Music historian J. David Silva joins Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley to share rare Prince stories, memories of iconic concerts, and insights into the Minneapolis Sound. From personal encounters and memorabilia collecting to reflections on Prince’s genre-defying artistry, this episode explores the cultural impact, history, and friendships shaped by one of music’s most influential legacies.

Renowned music historian J. David Silva joins Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley for an intimate, story-filled exploration of Prince’s legacy and the Minneapolis Sound. Silva shares rare personal encounters with Prince, memories of iconic concerts, and decades of collecting treasured memorabilia. The conversation dives into how Prince’s genre-defying artistry reshaped pop, funk, and R&B, while also reflecting on the friendships, cultural shifts, and historical context that made the Minneapolis music scene so influential. With heartfelt nostalgia and deep musical insight, this episode offers fans and newcomers alike a richer understanding of one of music’s most enduring cultural movements.

📘 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

– Personal stories from J. David Silva’s encounters with Prince

– The cultural and historical impact of the Minneapolis Sound

– How Prince’s music transcended genres and influenced generations

– Behind-the-scenes memories from concerts and memorabilia collecting

– Reflections on decades of friendship through shared musical passion

– Thoughts on recent posthumous releases from the Prince estate

⏱️ Chapters

00:16 – Introducing J. David Silva

05:02 – Meeting Prince & Early Encounters

10:45 – Minneapolis Sound: Origins & Influence

18:12 – Concert Memories & Iconic Performances

26:58 – Collecting Prince Memorabilia

33:27 – The Ongoing Legacy: Posthumous Releases

39:15 – Preserving Music History for Future Generations

🔗 Links & Mentions

– Visit MusiciansReveal.com

– YouTube – Musicians Reveal

– Live365 – Musicians Reveal Radio

📝 Key Takeaways

– Prince’s artistry broke genre boundaries, influencing multiple generations

– The Minneapolis Sound was a cultural revolution with global reach

– Personal encounters with Prince reveal his creativity, work ethic, and humanity

– Memorabilia collecting offers a tangible connection to music history

– Friendships forged through music create lifelong bonds and shared memories

– Recent estate releases showcase Prince’s prolific creativity and lasting influence

Welcome to another edition of musicians reveal.

I'm Joe Kelly and tonight I'm really excited because my friend of nearly, I think, 36 years we've been friends, he'll let me know the exact number of years.

He is a famous music historian, especially the minneapolis music scene and prince and also co.

Host.

Co star of Sunday morning coffee.

Sunday morning with the queen.

Right.

I got the title wrong, but you know.

Yeah, his beautiful wife robin, the queen.

And you know, really great positive stuff.

So we welcome the electric man, J. David sylvan.

What's up, brother?

Yeah, Joe, how are you doing, man?

It's good to see you.

I'm doing great.

And you know the, the painting or drawing behind you?

Of course, we know his prince.

Who did that for you or where did you get it?

Yeah, it was actually a gift from a former co. Worker of mine.

A friend of hers apparently was.

Was moving and, and just getting rid of a bunch of music memorabilia and things.

And she didn't tell me what it was.

She said, I'm going to send it to you.

She lives in new jersey.

She actually sent it down with a friend of ours.

And I opened up the package and it was a beautiful painting of prince.

I was grateful to have it and I was just very thankful that she thought of me.

So.

And you've got quite the collection of prince memorabilia, right?

Well, I do try, you know, it's been going on 40 years of collecting, so.

Yeah.

Well, what, what's your most prized possession?

You know, for prince?

Probably physical possession, you know, different from all the memories that we have.

You know, I, I've been offered money for it.

I've been offered, you know, to trade memorabilia for it.

I, I just won't part with it because it's something that we got, you know, when we met him for the first time and that's probably my most prized physical possession.

And he rarely did these events.

I mean, it's, it's.

It's something that we were able to experience.

And what, what was the, the moment you had with prince, meeting him?

And what did you say?

Do you remember?

What did he say back or.

Yeah, the first time was, was when you and I were together with the tower records back when they used to have record stores in New York City.

Yeah.

And I remember you and I waiting out in that heat Right.

To get inside.

We waited almost six hours outside Tower Records.

And, you know, I mean, I was always.

I always wanted to meet him.

You know, if nothing then just to be respectful and, you know, kind of thank him for the music.

And that's exactly what I told him when we walked up to the table.

I simply said, you know, thank you for all the music and memories.

And he looked at me and he goes, my pleasure.

Right.

Five Magazine.

Very nice, very quiet, very understated.

And then we obviously, remember, we didn't have a lot of time because we got to get autographs from the whole band and my Tay and Nona as well.

But even in that brief moment, you know, it was.

I don't want to say it was surreal because I don't want to, you know, overstate it, but it was just cool.

You know, it's cool to meet somebody who musically has been very influential in our lives.

Right.

But also just to meet him and just to give thanks and respect was.

Was just a great experience.

That was the first time that he and I got to speak.

The other times were very brief.

And the sound check was a concert in itself, almost.

Right, right.

Yeah.

And he had said, you know, I got to go back and get changed before they let all the squares come in.

But he didn't leave.

He sat on the edge of the stage.

Okay.

And so people just walked up to him and I heard them.

They were talking about religion or something.

