For those of you who want to enter into the world of Entertainment/Music/Movies or any dream career, Prince is a definite example of what a person is capable of doing. It wasn't that easy in the beginning. And I guess that's what makes his success so great! He has shown so much of excellence that I had forgotten that there was such a beginning. I love lil man's career!

Years

They're not as noisy as 'Thriller,' but these 50 moments helped shape the face of rock 'n roll

Knight Ridder Newspapers/Columbus Ledger Enquirer

We all know about rock's landmark albums ("Sgt. Pepper," "Thriller," "Born in the U.S.A.") and its big moments: Elvis on Ed Sullivan, Woodstock, the death of Kurt Cobain.

But history is more than just what makes headlines. On this week's 50th anniversary of the recording of Elvis Presley's "That's All Right" -- credited as the "birth" of rock 'n' roll -- we look at 50 unsung pioneers, records and moments that, in their own low-key way, shaped pop music in the last half-century.

1. Elvis finds his sound

(1954): Recorded on July 5, "That's All Right," wasn't a big hit; nor was it the first rock 'n' roll song (lots of other tunes can also claim that distinction). But Elvis' debut single -- the perfect fusion of R&B and country -- announced the King's arrival and got rock rolling.

2. Esquerita emerges

(1958): With his 7-inch-high pompadour and wild piano pounding, Esquerita (born Esker Reeder) taught Little Richard how to be flamboyant. He never had the impact Richard did, but he cut a series of tunes in '58 before fading into obscurity.

3. Grammys debut "Best New Artist"

(1959): The Grammy Awards still don't get much respect, and this doomed category is half the reason. Instead of honoring innovators such as Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix, the Grammys go for lightweights such as Robert Goulet and the Starland Vocal Band. Heard from Debby Boone lately?

4. Dylan moves to Dinkytown

(1959): Later, he had to go to New York City to get discovered, but Bob Zimmerman became Bob Dylan by moving to Minneapolis, trading his electric guitar for an acoustic one and hanging around the University of Minnesota's bohemian "Dinkytown" area.

5. James Jamerson joins Motown

(1959): He never got a fraction of the fame of Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross, but without the remarkable electric bass of Jamerson (1936-83), the Motown sound would be unthinkable. As Berry Gordy once put it, "His influence is omnipotent."

6. Rap takes root

(early '60s): The roots of rap reach all the way back to Jamaica in the early '60s, when DJs such as Prince Buster invented "toasting" -- rhyming over records. Inspired by Buster, Jamaican DJ Kool Herc moved to New York City and helped turn toasting into rap in the '70s.

7. Frank Zappa debuts on TV

(1961): Rock's most daring composer launched his career at age 20, when he banged and fiddled on an upside-down bike on Steve Allen's show. "As for your music, don't ever do it around here again," Allen remarked.

8. Blues incorporates

(early '60s): His name is barely known outside England, but Alexis Korner (1928-1984) was the chief architect of the '60s blues-rock boom. As leader of Blues Incorporated, he hired and mentored Robert Plant, Cream, Manfred Mann and most of the Rolling Stones.

9. Aretha Franklin bombs as a jazz singer

(1962): The Queen of Soul started her career as a jazz-pop artist, but her early '60s records for Columbia sold so poorly the label cut her loose. Only later, at Atlantic, did she find her true voice in "Chain of Fools" and "Respect."

10. Wolfman Jack goes to Mexico

(1963): Few DJs were as influential as late-night renegade Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith (1938-95). Spinning wild rock and R&B discs (and ordering listeners to "Get nekkid!") on high-wattage Mexican "pirate" stations, the Wolfman turned on young fans all the way up to Canada.

11. The Rolling Stones peddle Rice Krispies

(1963): Mick and Keith sold out 20 years before corporate sponsorship became an issue. Their Kellogg's TV jingle -- "Wake up in the morning, there's a pop that really says Rice Krispies" -- wasn't as bad as most of "Emotional Rescue."

