Prince Announces East Coast Concert Series

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Thursday evening Prince announced a series of concerts in which he"ll be joined by guests Maceo Parker, Cassandra Wilson, Janelle Monae, Sheila E., Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding, Sinbad and others. "I've got lots of hits," Prince, wearing sunglasses and a black suit with ruffles, said at a press conference at the Apollo Theater in New York. "Bring footspray because it's gonna be funky." (Watch video above.)

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Details are unclear, but Prince said the shows will begin on a "Purple Day in December in the year 2010." A LiveNation rep said that the plan is for a multi-night stand, called "Welcome 2 America," in the New York area. Prince hasn't played an extensive U.S. tour since 2004, though he launched a brief residency in Las Vegas in 2006 and headlined Coachella in 2008.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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