Serena said:

Various reports floating around. (the following taken from MTV and http://coloredgirlspeak.c...7/26/1506)

In his book ‘The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Super Freak‘, James blast Prince. He wrote about how Prince went to see a Michael Jackson concert and then tried to disrupt it. When Michael allegedly found out that Prince was in the house, he came out badder than ever and Prince left the show before it was over. Rick adds: "I always thought of Prince as a great player and a very innovative person. But, as far as him as a person…he could use a good ghetto ass kicking."

Flip the script, and let Bobby Z., Prince’s former drummer for the Revolution tell his side… Z, says Prince and Michael Jackson were friendly rivals… In an interview with the Startribune Bobby Z recalls that Michael Jackson wanted to work with Prince, however the Purple One declined due to lyrical differences*.

Jackson even showed up backstage at a couple of Purple Rain shows in ‘84** …
Z revealed that while the two icons were recording at the same Los Angeles studio, Prince invited Jackson to play a game of ping-pong. Michael, didn’t know how…
"You want me to slam it?" Prince asked,
Michael drops his paddle and holds his hands up in front of his face so the ball won’t hit him. Michael walks out with his bodyguard, and Prince starts strutting
around like a rooster. ‘Did you see that? He played like Helen Keller."

Michael Bland, the longtime Prince drummer who now plays with Soul Asylum insisted they got along fine. “They’d shoot hoops at Paisley Park,” Prince’s studio/home in Chanhassen. “We used to get packages from MJJ Productions [with] footage of Sly Stone performing in Europe. Prince would pop it in the VCR, and we’d watch it.”

The website Dr. Funkenberry reports that recently, Prince has been performing Michael Jackson songs in his sets, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and recently “Dancing Machine” by the Jackson 5.

….So there, you have it. I don’t know if Michael Jackson and Prince were rivals or friends. I’d like to believe the latter.

* the track in question was BAD. Susan Rodgers has said in an interview that Prince was interested in recording the song but that he was concerned that the video which was meant to have them squaring off being a Michael video would end up having him come off second best.

** as noted Michael also visited at one of Prince's 3121 Vegas shows and stopped in back stage.

Also in Quincy Jones autobiography Q talks about Prince and Michael having a dinner together in the lead up to BAD to discuss working together.

Swa

Swa said:

Thanks, SWA!



oops, screwed up my edit, thanks for the all the info, not just the HK part.
[Edited 8/10/09 0:53am]

Swa said:

Also spoken about by Prince himself when Chris Rock interviewed him. Prince mentioned the first line of the song, 'your butt is mine'. Prince said he wasn't singing that to Michael and Michael sure wasn't going to be singing that to him.

Also mentioned by Quincy Jones on the special edition of Bad. He said that Prince told them they didn't need him on it, it was a hit already.

carlcranshaw said:

I see. Thanks!

how do we know Prince was high on cocaine???

I always look at that performance as Prince trying to look cool in front of his idol, but failing miserably. You could tell he was trying hard to impress. I think it's hilarious. As talented as He & MJ were at the time, I thought it was funny watching them trying to show off in front of their idol James Brown. Like two rival brothers trying to show their daddy who could do the best trick on their bicycles except one tried to pop a wheeley with no hands and fell off.

themusicthatcounts said:

I think this is the best assessment. There is no reason to suspect foul-play when viewed in the timeframe where it supposed to be. There was a lot of mutual respect and some normal competition going on. They all share the same golden cage.

Back when I forst saw tis I cringed a lot, but i saw it again recently and actually thought P came off pretty cool. MJ did the sing and dance bit, which P couldn't compete with so P did the guitar-bandleader-mike thing, which was his specialty. The lamp-post kinda killed it, tho...

hales said:

I've seen this before but just went and checked it out again.

Not only did they throw the glove back, BUT, they seem to have thrown it back at his head!

Where was this filmed? I'm assuming it was a James Brown concert?

Anyone have a date?

