Prince (Musician)

Five Disco Songs That Make Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" Blush

Hey 2013. We need to talk. You've already produced a number of good albums, some even by new bands. But I've got a bone to pick with you, and it's about this new song by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams. It's called "Get Lucky" and it's making waves with its disco revival sound that I'm guessin ... More >>

The 10 Most Hilariously Awful Wrestling Entrance Themes

Last Friday was the 46th birthday of one of my absolute favorite wrestlers, William Regal aka Steve Regal before the WWE instituted its rather bizarre No-More-Steves rule. Not that it matters, his real name is Darren Matthews. "Regal" is an amazing man, rising to hold more than 60 titles in various ... More >>

Saturday Night: Red Bull Thre3style Regional Qualifier at Fitzgerald's

Red Bull Thre3Style DJ Competition Regional Qualifier Fitzgerald's January 19th, 2013 The illustrious Fitzgerald's was once again the center of the city's rich music scene Saturday night, as it hosted the Red Bull Thre3Style Houston qualifier. Five of Houston's brightest and most talented DJ stars ... More >>

Rest of the Best

Houston's top 5 local music venues.

Your Halloween Playlist: Don't Play That, Play This

Recently Rocks Off told you how to put together a solid party playlist. We're coming up on the time of year when people start throwing Halloween parties, so now it's time to get a little more specific. Don't be content to throw on the old 30 Spookiest Halloween Hits album and walk away, because gue ... More >>

The Top 10 Weirdest U.S. No. 1 Hits

It's not often that the pop charts will surprise you. After all, the average consumer in most countries doesn't have time to delve too deep into an artist's catalogue. They don't often pick up on songs that will stand the test of time. They like the ephemera record labels tell them is hot right now. ... More >>

Reader's Poll: The Compact Disc Turns 30

This week the compact disc turned 30 years old, and will no doubt spend it drinking with friends and wondering where the time went and lamenting the fact that they haven't gotten married yet. Few people know that the first commercial CD produced was Billy Joel's 1978 release 52nd Street, an album ... More >>

Career Editing: 6 Songwriters Turned Screenwriters

Last week singer-songwriter and dubious indie sensation Lana Del Rey told Australian Vogue that film work is her "happy place" and that she plans to make the transition into writing for film and "stay there." Whether this means she will stop making music or not is anyone's guess and whether that's a ... More >>

7 Disney Characters Based On Pop Musicians

One of the interesting things about Walt Disney films is the way they borrow from or hold up a mirror to popular culture. Along with great storytelling and good songs, this is quite possibly why people like them in the first place. In fact, it's how some of us get introduced to great artists such a ... More >>

Top 5 Singular Musical Forces

Great bands are a dime a dozen. How often has a great band broken up, only to have the individual efforts of the ex-members lambasted by critics and public alike? Sometimes the chemistry of a band, collectively, makes them great, but sometimes it's "The Talent," a singular musical force. When I sp ... More >>

Parental Advisory! Another Look at the PMRC's "Dirty 15"

In 1985, the Parental Music Resource Center was formed as basically a watchdog group over popular music. Essentially, their goal was censorship. However, there was one big problem: The group was made up of the likes of Tipper Gore (wife of then-Senator and future Vice President Al Gore), Susan Bake ... More >>

Readers Poll: What R Your Favorite Prince Songs 2 Listen 2?

Today Prince Rogers Nelson turns another year older, hitting the big 5-4. Last year on the occasion of his birthday, I showed you some fun and freaky pics from his career as pop music's most enigmatic, maddening and (bare) ass-shaking personality. This time around though, I asked folks on Twitter ... More >>

Jane's Addiction & Other Big 1987 Debut Albums

Tonight Jane's Addiction comes to the Bayou Music Center, touring behind last year's The Great Escape Artist, only their fourth studio album in their nearly 27 years as a band. A few weeks back Rocks Off talked to lead singer and Lollapalooza honcho Perry Farrell about the band's future and what cou ... More >>

You Got Served: The Top 10 Legal Battles In Rock History

Ten years ago last week, one of the most vicious legal battles in rock history took another ugly turn. Ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl found themselves in King County Superior Court over a dispute with Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, over the band's considerable royalti ... More >>

