it was absolute bullshit, something I'm afraid to say, MJ and Lionel were perfectly fine with but Prince was different. Bullshit! A pop star of that magnitude has to be able to deal with it if he wants to stay their. Greil Marcus, Rock Critic Extroidinaire once quoted Melville, "only the man who says no is free" he then contrasted Elvis with this quote and how Elvis said "yes" with a compromise but that it was the biggest and broadest yes imaginable. Elvis had to take a lot, my opinion, it's a part of what killed him. You know, I happen to think compromises can kill the spirit, the constant giving in so that you can be accepted is toxic, even when you tell yourself it isn't. Prince may have been done in by drugs but I don't believe it was because he had his spirit bankrupted like Elvis and MJ did.

Awe the 80's And the music industry.Ugly clothes and wild music.Those that lived it live look back now and go OUCH.Big hair didn't care Ego be damned.For gods sake they had 'BLACK ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD Whats not said is back then he got destroyed NOT BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT.Because he did offer to play guitar on the record.BUT,Because he LIED AND GOT CAUGHT He was looked upon as heartless then tried to right the ship the song he wrote for the other charity went no where it didn't even chart I dont think any entertainer should be put into a box just because they dont want to be around certain other entertainers .Someone asked about madonna i think she had borderline as a major hit at the time.Now difference is she would of said f no i dont want to do that.....I always thought that mj and prince were stuck in a time warp cher as well.Also prince wasn't into singles only albums.Prince was old school and his stubberness always seemed to get him into trouble.All his crazyness worked in the early 80's and 90's AS long as he was getting the Man those NO1 HITS.Once those hits stopped and other execs moved on from wb it was down hill from there.No where to go but,down.Everyone talks about reaching 4 the stars but,no one talks about the hurt musicans go through when they cant reach those high of highs.I always felt like thats why he hated looking back and hated time.jmho

CharismaDove said:

One of his better career moves. Fuck what the press and public thought. Prince was way too cool for that lame ass song. He was a cult artist since he was in his late teen years and he always had that 'dangerous/underground' vibe. Prince's whole attitude in the '80s was 'fuck today's pop music, I'll build my own empire." With baddies like Sheila E. and Apollonia, talented musicians like Wendy and Mark, and other very talented peers like JJ and Andre, why tf would Prince need Michael Jackson and his manufactured piece of shit song that was nothing more than a celebrity dick sucking contest? No disrespect to MJ whose music I LOVE but he missed the mark on this song and the whole time he was focused on making himself the center of attention (you can read online about how MJ wanted the song to start by focusing on his shoes). I think P sensed a feeling of fake-ness and Hollywood cheese in this session which is why he didn't go. Now the time P fucked up was by partying that same night but I can't really hold that against him considering he just dominated the AMAs and deserved to have a good night out. But again, fuck what the press and public thought. It's been revealed publicly that P was a secret philanthropist, probably 5x more than whatever fuckwad was criticizing him back then.

We're against hungry children
Our record stands tall
But there's just as much hunger here at home

No were overeating in america lol

Poorlovelycomputer said:

I think the Prince contribution to the album only helped it's record sales as a whole the track 4 the tears in your eyes is far superior than we are the world in its message

Let's say musically as well.
Heck I prefer "Tears Are Not Enough" to "We Are The World".
At least it has Bryan Adams toucing naïveté.

I wouldn't go as far as "far superior".
Not everything that's popular is inferior.
It's just going for the maximum mainstream, hence it's a little bit odorless.

I never liked We Are The World, nor was I that keen on the British song Do They Know It's Christmas? I bought Tam Tam Pour L'Ethiopie https://www.youtube.com/w...vHngbIBWGc

I think "Do They Know it's Christmas" is great.
But seriously. This one is beautifully cheesy, and tops them all, S.O.S Pour l'Ethiopie included.

There's even some french lyrics in it, if you really need them.
Blame Canada.

I loved how "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" followed this one, on the "We Are The World" album.
After all this epic Richie/Jackson bullshit for masses, and a bit-more-modest-yet-vocally-brilliant photocopy by the Canadian team, Prince shows them how it's done,
and succeeds at being the most humble and christian of the bunch.
A real song about hunger, even spiritual.
It's an incredible song, Prince, Wendy and Lisa bring the same magic
found in their best vocal background tracks: SISIA, All My Dreams, Wonderful Ass...
The chorus has an uplifting power that never gets dull.
It's a too little known gem.

All the rest of the LP sounds horribly dated, title track included,
and "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" stills sounds as experimental as "Hello",
it defies time.

It's Prince at his most naked, warm sodas and stale half-sandwiches,
with his Girls in the mobile truck, Susan, ready?
What was recorded in the midst of the Purple Rain Mania & Tour is mid-eastern pre-"7", pre-"The Cross" minimalism extraordinaire.
It's maybe the best Prince vocal ad lib ever, for me.
Those 2 last choruses, man, after this I'm done. I'm in Heaven.
Tie with the 2nd verse of "Anotherloverholenyohead".