And then I just said, you know, it's nice to see you.

Thank you very much for this, you know, great time.

And he said, you know, said a few pleasantries, and that was it.

But again, still a very cool moment in a very relaxed and casual setting.

And then the third time was when we were at Webster hall for the Art of Musicology taping back.

Oh, that's right, yeah.

And because they asked me to get on stage, I was standing right next to John Blackwell during the performance.

We saw Prince kind of backstage before he came out and did Musicology.

But when he ended up coming out to kick the band off to do Life of the Party, which MTV didn't air.

Right.

Right to the drum kit, and he was counting the band off.

So we said hello to him when he walked back and he said hi, and he waved to us, you know, very funny.

And then started the song.

So.

Right, right.

The interactions and the encounters may have been brief, but they were all special.

Yeah.

Have you.

Have you seen those songs that we.

We were there but have never aired?

Have you ever seen any of those?

The video?

I. I haven't seen it.

I've only seen the.

The official recording that was on mtv, so that was Musicology.

I. I think I can never take the place of your man.

Proud Mary.

I'm sorry.

A sweet thing.

And sometimes it snows in April, which was obviously just magical.

But the.

The unaired stuff I've never seen.

Yeah.

I mean, that.

It's got to be somewhere, but, yeah, one day.

We're all hoping for that.

So my great friend, the Electric Man, J. David Silva, is with us.

He is a music historian, and also, you know, him and his wife put together coffee with the Queen on Sundays.

You can check it out on Facebook and we'll.

We'll give you a link for that in case you want to.

The vibe with the Electric man and Robin, soul sister number one.

Appreciate that.

Yeah.

So.

So, you know, talking about the Minneapolis scene, near and dear to our hearts, maybe we should give the.

The viewers a synopsis on how you and I met.

Sure.

First met, which I believe it was 88 or 89.

Right.

Well, actually, it was 91.

Oh, 91.

Okay, 91.

And it was at Cutler's, which was a fantastic record shop.

Again, there we go.

Dating ourselves with record shops.

Right, right.

Fantastic record shop in New have, Connecticut.

And I. I tell the story often, you know, because that's really how we've met.

And then we've been brothers ever since.

But I remember I was at the.

The bin flipping through the vinyl.

Okay.

Looking at Prince albums and stuff.

And Robin, my wife now, was next to me.

She and I only been dating at the time, about a year.

And I remember you walked up to me and you said, you must be J. Silva.

And I think it's because you had recognized my brother, and we.

We do look kind of alike.

Right, right, right.

And it was just a chance meeting.

I had heard about you.

You had heard about me through a mutual friend.

Right.

And when you walked up to me, I remember thinking to myself, who is this dude?

I don't know you.

But then when you introduced yourself, I said, oh, Joe, we sh.

I remember we shook hands.

We exchanged phone numbers and things, and we've been off to the races ever since.

Right, right.

Yeah.

Great, great times.

And we both saw you.

Well, you saw the Love Sexy tour in Hartford, right?

Right.

Yeah.

I saw Purple Rain in Hartford in 85.

Okay.

Yeah.

In Hartford.

Yeah, yeah.

The Purple Rain in Hartford.

And then I saw the Love Sexy tour in September of 88.

And we never knew this till years later that we were both in the house at Madison Square Garden.

The Parade tour.

Exactly.

Right, right.

We didn't realize that we were there, so it's like a kindred spirits.

Right, right, right.

Which night did you go?

This the first night or second night?

I went show, so I guess that was the second night.

Okay.

I went both nights.

The first night was my birthday, so that.

That was cool.

Nice.

Yeah.

And I've actually heard the.

The bootleg recording on YouTube the entire show.

Yeah.

Okay.

That.

That's great.

Yeah.

And it sounds really good.

You know what was funny about that show?

Because I remember that obviously both shows sold out.

And I remember I went with my brothers and actually, two things.

When we were walking in to the venue, there were literally probably about 50 mounted New York City policemen, mounted horses.

Okay.

And I remember just seeing that.

That show of security, obviously it was print, so I figured that's a big deal.

Right, Right.

And then we went into the show and our seats were actually back where the front of house was, where the soundboard was.

And Sheila E. Was standing right there in the soundboard.

We couldn't talk or whatever, but she was close enough for us to see right there.

I was like, holy cow.

And the show, of course, was.

Was just amazing, you know?

Yeah, yeah, it.

It was.

You know, it wasn't an extended tour.

You know, very few shows here in the US and, you know.

Right.

Yeah, it was the hit and run.

And I did hear something that maybe it was Roy Bennett was talking about the lighting on that tour, that it would, you know, was one of the.

The least, you know, expansive or extensive lights.

I. I guess he wasn't so happy with it.

Right.

That sometimes you go and look at the stage and everything was covered dark.

And you couldn't see it.

Right.

It seems very sparse.

It seems very spare.

And I remember hearing the same thing.

And of course, you know, based on, you know, the.

The pole and, you know, the heart that lit up.

But then you went to the Purple Rain tour, which was just for that time over the top, you know, the bath, the bed again, which I know he used in.

And then it was very, very Stripped down for the Parade tour, the Hit and Run tour.

So, you know, again, I can certainly see what Roy was thinking and saying.

Yeah, right.