Mo' Better Tunes: The Ultimate Spike Lee Soundtrack

​When Spike Lee puts out a new film, I always make a point to check it out, even if I hated his last one. He's directed more hits than misses, and even his duds have been quality duds. The first Spike Lee joint that I saw as a kid was Malcolm X, which I definitely did not understand at all beyond ... More >>

Top 5 Bands We'd Like To See At The Ballet

Tonight, Houston Ballet performs Rooster, Associate Choreographer Christopher Bruce's dance interpretations of eight Rolling Stones songs including "Little Red Rooster," "Paint It Black" and "Sympathy for the Devil." If that sounds a little lowbrow for the ballet, the program also includes two works ... More >>

Five Great Middle Finger Moments In Music History

Monday morning, the Internet was awash in consternation and jpegs after M.I.A. flashed her middle finger during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime performance Sunday, meaning Janet Jackson is finally off the hook after all these years. To be honest, Rocks Off watched the entire halftime show and must hav ... More >>

Decoding Newt Gingrich Based on His Known Musical Tastes

The digital revolution is slowly killing our favorite form of amateur psychoanalysis. We've all gone through someone's CD collection at some point when they weren't in the room, and from the albums we found we were able to deduce something about their personality. Now, we don't even have a CD shelf, ... More >>

5 Musicians Who Changed Their Names to Inspire Jim Crane and the Astros

​This week, the new owner of the Houston Astros Jim Crane opened Pandora's Box of Hearty Suggestions For A Struggling Franchise and discussed changes to the team. Cheap beer (yay!), cheaper seats (double yay!) should be one of the first things but Crane suggested that the Astros do the unthink ... More >>

No-Fun Number Ones: The Worst Chart Toppers Since Tiffany

It's no secret that chart success is no real guarantor of musical quality. Hell, "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" went number one way back in 1952, pissing kids off so badly that they had to invent rock 'n roll. Twenty-five years ago this week, however, Billboard reached a new low when m ... More >>

14 Notable Female Rock Drummers

girlscantwhat.com​Last week, we rounded up a list of our favorite female rock bassists. We'd like to continue the trend of honoring rock's finest females, by next recognizing 14 notable female rock drummers. As usual, we will focus on the live-performing, touring drummers over time, rather tha ... More >>

7 Musician Exes (Or Daughters) Who Should Write Tell-All Books

7. Dita Von Teese (Marilyn Manson): Famed burlesque performer Dita Von Teese (above) met Marilyn Manson in 2001. He proposed in 2004, and the couple wed a year later. Von Teese filed for divorce when she couldn't deal with Manson's alcohol abuse and his extramarital affair with actress Evan Rachel W ... More >>

"Change Your Name To A Symbol" & Other Dumb Ways To Derail Your Music Career

brightestyoungthings.comThe sign officially known as "Love Symbol #2"​Sunday marked the 18th anniversary of the date Prince changed his name to that confounded "Love Symbol", and we can't help but wonder if he would have had more success had he waited a decade or two. Like it or not, in toda ... More >>

Purple, Possessed & Pervy: Rock's Top 10 Houses

harleyslist.blogspot.comJohn Lennon and Yoko Ono in a happy pose in front of their home (and future site of Lennon's assassination).​Celebrity homes will always be a source of fascination, offering a glimpse at the intimate, private side of those who live their lives in the public eye. And it' ... More >>

Purple Rain: How The Songs Look In The Script

​On this day in 1984, the film that elevated Prince in the pop-culture firmament from above-average R&B singer-songwriter to, well, Prince, premiered in Hollywood. Purple Rain was a box-office hit, while the soundtrack went on to win an Oscar for Original Song Score and become one of the bigge ... More >>

Forrest Gump & Other "Generation-Defining" Soundtracks

​The Forrest Gump soundtrack debuted on June 28, 1994, a week ahead of the film itself, which would go on to smash box-office records, win numerous awards and become one of the most beloved movies of the past 20 years. It is still endlessly quotable, emotional, and entertaining, and the soundt ... More >>

The Best Fourth Songs On History's Greatest Albums

Sorry, Manowar, maybe next year...​As we come up on the July 4th weekend, Rocks Off considered a myriad of blog ideas to commemorate the holiday. Most patriotic songs, album covers, artists? Sorry, Lee Greenwood, Richard Pryor, and Ted Nugent, but it's all been covered. On this weekend of inde ... More >>

