TheKid94 said:

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

.

That kind of overstatement - and this is just me *personally* - makes me chuckle. I mean, REALLY??? The WORST???

.

It's a more solidly-crafted song than QUITE of few of Prince's own compositions!

Things came to a head on January 28, following the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, at which Prince was nominated for ten awards (Sheila E. had two nominations, and the Time picked up one, as well). A few days earlier, “Take Me with U” had been released as a single, the final single from Purple Rain; it was also the only one with another track from the album, an edit of “Baby I’m a Star,” as the B-side, and the only one to fall short of the Top Ten, peaking at number 25.

The night of the AMAs that year was a historic moment in the music business, when dozens of the world’s top recording artists, rather than going to parties or back on their tour buses after the ceremony, headed to Hollywood’s A&M studios to record the song “We Are the World” to benefit African relief efforts. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones, and featuring the voices of such legends as Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, and Bruce Springsteen, the song would become the fastest-selling single in U.S. history and serve as the climactic moment of the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in July.

Prince had, of course, been approached to participate, but he passed and proposed a different kind of contribution to the project. “I was with Prince one day at his home studio, just the two of us,” says Susan Rogers, who engineered Purple Rain and Prince’s next few albums, “and he got a call from Quincy Jones asking him to come be part of ‘We Are the World.’ I only hear Prince’s side of the conversation—I was in the control room waiting—but he declined it. It was a long conversation, and Prince said, ‘Can I play guitar on it?’ And they said no, and he ultimately said, ‘Okay, well, can I send Sheila?’ And he sent Sheila. Then he said, ‘If there’s going to be an album, can I do a song for the album?’ And evidently they said yes.”

At the awards show, it was a whirlwind of logistics and scheduling; everyone was buzzing about what was planned for later in the evening. “They kept us so cloistered that a lot of information never would get to us,” says Coleman, “so I don’t remember even knowing about ‘We Are the World’ until that day, when everybody was talking about it backstage. Like, ‘We’ll see you tonight, right?’ And I was like, ‘What are they talking about?’”

“Prince was pissed,” says Wendy Melvoin. “He was like, ‘I don’t want to see any of you there, you’re not allowed to go there.’ ”

Until the last minute, Prince’s managers were still trying to persuade him to show up for the session. “At the American Music Awards, he keeps telling me the only thing he’ll do is play guitar,” says Bob Cavallo, one of Prince’s managers at the time and a producer of the Purple Rain movie. “So I call Quincy, and he says, ‘I don’t need him to fucking play guitar!’ and he got angry. I said, ‘All right, I don’t know, he’s not feeling well’—I start this whole campaign that he’s getting the flu. I say to Prince backstage, ‘I’m gonna say you’re sick—if you go out tonight and you’re seen, I can see the headlines: ‘Prince Parties While Rock Royalty Saves Millions’ or whatever the fuck they want to write. They suspect you anyway. You’ve got to stay home, ride it out, and be sick.’ ‘Okay,’ he says. (Prince and his entourage) go directly from the American Music Awards to some fucking club on Sunset. On their way out, his bodyguard—idiot guy—smacks somebody, the press picks it up, and that was it.”

After Prince, who won three trophies and delivered a blistering performance of “Purple Rain,” left the awards ceremony, he and his entourage sped back to the Westwood Marquis hotel—at least for a while.

“We implore him, no matter what happens at the awards, we cannot go out in the streets and celebrate if you’re not going to go to A&M and show up for this,” says Leeds. “Fargnoli and I were like, ‘Dude, the eyes are on you, okay? You just cleaned up. The two biggest things on the planet tonight are this recording session and you, and everybody is going to want to know why that’s not one thing. So take your awards and keep your ass in the hotel. You cannot run the clubs the way you usually do, with two bodyguards, chasing girls. Not tonight, not while this is going on.’

“So that was good until about two in the morning. I think Bobby and his wife, Vicki, and me and Gwen were the last ones to leave his room. We stayed with him on purpose—but it was a big night, and he was on cloud nine. We left him around two, two-thirty in the morning, and at maybe four o’clock, four-thirty, the phone rings and it’s Chick. ‘Hey, buddy, better get back up!’ ‘What?’ ‘Well, we were at [the popular club] Carlos and Charlie’s, and Big Larry, the bodyguard, he’s in jail, the sheriff’s got him.’ I’ve had scandals on tour where musicians got busted and shit happens, but I’ve never read anything that was on page A1. It was just plain weird.”

The UPI wire service story led with the contrast between Prince’s problems that night and the good vibes of the “We Are the World” session: “Quick-fisted bodyguards provided a violent counterpoint to a night of international camaraderie.” Ken Kragen, one of the USA for Africa organizers, was quoted as saying that “the effort would have been much more marketable with Prince’s participation.” The Los Angeles Times later offered a pithy summary of public opinion, writing that Prince’s actions “led many to think of him as an arrogant jerk.”

