Rev. Al Sharpton on Evil

March 31, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

Heard on The KISS-FM Radio “Open Line” show on Sunday Morning, March 30, 2008.

Al Sharpton said, “Evil comes in like a needle and spreads like an oak tree.”

Is that from the Bible?

“…the impact we’ve made on the world stage. Cause if you look at the political race in America, if you look at Liberation struggles throughout Africa including South Africa, ALL of that they say, very publicly and emphatically, they were studying the civil-rights movement and Dr. King. So a lot of times when we look at a parochial, narrow way, We underestimate our impact on world history and the world stage. And I think it is coming into being, those seeds that were planted, are now blossoming and blooming.”


-- The Wow Jones Report

Super Quote -- (re: Farrah Gray)

Monday, March 31, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

SUPER QUOTE – Farrah Gray

In a Black History Month Supplement section of a newspaper, (dated February 20, 2008, not sure of which paper—perhaps The New York Post?) I stumbled across an article on young, black, self-made ‘real’lionaire Farrah Gray. In which Mr. Gray is promoting a new book of his called “Get Real, Get Rich: Conquering The 7 Lies Blocking From Success”.

Now while the title of his book is a bit more provocative than the book itself, Mr. Gray is good for a super quote or two.

The article, “Making Bank: Self-made millionaire turned author Farrah Gray shares secrets to getting rich” by Georgette Roberts synopsizes Farrah’s tale of growing up poor on the south side of Chicago and his transition to becoming at 22, a famous and rich man.

When discussing how he opened an office on Wall Street at the age of 13, Mr. Gray remembers,

“It was a very interesting experience. I choose Wall Street because I knew that if Wall Street coughs, the rest of the world sneezes. I also wanted to be in the heart of the financial center that drives not just America but the whole world.” -- Farrah Gray

Another Super Quote, courtesy of Mr. Metaphor.

- The Wow Jones Report

Lady Assassin -- Shaw Brothers Movie (Clip)

Saturday, March 29, 2008 by Wow Jones

Hadn't ever seen this movie before. Apparently it's called Lady Assassin. Below is an action scene from the movie. WOW!






- The Wow Jones Report

How To Boost Your Stage Show Performance (Rick James vs. Prince PART 2!!!)

Saturday, March 29, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

In an earlier post, I wrote about an interesting anecdote from the Rick James autobiography regarding Rick James' and Prince's rivalry.

In a post on a Prince website message board, a member wrote about his/her experiences watching Prince open up for Rick James. What he/she revealed is just as insightful as Rick James' account.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDogz (wildgoldenhoney from Prince.org) account at a Rick James concert, check it out:

1979: Attended a Rick James concert in Charlotte, NC. Prince was the opening act - Blew EVERYONE away! Rick James could not compare when he followed Prince's act. In fact, about 20 minutes into Rick's set, people in the audience started walking out. It wasn't that Rick James performed poorly, it was just that after seeing Prince - there was no where else to go! Prince wore everybody out! I feel like I was a part of history that night. May Rick James be resting peacefully.


His entire set was about 45 minutes or so of complete mayhem and frenzy!

When you first entered the Coliseum, there was no curtain and everything was setup at the front edge of the stage: mic-stands, keyboards, and very few other props. The drum set was in the middle of the stage placed up on a little riser with an oval-shaped sign over it (which was first covered in canvas) that had "PRINCE" spelled out in lights, as in the logo on his 1979 "Prince" album. Everybody was just standing around, jamming to the pre-concert music that they play over the system, smoking joints, grooving, and basically waiting for Rick James.

No one really knew who Prince was yet. In fact, I thought we were about to see a band called "Prince For You" (the title of his first album). I didn't know yet that Prince was an individual and not just the name of a band. I thought certainly that no one would be actually named "Prince".

Then… BAMM! The lights went out, and you could make out 3 shadowy figures move onto the stage, and then stood with their backs to the audience. The rest of the band took their place, and all you could hear over the sound system was someone speaking in a low, sort of foreboding tone:

"Charlotte, are you ready for me?" -- Prince

The drum roll hit, the stage lights came up, and Andre, Prince, and Dez turned and all charged about 4 or 5 steps toward the audience – and everybody freaked the Hell out! These guys looked scary as shit! The one in the middle (who I soon learned was Prince) had this spiky hairdo, full make-up, a pink leather motorcycle jacket, panties, black stockings, and pumps! The audience reaction was pure fright! Then Prince reached around to his back, pulled his guitar around to the front, then the whole band started jamming “Sexy Dancer”, and the crowd quickly got over their fright and started rocking to the music and jamming along - all hands were in the air. By the end of that first song, everybody was like: “Oh shit! This guy AIN’T playing!” The party was ON full blast!