But back to Northern Lights.
Joni & Neil alert.
They just have one line, and yet they totally kick ass. Both of them.
Even though it's a Bryan Adams composition.
Heck, he does alright, the pressure is huge.

Try not to be distracted by the awful haircuts and atrocious outfits of the mid-eghties.
...and Viva Canada.

[Edited 10/30/16 16:30pm]

Good, fat FM pop music you can sing along.

OK, now you can go listen to "4 The Tears In Your Eyes".
The difference leaves me speechless every time.

And really, "Do They Know" is a kick-ass song in comparison.
Bono, when he was still amongst us, was a superb singer.
George Michael, heck, even Simon Le Bon do a great job.
But everyone here is good, the U.K. is really a musicians country.

The synths are fantastic, bells included, and most of all,
it has a real melody, a true sing-along hook, whereas "We Are The World" tries too much and still sounds murky. But it was a world hit, so what do I know.
It perfectly fits its purpose. I hear "We Are The World", I think about the 1985 mediatic event and the video.
I listen to "4 The Tears In Your Eyes", and it's timeless.

[Edited 10/30/16 16:45pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

CharismaDove said:

One of his better career moves. Fuck what the press and public thought. Prince was way too cool for that lame ass song. He was a cult artist since he was in his late teen years and he always had that 'dangerous/underground' vibe. Prince's whole attitude in the '80s was 'fuck today's pop music, I'll build my own empire." With baddies like Sheila E. and Apollonia, talented musicians like Wendy and Mark, and other very talented peers like JJ and Andre, why tf would Prince need Michael Jackson and his manufactured piece of shit song that was nothing more than a celebrity dick sucking contest? No disrespect to MJ whose music I LOVE but he missed the mark on this song and the whole time he was focused on making himself the center of attention (you can read online about how MJ wanted the song to start by focusing on his shoes). I think P sensed a feeling of fake-ness and Hollywood cheese in this session which is why he didn't go. Now the time P fucked up was by partying that same night but I can't really hold that against him considering he just dominated the AMAs and deserved to have a good night out. But again, fuck what the press and public thought. It's been revealed publicly that P was a secret philanthropist, probably 5x more than whatever fuckwad was criticizing him back then.

We're against hungry children
Our record stands tall
But there's just as much hunger here at home

"Hello" is astounding, but that's for another thread.
The hiccuped, frantic ad lib is pure genius,
the production is astonishing. That bass.

Yep, what about the Purple Rain Tour canned food operations during Christmas 1984?
But such is the world.
" We are not 'the world'! " (Wendy — or Bobby).

destinyc1 said:

Awe the 80's And the music industry.Ugly clothes and wild music.Those that lived it live look back now and go OUCH.Big hair didn't care Ego be damned.For gods sake they had 'BLACK ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD Whats not said is back then he got destroyed NOT BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT.Because he did offer to play guitar on the record.BUT,Because he LIED AND GOT CAUGHT He was looked upon as heartless then tried to right the ship the song he wrote for the other charity went no where it didn't even chart I dont think any entertainer should be put into a box just because they dont want to be around certain other entertainers .Someone asked about madonna i think she had borderline as a major hit at the time.Now difference is she would of said f no i dont want to do that.....I always thought that mj and prince were stuck in a time warp cher as well.Also prince wasn't into singles only albums.Prince was old school and his stubberness always seemed to get him into trouble.All his crazyness worked in the early 80's and 90's AS long as he was getting the Man those NO1 HITS.Once those hits stopped and other execs moved on from wb it was down hill from there.No where to go but,down.Everyone talks about reaching 4 the stars but,no one talks about the hurt musicans go through when they cant reach those high of highs.I always felt like thats why he hated looking back and hated time.jmho

i don't see how prince was in a timewarp. not with music anyway. I could see what you mean by him still thinking he's the hot kid on the block for a long time because they all feel that way. Springsteen once asked about grunge music spoke in such a way as to not realize those guys probably didn't have a lot of respect for the music that came before them. Happened to Elvis too, in a very humiliating way. Steve Binder told Elvis no one knew who he was anymore in 68. to prove it, he suggested elvis go down by himself to the street and to stand there. His bodyguards chafed but elvis took him up on the challenge and not a one person stopped to acknowledge him. It's a part of the insular world of the famous.

anyway the main point is, prince did not stay still music wise or image wise, he changed up so much in those years, lost tons of fans but those albums are the best of the era. He was a maverick, never doing what anyone expected or wanted him to do. Now, Michael on the other hand, yes, he really did get trapped by his thriller moment whether we're talking him rocking the Jheri curl into the 90's or him naming each album and sequencing them like thriller. Still, both the preeminent talents of their time.

[Edited 10/30/16 21:16pm]

rogifan said:

Good gawd what an awful song. Cheesy as hell. I can see why Prince would've wanted nothing to do with it.

.

.

Riiiiight... cuz, I mean, it's not like Prince ever did anything 'cheesy as hell.'

.