So let's get into your childhood, getting into music as far as.

Do you remember?

I mean, we're around this.

You're younger than me, but roughly the same era, growing up listening to music.

Did you listen on AM radio at all?

I did.

So, you know, I grew up in a neighborhood that, you know, had a mix of all races and all genres.

So, you know, we were, you know, it didn't matter what color you were.

You know, we all just were there.

Right, right.

And we grew up, you know, I grew up listening to AM radio.

I grew up and then, you know, I graduated to FM radio.

But during that time, it was always, you know, there was never such thing in my household as just black music or just white music.

It was just music.

So my father was into, you know, the big band and the standards and the jazz, the Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatras.

My mother was into Neil diamond, you know, and a lot of some of the older groups, you know, Looking Glass and some of those, you know, 70s groups, car wash and things like that.

And then so.

So we really had exposure to all kinds of music.

And that's really the way I grew up.

So, you know, I've been, you know, I'm a fan of music first and foremost.

I.

And I think that's why I graduated to Prince and the Minneapolis sound, because Prince refused to be pigeonholed.

He wasn't going to be a black artist.

He wasn't going to be a white artist or a funk artist or a rock artist.

He did them all.

And so for me, it was like, almost like a natural fit because I grew up listening to heavy metal and funk and rap and rock, you know, and pop.

So, you know, he.

Prince played all those types of music.

A lot of his groups played all those types of music.

So that's really what drew me to him when I saw him, because he wasn't just one thing.

So it was almost like a fit into how I grew up.

And how about your brothers as far as their music growing up?

Same thing.

You know, my.

My oldest brother John was a big, big Beatles fan, you know, but we listened to, you know, the Beatles, Barry Manilow, Boss Skaggs, the Bee Gees.

You know, I. I gravitated more towards rap and funk than my brothers did.

They were huge.

They are huge Rush fans.

So, you know, they're on.

On the rock side and some of that kind of experimental stuff.

But then Classic rock.

We were all into Led Zeppelin and Skinner and, you know, Aerosmith and those guys.

So we, we literally listened to it all.

And then I graduated to the Hair bands, the, the Poisons and the Warrant and White lion and things like that.

But we always had respect for musicians like Van Halen, you know, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, you know, so.

Whereas I like the flash and dash at the very core of things, it's about the musicianship and that's what I.

What was your first concert?

Oh, wow.

Still, still probably a cool show, right?

It was, you know, obviously the time, you know, it was that kind of new wave pop music, you know, that everybody was into.

And, you know, at the time it was, you know, men at work, the Go go's, you know, haircut 100, you know, those types, you know, those types of groups.

Oh, yeah.

And then I really, really got hardcore into Wham and George Michael and David Bowie, just because, Right.

Especially with Bowie, you know, he was always a chameleon, you know, he was never one thing.

The characters that he created, whether it was Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, the Gene Genie, you know, I always admired him because he also refused to be pigeonholed into one thing.

So really, really got into Bowie hardcore.

You know, thinking back, you mentioned the names George Michael, Bowie, Prince, all these artists.

I mean, taken away from, from all of us at a young age.

And tragically and you know, in everybody's, the way things happen.

But right, looking at the music business and all, you know, I grew up, my favorites were Princess, Michael Jackson and Rick James, all, you know, tragically in their 50s, I think.

Yeah.

So do you think anything contributes to that?

That where it's just a part of life?

You know, I, I, I think it's a part of life.

You know, Rick James, I, you know, he, we know he loved to party, you know, and that's been well documented.

And, you know, it was also the heyday of the 80s.

I'm not making an excuse for it, but that was part of the culture at the time, right.

For, for Michael and Prince, I find those to be more tragic, you know, particularly with, with Michael because, you know, looking at his life and, and I'm not going to get into the debate about, you know, so the legal troubles that he had and things like that.

That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm really focusing on the lifestyle that he led, you know, from being a young child and not really having a childhood.

His father was very strict.

He went into the music business and really missed out on a lot of those formative years in growing up.

And I can't imagine what the pressure was like, you know, because he became the biggest pop star in the world, the biggest figure in the world at one point, you know, albeit next to, say, Elvis Presley.

Right.

And I was also.

I'm still a huge Elvis Presley fan, too.

But I think the pressure with Michael and hearing some of the stories that happened and hearing apparently how afraid he was and nervous he was and scared he was when he was doing that this Is it tour and the preparation and everything, and then not being able to sleep, and he did make some, you know, bad choices in terms of taking care of his health or not taking care of his health.

But the pain that he was going through, I think contributed greatly to both his and Prince's passing for the various, you know, medical ailments that they were going through.

And I'll be honest, I thought Prince was going to live forever.

You know, I never thought what happened to him would happen.

And as the stories come out, and I'm not in a, you know, an insider by any stretch of the imagination, but the things that I've heard, you know, the way that he pushed himself and.

And we saw it.

Right.

We saw a bunch of that, you know, performances, and the time that he worked, the amount of time that he worked and how hard that he worked, I really think that contributed to the dependencies that ultimately were their demise.

Yeah.

And.

And a lot of people around Prince couldn't see this coming either, the ones that were in his inner circle.

But, yeah, I mean, we talked about the time we met him in New York at the.

The record signing.

