From The Mouths of Husbands: Let's Go Crazy about 3121

Prince ... The artist formerly known … as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” … is slated to play a concert tomorrow (July 7th). And the venue is … Madison Square Garden? Nope! Radio City Music Hall? Guess Again! Caesar’s Palace? Wrong again! Why it’s none other than that bastion of Rock ‘N’ Roll … (The Department store formerly known as Bamberger’s in some areas). Take THAT Wal-Mart! Oh how the mighty have fallen. But wait, His Crazy Purpleness is not just playing a department store. The Minnesota midget is playing the Macy’s in the downtown Nicollet Mall, in his home town of Minneapolis. The performance is linked to the Purple One’s launch of his new Fragrance … “When Doves Cr*p” Just kidding. His fragrance, called “3121” has been available in select areas so far. But the official launch takes place Saturday at the Minneapolis Macy’s. Apparently the Macy’s people lured Prince, knowing that he has some sort of infatuation with the number “7”. So he has agreed to play seven songs (or so) on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the millennium. I guess they forgot to mention the Macy’s high-school-gym-sized auditorium is actually on the eighth floor. (Ding) “Eighth Floor … Purple suits, Retro-80’s acts and men’s fragrances!” And of course, the name of the fragrance (3121) … while not actually having a “7’ in the name … does add up to 7. Macy’s North sent Prince a Laptop with his “3121” logo on it and when he opened it, there was a short video presentation for him to see with Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez and thousands of screaming fans at Macy’s. That’s what they Macy’s people said anyway; though they did not specify if the thousands of screamers were fans of Beyonce and Lopez or of Macy’s. The Macy’s people did request that Prince sing “Purple Rain” but his final song list has yet to be confirmed. Tomorrow’s performance is part of Macy’s plans to recreate the sort of excitement that years ago, was part of the mall’s appeal. Geez, I always thought quality products at good prices should be the appeal, no? Though celebrity appearances happen at that mall quite often, they have not hosted a major music act since the Yardbirds in the 1960s. Frank Guzzetta, chief executive officer and chairman of Macy's North, has been quoted as saying, “"Retail should be theater." I for one, can’t wait to see the Kmart Players version of “Death of a Shoe Department Salesman.” Prince, (born Prince Rogers Nelson) who now is 48 years old, has been blazing the comeback trail in the past few years with appearances on Saturday Night Live and of course, at last year’s Super Bowl. In addition to Beyonce and Lopez over the past 18 months, Macy's North has attracted a half-dozen celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker for the launch of her fragrance, the downtown Minneapolis store laid a pink carpet down the main aisle; more than 2,500 people came to see her. I guess Janet “Costume Malfunction” Jackson was ruled out for a performance in the lingerie department? Shame. The auditorium will hold an estimated 1,400 people. Tickets cost $250 each (Fragrance not included). Now as for the fragrance itself … I expected it to have some sort of unpronounceable symbol as a name. In fact the name is sort of confusing. I mean does one pronounce it “Three One Two One” or “Three Thousand and Twenty One?” It is in fact pronounced: THREE – ONE – TWO – ONE In a shameless bit of cross-promotion, the name of the fragrance (3121) is also the name of Prince’s most recent studio album. “3121” is believed to be a reference to the address of a Los Angeles mansion that Prince rented, primarily for the purpose of partying it would seem. Because Prince apparently got the address wrong. It is thought that the actual address was 1235 Sierra Way (according to a lawsuit filed by the landlord – whose name – I kid you not - is Carlos BOOZER). Boozer is from Germany and plays for the Utah Jazz. But Prince – being Prince – always referred to the property as 3121. And he even went to the trouble of repainting the address on the building to say ‘3121’. In fact, defacing the address played a part in the lawsuit. No word on whether Prince also refers to the property as “The Mansion Formerly Known as 1235 Sierra Way.” The scent is … well let’s remember first that this is MISTER Colombina writing … and my nose is to perfume reviews what Genghis Kahn was to good table manners. But I’ll give it a go. I expected the diminutive Prince to want to blast us with some macho male compensation of leather and musk. But one must also remember that this Minnie-Sota Metrosexual also professes a love of all things floral. Truth be told, the first whiff is quite fruity. Insert your own joke here. And there was something almost citric to it. If it reminded me of anything, it was the gardenias in my neighbor’s garden as a small boy .,, which I always thought were just called “shrubs” but since I cheated and saw that gardenias are an ingredient …and gardenias grow on shrubs, I will assume that I am right. After waiting for the scent to ‘settle’ – my term for getting past the initial whiff of ANY fragrance because they all smell alcoholly to me at first smell … I THINK there was something manly and musky but that may have just been my natural scent. Don’t ask me what size the bottle is, or whether it’s an Eau de Parfum, cologne or any of that technical stuff. I don’t know. I was only able to get a small sample from a friend of a friend of a friend. One of the advantages of the Colombinas recently relocating to the NY metro area. I do know that rumors abound that it will sell for $31.21 I always thought that celebrities who had a fragrance just whipped some up in their basements at the weekend. But apparently, according to Colombina, an actual perfume company gets involved to develop it. In this case, the company is called “Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics, Inc. So goodbye “Prince & the Revolution”. Hello “Prince and Revelation” Kind of sad to think about Prince’s original backing band, ‘The Revolution’ and how as a young male, I never quite got passed the lesbofantasy of Wendy & Lisa. Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics, Inc. by the way is based outside Philadelphia in Huntingdon Valley, PA, near where I grew up and near where the Colombinas used to live. Since we are on the topic of music, Huntingdon Valley is also famous as being the home of Nancy Spungen – of “Sid & Nancy” fame – the heroin-addicted slapper girlfriend of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, who was mysteriously found stabbed to death wearing only her underwear in a New York hotel bathroom. But I digress. Has the EVER been a person – NOT in the perfume game who LOOKS more like someone who SHOULD be in a perfume ad than Prince? I mean seriously … look at this guy! Another circulating rumor, has it that Prince was such a big fan of the ‘reality’ show “Big Brother”, that according to the British tabloid, ‘The Sun’ … he wrote to the producers asking if he could be in an upcoming episode whilst they were still filming it. Personally, I think they’d have to rename it “Small Brother.” So I wish prince well in his concert, his comeback, his foray into the fragrance world. I ask him just two things … 1) Write something good again! 2) Bring back Wendy & Lisa