Their play list consisted of songs from his first two albums, but the song they did that most sticks out in my mind is when they played “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”, because Prince was ad-libbing a lot. Like:


Why you wanna treat me so bad? Is it the clothes I wear?
Why you wanna treat me so mean? Is it the style of my hair?

But what completely blew people away was when they played their encore: “I Wanna Be Your Lover”.

Prince went mad, threw off that cool ass pink leather jacket, peeled off his stockings, threw them at the audience, and was running around the stage jamming to the beat with nothing but his guitar, bikini underwear, and high-heeled boots (with little stars on the side). And then once he was done jacking-off the microphone (as if he were giving it head - Prince was a real whore on stage back then), tossed his guitar to the side, reached his hand down into his panties to cover his dick, and pulled his panties all the way down to his knees, gyrating toward the audience with only his hand covering his dick! WTF!!! The audience was going crazy! At the end of his set, Prince said “Damn Charlotte, we’re gonna have to come back here again soon!”

And that was it! I was a stoned-cold Prince fan! I started telling people about Prince the next day!

At that point, everybody was standing around like they had completely forgot about Rick James. But the roadies came out and moved all of Prince’s stuff off stage, the sign over the drums came apart into two pieces and they removed that. But what really tripped me out was once all of Prince’s equipment was off stage, they removed the backdrop that was behind Prince’s set, and you could see that the stage was actually HUGE and that Prince had only been setup right up at the front. There was a giant curtain hanging behind all of that. After several more moments of getting everything set up, the lights dimmed again, the music started, the curtain opened up, and there you could see that this stage was about a mile wide and a mile deep! This was Rick James’s stage!

Rick came out, and The King of Punk Funk reminded you of what you came here for! His show was awesome, but I’ll save it for another thread. But it was interesting to note that many people in the audience started moving out, because at least initially, Rick was no comparison to what we had all just seen out there! Don’t get me wrong, Rick tore the roof off that sucker, but it was hard to stop thinking about what we had just seen Prince do out there.

Rick’s show was about 2 hours long, and the Stoned City Band succeeded in funking us to death! The show was actually exhausting! I remember thinking “How in the Hell can they do this every night, and from town to town?” Ahh, the memories!

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See what you gotta do to win a crowd over? What EVER it takes!!! Are you ready?

-- Wow Jones

Mukamabano Marie Claudine -- "I Miss My Mother"

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 -- By Wow Jones

Mukamabano Marie Claudine -- "I Miss My Mother"

Met this woman yesterday and on a whim videotaped her testimony. Here it is.





-- Wow Jones

Director Stephen Chow delivers a WOW of a movie and rockets audiences to movie heaven with CJ7!

Monday, March 10, 2008 -- By Wow Jones

Director Stephen Chow delivers a WOW of a movie and rockets audiences to movie heaven with CJ7!

A close-up of hands are the first thing we see in Stephen Chow’s new movie CJ7. Calloused, dingy, leathery and weather-beaten - - some would say that those hands are evidence of someone who “works hard for a living.” These hands are involved in the tender act of sewing-up the toe point of a tattered pair of cast-aside shoes. It’s this act, along with the subsequent shot of Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce hood ornaments atop cars that are shown dropping off rich-kids at an elite private school that poetically announces Stephen Chow’s awareness of the worlds he’s chronicling. For those folks unfamiliar with Stephen Chow’s movies, these shots merely hint at the continued astonishment this masterpiece affords. How could they know that Stephen Chow (whose hands are the hands which open the movie) would craft and present such a gift to audiences worldwide?





As in movies filled with feeling like Robert DeNiro’s A Bronx Tale and Chen Kaige’s Together, Stephen Chow dramatizes, through the role of a poor construction worker, the task of imparting values like character and integrity to his son Dicky (Xu Jiao). As the shot at a construction-worksite that introduces Stephen Chow illustrates, it’s a task that’s both daunting and dizzying. While it may initially appear that CJ7 will be a dour treatment of a serious drama, Stephen Chow quickly introduces the verve that distinguishes CJ7 from the DeNiro and Kaige movie comparisons.