He did the Today show that morning.

Right.

Yep.

And, you know, then he did a show and probably an after show that day, you know.

Right, right.

I think he was at the Limelight or the Palladium that night.

Right.

Which.

That's how he rolled.

Yeah, I know we didn't go.

We didn't go.

Right.

But.

But that's.

But it was also that type of work ethic.

And when I read the great Dwayne Tudall's books, which are expansive and exhaustive and fascinating, the level of detail is incredible.

I. I encourage anyone who hasn't read his volumes to do so.

Hearing and reading about the amount, you know, I mean, to do a concert or you're on tour, you do a concert and Right after the concert, you go to the studio and you're recording four or five different projects at the same time.

You know, you got Sheila E. And you've got the family and you've got, you know, for part of that.

The time, and you work with Sheena Easton and everyone else and to work that incredibly hard.

Right.

And to push yourself and to push the people around you, you know, and Prince did that for 40 years, so, I mean, I can imagine the toll that it took.

But what I have respect for is the dedication, the dedication to the craft, the dedication to the music.

And he once said something that I really took to heart.

He said, I never talked down to my audience.

And I believe that the amount of work that he did and as hard as he worked, he was putting out music for people and he wanted the music to speak for itself.

But as hard as he worked to give us and allow us to share in the gifts that he had is nothing short of admirable.

Yeah.

I mean, not, not too many people will have conversation, tell people what they witness.

I mean, we were there right, you know, from the beginning, all through his career.

Met him and, you know, and met a lot of people he worked with through.

Through the years.

Yeah, yeah.

As well, you know.

Right.

And speak speaking of some of the.

The musicians who were influential with Prince growing up and, and you know, they work together on various projects.

The Time More Staying the Time.

They've been great friend of ours for a long time.

They're still going strong and you know, you're all.

You're always dap.

Like the Time coming out with the suits and everything.

So influence of More Stay in the Time and that band on yourself and what, what, what do you love about the band?

You know, I think first and foremost, what.

What really drew me to them again was the music.

And I understand that, that Prince crafted a lot of those songs, but these guys, these cats were.

Are musicians in their own right.

You know, I mean, they're, they're.

They.

They influenced me and, and affected me because of their, their chops.

Right, right.

Their dedication to the craft and how serious they are about the music, not taking themselves too seriously, but being serious about the music.

You know, the times that we've met, you know, Jelly Bean and Monty Jesse, you know, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, they were always about their business, you know.

Yes, there, there's that aspect of showmanship and that aspect of being cool, so to speak, but there's also that.

That dedication to the craft, how hard they work and how much they appreciate the fans who appreciate their gifts.

They same thing with St. Paul Peterson.

You know, the times I've interacted with St. Paul, he's been nothing but wonderful to me.

Always responds, has put out some great, great work, and I see him doing a variety of different styles of music, being serious about his craft, and, and that's really, you know, I, I, I admire that.

That's what I gravitate towards.

One, one of the last times that St. Paul hung out with, with Prince, I guess they went to see a show at, at a club in, in Minneapolis, and he said, Prince said, can I tell you something?

He said, I think you should play keyboards.

Yep.

When you're doing your show.

And, you know, it was funny.

I, I'm paraphrasing it, but he says, okay, coach, you know.

Right.

You know.

Right.

And then he asked, do you have a mentor?

And, you know, Larry Graham was his mentor, so that, that was cool.

Yeah, absolutely.

And, and, you know, I like the fact that, you know, despite whatever happened, and look, let's face it, in families and brotherhoods and sisterhoods and things like that, look, things happen, right.

Everybody doesn't always get along.

But when I hear those people, the Associated Artists, talk about Prince and talk about how he worked and what he did for them.

Okay, I'm not talking about he did for them monetarily or anything, but how he showed them.

You know, there's that very famous story when, you know, the time was rehearsing and Prince came in and said, no, no, you, you got to be stepping, Jimmy Jam.

You got to be playing with one hand, stepping with the other hand, entertaining, dancing, whatever, and, and they said they would, they would practice 10, rehearse 10 hours a day, you know, and to this day, I still hear the artist talk about the level of dedication and what he taught them about being serious musicians.

Right, right.

And when he walked in his, in the room, they all, you know, minded their P's and Q's right there.

It was about your business, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, Right, right.

Hey, about other artists, you know, George Michael, you've seen him a number of times, right?

I have.

So I think I saw George four, four times with Robin, you know, since the, the early 90s.

I think the first.

Oh, this is 88.

I saw him on the Faith Tour.

And look, you know, let's face it, I was drawn to, to that type of music.

I like the pop music.

I, I, But I like the fact that he was as young as he was and he was, he was crafting impeccable pop songs.

I. I read an interview where he said, you know, he realized that he could write effective pop songs, pop music.

And when they said he wrote the keyboard, excuse me, the saxophone bridge to Careless Whisper on a bus when he was like 17 years old, which has become, let's face it, in pop music, it is one of the most iconic kind of sacked solos or, or interludes, bridges, whatever in.

In pop music.

That, that really impressed me.

And I think that he had the most pure voice in all of pop music.

Yeah, no doubt.

And yes, it was flash and dash, but he could sing, you know, and, and that, that, you know, no one can ever take away from it.

