I think it's unfair and insulting to suggest that Thriller only became big because of the videos.To me,a song like "Billie Jean" is amazing,with or without a video.

[img:$uid]http://pic80.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2084/9118410/23995995/401070879.jpg[/img:$uid]

SoulAlive said:

I think it's unfair and insulting to suggest that Thriller only became big because of the videos.To me,a song like "Billie Jean" is amazing,with or without a video.

I dig Billy Jean quite a bit, but musically & Lyrically Prince crushes it it ever way possible except sales.

Graycap23 said:

SoulAlive said:

I think it's unfair and insulting to suggest that Thriller only became big because of the videos.To me,a song like "Billie Jean" is amazing,with or without a video.

I dig Billy Jean quite a bit, but musically & Lyrically Prince crushes it it ever way possible except sales.

Prince didn't crush songs such as Billie Jean, Beat It and Human Nature. However, Prince has some songs that are just as notable.

fbueller said:

Graycap23 said:

I dig Billy Jean quite a bit, but musically & Lyrically Prince crushes it it ever way possible except sales.

Prince didn't crush songs such as Billie Jean, Beat It and Human Nature. However, Prince has some songs that are just as notable.

Compare Doves Cry 2 Billie Jean.

NorthC said:

Please guys, this will lead you nowhere.

Agreed.

1989 pop albums Billboard year end issue

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.

1988

1 Faith - George Michael
2 Dirty Dancing - Soundtrack
3 Hysteria - Def Leppard
4 Kick - INXS
5 Bad - Michael Jackson
6 Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
7 Out Of The Blue - Debbie Gibson
8 Richard Marx - Richard Marx
9 Tiffany - Tiffany
10 Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
11 The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby - Terence Trent D'Arby
12 Whitney - Whitney Houston
13 Let It Loose - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
14 The Lonesome Jubilee - John Cougar Mellencamp
15 Whenever You Need Somebody - Rick Astley
16 Tunnel Of Love - Bruce Springsteen
17 Heaven On Earth - Belinda Carlisle
18 More Dirty Dancing - Soundtrack
19 Whitesnake - Whitesnake
20 Now And Zen - Robert Plant
21 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
22 Make It Last Forever - Keith Sweat
23 Open Up And Say ...Aah! - Poison
24 Nothing Like The Sun - Sting
25 A Momentary Lapse Of Reason - Pink Floyd
.
.

1983

1 Thriller - Michael Jackson
2 Business As Usual - Men At Work
3 Synchronicity - The Police
4 H2O - Hall & Oates
5 1999 - Prince
6 Lionel Richie - Lionel Richie
7 Jane Fonda's Workout - Jane Fonda
8 Pyromania - Def Leppard
9 Kissing To Be Clever - Culture Club
10 Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - Olivia Newton John
11 Toto IV - Toto
12 Frontiers - Journey
13 Rio - Duran Duran
14 Built For Speed - Stray Cats
15 Cuts Like A Knife - Bryan Adams
16 Get Nervous - Pat Benatar
17 The Distance - Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band
18 Get Lucky - Loverboy
19 Mountain Music - Alabama
20 Flashdance - Soundtrack
21 Hello, I Must Be Going - Phil Collins
22 Night And Day - Joe Jackson
23 Spring Session - Missing Persons
24 Kilroy Was Here - Styx
25 War - U2

Here's the biggest R&B albums for each year. In 1980 & 1981, it was called the "Soul" chart. The rest of the decade it was called the "Black" chart.

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1980 - 1981 - 1982

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.

1983

1984 - 1985 - 1986

1987 - 1989

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.

1988

1 Make It Last Forever - Keith Sweat
2 Bad - Michael Jackson
3 Faith - George Michael
4 The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby - Terence Trent D'Arby
5 Whitney - Whitney Houston
6 Characters - Stevie Wonder
7 Everlasting - Natalie Cole
8 All Our Love - Gladys Knight & The Pips
9 In Effect Mode - Al B. Sure!
10 How Ya Like Me Now - Kool Moe Dee
11 Sharp - Angela Winbush
12 Touch The World - Earth Wind & Fire
13 Pebbles - Pebbles
14 He's The D.J., I'm The Rapper - D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
15 Living Large - Heavy D. & The Boyz
16 Let Me Touch You - The O'Jays
17 Joy - Teddy Pendergrass
18 Hot, Cool, & Vicious - Salt N Pepa
19 Eyes Of A Stranger - The Deele
20 Strictly Business - EPMD
21 Jody Watley - Jody Watley
22 Don't Be Cruel - Bobby Brown
23 Hearsay - Alexander O'Neal
24 Unlimited! - Roger
25 Love Confessions - Miki Howard

Graycap23 said:

MickyDolenz said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I can point out Whitney, Michael, Madonna, RUN-D.M.C., and the Beastie Boys but who's everyone else?

Apollonia, Sheila E., Ray Parker Jr, Bon Jovi, Frank Dileo (manager), Billy Idol, Sam Kinison (comedian), David Bowie

MickyDolenz said:

MotownSubdivision said:

MickyDolenz said:

Apollonia, Sheila E., Ray Parker Jr, Bon Jovi, Frank Dileo (manager), Billy Idol, Sam Kinison (comedian), David Bowie

Wait... where's Sheila and Ray?