12. John Fogerty signs on the dotted line

(1964): Creedence's singer wasn't the first (or last) gullible teen to sign a bad record deal. But his Fantasy Records contract wreaked havoc on his career, forcing him to stop singing his CCR hits for more than a decade. His Fantasy foes counterattacked by suing him for -- get this -- plagiarizing himself. (They lost.)

13. Little Richard teaches Jimi Hendrix how to put on a show

(1965): The guitar fireworks were all his own, but Hendrix learned how to dress and whip fans into a frenzy by studying one-time boss Little Richard.

14. Rick James joins forces with Neil Young

(1966) Years before "Super Freak," Rick James went AWOL from the Navy, moved to Toronto and hired Neil Young as guitarist in the Mynah Birds. Motown signed the band but declined to put out its album -- snuffing out a supergroup before it ever got going.

15. The Who's 'A Quick One'

(1966): "Tommy" is usually credited as the first rock opera, but the genre was born three years earlier with "A Quick One" -- a randy nine-minute "mini opera" Pete Townshend hastily wrote upon learning he needed four more songs to finish the Who's second LP.

16. George Clinton finds his inner freak

(1967): The leader of the Parliament-Funkadelic mothership began life as a New Jersey barber-turned-doo-wop singer. But his music took a turn for the weird when he moved to Detroit, discovered drugs and started listening to Iggy Pop and the MC5. With his trippy '67 hit "All Your Goodies Are Gone," George was on his way to becoming Dr. Funkenstein.

17. Byrds nix "Triad"

(1967): At the time, it was a petty conflict. But Roger McGuinn's refusal to perform David Crosby's song about a menage a trois set off a chain reaction: Crosby quit the Byrds and formed Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, allowing Gram Parsons to join the Byrds and create a new genre: country-rock.

18. Rock meets jazz and soul at Newport

(1969): The '69 Newport Jazz Festival didn't grab the spotlight like Woodstock, Monterey Pop or the '65 Newport Folk Festival, where Bob Dylan went electric. But it was the ultimate pop fest with a melting-pot lineup including Miles Davis, Led Zeppelin, James Brown and Sly Stone.

19. The Shaggs' 'Philosophy of World'

(1969): To most ears, "Philosophy" is a godawful album. Yet others swear it's an "aboriginal rock" masterpiece and compare the quasi-musical Wiggins sisters to Ornette Coleman. The LP sold less than 100 copies when it came out, but 35 years later, rock hipsters and garden-variety sadists keep buying it on CD.

20. The Modern Lovers

(1972): The album never charted, but Jonathan Richman's quirky, revved-up songs went on to influence everyone from the Sex Pistols (covering "Roadrunner") to Jack White of the White Stripes (who puts his own spin on Jonathan's man-child shtick).

21. 'Nuggets: Artyfacts, first psychedelic era'

(1972): Don't let the "psychedelic" in the title fool you: This double LP of raw gems from the '60s set the stage for punk and garage rock.

22. The Boss gets a lesson from Chuck

(1971): A young Bruce Springsteen figured out the importance of rehearsal the hard way, when his band got hired to back up Chuck Berry but wasn't allowed to meet the star until showtime. The ramshackle concert helped persuade Bruce to make the E Street Band one of the tightest groups in rock.

23. Pub rock clears a path for punk rock

(1974): Brinsley Schwarz, an obscure British roots-rock band featuring Nick Lowe, spearheaded England's back-to-the-basics "pub rock" scene, which had a major influence on punk.

24. Brian Eno creates ambient music

(1975): Although better known for producing David Bowie and U2, ex-Roxy Music member Eno masterminded ambient music, a bold instrumental sound that, alas, also spawned new age.

25. Throbble Gristle invents industrial rock

(1977): Ten years before Trent Reznor picked up his first metal pipe, England's Throbbing Gristle created industrial rock with clanging, cacophonous songs such as "Maggot Death" and "Hamburger Lady."