Yeah, he.

Dion Estes, the bass player, you know, a long time with him as well.

Let me ask you also about David Bowie.

Did you get a chance to see him?

I did.

I. I was.

I didn't have the opportunity, couldn't get tickets.

So I finally saw him.

Took.

Actually took my mother with me to go see him.

My mother was a Bowie fan.

And it was a more stripped down show, except for the scrim that he showed images on, but, you know, it was him and Adrian Blue and I think Ertl Kizoke was with him and the.

The band was stripped down and he was magnificent.

I mean, I really.

I can't overstate it.

The.

The arrangements were more spare.

You know, I. I had seen on video the.

The hyperbole and monstrosity of an excess of the Glass Spider tour, which was cool.

I mean, I, I don't mean to denigrate it.

I loved all that.

But seeing him in a more intimate setting still, yet playing arenas, Right, but in an intimate setting where the stage was stripped down, it was all about the music.

And if I can take one thing away from that, that concert was when he came out and did Space Oddity and he walked out strumming an acoustic guitar by himself and he started the whole song by himself.

And it.

It seemed like we were in a club, right?

And it was just a few hundred people.

It was sold out, so I'm sure it was 18, 000 people, whatever the, the Civic center held at the time, but it was just that level of musicianship, which was impressive.

And another artist you.

You've followed through the years and met and, you know, been featured on the Howard Stern show.

Bon Jovi.

Right.

Hey, while you start the story, I'm gonna plug in the power strip here, so we don't lose.

Sure.

On the camera, but.

Yeah, you go ahead.

Yeah.

I've been a Bon Jovi fan since 86 was slippery when wet.

A good friend of mine had gotten me into Bon Jovi, and so I. I, you know, took to the music.

It was 80s pop.

It was hair band, but again, they were serious music.

They are serious musicians.

And so I'd followed them through the year.

I think I've seen them almost 30 times in concert and, you know, like, a lot of the associated bands and things like that.

So I just sent an email to the show and said, I'd like to come on the show and meet Bon Jovi.

I was at work, and I was leaving work.

It was.

I literally was walking out the door.

My phone rang, and I wasn't going to answer.

I was gonna let it go to voicemail, but I picked it up and I said, hello.

And he said, the gentleman said, hi, this is Casey Armstrong from the Howard Stern Show.

And I was a big Stern fan.

So I knew, yes, Casey, I know who you are.

And he's like, can you be here tomorrow morning to be on the show to meet Bon Jovi?

I was like, casey, I can be there tonight.

I'll never forget Robin and I caught a 509 in the morning train, went down to the KROC studios, which is where Howard was broadcasting from at the time.

And we got up there, went in the green room, got to hang out, and then they brought me into the studio.

I got to meet Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, and we had a bunch of laughs with Howard and Artie Lang and Robin Quivers.

And it was just a great, great time.

Good memories.

Yeah.

And you still.

What was it last year?

You were.

You were at an event, charity event for barbecue with Bon Jovi.

Right.

We were at the.

The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen in River, New Jersey.

And.

And he has a wonderful initiative and a wonderful purpose that no one's going to go hungry, and no one.

Everyone is welcome at their table.

He's got a few of those restaurants, community restaurants, and if you don't have money and you can't afford a meal, you can come in and eat.

And they just ask that you pay it back by either serving or helping out in the kitchen or volunteering, sweeping up.

It's.

It's a great Great charitable cause, noble cause, very philanthropic.

And John doesn't do it for the.

The glory or the fame, but he comes out and they have an annual chili cook off every year where they raise money.

And he's there.

He signs autographs for all the fans, takes pictures.

We were literally standing right next to him while he was signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans.

It was just an incredible experience.

I. I know family's key in your life, and.

And you've got a beautiful family.

And I know Robin's into Prince, which is cool.

Soul sister number one.

I will always.

You know, it helps to have, you know, a spouse or partner, whatever, who's into the same stuff you're into, and you could crank it up in the house.

Right, right.

How about your kids?

You know, my kids.

It's funny because, you know, my kids range in ages from, you know, almost 30 to 17.

And so, you know, back in the day, you know, Prince wasn't cool, and Holland Oates wasn't cool, and George Michael wasn't cool.

But what I notice now is they're becoming for what's.

For them, I guess maybe for us, too.

Retro, Right.

So they enjoy the songs.

They know.

My.

Two of my.

My older daughters have old school retro purple rain T shirts that they wear, you know, so they actually come into their own.

A quick story.

My daughter Maggie had gone to see Maroon 5, okay.

And they do a fantastic cover of Prince's I want to be your lover.

And when she was at the show, when she was a teenager, you know, maybe 16, 17 years old, they did the song, and she's like, I know that song.

That's.

The.

Dad listens to that all the time.

That's a Prince cover.

So, you know, it.

It kind of is cool how it's come full circle now.

Yeah.

And.

But they're not listening to AM radio with you in the.

They're not.

No.

Neither are you.

Unless it's sports.

Right, exactly.

Sports talk.

And they can't stand sports talk radio, so.

Okay.

You know, speaking of sports, Super Bowls tomorrow and our beloved Giants.

Who.

You.

You saw how many games this year you.

You went to a few, right?

We went to two.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We have a thing now where my son and I try to go to two games every year.