The 2nd pic with Whitney

MickyDolenz said:

MotownSubdivision said:

It's generally agreed upon that the top artists of the 80s are MJ, Madonna, and Prince in that order. However, I'm curious as to exactly how popular Whitney was at the time. She exploded on the scene and was everywhere from her debut to the end of the decade which outlasts Prince's peak of commercial success in 1984/1985 though one can say that Prince's rise to stardom from 1980-1984 counts as well.

Purple Rain was astronomical so I hear and Prince was pretty much the face of music in 1984 and his popularity waned in 1985 with ATWIAD coincidentally the year of Whitney's greatly successful debut. Was the Purple Rain era a bigger deal and more impactful than Whitney's 80s streak or is it the other way around?

IMO, you can't compare in this manner because Whitney did R&B influenced pop, while Prince re-invented what pop could be.

Whitney was safe, made for easy consumption - Prince had a sound that was/is still UNIQUE....their influences ran parallel for entirely diferent reasons.

Apples/Oranges - Prince by his mere continuing existance in the manner in which he exists will influence music long long long after he passes.

Whitney had her greatness and really a voice like no other - but she didnt break any molds, she just inhabited them until she couldnt be saved from herself any longer.

[Edited 7/26/15 16:15pm]

terrig said:

NorthC said:

Come on, Mr. Motown. Surely you must have recognized Sheila E and David Bowie

MotownSubdivision said:

terrig said:

IMO, you can't compare in this manner because Whitney did R&B influenced pop, while Prince re-invented what pop could be.

Whitney was safe, made for easy consumption - Prince had a sound that was/is still UNIQUE....their influences ran parallel for entirely diferent reasons.

Apples/Oranges - Prince by his mere continuing existance in the manner in which he exists will influence music long long long after he passes.

Whitney had her greatness and really a voice like no other - but she didnt break any molds, she just inhabited them until she couldnt be saved from herself any longer.

[Edited 7/26/15 16:15pm]

You don't have to be influential to be big though. I'm talking "big" from a pure popularity standpoint. Whitney and Prince dominated different lanes musically but they can still be compared in terms of popularity and commercial success.

They were both as big as you can get - again for entirely different reasons...why on earth would you compare a pop princess who doesnt write her own music to a multi-insrumentalist musical superhero? You can't...they ran parallel to superstardom but comparisons are ridiculous really.

Compare whitney and madonna or whitney and celine dion.... or even cyndi lauper --- but comparing her and Prince makes no sense.

terrig said:

MotownSubdivision said:

NorthC said:

Come on, Mr. Motown. Surely you must have recognized Sheila E and David Bowie

I know of David Bowie more than I actually know him. Not familiar with his work outside of "Under Pressure" and really wasn't paying attention to him anyway when I saw the photos. Sheila E I know even less of than Bowie but I've seen a few pictures of her and I remember her being darker skinned if that's really her in the photo with Whitney.

MotownSubdivision said:

MickyDolenz said:

When i was a kid, I used to have this pic of Nippy and Appollonia hanging on my wall.

NorthC said:

Come on, Mr. Motown. Surely you must have recognized Sheila E and David Bowie

I would guess many of my relatives would not know David Bowie by looking at him, as that is not the kind of music they're into. Some might know the songs Fame, Let's Dance, and maybe Young Americans because Luther Vandross is on it. Some of the younger ones may know he's Mr. Iman. I mostly know the Let's Dance era and not that much of the rest of his music. How much Sheila E. is known by them would depend on the generation they're in.

MotownSubdivision said:

I'm asking who was a bigger commercial success.

Until I went and looked up the old charts, I had forgot about the popularity of the Jane Fonda workout albums and videos. After that, several singers and actors made exercise tapes throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Jane made a new workout video a few years ago. I saw her promoting it on some TV shows

In my world, Prince.

1983

1 Thriller - Michael Jackson
2 Business As Usual - Men At Work
3 Synchronicity - The Police
4 H2O - Hall & Oates
5 1999 - Prince
6 Lionel Richie - Lionel Richie
7 Jane Fonda's Workout - Jane Fonda
8 Pyromania - Def Leppard
9 Kissing To Be Clever - Culture Club
10 Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - Olivia Newton John
11 Toto IV - Toto
12 Frontiers - Journey
13 Rio - Duran Duran
14 Built For Speed - Stray Cats
15 Cuts Like A Knife - Bryan Adams
16 Get Nervous - Pat Benatar
17 The Distance - Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band
18 Get Lucky - Loverboy
19 Mountain Music - Alabama
20 Flashdance - Soundtrack
21 Hello, I Must Be Going - Phil Collins
22 Night And Day - Joe Jackson
23 Spring Session - Missing Persons
24 Kilroy Was Here - Styx
25 War - U2

>

So happy that 1999 placed so high on that year-end list. I remember back in the day it made news for being on the chart for over a year.