dance-funk became commercially undeniable." The tour for 1999 became one of the most talked about tours especially since Prince had launched two very popular acts: Vanity 6 and of course, The Time. Fronted by Denise Matthews (who was also Prince’s girl at the time), the scantily clad trio released the club classic "Nasty Girl". Morris Day & The Time with two Gold albums and several classics proved to be a serious threat as they upstaged their mentor on many nights (the same way he did Rick James a few years back) during this tour with their fiery tight stage show which resulted in a bitter Prince starting food fights and kicking them off of a few opening act slots in many cities (Read my homage blog to Morris Day & The Time for more on this story). Nevertheless,  The way had been paved the way for Prince’s stratospheric ascent with the album and movie Purple Rain. 

One of the defining releases of the Eighties - along with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. - Purple Rain (1984) elevated Prince from cult hero to superstar. The movie, loosely based on Prince’s life story, was set in Minneapolis and his real-life hangout, the First Avenue & 7th Street Entry Club. Prince wrote the treatment and played the lead role of "The Kid." The film included electrifying performances by Prince and the Revolution - his racially and sexually integrated band, which included guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardists Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman, bassist Brown Mark and drummer Bobby Z.  Purple Rain also showcased other acts under his umbrella, most notably and popular The Time, who were fronted by Prince’s extroverted foil, Morris Day which after the film’s explosion, The Time was no more and aggravated with Prince’s control issues, Morris went solo. But in addition,  It was made very clear that Prince had arrived thanks to the millions of imitators he had that tried to invade radio using the minneapolis formula using everything from the synthesizers/drum programming style to the sexually charged vocal and clothing. Artists like Ready For The World tried to claim that Prince wasn’t an influence but if you listen to their biggest hits "Oh Sheila" and "Tonight" and see the videos, THEN YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THEY WAS FRONTIN. But a family group called The Jets hit big in 1985 with their Prince influenced hits "Crush On You" & "Curiosity" which automatically gave them a pass because they were from Minneapolis and ironically produced by David Z - brother of Prince drummer Bobby z.

The film grossed $80 million and the album, which won Prince an Oscar for Best Soundtrack, rained hits for a year: "When Doves Cry" (1), "Let’s Go Crazy" (1), "Purple Rain" (2), "I Would Die 4 U" (8) and "Take Me With You" (25). Even Prince’s non-LP B sides from the period, such as "17 Days" and "Erotic City," achieved a certain popularity. Prince is without a doubt the first music artist to make non LP B-sides a must have and make them just as popular as purposely released singles. case in point, "Nothing Compares To U" and "How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore" were both huge hits for Sinead O Conner and Alicia Keys in the 2000’s. As a writer,  producer and artist developer,  he has always been at his most prolific writing hit songs for The Bangles, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Chaka Khan and Patti Labelle. Under his own company, he developed fantasy acts as an outlet for more of his music like Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Jill Jones (who provided many of the backing vocals for those Vanity and Apollonia albums as well as countless Prince songs), Mazarati, the jazz-funk influenced Madhouse, Ingrid Chavez, Carmen Electra (before she became famous TV wise), The Family (whose album became a cult classic). Of all these acts, only The Time and Shelia E were commercially successful mainly because their individual talents as gifted musicians allowed their personalities to shine. Sheila E. (who is already known in the Jazz Fusion world  because of her stints with George Duke, Herbie Hancock and comes from the famous Escovedo family that played for Carlos Santana) became a star in her own right with her classic album "The Glamorous Life" and a hot acting slot on the classic hip-hop movie "Krush Groove" and her sexy appeal & attire opened the door for female musicians to be sexy but still aggresively play their instruments.

