Matos' "Sign Of the Times" Book

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Bought it yesterday and finished it about 20 minutes ago. It is superb. Congrats, Matos. Most excellent.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:24 (twenty-two years ago)

:-) I must get this! As I'm seeing him late next month, it would be gauche not to have read it by then.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Trust me, Ned, you' might wanna kiss him after reading it!

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I was just about to order one of these too! I want my copy autographed.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

My only complaint is I wish the Jimmy Destri rumor were true.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Cindy - They have it at Shakespeare & Co. on Broadway (you're in NYC, right?). Just buy it and have Matos sign it later!

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:34 (twenty-two years ago)

What kind of a Prince freaque am I? "Sign Of The Times"?!

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:35 (twenty-two years ago)

haha i just got it from amazon and i'm taking that shit to seattle.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:36 (twenty-two years ago)

What kind of a Prince freaque am I? "Sign Of The Times"?!

U lack faith.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:45 (twenty-two years ago)

All The ILX0Rz Love U In Seattle, Matos

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Aw hells yeah. I want.

― Nate in ST.P (natedetritus), Thursday, 15 April 2004 03:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I shall be placing an Amazon order soon. (I've never seen the 33 1/3 books anywhere in Chicago.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Freaking awesome. My favorite of the 33.333333 series. Get it.

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:36 (twenty-two years ago)

god. the ass kissing here is fucking EPIC!

― joenorton, Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:43 (twenty-two years ago)

joenorton you are FUCKING AWESOME!!

― g--ff (gcannon), Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i knew him when. *sniffle*

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:46 (twenty-two years ago)

the lame ass personal attacks from lurkers or one off anonymous aliases here is fucking EPIC!

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 15 April 2004 04:51 (twenty-two years ago)

god the solo at the end of "play in the sunshine" is fucking EPIC!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 15 April 2004 05:00 (twenty-two years ago)

If honestly enjoying Matos's writing makes me an ass-kisser, then, well, so be it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 15 April 2004 05:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Faith No Fucking More-Fucking EPIC!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 15 April 2004 05:05 (twenty-two years ago)

you are all so outrageously kind that it's EPIC!

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 15 April 2004 06:44 (twenty-two years ago)

hi matos i cant wait to see what you wrote about shiela e's rap at the end of beautiful night (im not kidding)

― Pablo Cruise (chaki), Thursday, 15 April 2004 06:47 (twenty-two years ago)

haha I did write about Sheila E.'s rap at the end of "Beautiful Night" too!

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 15 April 2004 06:55 (twenty-two years ago)

hey matos can you rip it for me and burn to cd?

(i wonder if these'll turn up down here?)

― mullywaster, Thursday, 15 April 2004 06:57 (twenty-two years ago)

what, the book? sorry, can't.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 15 April 2004 06:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey Matos can you e-mail me/post to your blog that DJ /rupture jukebox thing you did? Pleeeeease. (I will buy your book!)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 15 April 2004 07:00 (twenty-two years ago)

(JK I'm gonna anyways.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 15 April 2004 07:00 (twenty-two years ago)

if i ever get back to civilisation i'm sure i'll find one too ;-)

― mullygasper, Thursday, 15 April 2004 07:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Alex in SF: here you go.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 15 April 2004 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Matos, ILX cabal demands review copy.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:43 (twenty-two years ago)

How many copies is that?

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:49 (twenty-two years ago)

pay for them you fuckers!

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't worry I will, and congrats Matos.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:51 (twenty-two years ago)

not that i did, but, well, whatever, nevermind.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:51 (twenty-two years ago)

You can pay for his book on the black album -this time he writes about Sheila E's rap in "Cindy C"

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Or is that wishful thinking (on both parts)

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:53 (twenty-two years ago)

So is this all available in normal bookstores and stuff?

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i get mine direct from the colombians, so i dunno about its street availability

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess, when *my* book came out I was happy to send a review copy to any journalist who wanted one. One day you will also be in this position and you will see that it makes commercial sense to send to a reviewer who has access to over 200,000 readers a month.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

ha ha no one will ever be fool enough to give me 20k words

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, me too. I have readers. You know, on livejournal.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"i envision it sort of as a cross between lipstick traces and rom: spaceknight."

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Is twenty thousand words enough to cover that kind of ground? Or are you going to use carefully selected pictures to finish the job?

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Let's face it, you're to have with Rom: Spaceknight

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"draw your novel in ms paint"

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't start that up you crazed fool!

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I was sent my first ever review copy yesterday. I'm not even a journalist, just an intermittent blogger. I feel like a charlatan.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I am looking forward to reading this one.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I was looking for this the other day in hmv even though I sort of knew it wasn't out yet.
Even so seeing Matos's name in the inside of one of the other 33 1/3 books was oddly thrilling... Looking forward to it anyway!

― pete s, Thursday, 15 April 2004 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I was thinking about this book in line yesterday before the Prince show...don't know why i've never gotten around to ordering it.

