While his band has been dutifully honoring their fellow Brit David Bowie in interviews, Duran Duran bassist John Taylor was also happy to talk to Artcetera about fellow '80s MTV star Prince. "I never met him, and I don't know if I could've ever been entirely comfortable with him because honestly I was so in awe of him," said Taylor, whose band plays Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. His intimidation came to a head at a London after-party on Prince's 1986 Parade Tour, which Duran Duran's members attended. Taylor recalled: "One of his crew came over to me and asked, 'Would you like to play?' And I was like, 'Uh, no.' [Laughs.] Eric Clapton was there, though, and, of course, he did get up with him. I'll never forget watching Clapton trying to keep up with Prince. One minute he'd be playing drums, the next minute he'd be on keyboards, then guitar. Eric didn't know if he was coming or going. And he's Eric Clapton."
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Death of vinyl?
For a guy who recently graduated from the esteemed College of William & Mary in his native Virginia, Will Toledo should've been wise to a golden rule of Rock Band Economics 101: Never run out of merch. Toledo's buzzing indie-rock quartet Car Seat Headrest came to the sold-out Triple Rock in Minneapolis Monday from the Pitchfork Music Fest in Chicago, and the band had nothing left for sale except a few small square-shaped items whose antiquity Toledo poked fun of from the stage. "All we have left for merch tonight are CDs," he said dryly. "It's a new technology called compact discs. I think you'll like the sound quality."
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Cool licks
Ben & Jerry's has named several ice cream flavors after music stars, including Jerry Garcia, Elton John and Dave Matthews. Now Izzy's, the scrumptious Twin Cities ice cream maker, is introducing a flavor inspired by one of Minneapolis' most beloved rappers. Dessa's Existential Crunch is described as a dark brown sugar and crème fraîche ice cream, flavored with Jameson and Disaronno Amaretto, mixed with praline pecan pieces and a crunchy cashew brittle. Dessa will serve the ceremonial first scoop shortly after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Izzy's in downtown Minneapolis. Here's hoping that she'll drop an existential verse as well.
JON BREAM
All in the family
Did you know that Larry Graham — bass guitar innovator, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with Sly and the Family Stone, Prince's spiritual mentor and Twin Cities resident — is Drake's uncle? For real. The rapper/singer's given name is Aubrey Drake Graham. His father is Dennis Graham, a drummer and Larry's brother. Another of Drake's paternal uncles is the late Teenie Hodges, an R&B guitarist and songwriter known for co-writing "Take Me to the River" and "Love and Happiness" with Al Green. We don't know if Drake will have any family time when he's in town Sunday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, but we thought you'd want to know about his uncles.
JON BREAM
Whole Kitten caboodle
When First Avenue invited Kitten Forever to play its first main-room headlining show after the release of the killer new album "7 Hearts," the members of the hard-blasting, instrument-switching punk trio thought it a time for reflection. "We never imagined we would ever play live out of our basement," said singer/bassist/drummer Corrie Harrigan. So they decided to make the First Ave gig a celebration of their 10th anniversary and invited a lot of friends from their basement days to perform with them. Saturday's show (7 p.m., $12-$15) is now a mini-fest of sorts with openers Condominium, Candace, Royal Brat and Tony Peachka. Said Harrigan: "We really were adamant about wanting to have openers that have some personal connection to us, or new bands we like that haven't played out much."
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Find more coverage of the arts all week at our pop culture blog startribune.com/artcetera and follow us on Twitter @entertain_mn.
