A Nashville sportscaster claims that he was fired after rattling off a barrage of Prince lyrics during an on-air segment.
Dan Phillips of WZTV Fox-17 started the segment off with a lengthy citation of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” intoning, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together to get through this thing called life. An electric word life, but I’m here to tell you, there’s something else: The NHL playoffs.”
From there, he peppered in numerous references to other Prince songs, including “When Doves Cry,” “1999,” “Purple Rain” and “Little Red Corvette.”
Phillips posted the segment online on April 21 — the day that Prince died at age 57 — with the message, “A little tribute to my favorite musical artist. Enjoy. Or just laugh at the idiot making as many Prince references as he can in four minutes.”
On Friday, the sportscaster informed his Facebook following that he had been sacked after station management deemed the segment “insensitive.”
“First of all, I want to thank everyone for the kind words, comments and positive feedback on this tribute I did to Prince last week. It really means a lot,” Phillips wrote. “Unfortunately, there were apparently some viewers, as well as management at the station, who did not feel the same way. They felt I was insensitive. And as a result, I was terminated today.”
Phillips attempted to put a positive spin on the sudden change in employment status, concluding, “I’m choosing to use this as a catalyst for some exciting things I’ve been working on for some time now. I’ll have many more details on this in coming days.”
"Thieves in the Temple"
"Purple Rain," "1999" and "When Doves Cry" will be blasting out of little red Corvettes for centuries to come. But with this gallery, we want to look at Prince's less celebrated masterpieces.
"Thieves in the Temple," from "Purple Rain" sequel "Grafitti Bridge," was an understated, pained, different kind of song. But it was sinewy and mysterious and I've had it stuck in my head for about 25 years, so that's something.
"Annie Christian"
"Annie Christian" is a Prince rarity in every sense, including the fact that it's terrifying. Listing a series of early '80s nightmares, Prince shouts through the refrain "Annie Christian/anti-Christ" before resolving where he started, with a declaration that "Annie Christian was a whore." Jesus Christ.
"The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"
This and the remaining songs are from the 1987 album "Sign O the Times," which to me is Prince's best: He lets his hair down, shares his dry wit, and cries a little. This one's a short story, named for a master of short stories. The song starts at 2:27 in the clip.
"Starfish and Coffee"
No matter what's happening in your life, this will cheer you up. With nothing to prove by "Sign O the Times," Prince let his guard down, and took us back to his unsurprisingly weird elementary school. (Or at least one in his imagination.) Remember that time he performed "Starfish and Coffee" with the Muppets? Me neither, until I came across this clip.
"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
For my money, this is the best Prince song, period. A melancholy brush-off beautifully dressed up as a chivalric anthem, "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" is propulsive, beautiful, confusingly moving. The relationship begins and ends with the words in the chorus: All the selfishness and generosity that goes into love is all there in one rejection.
And that guitar solo.
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”Purple Rain,“ ”When Doves Cry“ and ”1999“ will be blasting from little red Corvettes until the end of time, but let’s look at Prince’s less celebrated masterpieces
"Thieves in the Temple"
"Purple Rain," "1999" and "When Doves Cry" will be blasting out of little red Corvettes for centuries to come. But with this gallery, we want to look at Prince's less celebrated masterpieces.
"Thieves in the Temple," from "Purple Rain" sequel "Grafitti Bridge," was an understated, pained, different kind of song. But it was sinewy and mysterious and I've had it stuck in my head for about 25 years, so that's something.