CLR said:

It was a James Brown concert in 1983 at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY. That might explain why they threw the glove back. The Apollo audiences don't fuck around.

squirrelgrease said:

That wasnt the Apollo Theatre.Because I did not see the little up decks on the side of the stage.

carlcranshaw said:

Hmmm... I stand corrected. Then http://www.dailymotion.com is now on my shit-list for information sources.

a) Prince played guitar. mj didn't.
b) Prince was spotlighted longer than mj.
c) Prince had control of the band. mj, didnt.
d) Im surprised that the clip is still up on youtube..
[Edited 8/10/09 15:05pm]

thanks for posting that info, Swa!

i need to go find some footage or audio of Prince doing "Dancing Machine"; that sounds kinda epic!

BlackAdder7 said:

Prince (or should I say Kathy Adams) has no legitmate copyright claim over that footage whatsoever - hence why it's still there (despite being linked from here which is like a red rag to a bull).

This thread:

WaterInYourBath said:

It was bad from the moment he took off his glove threw in tha audience and some schmuck threw it right back at him!!!


I too have only watched this one time with horror....and have never let this video's existance ever come from my mouth!!! In terms of what we have today for entertainment...I conclude Prince still pulls it off and looks like a genius!!!! Except for the prop falling on him at the end!

Thanks.!!! This has is closure to me after many years of underlying guilt....thanks for the group therapy!

MONEYMADE
http://www.myspace.com/ashad0

That was very cool.

Thanks

I've never really "got" the infamy behind this clip. It's really not that bad (even the lamp-post prop falling over part). Prince was caught on the hop, was probably embarrassed to get called up but how could he say no without looking like a even bigger diva/idiot. To be able to jam like that at such short notice it pretty good in my book. He gives the crowd what they expect (typical 80s Prince posturing and sceaming etc). then makes a swift exit, he doesn't fall, if anything it makes James stage set look cheap

I'm sure Prince looks back and wishes his moment on stage with james and perhaps even MJ could have been more "classic" but I think he got out of it with limited damage really.

KeithyT said:

Exactly - they both experienced the same thing - i think both didn't want to get up there in all honesty, but once they did they both brought it - and both delivered almost trademark early 80s glimpses of their performances.

Swa

Swa said:

bollocks
prince didn't bring anything but irritation to JB.
the guitar bit was horrible and the screeching was ridiculous.

mike was much more in control. Anyone can be caught off-guard but some prince fans who're always ready to say things like "he brought it"

Rightly said:

On second thoughts you are right. Prince was shit then and is shit now.

(opens eyes)

Where am I?

What I should have said was "I respectfully disagree"
[Edited 8/12/09 6:21am]

i heard he had a panic attack that night...

KeithyT said:

Yep, I agree with you. On first watch I did cringe a bit, but later viewing it just wasn't as bad as people make out. Ok, the stage prop bit was lame, but for a bit of improv it wasn't too bad...The mic, posturing naked torso bit and bit of guitaring kinda worked. My friend - a hard core MJ fan thought P was kinda cool. I just think P was nervous, hence the imperfection in his performance.

- I don't believe the P on drugs thing though, I always thought he was quite puratanical about drugs, other than the Lovesexy e story don't know if there's much around about his drug taking...

- P and MJ 'rivarly'/relationship continues to fascinate. Thanks SWA for the info. Here's Bruce Sweiden on MJ/P duet:

http://gearslutz.com/boar...y.php?f=82

Over Bad
"Isn't it terrible how the press just can't tell the whole story???

I was there for a couple of the meetings with Prince and Michael, Quincy and all. Personaly I think that after meeting with Michael, Quincy, Fredy DeMann and his team, Prince realized that he couldn't win this duet/duel with MJ, artistically or other wise... And pulled out... He left the building, so to speak...

As far as I am concerned. I want to say that I love Prince's music...

Bruce Swedien

Great thread btw!!

I only watched that clip once, and it took me a couple of years to watch it but when I did, i laughed my ass off. It was cringe-worthy indeed but what can you say. Brother was not all there that night. There were 2 times when I nearly fell off my chair. When someone threw that glove back at his head and when he knocked that column down and fell with it I can't think about that last one without laughing. It was weird to see Prince be a normal human being who fucked up like we all do, except he was on stage when he did it. Looking back on it, it was kinda cool. One thing's for sure, Prince had to have learned from that night cause he got better on stage after that.

hales said:

Whoa. That was a low comment.

Prince known to be that crazy mofo!