And the family joins us, too, because it's just a great experience.

Whether, look, win or lose.

It's a great experience.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So how.

I've never been in the stadium there.

What I've heard, you know, criticism about the place.

What's Your take on the stadium, Is it nice?

MetLife Stadium, the first time I was there, I think was in, I think it was there the year that they opened.

And, and I remember thinking at the time, okay, it's kind of basic.

You know, the seats are, are, you know, a standard gray, you know, but the stadium is nice.

It's not, look, they don't have a pirate ship and they don't shoot off a cannon, okay?

It's a nice stadium.

It's clean.

It's got, you know, four great huge jumbotrons, so you can, you know, the view is great no matter where you are.

You know, the, the staff is, is great, wonderful.

I really have no complaints.

Now, if you're looking for flash and dash and you want, you know, somebody to go jumping into the Salvation army, you know, called like, you know, the Cowboys do well, you know, you're not going to get that at MetLife Stadium.

It's a nice.

So, so I'm adjusting things here.

So anyways, I, I, I've got a sidelight story about the Giants.

We went to see the Giants at the Yale bowl in the 70s, which were, they were hor.

The year they had, were fixing Yankee Stadium, I think.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we went to see them play the Eagles, and they, it was just a monsoon.

It was raining, pouring rain, drunken fans all over the place.

Giants were terrible back then.

So we left at halftime.

My dad had four of us, me and my three of my other brothers.

About last year, I just typed in that, that game to see if there were any pictures from the game.

I came across a photo in the stands, black and white photo, me and my brothers and my father sitting there with ponchos and just like, wow, that is something.

Yeah, that, that, I mean, it's not like crystal clear, but you could see like the size of us and my dad and, you know, so that was cool.

It's still the memories, right?

You know, and if, if you can capture a bit of that in the experiences that you have, that's magical.

And look, I know you read my posts every week, you know, when I'm on Facebook with Coffee with the Queen.

And that's really what I talk about, right?

I talk about creating those memories.

I talk about, you know, capturing those moments in time and embracing them, right?

There's enough that's going on and wrong with the world, right?

There's enough whether it's politics, religion, whatever the case may be.

So, you know, at some point, why don't we just focus on what's good, right?

Why don't we focus on the good times, you know, and, and that's really, really, you know, just to bring it back to Prince.

That's really what I also focus on.

You know, I focus on the, the number of times I laugh at the, you know, some of the experiences that you and I have had at concerts.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that, that popped as soon as you said that.

I was thinking of that time going.

To the New Power Soul festival, September of 98, you know, at Madison Square Garden.

Right.

Robin and my oldest brother John.

You know, it's those memories that I hold on to.

Or do you remember we went to go see the Jam of the Year tour at Jones beach in New York.

Right, Spike Lee that night.

Right.

So, you know, those are just the cool memories that I choose to focus on.

Right.

And it seems like a lot of those New York concerts, Chris Rock was there.

Right, right.

I remember Chris Rock sitting off to our left in Square Garden.

We were on the floor.

Yeah, we were on the floor.

Yep.

You know, a great show.

Machaka Khan and Larry Graham there.

Great, great time.

And then we.

Roseland when we were outside in the dead of winter.

January.

Yeah, January of 97, you remember.

So we went from one extreme to the other in 94.

We stood out in the blazing heat for almost six hours before we got into Tower Records.

And then we stood in 20 degree weather outside Roseland waiting to get in for the, the.

The love for one.

Another show.

Yeah, yeah, I, we did a lot just to be.

Get tickets and, and a lot of sacrifices.

Right?

We sure did.

And then if you think about it, we also went to the Oakdale show on the Gym of the Year tour in September of 97.

So it, that was just crazy.

It was like four or five times in a year.

I, I think that Oakdale show is the only place I've been to a Prince show where I think he.

Three songs into the con.

Well, he did Purple Rain, but fans were like sitting down like for a good portion of the show, which he never saw at other venues.

I mean, he never saw in other venues.

And I remember, you know, he, he making Prince, making it.

The artist making a concerted effort at the time.

You know, he wasn't going to save Purple Rain to the end like he had been doing.

Right.

He was doing Purple Rain like four song, four or five songs in you know, usually after get your groove on or whatever, but.

And it was different.

You know, it was.

I know it was different for a lot of people, and there were a lot of people that didn't like it and didn't like what he was doing and didn't like, you know, the way he changed up the set.

But, you know, again, that's something else that I always appreciated.

You know, you never knew what you were gonna get.

Yeah.

And I've seen on YouTube some poor quality.

I don't know if you've seen it from that show.

Yeah, yeah.

The girl dancing.

I forgot there was a dancer with him that.

Right, right, yeah.

And if you remember, on the Jones beach show, Right.

He came in on the boat.

Do you remember?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

That was definitely memorable.

And then jumped on on stage.

So, like I said, it was always something different.

Right.

And the last time I think that we saw Prince, both of us saw him just different nights, was at Mohegan Sun.

Right.

Was that Mohegan Sun.

Right.

Okay.

And my wife kind of dissuaded me.

I went the first night with my brother Eric, and we got the tickets comped through a friend of his, so we ended up on the floor.

The show was amazing, you know, with the horn for the NPG horns and everything.