A problem resolved about 2 minutes ago (thank you Amazon.com)

― Phil Dokes (sunny), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 64 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

In 85? Considering the song wasn't released until 1986...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 17 April 2004 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I know, but he's specifically referring to the song in the interview recorded in 85 - just wondering if the interview was done very late in 85, "Kiss" may have already had an unoffical release that early.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Saturday, 17 April 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Hm...maybe snuck out on a tape or something.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 17 April 2004 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

the interview is actually from 86

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 05:37 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

this was really, really fucking great. if I get to review it, I'm comparing it to the fortress of solitude!

― etc, Sunday, 5 September 2004 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

i just finished this - it was really good, very well written, and great to read on my plane journey. the shout out to the ILX crew was funny - a few parts of the book are so ILX in style that i half expected 'so is SOTT C or D?' to pop up somewhere. anyway, not to nitpick, but i just wanted to raise a few points about some stuff in the book:

far as i know, princes high school band grand central was named after larry grahams 70s band graham central station, not grand funk railroad - i could be wrong though.

also, i didnt quite get how SOTT as an album was prince being his most JB-like. apart from beautiful night and housequake, i dont really see it. i mean, apart from the emphasis on funky choppy rhythm guitar, i dont think JB's influence is all *that* evident on princes records to begin with. its generally quite secreted.

i was a bit dissapointed to see beck or outkast werent mentioned in the list of people who were inspired by prince, im sure there were others that could have been mentioned. similarly, i thought there could have been some mention of white artists who copied prince in addition to the black artists who xeroxed his sound. princes influence was pretty far reaching IMHO (or perhaps im wrong, i was only about 5 at the time purple rain came out.)

i also thought reducing jam and lewis 80s productions to being simply patterned after prince's own wasnt totally fair or correct - they were a lot more faithful to R&B conventions than prince ever was (his work for the time excepted).

― splooge (thesplooge), Saturday, 2 October 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

microhouse and Jaxx getting mentioned and not outkast was my only beef. It's a terrific book.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 2 October 2004 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I plan on buying 2 copies this Xmas, one for myself, and one for my Prince-fanatic friend who got me into him to begin with.

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 2 October 2004 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

my Prince-fanatic friend who got me into him to begin with.

Did you live under a rock in the 1980s?

― Vic Funk, Saturday, 2 October 2004 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe his friend got him into prince in the 80s!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 2 October 2004 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

the batman soundtrack was the 2nd CD I ever got but I wouldn't say I was "into" Prince until college.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 2 October 2004 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

>my Prince-fanatic friend who got me into him to begin with.
Did you live under a rock in the 1980s?

-- Vic Funk (doctor_funk_ph...), October 2nd, 2004. (later)

I have never conciously listened to a prince record. And yeah, being five = a lot like being under a rock. (and that's five in 1989, mind.)

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Saturday, 2 October 2004 22:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Did you live under a rock in the 1980s?

-- Vic Funk (doctor_funk_ph...), October 2nd, 2004. (later)

Jesus christ, Vic.. did you actually think before posting this one?

― REFICUL!, Saturday, 2 October 2004 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, even if you were a teen or college age person living in the heart of the Twin Cities in the 80s, that doesn't mean you have to necessarily be into Prince or else you might as well be living under a rock. For fuck's sake.

― REFICUL!, Saturday, 2 October 2004 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe he was between a rock (hard) and a funky place.

(that one goes out to all my prince geeks)

― splooge (thesplooge), Saturday, 2 October 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, I was born in the 80's, so the first Prince record I was really conscious of at the time that it was out was "Diamonds & Pearls", which was pretty much at the end of his hit reign and not that impressive in and of itself. I wasn't very interested in him until said friend made me a tape a few years ago, which was one of the most dramatically eye-opening musical experiences I've ever had.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 3 October 2004 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

seen this? :

(from UNCUT magazine, UK, November 2004 edition)

"michaelangelo matos is magnificent. he makes you want to hear prince's famed double album right now. even the weak tracks.
...this is liberating rock writing, pulsing with personality;
a rocket ship exploding"

chris roberts *****/***** (5 stars out of 5)

aces. must get this. well done all round mr matos.

― piscesboy, Friday, 8 October 2004 10:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Nice indeed!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

a rocket ship exploding!! way to go.

― pfeffernuesse (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 8 October 2004 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Someone who's read it and liked it should post a positive review on Amazon - someone's got it in for him.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0826415474/002-7932598-0208025?v=glance

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Friday, 8 October 2004 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

This book doesn't actually examine the Sign o' the Times album.

?????????

― pfeffernuesse (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 8 October 2004 12:05 (twenty-one years ago)

ugh what an asshole.

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 8 October 2004 12:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Honestly, if someone who does like this book could post a positive review of it on Amazon, that would be appreciated. It doesn't seem right that all those negative reviews on there should go unanswered. Thanks.

