Season two of "Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour Bus" focuses on funk, and features tales by (among others) Morris Day & The Time. Here's a trailer:

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FYI the first episode of season two, featuring George Clinton, has just aired.

Episode two has also aired; this one focuses on Rick James and it is the first part, so there will be at least one other episode about him.

Just saw the George Clinton one. I think I'm going to backtrack on this one.

BartVanHemelen said:

Episode two has also aired; this one focuses on Rick James and it is the first part, so there will be at least one other episode about him.

Did they discuss the "Fire It Up" tour with Prince?

thedoorkeeper said:

Just watched the 2nd part of the Rick James episodes. I never knew James formed a group to rival The Time. First I ever heard of Process and The Doo Rags.

Just watched it as well. Interesting - I did not know that either. Seems Rick really got a bum deal overall, especially with MTV not playing his videos. I never realized that, but now that I think back they did not play his music. Unfortunately, the drugs were the biggest issue. Such a shame.

violetcrush said:

Seems Rick really got a bum deal overall, especially with MTV not playing his videos. I never realized that, but now that I think back they did not play his music. Unfortunately, the drugs were the biggest issue.

If drugs prevented someone from getting MTV airplay, then they could have only shown a few people like Donny Osmond, Lionel Richie, & Debbie Gibson. MTV wouldn't have had much of a playlist.

MickyDolenz said:

violetcrush said:

Seems Rick really got a bum deal overall, especially with MTV not playing his videos. I never realized that, but now that I think back they did not play his music. Unfortunately, the drugs were the biggest issue.

If drugs prevented someone from getting MTV airplay, then they could have only shown a few people like Donny Osmond, Lionel Richie, & Debbie Gibson. MTV wouldn't have had much of a playlist.

I don't know why MTV didn't play his videos - they did not specify the reason. They just showed interview footage of Rick back then stating that MJ and Prince should boycott MTV until they agree to play all black musician's videos. He said if MTV were playing his and not the others he would boycott the channel.

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My comment about the drugs was with regard to the negative effect his addiction had on his career.

For US people, most cable providers are having a free HBO & Cinemax preview all Thanksgiving weekend. I've already set the DVR to capture a bunch of cool movies. The Mike Judge Presents is on Cinemax here and there.

Edit: "Rick James Pt 2" and "Bootsy Collins" (S2E4) are the only two airing and reairing between now and the end of the free preview.

[Edited 11/22/18 16:43pm]

Bart, thanks for this info. I don't have Cinemax so I didn't know about this series. I just viewed a few clips on YouTube, and it seems very interesting. I don't know if Cinemax allows its shows to be aired on Xfinity On Demand or Netflix, but I'm definitely going to be looking to see all the episodes. Thanks again.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/...n_2_(2018):

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It's on Demand.

I thought the Rick James bios were awesome. I'd love to see Prince get the tour bus treatment. Assuming the stories are as accurate as they can be (obviously memories can be skewed). I loved the first-hand accounts of the tour, including the stuff about Prince. Pretty witty and funny and also some good "real" pics to boot.


I suspect there will be plenty of Prince in the Morris Day & the Time bio as well...

[Edited 11/23/18 18:41pm]

[Edited 11/23/18 18:41pm]

pdiddy2011 said:

I thought the Rick James bios were awesome. I'd love to see Prince get the tour bus treatment. Assuming the stories are as accurate as they can be (obviously memories can be skewed). I loved the first-hand accounts of the tour, including the stuff about Prince. Pretty witty and funny and also some good "real" pics to boot.


I suspect there will be plenty of Prince in the Morris Day & the Time bio as well...

[Edited 11/23/18 18:41pm]

[Edited 11/23/18 18:41pm]

I really liked the combination of animation and actual interviews and pictures intermixed. It was done very well and is entertaining. The information regarding Prince and Rick meshes with what I have read in Biographies.

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I agree, it would be fantastic if they could do a story on Prince during the 1999/Purple Rain period. Dez, Matt, Lisa, Mark, Wendy, Jill Jones, Brenda, Susan....and most importantly, Alan Leeds!! No doubt it would have to be a 3-part show

iZsaZsa said:

It's on Demand.

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Cool! Thanks for this!

I saw the Rick James and George Clinton episodes and enjoyed them...although the end to the Rick James episode was sad. Looking forward to finding the Bootsy tale...

I just watched the first four episodes of season two on Xfinity On Demand, and I love each one. Funny and insightful and funny.

violetcrush said:

MickyDolenz said:

If drugs prevented someone from getting MTV airplay, then they could have only shown a few people like Donny Osmond, Lionel Richie, & Debbie Gibson. MTV wouldn't have had much of a playlist.

I don't know why MTV didn't play his videos - they did not specify the reason. They just showed interview footage of Rick back then stating that MJ and Prince should boycott MTV until they agree to play all black musician's videos. He said if MTV were playing his and not the others he would boycott the channel.

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Oddly enough.MTV did show videos of songs that Rick wrote and priduced for others: "Party All The Time" by Eddie Murphy and "In My House" by Mary Jane Girls got alot of MTV airtime in 1985.I think that they would have eventually showed Rick's videos if he hadn't badmouthed them back in 1981 (he called them "racist" when they rejected his "Super Freak" video).

I don't know for sure why they didn't play his stuff but he wasn't androgynous like MJ and Prince were, that probably had something to do with it. He wasn't very consistent either, he had a couple great albums and then he was into the addiction. Very talented, I always thought he was in Prince's league as an artist but as with most of these guys, they hurt themselves more than all their "enemies" combined. All of them. Also, he wasn't quite as white rock oriented as MJ or Prince, although he had some good rock stuff and a great white guitarist.

also, one of Rick's people got the history wrong, Prince toured with them a couple years before he toured with the stones and it wasn't the stones "didn't like him" it was the fans who ran Prince offstage, most of us know that basic fact but the guy was wrong.

That tour is where Prince and Jill met? Jill Jones who was singing backup for Teena Marie as the opening act, right? I wish they had mentioned Lady T. When I think of Rick I think of Teena, always. It just would have been especially nice.

iZsaZsa said:

That tour is where Prince and Jill met? Jill Jones who was singing backup for Teena Marie as the opening act, right? I wish they had mentioned Lady T. When I think of Rick I think of Teena, always. It just would have been especially nice.

https://www.facebook.com/karlagordybristol/videos/10215801646446973/


This above link is a interview with Jill (within the past month) and her step-niece? Karla Gordy Bristol and Jill talks about Teena Marie and Rick, and of course, Prince.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

iZsaZsa said:

That tour is where Prince and Jill met? Jill Jones who was singing backup for Teena Marie as the opening act, right? I wish they had mentioned Lady T. When I think of Rick I think of Teena, always. It just would have been especially nice.

https://www.facebook.com/karlagordybristol/videos/10215801646446973/


This above link is a interview with Jill (within the past month) and her step-niece? Karla Gordy Bristol and Jill talks about Teena Marie and Rick, and of course, Prince.

Prince got Jill from Teena, Denise from Rick, and Sheila E is like his Lady T. Prince loved Rick James.