For any other artist Purple Rain would have been a hard act to follow, but Prince already had another album, Around the World in a Day, in the can. A tour de force of psychedelic soul released in 1985, it became his second consecutive 1 album and the first to appear on his own Paisley Park label (a Warner Bros. subsidiary). With Prince-mania in full effect, the album generated two more Top Ten hits: "Raspberry Beret" (2) and "Pop Life" (7) with other classic songs like "Condition Of The Heart" , "Tambourine" and "The Ladder" in the mix. Even a cult fan film but commercial panned, Under the Cherry Moon - Prince’s first real miscue - couldn’t halt his momentum, as the accompanying banging ass soundtrack, Parade (1986), included the classic "Kiss," , "Mountains" , "New Position", "Anotherholeinyohead" and the classic acoustic "Sometimes it snows in April".  Prince hit an artistic peak with Sign ’O’ the Times (1987), his first album since 1999 not to be co-credited to the Revolution. A double album that was trimmed down from an intended triple, Sign ’O’ the Times was Prince’s most musically expansive and lyrically incisive album. On the sobering "Sign ’O’ the Times" (3), Prince enumerated a catalog of social ills - AIDS, crack, gang violence - over a skeletal funk track. Other hits from the album included "U Got the Look" (2), a duet with Sheena Easton, and "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (10). Paisley Park - a 65,000-square-foot multimedia production facility, with three studios and a soundstage - opened for business that same year. For true fans like myself, this is the album that represents the complete package of Prince styllistically and also the best band he ever had behind him which featured the soaring talents of Levi Seacer, Miko Weaver (who first joined him on The Parade Tour) and of course, Sheila E, who he decided to put on drums.

Around this time Prince talked of dueling identities within himself, conjuring characters that represented his good side ("Camille") and dark side ("Spooky Electric"). The latter had its say on The Black Album, a controversial, hardcore set that was aborted shortly before its intended release. In its place came Lovesexy (1988), which contained the terrific "Alphabet St." (8). The tour for this album was described as "Liberace on acid". Commercially, Prince found himself back on top in 1989 with his soundtrack to the first Batman movie. Prince’s dense, tangled funk meshed with film producer Tim Burton’s dark, gothic vision, and his Batman album and "Batdance" single both shot to the top of the charts. A year later, Prince made another of his own movies, Graffiti Bridge. Though it was panned, the double-album soundtrack - with performances by Prince, a reunited Time, Mavis Staples of the legendary Staple Singers, and Quincy Jones protege Tevin Campbell - was compelling, particularly the impassioned "Thieves in the Temple" (6).

In the early 90’s, Prince assembled a backing band, the New Power Generation. They debuted on Diamonds and Pearls (1991), Prince’s most accessible and hit-filled album since Purple Rain and also his first steady involvement incorporating hip-hop/rap into his eclectic mix. He did it before in 1982 with the popular B-side "Irresistible Bitch" but back then, he really didn’t care too much for the growing genre that would soon takeover the industry. Everything about the ’Diamonds and Pearls" was elaborately conceived, including the holographic cover. The album returned Prince to radio with a string of funky, upbeat hits: "Gett Off" (21), "Cream" (1), "Diamonds and Pearls" (3) and "Money Don’t Matter 2Night" (23). It would turn out to be Prince’s biggest album of the Nineties. It was followed in 1992 by an album that marked the first appearance of the symbol that Prince would formally adopt a year later as his name which was centered around a strong Arabic theme. Ironically, the disc whose title was a symbol - and therefore referred to as The Love Symbol Album - opened with a song called "My Name Is Prince" (36). The numerology-minded "7" peaked at 7, but Prince’s most infectious funk workout, "Sexy MF," proved too profane for radio.

Still, Prince seemed to be on a roll. In August 1992, he signed a contract extension with Warner Bros. for six more albums (at $10 million apiece), and he acquired the title of vice-president with the label. By mid-decade, however, relations would sour as he began appearing in public with the word "SLAVE" scrawled on his face while agitating to get off the label.

In 1993, Prince’s greatest hits were released in two volumes - The Hits 1 and The Hits 2 - and as a deluxe package that appended a third disc, The B-Sides. All three configurations went platinum, though the three-pack charted highest (19). The artist’s final album as Prince, Come, appeared in 1994, as did (for a limited time) the long-shelved Black Album. The "Come" album did have some excellent gems like "Dark", "Race" and "Papa". That same year, Prince launched an independent label, NPG Records, with a various-artists compilation, 1-800-NEW-FUNK. His next single - "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (3), which also appeared on NPG - marked a return to hitmaking form which slienced critics and peers who had been screaming that he was no longer a valuable artist. He also released it on his label to prove to Warner Brothers that it wasn’t his star power that was fizzling, it was lack of promotion on their end that was. 