In response to Dicky being taunted by rich classmates at school for not having the latest toy (a CJ1 robot),






Stephen Chow (with his salt-and-pepper colored hair) brings home a discarded toy that he finds at the garbage dump he frequents and gives it to his son. Turns out that this toy is an alien from another planet, and this toy becomes the perfect pet-toy-gift -- one that’s capable of limitless love and companionship. As in movies like Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant and Steven Spielberg’s E.T., CJ7 also examines the special relationship between a child and his toy/pet—humorously evoking the electric thrill of having a new friend. When this pet-toy (whom Dicky names CJ7) is brought to school, it also presents an opportunity for Dicky to get schoolyard-style redemption. Rapturous mayhem ensues and surprises abound.




In CJ7 Stephen Chow generously surrenders the spotlight to the child performers in the cast – particularly when he plays straight-man to son Dicky, played by actress Xu Jiao in a gut-bustingly funny, unrestrained and nimble debut (!!!) performance. I also suspect that Xu Jiao isn’t the only performer in CJ7 engaging in a bit gender-bending casting. In any event, upon the hint that this toy is not what it appears to be, Dicky’s scream (and his raised elbows bent, hands-up, semi-Alfred E Neuman ‘What Me Worry?’ gesture) to his dad is at once filled with fear, anxiety and yes, excitement.







In another scene, Dicky stomps away from his discarded pet-toy and is at first disappointed and angry. Then, as the extent of his lapse in judgement registers, he’s ashamed, regretful and contrite. Folks, you don’t often see this level of accomplished acting.





But it’s in Stephen Chow’s staging of detailed slapstick where his verve is unmistakably evident. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice (and chortle at) the subtle touch of a Physical Education teacher whose bit of business consists of constantly pulling up the waistband of his shorts to his sternum. Nor will sensitive viewers miss a child being tossed the length of a football field leaving skid marks in his wake. Whether it’s a back-alley brawl between CJ7 and a scruffy dog, a mishap at the construction site where Stephen Chow works, or a miracle at a soccer field, the action here is kinetic, inventive, funny and, most importantly, tied to emotion and a compelling narrative.

With the movie’s twists and turns, my seat got quite a workout when I alternately doubled over in laughter and leaned back as I gasped in astonishment. Chuck Jones is smiling down from heaven knowing this movie is in the world. I’d also guess that fellow comic hyphenate Tyler Perry is psychically sending a high-five in approval and appreciation. Gag-by-gag, stunt-by-stunt, and miracle-by-miracle, Director Stephen Chow delivers a WOW of a movie-gift to the world and rockets worldwide audiences to movie heaven with CJ7!

"Gag-by-gag, stunt-by-stunt, and miracle-by-miracle, Director
Stephen Chow delivers a WOW of a movie-gift to the world and rockets worldwide audiences to movie heaven with CJ7!" -- Wow Jones of The Wow Jones Report

Well, the packed, noon Times Square crowd that I saw the movie with on Sunday sure thought so.

-- Wow Jones

“CJ7” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested).


CJ7 Opened on Friday in New York and Los Angeles.


Directed by Stephen Chow

Written (in Cantonese, with English subtitles) by Mr. Chow, Vincent Kok, Tsang Kan Cheong, Sandy Shaw Lai-King, Fung Chih Chiang and Lam Fung;


Director of Photography: Poon Hang Sang

Editor: Angie Lam


Music: Raymond Wong


Production Designer: Oliver Wong


Action Choreography: Ku Huen Chiu and Yuen Shun Yi;


Producers: Mr. Chow, Chui Po Chu, Han San Ping and Mr. Kok;


Released by Sony Pictures Classics.


Running time: 1 hour 26 minutes.



WITH: Xu Jiao (Dicky Chow), Stephen Chow (Ti), Kitty Zhang (Miss Yuen), Lee Sheung Ching (Mr. Cao), Fun Min Hun (P.E. Teacher), Huang Lei (Johnny) and Lam Tze Chung (Boss).

How To Have Your Audience Begging For More (Re: Garth Brooks)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008. -- by Wow Jones









Country Star Garth Brooks' quote made at the end of his Kansas City concert special broadcast on GAC TV, “Garth Brooks: One Man, One City, One Night” was one whopper of a quote.


