^Besides the band nailing it 25x's, you guys forgot the best part - "110!..nah nah"

TrivialPursuit said:

"Y'all remember that ending?"

By the way, "Squirrel Meat" was probably just a phrase that stuck with him. It doesn't have some big meaning. He could have said "Coffee pot!" and it meant the same thing for the band. He used the phrase a lot in 1987/88. It was from a Black Album song, as noted, and it was just funny.

"Y'all ain't ready for that" and "Can I play my guitar" were more of a phrase to get the audience involved. It wasn't a band queue. The same goes for "Turn the house lights up" or "Turn the lights off". I mean, sure, it queued the Roy Bennett (or whoever) to change something, but it wasn't a queue for the band.

If you really wanna see jargon without words, watch him on the 1986 Hit N' Run tour (like the Detroit Cobo Hall concert). He had started using a lot of hand gestures for a different accents and band fills. This goes beyond him holding up 2 fingers for "hit me 2 times" sorta thing. You can see a lot of them when they'd start "Controversy". Sometimes he'd do it during "Head".

Great thanks! Yes I knew about "Squirrel Meat" from the Black Album, but when someone mentioned it in this thread I assumed it was used as a cue... Will definitely check out some of the the Hit N' Run shows. I had always wondered how he and his band managed to pull such tight performances and recently found out he was using those cues... Some have always been obvious, but others (like "hit me in the back") are really cool and they fascinate the linguist in me!

"Prepare the Turducken!" (shouted up syllable on the downbeat, real funky)

Whereby the band had to musically sound like a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey.

The horn riff from It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night was a popular motif. I noticed he used a bunch of different cues to signal it.

I think he used "Susan!" at one point.

In the Parade Shows I think he scratched the back of his head to cue it. Or maybe that cued something else. Lots of fun.

ufoclub said:

"Prepare the Turducken!" (shouted up syllable on the downbeat, real funky)

Whereby the band had to musically sound like a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey.

Wow, sounds like a musical feast...

The funny dance during ''A Love Bizarre'' (San Francisco, 1986), ''Wooden Leg''. Not actually a cue, but very funny.

GeurtWalraven said:

The funny dance during ''A Love Bizarre'' (San Francisco, 1986), ''Wooden Leg''. Not actually a cue, but very funny.

Yes love it

There was also "ice cream" and "popcorn," which were little horn riffs he'd call for. I think the band would then play them in whatever key and tempo the song was in.

One of the riffs was right before the "Transmississippi Rap" on "It's gonna be a beautiful night."

I"m sure someone has better examples.

"Vegas" was one of my favorites, cuz I'm sure the casual listener had no idea what it meant, and I knew what was coming next.

Chas said:

There was also "ice cream" and "popcorn," which were little horn riffs he'd call for. I think the band would then play them in whatever key and tempo the song was in.

One of the riffs was right before the "Transmississippi Rap" on "It's gonna be a beautiful night."

I"m sure someone has better examples.

"Vegas" was one of my favorites, cuz I'm sure the casual listener had no idea what it meant, and I knew what was coming next.

Did that mean they were going to end the song?

CherryMoon57 said:

Chas said:

There was also "ice cream" and "popcorn," which were little horn riffs he'd call for. I think the band would then play them in whatever key and tempo the song was in.

One of the riffs was right before the "Transmississippi Rap" on "It's gonna be a beautiful night."

I"m sure someone has better examples.

"Vegas" was one of my favorites, cuz I'm sure the casual listener had no idea what it meant, and I knew what was coming next.

Did that mean they were going to end the song?

Vegas is an old term, used way before Prince was around. There are many differenet call outs to bring the ending on. James Brown, Sly, & others had dozens of call outs. But stuff like "Ugly lights..." etc, is just a phrase in a song. A lyric. It's not a musical queue. Some in the thread seem to be pulling things out that don't have relevance in relation to musical queues.

'Intermission' which used to be a cue for the Hornheadz to start playing that tune in midsong. Think the song he mostly used it in was House in Order.