Meanwhile, relations with Warner Bros., to which he was still contracted, were deteriorating badly. The release of The Gold Experience (1995), which contained "I Hate U" (12) as well as "Endorphinmachine", "Dolphin", "Shy", "319" and his own version of the song he wrote for Tevin Campbell "Shhhh", was delayed while he squabbled with the label but was arguably the best Prince album in years according to many critics and some fans. Disenchanted with what he saw as an unfairly one-sided relationship between label and artist that rendered the latter a "slave" which he wrote on his face in public,  Prince was let out of his contract with Warner Bros. in 1996. His last album of new music for the label was his best hard rocking album since "Purple Rain", Chaos and Disorder (1996). "The problems I had with so-called majors,’ he later said, "were regarding ownership and long-term contracts." Liberated from such concerns, he quickly resumed his prolific ways. Emancipation (1996), a three-disc set, attested to the artist’s creative explosion after being granted contractual freedom. It was also this time that Prince became the first artist to make full use of the internet by putting music on his website to sell. And as we see today, his influence in that aspect is now of gigantic proportions as we see that the internet is fastly becoming the gateway to changing the music industry !

Subsequent releases have included New Power Soul (1998), an earthy album credited to New Power Generation; 1999: The New Master, a re-recording of "1999," plus six remixes; and Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999), the most visible of Prince’s later discs. Distributed through a special arrangement with Arista, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic gave Prince the best of both worlds: artistic ownership of his work and major-label distribution. The album was notable for its production credit: Prince, which marked the first time he’d reverted to his old name (and not the unpronounceable symbol) in six years.

It was followed by a series of releases that were largely marketed via Prince’s website, including The Rainbow Children (2001), a mystical and spiritually themed suite, and One Nite Alone Live (2002), a three-disc box set. NEWS (2003), an album of lengthy, jazz-funk instrumentals, garnered a Grammy nomination for the ever-resourceful artist known formerly and forever as Prince. Then in 2004, Prince made a stellar "comeback" (which he quickly denouced stating that "the real fans never left and I never stopped making music") with the excellent "Musicology" which was highlighted by some of the best performances of his career including his duet with Beyonce on the Grammy’s and his jaw-dropping solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" during the George Harrison tribute on Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame for which he was inducted. The Musicology tour was also a high grossing affair raking in $96 million and even garnered him 2 grammys. And just won another one for his song "Future Baby Momma" for his new album "Planet Earth"

 Prince turns 50 this year and does not look a day-old but still gives a hell of a show and his new band is just as strong. In recent years, he’s completely toned down his image and doesn’t use profanity or raciness as his calling card. "I wrote the book on those. Been there and done that so I really wish these new artists stop trying to push the envelope. I done pushed it off the table and then some"......DIG THAT !

UNFORTUNATELY, PRINCE HAS WAGED A SERIOUS WAR ON HIS OWN UNAUTHORIZED FOOTAGE PROVIDED BY WEBSITES SO IT’S NOW HARDER TO FIND PERFORMANCES...BUT I WILL KEEP LOOKING AND WILL HIT YOU UP WITH THEM A.S.A.P

IN THE MEANTIME, READ MORE OF HOMAGE BLOGS AT:WWW.MYSPACE.COM/LAWPLANET12

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS

What's up yall ? welcome back to my homage blog series where we pay tribute to my heroes and the musical innovators in this biz. Today's spotlighted hero can only be summed up in one sentence:

LIONEL RICHIE IS THE MOTHERF------N MAN !!!!