I saw the concert in early February after getting a pal to Tivo the concert during the Christmas holidays. After performing his heart out (despite showing some rust after not performing regularly in 7-8 years), he did something unique. At the end of his show, he acknowledged his situation and said something profound--with emotion.

“You guys came back to me for this music.” His voice cracked as he declared, “I promise you, if you wait for me, I’ll be back!” -- Garth Brooks to fans

Tantalizing and beguiling. Heartfelt promises tend to do that.






P.S. By the way, It sure was nice to see Garth Brook Band mainstays like Dave Gant, Mike Palmer, Jimmy Mattingly, Mark Greenwood, Stephanie Davis again.

-- The Wow Jones Report

BAND CREDITS

Lead Electric Guitar: Gordon Kennedy
Lap & Steel Guitar: Bruce Bouton
Acoustic Guitar And Vocals: Stephanie Davis
Bass And Vocals: Mark Greenwood
Keyboards: Dave Gant
Fiddle & Acoustic Guitar: Jimmy Mattingly
Drums & Percussion: Mike Palmer
Background Singers: Vicki Hampton
Karyn Rochelle
Robert Bailey

SUPER QUOTE (Re: Ronald Dale)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

Check out this onomatopoetic moment when Ronald Dale is shown his car after it’s been upgraded while a guest on the NASCAR ANGELS: The Heart Of Nascar” TV show. I saw this broadcast on an ABC station on a 3am-ish Monday morning, February 4, 2008.

I was tuning in to watch blonde bombshell host Shannon Wiseman

wiggle as she pranced around while making this presentation to Ronald Dale. As Ronald Dale expressed his surprise at his pimped out new ride, I thought hey—this is quite a moment.

Upon seeing his new car, Ronald Dale cried,

“That can’t be my clickety-clunk car! My Goodness, my, my, my…” -- Ronald Dale

Ronald Gale went on to explain (using our friend Mr. Simile), “under the car sounded like two squirrels playing with the pecans or something.”

-- The Wow Jones Report

How To Boost Your Stage Show Presentation (re: Bruce Springsteen)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 -- By Wow Jones

Came across this anecdote while reading a profile on music executive Clive Davis. I've come across this anecdote many, many times in prior Clive Davis profiles but I am getting this from the February 21, 2008 issue of Rolling Stone (Britney Spears is on the cover). The article's author is Rich Cohen. In this anecdote Clive Davis mentions the advice he gave to beginning rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Clive Davis

“I took over a theater in L.A. called the Ahmanson. It had a huge stage - - bigger than Radio City. I put Anthony Newman with the chamber ensemble. I put Miles Davis on with Johnny Mathis and Springsteen. “

“Bruce gets on, I’m sitting in the audience. He’s singing ‘Spirit In the Night,’ standing on this big fucking stage, and not moving. I go up and say, ‘Listen, it’s one thing when you’re in Max’s Kansas City or in a small club where there’s no room. But Bruce - - when you got on a stage like this, you’ve got to move!’ " -- Clive Davis on early Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen in the 70s

“I said, ‘Go to this side of the stage, go to the other side. Make use of the stage!’ “

"Segue to 1975. Bruce calls me and says, ‘I’m playing at The Bottom Line. You’ve gotta come.’ I go with Lou Reed, who’s never even heard of Bruce at this time. The show begins. I can’t even recognize Bruce. He’s a dervish, jumping over tables, going all over the room."

Bruce Springsteen in the 70s

"I go backstage, and before I say anything, Bruce says, ‘Did I move enough for you?’ ” -- Clive Davis

MOVE across the stage people!

-- The Wow Jones Report

Super Quote: (re: President Abraham Lincoln on Edwin M Stanton)

Wednesday March 12, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

Abraham Lincoln

Here's a super quote by Abraham Lincoln regarding his Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. In it, he explains how much Stanton meant to him during the Civil War.

Edwin M. Stanton

“He is the rock on the beach of our national ocean against which the breakers dash and roar, dash and roar without ceasing. He fights back the angry waters and prevents them from undermining and overwhelming the land. Gentlemen, I do not see how he survives, why he is not crushed and torn to
pieces. Without him I should be destroyed.” -- President Abraham Lincoln On Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton

Masterful rhetoric! I lifted the quote from the incredible James L. Swanson book, "Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer".