It was great.

And had I known that it was going to be the last time that I would see him live, I would have gone to all three nights.

Right.

But I still hold those memories.

I can.

I can literally remember the show, like, was yesterday.

Yeah.

I went the third night, and it was the night he did something in the water that they have the official thing, a little clip of that.

That was it.

But, you know, the guy in front of me, it was a Monday night, I think it was, or Sunday Night Football.

He was watching the Cowboys and Eagles on his phone during the concert.

And I thinking, he must put some money on the game.

Exactly.

But you know what?

I'd rather pay attention to the show.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Can I share a story with you about the.

You and I had gone the.

The first night.

Right.

And when the Musicology tour came and, you know, the arena dates were selling out like crazy, and I remember my wife was pregnant with our son at the time.

Oh, wow.

And I saw I. I was gonna get the three nights at Madison Square Garden, and I didn't end up doing It.

So I said, I'm going to take a chance.

I'm going to get the two nights, the Saturday, the Friday and the Sunday show at Continental Airlines Arena.

And then he added the Hartford show.

Yeah.

Which.

Which came later.

So I ended up buying all those tickets, praying that, you know, I would be able to go to the show.

And God bless my wife, she had my son on July 6.

Ten days later, she let me go to the concerts, you know, July 16th and July 17th and 18th.

So that shows true dedication and true love because she's been putting up with this Prince passionate obsession.

Yeah.

Three years.

Yeah.

So bravo to Robin for that because.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, that.

That's selfless right there.

So you go, you know.

Right.

I'll handle things back at home here.

Right, right.

Yeah.

Hey, I, I brushed over the football thing.

How about for the Super Bowl?

Where do you plan to watch it?

And, and what.

What's your take?

Who's.

Who you pulling for?

And who do you think's gonna win?

I. I'll watch it from home.

And I'm thinking that I'm.

I'm thinking that it's going to be the Chiefs.

Although I'm Rooting for the NERS.

I. I love Christian McCaffrey, obviously, you know, he's the son of Ed McCaffrey, easy.

Ed McCaffrey, former New York Giant.

So.

So, you know, and look, so some people are saying, why would we want to see the Niners get a six ring or whatever?

I just, I. I like them, you know, I like auk, I like pie, I like Debo, you know, and I think that it.

It would be a nice story, but having said that, Mahomes has that magic, you know, Kelsey has that magic.

They.

They didn't look unstoppable this year.

They didn't look unbeatable this year, but they made it to the show.

Right.

You know, and they're going to be hard to beat.

Who's favored?

I forgot the line.

I. I haven't even looked at the line.

I really haven't.

So I brushed by.

I think someone was up by 2, but that had to been a couple weeks ago or a week ago.

It's changing.

Just like, you know, they're changing about this.

Taylor Swift gonna make it to the event, you know, on time or whatever.

And, and let me just speak to that, just for a minute.

You know, anybody who's hating on that, find something else to do.

Okay.

Right.

I mean, look, if Travis and then and Taylor are together, and I know, you know, pure, pure football Fans are saying, you know, you shouldn't be showing her so much.

It's not that big of a deal, you know, it just.

Let's just enjoy the sport.

Okay?

Yeah, I think she's gonna be there.

I think so, too.

Yeah.

So just gotta roll with that, right?

Yeah.

Hey, about, you know, Prince releases, you know, since he's passed away, what have you really enjoyed so far?

And what do you want to see in the future, specifically that the Estate releases one day.

Sure.

You know, and I don't want to be a front runner and I. I don't want to be patronizing, but I. I've been pleased with all of the releases from the.

The Estate.

I mean, the.

The Sign of the Times release is phenomenal.

Okay.

I mean, and.

And I'm really, really impressed with the Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition.

I love that.

Concert at Glam Slam.

Yeah.

Concert at Glam Slam is fantastic.

The amount of material on the Sign of the Time, the Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition, Okay.

Is staggering.

Okay.

We probably shouldn't be surprised because it was Prince, but listening to the songs that.

That either were for other artists or could have been hits for him in his own right, you know, it's.

It's.

It's astounding to think that he could come up with songs like that.

Right.

The intricate melodies and they weren't throwaways.

Right.

I mean, some people say he was chasing New Jack Swing.

And maybe, you know, he was influenced by New Jack swing at the time because it was the 90s, but he put his own stamp on it and the number of songs, you know.

You know, and I listen to, like, even Get Blue, which he had given to Louie Louie, you know, that could have been a hit for Prince himself.

Yeah.

That's one of my favorites on there.

Yeah.

When I Live or, you know, Standing at the Altar, you know, which I believe he gave to Margie Cox.

When I listen to these things, I'm like, I just can't believe the amount of great material that came out that he didn't even release himself.

But it's been like that on all the collections.

The Sign of the Times collection, this now Super Ducks edition.

And I was really, really impressed with the welcome to America album.

I mean, a full album that he recorded, okay.

Of finished masters that was not released.

And then when it did get released, it was kind of very timely with what was going on in society.

So that's kind of an anomaly right there.

But just the Sheer breadth of, you know, that music.

And then the concert that came from the Forum after that, and the packaging and the pictures and the books that you get with it.

I mean, I'm very, very impressed with what the estate has done.

