A Funk Soul Sister and Some Purplish Rain

Today, July 27, 2009 marks the 25th Anniversary of the movie Purple Rain. I can’t let this pass without recognizing the occasion and the album’s significance, not only in my life, but also in music history. This could be a great opportunity to write about the many women who have worked with Prince (Sheila E., Sheena Easton) or those who have made his songs famous (Stevie Nicks, Sinead O’Connor). Instead, I’m celebrating by listening to a cover tune by one of my favorite SWIKs, Sharon Jones. Spin magazine’s free tribute download, Purplish Rain, includes some interesting covers of every song from this classic soundtrack. The standout is “Take Me With You” by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings.

Ring-a-Ting-Ting

Music comes to us in many ways; radio, movies, and of course music blogs like this one, but more frequently from TV. The first time that I heard the The Ting Tings was either in an iPod commercial or an episode of Gossip Girl. Pathetic, but true. What led me to check out their album was hearing about them from a friend at work, one of the few hip people at my day job. She mentioned that she had picked up The Ting Tings’ album last year in London. She thought she was really cool. Then she played the album for her teenage daughter, who was utterly unimpressed. Apparently, our Gen X tastes don’t translate entirely to kids today. But, what do they know? The Ting Tings bring us back to the ’80’s and simple pop rock tunes. Are The Ting Tings destined for the one-hit-wonder realm of Toni Basil’s “Mickey” or will they be around for the long haul?

MJ and the SWIK

I can't walk two feet out of my apartment without hearing a Michael Jackson song. Is it like this everywhere or just New York? Of course, the death of the “King of Pop” is tragic, but I didn’t think that he was directly relevant to this blog. Particularly, since he hasn’t put out anything of note for more than 15 years. Personally, I became more more of a Janet fan in the early ’90’s. But after some consideration, I couldn’t deny his massive his influence on pop music and the many women who have sampled his music for songs of their own.