--The Wow Jones Report

SUPER QUOTE (re: James Mtume)

Author "Principal" Baruti K. Kafele with James Mtume on "Open Line"

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

James Mtume in NY Daily News RADIO Dial Section – David Hinckley 3-12-08

Read this today and got quite a chuckle. Musican, Producer, Songwriter, Political Activist and Radio Co-Host James Mtume gives a zinger of a quote to David Hinckley in his Radio Dial column in today’s NY Daily News. (“NYC offers few choices to hear black voices” – David Hinckley)

When talking about his own disillusion with America’s political system and its relationship to American Blacks he offers,

“the Republicans rob banks and the Democrats drive the getaway car.” -- James Mtume

Mr. James Mtume "The Third Answer" often drops that quote and many other Mtume-isms on the WRKS-FM (98.7 KISS-FM) Sunday morning show “Open Line”.

Somebody book this man on one of those talking heads poltical tv shows! Hell, he should come out with a book of Mtume-isms…


-- The Wow Jones Report

Super Quote: (Re: Mike Tannenbaum, GM of NY Jets)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 --by Wow Jones

In Tuesday’s March 4, 2008 edition of The New York Post (Jets Gone Wild: Fork Up Big Bucks for Pace, Woody – by Paul Schwartz), NY Jet GM Mike Tannenbaum also made use of the services of our man, Mr, Analogy. When commenting on the NY Jets aggressive upgrading of the team by way of trades and the signing of free agents, Tannenbaum joked,

“I think we’ve bought the suit. Now maybe we have to buy a couple of neckties.” -- NY Jet GM Mike Tannenbaum

Great use of analogy to get your point across, Mike!

--The Wow Jones Report

Super Quote (re: Janel Bennett: Baby Mama of Singer Mario Winans)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 -- by Wow Jones



On Saturday, March 8th, 2008, the Page Six section of The New York Post reports that R & B singer Mario Winans is alleged to be a deadbeat dad.






A woman named Janel Bennett uses strong nouns to illustrate the differences between how she and her child Jordan live versus how Winan's current lady friend Joy and child are treated.



Bennett said,

"Joy lives in a 16-bedroom mansion and her daughter wears mink coats and Seven jeans, and my son doesn't have boots to wear in the winter." She claimed Winans has only seen Jordan once, and "doesn't send Christmas cards, doesn't send him birthday cards, nothing." -- Baby Mama Janel Bennett

Sheesh. What a bunch of soiled laundry!


-- The Wow Jones Report

New Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull Poster

Monday, March 10, 2008 -- by Wow Jones







WOW. Now this poster makes some promises! Action and Spectacle Galore! Illustrator Drew Struzan does it again?


Bring Indy 4 on! The new poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.



-- The Wow Jones Report

JUICY QUOTE (Erykah Badu in JET Magazine)

Monday, March 10, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

Promoting her new CD, singer, actress Erakah Badu has landed on the cover of both Essence Magazine and a recent JET magazine. If you are deemed worthy enough to land a cover of a nationl publication, it would behoove you to be ready with at the least a juicy quote.. Erakah Badu shows you that she is by using the services of our friend, Mr. Analogy.

In her JET cover story (March 3, 2008, Erykah Badu Tells Why It Took 5 Years for CD ‘New Amerykah’),




Erykah declares that she believes in “lifetimes not deadlines” when referring to five years that’s passed since her last offering and her latest CD. She explains,

“I’m more like an oven than a microwave,” -- Erykah Badu

Erykah goes on and elaborates on that point when she says, “I don’t quickly serve up something up just because people expect me to. I serve it up when it is well done, cooked and ready. I go by the lifeline, not by the deadline. I believe in lifelines not deadlines. I do it when I feel it.” Expounding on the last point, she further explains, “Deadline seems like some kind of finalization of a thing. Lifeline is when it is born and starts to live. A lifeline gives birth to something and giving birth is a process.”

Brilliant. The article goes on and has Erykah talk about her children, her new music, her life and her family. Read it when you can.

-- The Wow Jones Report

Trailers for new Stephen Chow movie CJ7

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 -- By Wow Jones

Below are two trailers for the new Stephen Chow movie CJ7. Look out for the movie when it hits the United States.