― David Barker (dpjb), Friday, 8 October 2004 12:22 (twenty-one years ago)

My guess, and I have no proof for this, is that those negative reviews were all written by one person.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 8 October 2004 12:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never understood people's gigantic aversion to reading details about the critic's life. So many people are like this, though -- THERE HE GOES AGAIN TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF INSTEAD OF THE MUSIC!! -- treating it like this huge epidemic in journalism.

To me, criticism is an engagement between a subject and an object: it seems weird to deliberately take one of these totally out of the equation.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 8 October 2004 13:16 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, those reviews are hilarious - totally just one douchebag...

― peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 8 October 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"ultra liberal"

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 8 October 2004 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i just ordered the book, matos. i also ordered the abba gold book - is that one good?

― peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 8 October 2004 13:30 (twenty-one years ago)

blog posts masquerading as books c/d

isn't that what the amazon reviews are implying?

fwiw, i really enjoyed this book. i think i read it in one sitting. the personal stuff is nicely balanced with the criticism and factual information. to even suggest that the critic listens to music in some holier-than-thou objective void is ludicrous.

― tricky disco (disco stu), Friday, 8 October 2004 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The Amazon customer reviews for Chris Ott's Joy Division book are even funnier!

― ng, Friday, 8 October 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The Amazon reviews for Warren Zanes' book on Dusty are pretty entertaining, too.

― David Barker (dpjb), Friday, 8 October 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the abba gold book is utterly amazing and i'd recommend it to anyone who's into pop music history, chart positions, or america's cultural sway on the rest of the world (and vice versa).

― pfeffernuesse (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 8 October 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

i didn't like the zanes book quite so much -- i found it a bit sloppy.

― pfeffernuesse (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 8 October 2004 17:07 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

that is so bizarre--I swore I mentioned OutKast (specifically the one that rips off "Dorothy Parker"), but it seems I didn't. fucking weird.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 31 January 2005 08:07 (twenty-one years ago)

oh wait, I remember why. It's because Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out about a month and a half after I turned the book in. OK then.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 31 January 2005 09:18 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

So I'll just ask this here even though it's about the album packaging and not Matos' book. Really, I couldn't start a thread just for this now could I. Anyway, I just bought a used copy of Sign 'O' the Times and it came as two separate cds in separate jewel cases. Is this how it was originally packaged? Were the discs sold separately? Was it later combined to be a big thick two cd case (I'm thinking NO's Substance)? Is it now in the single jewel case fold out deal? What's up? I was surprised to find it as two cds with their own individual packaging.

― matt2 (matt2), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

Not that it makes a damned bit of difference, but it's since been combined, yes.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

Was it for sale as two separate discs upon it's initial release?

― matt2 (matt2), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

As in you could buy one disc but not the other.

― matt2 (matt2), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I thought you meant from a packaging standpoint. From a sales point, I really don't think so — that's how they did a lot of them back in the day. Maybe Matos would know...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

i got it on cd in the late 80s and it came as a thick double cased album yeah. its been made into a slimline one since, though

― okoko, Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:42 (twenty years ago)

xpost

Yeah, I guess I was unclear, and I kinda meant both anyway. I didn't realize they did that back then and it was a point of interest from a packaging standpoint as well.

― matt2 (matt2), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

Yes, it originally came as two distinct single disc jewel cases bundled together (but not sold individually) (like New Order's Substance, and also like Neil Young's Decade ... must have been a Warner Bros thing....)

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

no u could only ever buy them as 1 double. not seperately. certainly not in the uk anyway. in fact the cd in all its variations announces (in PRINCEly '87 era typography) '2 DISC SET' on every cd version. originally yeah it was like the NO substance packaging, but then changed in about the early 90's to the fold-y out type.

the NO substance/ sign o the times double type cd cases are rarely used now, but recently the BUGGED OUT erol alkan mix cd was released in that type and erol made mention of it being a reference specifically to SUBSTANCE on his site prior to it's release.

my copy of this book was half-eaten by a dog. no joke.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

I've always heard this was the worst book in the entire 33 1/3 series. True?

― Reatards Unite, Thursday, 14 February 2008 02:24 (eighteen years ago)

No.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 14 February 2008 02:28 (eighteen years ago)

I'm reading the ATCQ book now and counting how many times I get pissed off at the author per chapter, whereas I did not have to do that with Matos' book, so no.

― The Reverend, Thursday, 14 February 2008 03:04 (eighteen years ago)

I just read the LTAL book, which I liked about as much as the SOTT book, but for different reasons.

― dr. phil, Thursday, 14 February 2008 03:55 (eighteen years ago)

Wow.

Buy this book now because Chris Ott owes me $5000 and I swear if I don't get it by New Year's Eve then his genitals are going to be his new 'unknown pleasures' if you catch my drift.

― clotpoll, Thursday, 14 February 2008 06:45 (eighteen years ago)

Just started this 'un. One of the best so far.

― Raw Patrick, Thursday, 14 February 2008 08:54 (eighteen years ago)

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