"Electric Mistress" is redolent of Prince's filthy funk from the early 1980s, and it's none the worse for its unashamedly lascivious, slightly absurd, lyrics: "Pretty Polly's my electric mistress/ When she's freakin' like a maniac/ She's my aphrodisiac."There was a great deal of this Prince-lite material that Kay bombarded us with. This evening, he sported some preposterous shiny, Native American-style headgear. It may have been a reference to the band's moniker - which combines the name of a Native American tribe (the Iroquois) with "jam" (in the musical sense). You did worry, however, that the sharp points of the headpiece might have an eye out - but Kay, thankfully, kept a safe distance from his excellent band and three backing-singers. Jamiroquai were the last act to bless the three-day B-Live weekend in south-west London - after the bland Brand New Heavies, Amy Winehouse and the inimitable Flavor Flav - and they were, by some distance, the star draw.
I would hope there has been some part of the contribution made musically, and that is all I can hope for.Why do you still desire emancipation seven years and four albums after your divorce? DAVID TAN, LONDON VIA E-MAILWhen you go through something as intense as what I went through in that relationship it requires a very long period of healing.Mariah Carey's new single, "We Belong Together", is out now. Midway through Jamiroquai's first UK gig in three years, their front man, Jay Kay, informed us he'd been to "Sarajevo, Bosnia", that Donald Rumsfeld was a "proper crook", worse than Richard Nixon, and that "we have to get rid" of George W - not that, you understand, "all Yanks are bad". He also mumbled something about the Live8 concert the day before. It was an ill-conceived diatribe that served no discernible purpose and made no noticeable impression on the affluent, young, mainly female, beer-and-alcopop-swilling hordes. Nevertheless, the majority of the 18,000 crowd appeared to appreciate the return of the diminutive eco-funkster in his obligatory silly (sorry, trendsetting - the man's a style icon, according to GQ) hat.
The roof is part of my area, it was my dream to have a penthouse in Manhattan. They have been working on it now for quite some time.With your voice, did you ever consider a career in opera? KORI HUSSEIN, MANCHESTERNo, because I realised how much skill, technique and studying that requires. I greatly admire opera singers of talent, but I am not disciplined enough.Who are the most important people in your life? HENRY JOHN VIA E-MAILPersonal friends who have been with me through everything I have gone through in my life and remained there.How would you like to be remembered? PRISCILLA CHORLEY, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNEI do not think I could control that. I do have a great time doing my hip-hop collaborations because it is very close to my heart.Was your mixed-race background a disadvantage in the music industry? Have attitudes changed now? LEILA JONES, VIA E-MAILI think attitudes have changed. It is not easy for people to look at someone and think: her father's black, her mother's white, she does not look like either of them.Where do you call home, and what's it like? EMILY BROWN, VIA E-MAILBasically, it is underwater, my apartment The water tower broke on the roof. Internally, my whole life it has been something I have struggled with. I think people have wanted to put me in some sort of a box so they can understand who I am.