Whether you love or hate him, there is no denying that Lionel Richie is truly one of the greatest singer-songwriter-musicians of all time. He's often called the king of adult contemporary or pop ballads. He is one of my four main influences for one of many reasons: he showed me that black artists can succeed in any style of music and is also the reason why I got into Country music when it was totally uncool for a black kid in the hood to do so. His refusal to be stereotyped or catergorized because of skin color is rebellious in that sense. His simplistic, direct lyrical style and philosophy of "Love never goes out of style" has translated into over 100 million records sold and extreme popularity all over the world.  Just ask the arabic men who cried that they love Lionel Richie as ABC news reported that grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. "I love Lionel Richie," they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song. According to Richie, he was told that U.S. soldiers were playing "All Night Long" the night that Baghdad fell. Said Richie, "I'm huge, huge in the Arab World. The answer as to why is, I don't have the slightest idea". It's funny how we first came to know this southern gentleman as the front man of one of the greatest Funk/R&B/Pop bands of all time, The Commodores back in the 1970's with the sideburns and huge afro in tact (lol). And you better believe I will do a separate homage blog on those talented dudes reeeeeal soon.

After leaving the Commodores, Lionel Richie became one of the most successful male solo artists of the '80s, arguably eclipsed during his 1981-1987 heyday only by Michael Jackson and Prince. Richie dominated the pop charts during that period with an incredible run of 13 consecutive Top Ten hits, five of them number ones as well as winning countless awards and even an Oscar. As his popularity skyrocketed, Richie somewhat moved away from his R&B origins and concentrated more on adult contemporary balladry, which had been one of his strengths even as part of the Commodores.

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr., was born on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, AL, and grew up on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute, where most of his family had worked for two generations prior. While attending college there, Richie joined the Commodores, who went on to become the most successful act on the Motown label during the latter half of the '70s. Richie served as a saxophonist, sometime vocalist, and songwriter. The Commodores had the awesome ability to pump out serious funk jams like "Machine Gun", I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind", "Gimme My Mule", "Fancy Dancer", "Sexy Lady" , "I Like What You Do", "Such A Woman" and more famously "Brick House. But it was ballads that made the group accepted more in the mainstream like "Easy","Three Times a Lady","Still" and "Just To Be Close To You" which is mostly famous for Lionel's southern preaching dialogue in the intro. "Sail On" was also a huge hit breaking ground on the Country, soul, pop. Their albums "Hot On The Tracks", "The Commodores", "Midnight Magic"and "Natural High" were all consecutive million sellers. Let me also point out that The Commodores wrote the book on slamming funk filler tracks on albums and always made sure there was some kind of funk on the albums even thought the ballads became the mainstream centerpiece. Most bands by the late 1970's began to run out of funk ideas often repeating themselves but the Alabama boys put it down with other cuts like "Squeeze The Fruit", "Getting it", "Midnight Magic" and "You're Special"  Although the Commodores maintained a democratic band structure through most of their chart run, things began to change when the '70s became the '80s.

In 1980, Richie wrote and produced country-pop singer Kenny Rogers' across-the-board number one smash "Lady," and the following year, Richie's duet with Diana Ross, "Endless Love" became the most successful single in Motown history, topping the charts for a stunning nine weeks. With the media's attention now focused exclusively on Richie which caused inevitable tensions within the Commodores. The group's 1980 solid "Heroes" album wasn't a big million seller but the album title song, The funky "Sorry To Say" and Lionel's now Gospel classic "Jesus is Love" were definitely high points.  In 1981, "In The Pocket" was Lionel's last album with his college buddies providing two more classic 1 jams with the Commodores: "Oh No" and "Lady (You Bring Me Up)"

Richie immediately set about recording his solo debut for Motown. Titled simply Lionel Richie, the album was released in late 1982 and was an immediate smash, reaching number three on the pop charts on its way to sales of over four million copies. It spun off three Top Five pop hits, including the first single, "Truly," which became Richie's first solo number one followed by classics like "You Are", "My Love" , "You Mean More To Me". If "Lionel Richie" made its creator a star, the follow-up, "Can't Slow Down" made him a superstar especially when he told Motown president Berry Gordy a year before that the 2nd album will be bigger than the first. Boasting five Top Ten singles, including the number ones "All Night Long" and "Hello". "Can't Slow Down"  hit number one, eventually sold over ten million copies, and won the 1984 Grammy for Album of the Year and his "Outrageous" chant during his speech has also become famous. Such was Richie's stature that he was invited to perform at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, a spectacular stage event that was broadcast worldwide. On the tour for this album, he surrounded himself with a real gifted band that included Peter Escovedo and his percussionist sister Sheila Escovedo who later went under Prince's wing and became the force known as Sheila E - NUFF SAID !