April 12.1985
We Are The World

1.We Are The World
2.If Only For The Moment, Girl
3.Just A Little Closer
4.Trapped
5.Tears Are Not Enough
6.4 The Tears In Your Eyes *
7.Good For Noghing
8.Total Control
9.Little More Love
10.Trouble In Paradise

4 The Tears In Your Eyes

Long ago there was a man
Who changed stone 2 bread with one touch of his hand
He made the blind see and the dumb understand
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)
Many people came from all around
2 hear this man preach with glorious sound
He spoke of man in harmony and love abound
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

CHORUS:
4 the tears in your eyes if they're tears of sorrow
4 cents may be all that they're worth
4 the rising sun each day assures us
The meek shall inherit the earth, the earth

Faith is a word we all should try
In describing the man who willingly died
Believe that your sorrow, hunger, and fears
Is less than the tears in your eyes, your eyes

Your eyes, your eyes
Less than the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

PeteSilas said:

rogifan said:

purplethunder3121 said: I don't think Madonna was a big star at that point yet.

she wasn't mega star but she was well on her way, lets see, when purple rain was out, wasn't like a virgin out too? 1984, I think she was probably bigger in the next 2 or three years though.

.

.

Madonna was already huge at that point. Her debut album released in 1983 went 5x platinum. The follow-up Like A Virgin, released in summer 1984 went diamond. By the time the WATW recording session happened, she was a bigger star than half of the people that were in there.

.

TheLotus said:

PeteSilas said:

she wasn't mega star but she was well on her way, lets see, when purple rain was out, wasn't like a virgin out too? 1984, I think she was probably bigger in the next 2 or three years though.

.

.

Madonna was already huge at that point. Her debut album released in 1983 went 5x platinum. The follow-up Like A Virgin, released in summer 1984 went diamond. By the time the WATW recording session happened, she was a bigger star than half of the people that were in there.

.

I agree, she was pretty huge by this time, which is also why Michael Jackson Bruce Springsteen Prince & Madonna get the Superstar nod of the 90s

and I believe that year 84/85 Prince even designed outfits for Madonna and her band

CAL3 said:

rogifan said:

Good gawd what an awful song. Cheesy as hell. I can see why Prince would've wanted nothing to do with it.

.

.

Riiiiight... cuz, I mean, it's not like Prince ever did anything 'cheesy as hell.'

.

Now THAT's mean.

bonatoc said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

We're against hungry children
Our record stands tall
But there's just as much hunger here at home

"Hello" is astounding, but that's for another thread.
The hiccuped, frantic ad lib is pure genius,
the production is astonishing. That bass.

Yep, what about the Purple Rain Tour canned food operations during Christmas 1984?
But such is the world.
" We are not 'the world'! " (Wendy — or Bobby).

Ah, the days of BIG HAIR.

"Sun City" still kicks ass.

You have Joey Ramone singing "surprisingly" good,
and a surprisingly funky Bono.

You have artists from U.K., U.S.A. and Africa.
Mandela was still in jail.

[Edited 10/31/16 13:53pm]

OK, you can stop vomiting Charity projects now.
We get it.

What is your point anyway?

ALL (AFTER) WE ARE THE WORLD.

bonatoc said:

What is your point anyway?

Wow, some of those charity videos brought back alot of memories! "We are the World" certainly got alot of that going back in the late 80's/early 90's.

TheLotus said:

PeteSilas said:

she wasn't mega star but she was well on her way, lets see, when purple rain was out, wasn't like a virgin out too? 1984, I think she was probably bigger in the next 2 or three years though.

.

.

Madonna was already huge at that point. Her debut album released in 1983 went 5x platinum. The follow-up Like A Virgin, released in summer 1984 went diamond. By the time the WATW recording session happened, she was a bigger star than half of the people that were in there.

.

i know she was on the map, i didn't think she was that big yet though. Her debut went 5 times platinum? I know like a virgin put her up there but i tend to think of her being accepted around the time of the album with true blue on it. I know she played a smaller venue here in seattle for like a virgin and then played a stadium for her next tour here in 87. either way, she wasn't much of a talent which is maybe why no one missed her at watw.

TrivialPursuit said:

CharismaDove said:

jcurley said:

Completely. It was a vanity project of vomit inducing proportions. Well to me that's MJs career in a nutshell. No discreet charitable activities for him. I'm so glad he didn't do the live concert. Prince in that context would have been odd. In that era his image was all mystique being I'll n stage in this scenario would have ruined that

.

"Discreet" doesn't draw attention to causes. That's why celebs often do big, splashy charity events.

.

Keep things discreet and no one is aware of the issue at hand.

.

(By the way, how do you know "no discreet charitable activities for him" - there could've been and you just didn't know, since it was kept discreet."

thedance said:

rogifan said:

Good gawd what an awful song. Cheesy as hell. I can see why Prince would've wanted nothing to do with it.

Awful & Cheesy..........................................

It's actually the worst...I don't blame Prince for staying away from that pile of doo-doo.

Just imagine the poor guy trying to put guitar parts on that thing, in the studio looking at Quincy like

.

The cause was nice, the execution was