26. DeClan McManus unplugs his computer

(1977): Newly rechristened as "Elvis Costello," London's Declan McManus finally quit his longtime computer programming job at Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, formed the Attractions and recorded the punk-pop classic "My Aim is True."

27. Pere Ubu's 'The Modern Dance'

(1977): Its oddball debut LP barely sold 15,000 copies, but the "avant garage" band from Cleveland influenced dozens of important groups from R.E.M and the Talking Heads to the Pixies.

28. Payola won't die

(late '70s): The Payola Act of 1960 stopped DJs from taking cash under the table from record labels. But by the '70s, "pay for play" was back in the form of independent record promoters -- shadowy figures paid by record companies to persuade stations to play certain songs. The practice is still in use.

29. No wave tries to kill new wave

(1979): Even though it quickly petered out, New York's ear-splitting "no wave" movement (led by Glenn Branca) left a huge mark on Sonic Youth, Helmet and dozens of other avant-noise rockers.

30. The Feelies' 'Crazy Rhythms'

(1980): A droning, hyper-strummed masterpiece that laid the groundwork for indie rock and guitar-pop.

31. Frankie Knuckles builds a new house

(1981): Walk into any dance club today and you'll still hear the remnants of house -- the throbbing melange of disco and Afro Latin styles invented by Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles in gay black clubs such as the Warehouse (hence the name).

32. Grandmaster Flash's 'Wheels'

(1981): While he's best-known for his early rap hit "The Message," Grandmaster Flash (above) was also a pioneer of sampling. With "Adventures," he became the first DJ to cut snippets of other people's tunes (Chic, Blondie, Queen) and paste them on his own.

Prince gets booed off stage

(1981): The pop world wasn't always so tolerant of androgynous black rockers in bikini briefs. Opening for the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Prince was literally booed off the stage. Two years later, he was a Top 10 smash, proving just how fickle the public can be.

34. Was (not was) 'born to laugh at tornadoes'

(1983): Cross-pollination at its boldest: An album of soul-rock featuring Mel Torme, Ozzy Osbourne and Marshall Crenshaw.

35. 'Billie Jean' Ends Apartheid on MTV

(1983): After two years of ignoring most black artists, a situation critics called "cultural apartheid," MTV caved and put Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" in heavy rotation after CBS honcho Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull his other acts from the channel.

36. 'Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits'

(1984): Paul Simon was so knocked out by this compilation tape of Soweto street music that he traveled to South Africa and made "Graceland," the album that ignited the world-music boom.

37. Charity rock fizzles

(mid '80s): Live Aid and "We Are the World" promoted the idea that rock stars could fix society's problems. But the $100 million raised by those projects barely put a dent in Ethiopia's famine. "It was a quick-fix mentality," Simon LeBon told The Dallas Morning News in '97. "After the novelty wore off, the cause was no longer trendy."

38. Subterranean pop morphs into sub pop

(1986): Frustrated by a lack of media exposure for punk, Bruce Pavitt launched Subterranean Pop as a Washington State fanzine in 1979. It grew so popular it begat Sub Pop, the label that launched grunge with artists such as Nirvana and Soundgarden.

39. Schooly D goes gangsta

(1986): N.W.A. and Ice-T usually get the credit, or the blame, for starting gangsta rap. But the real pioneer was 19-year-old Philly MC Jesse Weaver, better known as Schooly D. His '86 tune "PSK: What Does it Mean?" was perhaps hip-hop's first blunt look at thug life.

40. The Belleville Three concoct techno

(mid-'80s): Fusing a love of Kraftwerk with a fondness for house music, Detroit DJs Derrick Mays, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson created techno. By the '90s, it had been repackaged as "electronica" and co-opted by David Bowie, but it's still kicking today in acts like Moby and Air.