Old Trailer




Newer Trailer




--Wow Jones

Do You Have STAR QUALITY? The Head Snap Heard Round The World (re: Daniel Noriega vs. Simon Cowell)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 by Wow Jones

This is where I first noticed AMERICAN IDOL's Daniel Noriega. In the clip included below, he gets at AMERICAN IDOL judge Simon Cowell.

Do you have star quality?

Peep the attitude, the swagger, the eye-rolling...




-- The Wow Jones Report

P.S. Thanks to Critic John Demetry for bringing this clip to my attention. I also borrowed his headline.

Do You Have STAR QUALITY? Daniel Noriega: YOUR American Idol?

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 --by Wow Jones

AMERICAN IDOL's Daniel Noriega. Look at this boy. It's too bad people are intimidated by him because he may as well get the word GAY taatooed on his cheeks.

Yes I know, David Archuleta is the front runner, but damn, I can't stop thinking about Daniel Noriega. He's...adorable.

Look at that Jessica Alba-esque face, the puppy-dog eyes, and check out that mock pout!!!

Scored to the Alicia Keys single "No One" here's a montage of images of the man himself, Daniel Noriega. Embrace the essence!




-- The Wow Jones Report

P.S. Thanks to Critic John Demetry for bringing this clip to my attention.

How To Improve Your Stage Presence (re: Miri "Sonyk Rok" Park)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 -- by Wow Jones


It only took 8 seconds. Near the end of the AIR GUITAR NATION documentary dvd, I saw a vision unlike any other. As the camera faded in from black, it tilts up to reveal the sexiest pair of shins, calves and thighs I'd ever seen. Covered up by white knee-high socks, knees bent slightly and crouched atop her tip-toes in rock star stance.

Dressed in a Catholic schoolgirl-esque outfit, Miri "Sonyk Rok" Park leaped down from one level of the stage onto the other and strutted across the stage like she owned it.

With Sonyk Rok's white shirt/blouse tied at the waist, black sandals, white socks and dark plaid skirt which covered up her white panties--she was not to be denied. Her forceful nods had her long, silky hair flailing about as she shook her head from side to side. While contorting her face--grimacing, straining, screaming, lips pursued, singing and howling as she stomped forward across the stage towards the camera as the flashbulbs flashed. What can I say, I was transfixed.


And to think, it only took 8 seconds. After a quick glance at the photo below, I'm surprised it took THAT long.









Her image was part of a montage detailing what happened to the Air Guitar contestants in the time since the filming of much of the production. All I can say is, I'll never forget her.

That stage presence, that beauty, that swagger. Man...


More later.


--The Wow Jones Report

How To Boost Your Stage Show Presentation (Rick James vs. Prince)

Tuesday March 4, 2008 -- by Wow Jones

So you and your band and/or crew are practicing in your garage and/or basement and you're ready. There's a gig and there you are onstage looking out over a crowd of onlookers. As you sing your tunes and screaming into the microphone, you realize that your performing isn't getting the response you desire. Dudes are yawning, girls are nodding off. What do you do?









In the book, “The Confessions Of A Rick James: Memoirs Of A Super Freak” Rick James has a revealing anecdote about Prince. When preparing to tour after the release of his album Fire It Up, Rick James started to think about getting an opening act.

“There was a record burning up the airwaves called ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ by some cat named Prince. He played guitar, and everyone was telling me how a tour with me and him would be great. I bought his album and really enjoyed it, especially ‘Sexy Dancer.’ I thought the kid was pretty funky. So I asked for the company to send me a video on him. I received the video and as I watched him I thought he reminded me a bit of myself, except that he didn’t move as much. I asked Prince to open up the Fire It Up tour…the only thing I had heard about him was that he was shy. I had hoped he wasn’t too shy, or he had no right being on the road with me, that’s for sure.”

On meeting Prince, Rick James mentions, “When I walked in through the backstage entrance, Prince was sitting on his group’s drums playing some bullshit beat. I sat down on our set where he could see me and began playing some serious shit. He looked over at me and just got his little ass up and walked away.”

On finally seeing him play Rick James reveals, “The first time I saw Prince and his band I felt sorry for him. Here’s this little dude wearing hi-heels, playing this New Wave Rock And Roll, not moving or anything on stage, just standing there wearing this trench coat.

Then at the end of his set he’d take off his trench coat and he’d be wearing little girl’s bloomers. I just died. The guys in the audience just booed this poor thing to death..”