Any particular concert that you'd want to see released?

I.

So what I would really love to see is a.

Is a super deluxe edition of the Parade era.

Okay.

I know some people have said, and I know there's talk this is the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain, so we may get something different there.

But if.

If there was a.

A professionally filmed and distributed concert from the Hit and Run tour, which, you know, I've seen the one from, you know, Kobo arena, you know, back in Detroit, But.

But if there was a different one, I. I would love that.

Yeah.

I was thinking back to the.

The.

The Act 1 tour at Radio City.

We were there two nights, but I didn't realize.

Maybe you can verify for me.

There were.

There were three nights there.

Yeah.

It was March 23rd.

I'm sorry, 24th, 25th and 26th.

We didn't go to that Friday night show.

We went Wednesday and Thursday.

Okay.

And then there was a great after show, I think, at Club usa.

I think that was the Friday night show that people are still talking about, you know.

Right.

31 years later.

Yeah.

That we weren't in attendance.

Right, right, right.

Yeah.

All right.

We're gonna do something before we.

We wrap up about five records.

Albums that played a part in your musical upbringing.

If you could, you know, free form it.

Absolutely.

Let's hear what you got.

Okay.

Number one is Sign of the Times.

It's probably the most influential album that I've heard.

Just for the sheer breadth and scope of the different styles that Prince put together.

And for the most part, playing almost everything himself.

But from rock, rock, pop, funk, it was just.

Just amazing.

Number two, I'm gonna go with Purple Rain.

And again, not to be a front runner, but if you listen to Purple Rain, you can listen to Purple Rain all the way through and not come across a bad track.

Right.

I mean, every song on there is just great.

Number three is going to be for me Faith by George Michael, simply because the voice is so pure.

You know, the pop, the.

The pop songs, the ballads, the.

The funk of, say, a track like Monkey and then, you know, almost like a.

A standard, you know, cover.

Not.

Not a cover, but a standard in Kissing a Fool.

You know, it's a.

It's a mastery of different genres of music.

Right.

Number four is.

Let's Dance by David Bowie.

You know, everybody says that that was Bowie's, you know, most commercial pop album, but if you listen to it, if you really, really listen to it, you can see him doing a bunch of different things.

Produced by Nile Rogers.

So there's, again, there's some funk in there, there's some rock.

There's some things that you wouldn't have have expected from David Bowie, you know, to the degree that he did them.

And number five is Thriller by Michael Jackson.

Okay.

Yeah.

And that is just.

It's a masterpiece.

Again, almost every song on that album is great, and it just really, really cemented his legacy in American pop music.

So, yeah, I. I told the audience, I. I was truthful.

This guy knows his history like this.

He's still sharp as ever.

You're the sharpest person I know.

I appreciate that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

So coffee tomorrow?

What.

What's.

What's planned for that coffee with the Queen tomorrow?

I'll be honest with you.

I. I don't plan those out.

You know, those are very.

You know, when I wake up in the morning, whatever's on my mind is what I put in.

Just.

But I always think that I. I want to help somebody.

I want to make a difference in somebody's life.

And if something that I post or some advice that we give, or if there's just something funny that we've done, if it's helped somebody in some way, then I'm okay.

Yeah.

Mission accomplished.

Yeah.

So on Facebook, J. David Silva.

You see his name right there?

Just type it in.

You could see Sunday Coffee, Morning Coffee with the Queen and the Electric Man.

He's known as the Electric.

We should let people know why you're the Electric man and I'm Joey Coco.

The.

The Electric man came because I had seen somebody.

Prince called himself Electric man in a concert.

You know, he said all the lady.

All the fellows call him Prince, but the ladies call him Electric man because he shots him like no one can.

I only have one lady, and I am her Electric Man.

And still charging like no one can.

I still shock her like no one can.

Right?

And then Joey Coco was a pseudonym of Prince.

And I remember calling you that one day, and literally around my house, when I refer to you, I.

When if I say Joey the Sea or I say Joey Coco, my entire family knows who I'm talking about.

Right?

Right.

For 30 something years.

And likewise here, you know, with.

With G and my mom, the Electric man, everybody knows who I'm referring to.

So.

Yeah, that's great.

Hey, man, great to catch up.

We're like three hours away, but, you know, we're.

We're brothers for life.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

And we got to thank Prince for that.

Yes.

Yes, we do.

Yes, we do.

And that's the other thing.

The friendships, especially yours and obviously the lovely G. Money, your wife.

The friendships and the associations that we've met through Prince and the associated Artists mean.

Mean the most to me, you know, and being able to support some of those artists in their independent endeavors.

And that's Ricky Free Smith and Jelly Bean Johnson, St. Paul.

Paul, Tori Ruffin.

You know, obviously, Morris.

You know, to be able to.

To have those friendships and to be able to interact with them and to be able to.

To.

To support them in their endeavors has meant the world to me.

Yeah.

So.

Hey, thanks, brother.

The Electric Man, J. David Silva.

Hopefully, you know, you come by very, very soon.

I'm sure we're never short of things to talk about.

Absolutely.

We're going to keep this going.

That's right.

Thanks, brother.

All right, Joe, you take care, and thank.

Thanks for joining us here on Musicians Reveal.

We'll see you next week.