41. Folkways: 'A Teribute to Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly'

(1988): The album that opened the floodgate for tribute records featured everyone from Fishbone to U2 to Sweet Honey in the Rock.

42. Neneh Cherry's 'Raw Like Sushi'

(1989): She vanished as quickly as she came. But "Sushi"'s genre-bending music and socio-political lyrics impacted rappers and rockers alike.

43. Massive attack invents trip hop

(1991): The British band's Blue Lines became the blueprint for trip-hop -- slow, ominous dance music fusing hip-hop with dub reggae and electronic styles. The CD introduced a young MC named Tricky and blazed a trail for Portishead, Beth Orton and countless others.

44. Dinosaur Jr.'s 'Green Mind'

(1991): J. Mascis' fourth album had the same sort of snarling guitars, pop hooks and narcoleptic vocals heard seven months later on Nirvana's "Nevermind." If only he'd lived in Seattle.

45. Uncle Tupelo's 'March 16-20,' 1992

(1992): Produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, this is the modern cornerstone of alt-country. Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar went on to make fine albums with Wilco and Son Volt, respectively, but none had as much stark charm as "March."

46. The rise of alternative rap

(1993): They didn't sell megamillions, but acts such as Gang Starr, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, the Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest pioneered a smart, jazzy style of hip-hop that echoes today.

47. Ani Difranco shuns the majors

(1995): Exploding the age-old myth that you need to get signed to succeed, the folk singer sold truckloads of albums on her tiny Righteous Babe label. When record companies tried to court her, she kissed them off, singing: "You can dangle your carrot, but I ain't gonna reach for it."

48. Lollapaloozers pelt Steve Earle with garbage

(1996): The festival that prided itself on open-mindedness turned ugly in Ferris, Texas, as Metallica fans threw dirt and bottles at country-rocker Steve Earle. A year later, Lollapalooza called it quits.

49. Dr. Octagon's 'Dr. Octagonecologyst and the Instrumentalyst'

(1996): Underground hip-hop at its strangest, these CDs by Kool Keith and Dan Nakamura prepared the world for Outkast.

50. Pavement passes torch to White Stripes

(1999): On its final tour, Pavement teamed with an obscure opening act called the White Stripes. Goodbye sardonic lo-fi rock, hello noisy garage rock.


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[This message was edited Sun Jul 11 12:38:49 2004 by CCII]

Prince gets booed off stage

(1981): The pop world wasn't always so tolerant of androgynous black rockers in bikini briefs. Opening for the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Prince was literally booed off the stage. Two years later, he was a Top 10 smash, proving just how fickle the public can be.



aw,how sweet of them

I beg 2 differ.....The year of Purple Rain the album Tour and Movie was indeed on level/par with THRILLER, not sales wise but hype and excitement around that tour pushed P past the Boss's tour and album and the Jackson's Victory Tour with MJ on the heels of THRILLER, and P out grossed them tour wise and made more $$ that year! The only thing that stopped PR's momentum was P himself by releasing ATWIAD! The biggest what if's of the 80's is...what if P kept pushing PR? I don't think he would have caught THRILLER but he would of sold well over 20 million if he'd kept touring and took it world wide!
[This message was edited Sun Jul 11 13:59:54 2004 by ELBOOGY]

hisroyalbadnessfan8485 said:

I don't know how this helped shape R&R? Bcuz it did'nt make the headline news in print or television. It became a side note like a ...did u know? type of deal! This don't compare 2 the year of Purple Rain!

I remember an interview with Mick Jagger and Mick was asked which Prince album was his favorite. He replied, Dirty Mind~ Maybe that is why Prince was opening for The Stones back then. Mick dug Dirty Mind and wanted Prince to open the show.

ELBOOGY said:

i guess they jus like the thought.....has p ever been booed off stage since(ok bside that james brown incident)

CCII said:

hisroyalbadnessfan8485 said:

whoa! he got booed off stage wit James..oh! those bloody wankers!