As the tour went on, Rick James noticed something about Prince’s behavior, “Whenever I was on stage I’d see Prince on the side of the stage just staring and watching everything I did, like a kid in school. I’d walk over to him during a song and point my bass right in his face, grab my crotch, give him the finger and keep jammin’. He was remembering everything I did, like a computer.”

Detailing his stage repertoire Rick James reveals, “I used to do these tricks with the microphone - - flip it, catch it backwards, you name it. It was a trademark of mine. I also used to do a lot of crowd chants. I’d have my hand on my ear while I called these funk chants to the audience. This was another trademark.”

“I used to do these tricks with the microphone - - flip it, catch it backwards, you name it. It was a trademark of mine. I also used to do a lot of crowd chants. I’d have my hand on my ear while I called these funk chants to the audience. This was another trademark.” -- Rick James

One night during the tour, Rick James had a surprise waiting for him, “One day I walked into the auditorium, getting ready to go on, and I heard the crowd chanting loudly. I went to check it out. Here’s Prince doing my chants. Not only that he was stalking the stage just like me, doing the funk sign, flipping the microphone and everything. The boy had stolen my whole show. I was pissed, and so was my band. This went on night after night, every show I’d see more of my own routine. It got to the point I couldn’t do the stuff I had always done cuz Prince was doing it before I came on. It started to look like I was copying him.”

Something needed to get done. Rick James explains, “Everyone knew what was happening: his management, my management. One day things almost blew up. I was pissed, my band was pissed, and something had to be done. So my management and Prince’s management got together, along with Prince and his band and me and my band to have it out once and for all.“


So what happened? Well, “First, I met with Prince’s manager and told him that if Prince did any more of my show he was off the tour. Even his own manager agreed that Prince was stealing my show. Finally, we all met in Prince’s room: Prince, me and my bands. My band, looking like six foot five Black Maasai Warriors with their braids and leather, sat at one end, while Prince’s band, in their eyelashes and make-up, sat at the other. Prince’s band was afraid, very afraid. Levi and the boys were ready to give an ass-whipping. Prince sat on a bed and hardly said a word. He acted like a little bitch while his band and mine patched up their differences. After that confrontation, things went back to normal - - me kicking his ass every night.”

Whatever you think of Prince—the rock star, he was cognizant of his own inferior stage presentation and recognized that improvements needed to be made. He looked around and saw a fellow musician/performer doing a tremendous job while on the road. He made the appropriate adjustments and the rest is history.

MOVE People! Get around the stage. Don't just STAND there!

By the way. what does history say close to thirty years later?

-- The Wow Jones Report

How To Give A Great Soundbite (Re: Sid Heal)

Monday, March 3rd, 2008 by Wow Jones.



Yesterday's broadcast of 60 Minutes had a story that featured a soundbite people could learn from.



The story, "The Pentagon's Ray Gun" was about the development of a new weapon the military has developed. A new "ray gun" that emits...microwave beams of heat that are designed to eliminate deaths incurred while trying to control crowds. Called the A.D.S. (Active Denial System) it's taken some time to try and use the gun in Iraq.



Sid Heal, a former Marine Corps point man for non-lethal weapons tried to help explain why it's taken so long for the Armed Forces to use the new non-lethal weapon.

"I was the bugle in the orchestra. I was playing the same music, but it wasn't sounding the same." -- former Marine Sid Heal

Terrific soundbite. Sid Heal uses metaphor to get a point across and vividly make an abstract point.



-- The Wow Jones Report

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Football Player Kris Jenkins (now of The NY Jets) SUPERMAN Quote

Saturday, March 1st, 2008 by Wow Jones

Read an article in today's NY Daily News that features a quote that serves as another example of how you talk when being interviewed by media.

It's now Free-Agent Seaon in the NFL and Carolina Panther defensive tackle Kris Jenkins was just traded to the NY Jets. The article points out how Jenkins comes from a defensive system (the conventional 4-3 setup) that is unlike the Jets' 3-4 defense and wonders how he'll adjust.

His response? During a conference call Kris Jenkins said,

"It will be somewhat of an adjustment. I'm human. I can't put on a red cape and fly away, but it's something I can excel at. I'm excited about the challenge. I get to be the big stud in the middle and make it easier for the linebackers." -- New NY JET Defensive Tackle Kris Jenkins on adjusting to the 3-4 defense that NY JETS employ.

-- The Wow Jones Report