In 1985, Richie put his superstar status to work for a greater good, joining Michael Jackson in co-writing the USA for Africa charity single "We Are the World"; the all-star recording helped raise millions of dollars for famine relief. By the end of the year, he was on top of the charts again with by penning Diana Ross' big hit "Missing You" and his own hit "Say You, Say Me," a ballad recorded for the film "White Nights" but not included on the soundtrack album. The song was slated to be the title track on Richie's upcoming album, but delays in the recording process prevented the record from being released until August 1986, by which time the title was changed to "Dancing on the Ceiling". Several more Top Tens followed "Say You, Say Me", "Ballerina Girl", "Love Will Conquer All" and "Se La," which became the first of Richie's solo singles not to reach the pop Top Ten but became a popular universal song at his shows. Overall, "Dancing on the Ceiling" sold an impressive six million copies, although Richie's reputation for sentimental ballads was beginning to incur a backlash in some quarters mainly in R&B circles. Cries of being cheesy or sellout had been often associated with Lionel's name. In a classic response from an Ebony magazine interview in the 80's, Lionel said "I'm trying through my music to break the stereotype that says to satisfy Black people, you have to play something funky. I'm broadening the base, trying to show that Black artists are capable of playing all kinds of music. I've never forgotten who I am and where I came from". I could have not said it any better and now you know why he is my hero (lol)

1987 saw Richie's nine-year streak of writing at least one number one single come to an end. As a matter of fact, Richie all but disappeared from the music business, simply choosing to take some time off after nearly two decades of recording and performing (or, perhaps, quitting while he was ahead) and of course, that infamous event in 1987 which his wife of 13 years Brenda Richie allegedly beat him down for being with another woman in addition to having throat surgery. His silence was broken only in 1992, when Motown released a compilation titled Back to Front; in addition to some of his solo hits and a few Commodores tracks, Back to Front also featured three great new songs, including the number one R&B hit "Do It to Me" and the top 10 "My Destiny".

Richie wasn't bitten by the recording bug again until 1996, by which time he'd endured his share of personal loss: his father had passed away, and his official divorce from Brenda -- the muse behind some of his most successful ballads -- had fallen apart. In approaching his comeback, Richie attempted to update his sound to reflect a decade's worth of developments in urban R&B. The result was the classic and one of my extreme favorite R&B/Pop albums "Louder Than Words" which had jams like "Don't Wanna Lose You" , "Paradise", "Wanna Take You Down" and the Babyface-penned "Ordinary Girl".  1998's "Time" found Richie in a more familiar element, relying on his signature sound with only slight musical updates with great songs like "Touch", "I Hear Your Voice", "Every Time" and the album's title track. Richie's next 2 albums, "Renaissance" and "Just For You" was released to huge reception in Europe in late 2000 and 2001 and thanks to hit songs like "Angel" and "Cinderella" , The "Renaissance" album sold over 3 million copies worldwide. The 2006 album "Coming Home" found him working with an all-star cast of collaborators including Jermaine Dupri, Raphael Saadiq, Sean Garrett, and Dallas Austin and gave him his biggest U.S hit in years with "I Call It Love" which was 1 on the Urban Adult Contemporary charts for several weeks and made the album Gold.

  His blueprint can be seen in acts like Brian Mcknight and Ne-Yo who have transcended normal R&B/Soul stylings into major pop success while rappers have sampled not only Commodores grooves but Lionel's catalog as well which only proves that his music is forever timeless and he's far from finished and done

CHECK OUT THESE CLASSIC PERFORMANCES FROM LIONEL RICHIE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-I9eD2jQQ - THE COMMODORES "MACHINE GUN"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-njvKSPCWw - THE COMMODORES "FLYING HIGH"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRJh9-q5Dos  - THE COMMODORES "CEELEBRATE"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YrRnNFgIUg - "RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDZcqBgCS74 - "HELLO"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQDXs75Ulo - DANCING ON THE CEILING"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx-PJfsvR5Q - "I CALL IT LOVE"