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Walk for Epilepsy comes to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

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Bill Jones: Be a champion for the Wyoming Valley’s children

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; When singular artist Prince departed suddenly April 21 for the music royalty jam accumulating in the heavens, shock was the initial reaction. Now that the purple dust has settled, the time has come for reflection and perspective.</p><p>The Times Leader asked people in Wilkes-Barre to comment on the funk, soul genius, his memorable career and his untimely death.</p><p>Local record store employee Mark Wohl honored Prince by playing his songs Friday morning at downtown Wilkes-Bare&#8217;s Musical Energi.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s unfortunate he won&#8217;t create any more music,&#8221; said Wohl, who plays guitar in local band Mock Sun. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t surprise me all that much that he&#8217;s gone, that just happens.&#8221;</p><p>Wohl&#8217;s band creates psychedelic pop, so it made sense when he named Prince&#8217;s trippy &#8220;Around the World in A Day&#8221; album as his favorite release from the artist.</p><p>As for F.M. Kirby Center Executive Director Will Beekman, his favorite piece of Prince music is reflective of his affinity for the electric guitar.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a music guy, a guitar guy at heart, so that&#8217;s what stuck out for me,&#8221; Beekman said. &#8220;&#8216;Let&#8217;s Go Crazy&#8217; is probably my favorite Prince song. It&#8217;s one of those songs that if it came on at the right tim &#8212; or wrong tim &#8212; and you&#8217;re on the road, you&#8217;ll just keep driving.&#8221;</p><p>At first, Gallery of Sound co-owner Joe Nardone Jr. didn&#8217;t believe the news about Prince&#8217;s passing. Friday, his store paid tribute by playing The Purple One&#8217;s greatest hits collection for shoppers as they searched through the shelves of the Mundy Street store.</p><p>&#8220;I was a fan at different times,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;The last real album they put out I thought was closer to the old sound.&#8221;</p><p>Nardone fielded numerous requests for Prince&#8217;s controversial b-side &#8220;Erotic City&#8221; during his DJ days but stuck to the classics when asked for his favorite album from the prolific pop poster boy.</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;Purple Rain&#8217; was probably the top of the heap for me,&#8221; Nardone said.</p><p>Old Forge resident Manza Person remembers Prince&#8217;s music being autobiographical in the sense that some of the writing on the &#8220;Purple Rain&#8221; album was rumored to have grown out of an abusive relationship with his stepfather. He also remembered the superstar, along with Michael Jackson, as an inspiration to African American musicians beginning in the &#8217;80s.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of African Americans started making money with music in that era,&#8221; Person said. &#8220;They were doing shows in bars and clubs, wherever they could make a little change. Prince broke out into the industry with a blend of rock, funk and electronic stuff, and he showed African Americans that people could make money playing music.&#8221;</p><p>Donell &#8220;D The Barber&#8221; Farryl, of Parsons, called Prince &#8220;a great artist and a mobile icon.&#8221; Farryl said Prince&#8217;s stand against his record label was a turning point in the music industry.</p><p>&#8220;For him to change his name to a symbol was very powerful,&#8221; Farryl said <strong>r</strong>eferring to Prince&#8217;s adoption of a new artist name when he felt his record label was taking advantage of his moniker.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s sad he died at a young age. I guess that type of atmosphere in entertainment where you&#8217;re travelling, doing shows and partying becomes stressful. I think it&#8217;s just the lifetime of an artist.&#8221;</p><p>Frank Mozdian, of Wilkes-Barre, likened Prince to David Bowie. Both artists blurred gender lines and exuded sexuality.</p><p>&#8220;He was an innovator,&#8221; Mozdian said. &#8220;He played all of the instruments on a lot of his albums. I respected him as a musician.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Person </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Person_resized.jpg</photo0><caption0>Person </caption0><photoCredit0>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Mozdian_resized.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mozdian </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Mozdian_resized.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mozdian </caption1><photoCredit1>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Prince_resized.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A chalk depiction of Prince in front of the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Prince_resized.jpg</photo2><caption2>A chalk depiction of Prince in front of the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Musicians, industry pros, fans weigh in on the loss of a superstar</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei and Gene Axton</p><p><a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a></p><p><a href="mailto:gaxton@www.timesleader.com">gaxton@www.timesleader.com</a></p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Remembering Prince: Reactions of musicians, industry pros, fans to the death of a rock royal and renaissance man