The Best & Weirdest Pictures Of Prince 4 U

The symbol for "scrumptious"...​Today is Prince's 53rd birthday, making him just 4 days older than Rocks Off's dad, which puts things in perspective. When Prince was wearing an assless catsuit on televsion and writing "slave" on his face, Craig Sr. was teaching his son how 2 throw a baseball. ... More >>

Beyonce's 4 & 11 Other Numerical Album Titles

​Beyonce is not the first artist to title her album after a number. Here are 11 more - one of which B may have to unseat from the top of the charts when her fourth solo album, 4, is released next month. Chicago, Chicago III-Twenty 1 (1971-91): Chicago had a simple formula for naming albums: ... More >>

Top 10 Super Bowl Halftime Shows

idontlikeyouinthatway.com​This Sunday, Rocks Off will be live-blogging and tweeting this year's Super Bowl halftime show, which will feature noted scholars The Black Eyed Peas. We are diligently studying the entire BEP canon and that of all of their solo members, like the dedicated pop histori ... More >>

Ten Rock-Star Crushes We Still Haven't Outgrown

​Artists like Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Mick Jagger undoubtedly helped define the consumate rock star crush. But there have been a handful of worthy others along the way - armed with that certain je ne se quoi - who haven't left our radar. Years later, turns out we're still smitten with thi ... More >>

Crystal Sierra: Galveston Woman Jumps Gun On Birthday, Ends Up In Jail

Photo courtesy GCSOCrystal Sierra​Another week, and another Crystal gets in trouble in a kind of awesome way.This time it's now-23-year-old Crystal Angelita Sierra's turn.Seems last Sunday was her 23rd birthday, and apparently Sierra found the very prospect of that occasion so exciting she started ... More >>

I Would Tweet 4 U: What If Prince Were On Twitter?

Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray/ Click image to enlarge (trust us)​Sadly, Prince will not be releasing his next album online, despite being one of the first artists to release music exclusively on the Internet. He recently pronounced the Internet as "over," remarking, "All these comput ... More >>

He Said She Said: "Dear Penis" And Other Country Comedy Classics

​ Aside from all the epic cheating, drinking and fighting songs country music has given us, one of the best things it does is make us laugh. Apart from all the crying and cussing, there is a whole deal of laughing going on. This year at RodeoHouston, there aren't many performers on the humorous si ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Proud Member of the "Overeducated Underclass" The Cocker Spaniels

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​ The three coolest guys ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs for Your New Year's Eve Party

You know when you're at a bar or a party and everything seems über-subdued, then suddenly someone pops a dollar in the jukebox or a CD in the player and it's just the right song for the moment? And then everyone hops up and does this synchronized line -ance perfectly choreographed for the song just ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Christmas Musical Wishlists, Part 2 - LPs Nobody Can Buy

​When He Said was four years old, all he wanted for Christmas was big brown tape recorder that Play Skool put out so he could record his own imaginary radio shows and crazed ramblings about He-Man. Santa Claus brought it that year, and He Said wore that thing out over the next few months. For Chri ... More >>

Werewolves Got Fingered: The 5 Worst Movies (Besides Twilight: New Moon) With the Best Soundtracks

​Good news, all you fans of condensed screen versions of self-indulgent Mormon vampire pseudo-erotic clit-tease fantasies: Twilight: New Moon is being released in only eight days. Rocks Off, accustomed to scorn from literary snobs for his steadfast support of the Harry Potter series, actually pick ... More >>

This Town Needs an Enema: Rocks Off Movie Night at the Mink with Batman

Note: The date on the above poster should say September 1.​This week's film selection for Rocks Off Movie Nite at the Mink - that's right, we're now officially co-sponsoring this thing - is Tim Burton's 1989 reboot of Batman, starring the third-coolest man to step into the cowl and cape - "Mr. Mom ... More >>

Five Spot: Prince Drives Us to Distraction

Welcome back to The Five Spot, another new Rocks Off recurrent. Every Friday (but sometimes Monday), we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. So we were all pumped about the songs that the enig ... More >>

Beck at ACL Fest

Prince Fielder Sued in Houston Federal Court for Allegedly Helping Pops Hide Assets

Get Lit: Prince: A Thief in the Temple, by Brian Morton

Silk

Always and Forever

Her Prince Will Come

Catch a rising star with a purple legend

Forecast: Reign

This is what it sounds like when local artists pay tribute to Prince

Playbill

Prince

Musicology (Columbia)

Ball of Confusion