It was left to others to try to pick up the pieces. “I was doing all these interviews at that time, and everybody wanted to know why he wasn’t there [for the recording session],” says Wendy Melvoin. “I wasn’t allowed to say the real reason—which he would’ve gotten his fucking ass kicked hard for… I had to say, ‘We were in a mobile truck somewhere, he couldn’t make it, duh-de-duh.’ I knew there’s no way I can say, ‘Because he thinks he’s a badass and he wanted to look cool, and he felt like the song for “We Are the World” was horrible and he didn’t want to be around ‘all those muthafuckas.’ ”

“It was horrible. He had us go to Carlos and Charlie’s and have a fucking party. I remember it perfectly, thinking, ‘This is so wrong. This is so wrong.’ We were embarrassed. Everybody in the band was horrified. And that’s where it felt like, there’s something shifting here, where he’s getting nasty. The entitlement—it was almost like a kid with too much candy.”

“I think he was just too self-involved,” says Coleman. “Even though he was reading all the magazines, he wasn’t reading Time magazine; he was reading music magazines and fashion magazines. So his view of the world, politics, or anything—he just didn’t know. He wasn’t in tune with that. That wasn’t his cause. He just became his own cause; the message went away.”

Prince & Jill Jones

this photo is supposed to have been from that night

As bad a decision as it may have been to blow off the “We Are the World” recording, it is worth remembering that Prince was in the middle of a tour that included an ongoing charity component that raised $250,000 for Marva Collins’s work in Chicago and included multiple food drives and four free concerts for special-needs children. He would write a song, “Hello,” that would be released in July as the B-side to Around the World’s “Pop Life” and would present his side of the incident with the paparazzo.

When he spoke to MTV at the end of 1985, Prince offered something close to humility. “We had talked to the people that were doing USA for Africa, and they said it was cool that I gave them a song for the album,” he said. “It was the best thing for both of us, I think. I’m strongest in a situation where I’m surrounded by people I know. So it’s better that I did the music with my friends than going down and participating there. I probably would have just clammed up with so many great people in a room. I’m an admirer of all of the people who participated in that particular outing, and I don’t want there to be any hard feelings… The main thing [the song ‘Hello’] says is that we’re against hungry children, and our record stands tall.”

Five days after the AMAs, following a sold-out show at the 80,000-plus-seat Superdome in New Orleans, he recorded “4 the Tears in Your Eyes,” the song he contributed to the USA for Africa album. “We had a mobile truck there, and Prince recorded the song during sound check,” says Susan Rogers. “As soon as the check was done, he came back into the truck and we stayed up all night, did the overdubs, finished it, mixed it. The next day we’re still there, we’ve been up all night, and he’s got another show to play. He was hungry, and he said, ‘Do you think you can find any food here?’ So I left the truck and went upstairs, and there were some people who were clearing out a room; they had catered a party and they had some leftover cold cuts and bread and pickles and chips and warm soda that they were going to throw out. I asked them if I could have some of it, and they said, ‘Yeah, help yourself,’ so I made up a couple of plates and I brought them back, and he and I had our leftover sandwiches and our warm soda, and we finished the track.

“A bit later, I remember reading in People magazine that at the ‘We Are the World’ session, they had champagne and caviar. In the papers, they had just torn Prince up: ‘How dare he? He doesn’t care about starving kids.’ And I thought, ‘No, actually, he was the one who went hungry on their behalf, who sat up all night and was happy to eat stale bread and warm soda to make a track for your record. He’s the one who didn’t have caviar and champagne.’ But you can’t say those things. I asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ And he said, ‘No, if you say anything, they got you.’ ”

The USA for Africa album shot to number one, and “4 the Tears In Your Eyes” was well received by critics, though it didn’t generate any real radio interest or move the needle for the project. And the damage was already done. Bob Cavallo looks back on the “We Are the World” fiasco as a crucial turning point in Prince’s entire career. “All of the superstars there just said horrible things about him,” he says. “I don’t know that they said anything to the press, but I know how incensed they were.

“I believe that moment is what made people ambivalent about his greatness. When you get negative press going, you need twenty years for people to stop reflecting on it. And if guys like Springsteen or whoever are talking about how great he is, like they used to, it would add to the legend. But instead, everybody kind of backed off, like, ‘What the fuck kind of idiot is he that he would go to some dance club instead of just going there and singing two lines in the song?’”

Saturday Night Live opened the February 2 episode with a sketch about the situation. Cast member Rich Hall, playing MTV VJ Mark Goodman, introduced the bit, saying, “As you know, Prince did not appear in the big USA for Africa video because he was busy bailing out his bodyguards after they beat up some of his fans outside of a Hollywood restaurant.” But now, the “sultan of screen” had organized his own video effort for world hunger. Billy Crystal, as Prince, sang:

I am also the world, I am also the children,

I am the one who had to bail them out, Now ain’t that givin’!

It’s a choice I made! The kids will have to wait,

There’s got to be another way to get on MTV

Cast members playing Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Willie Nelson all entered the studio, trying to sing, but each time “Prince” signaled to his bodyguards—played by Mr. T and Hulk Hogan—who manhandled the other artists and tossed them out of the room.

Two months later, Prince played the final date of the Purple Rain tour, to an audience of 55,000 in Miami’s Orange Bowl. He ended the show saying, “I have to go now. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I want you to know that God loves you. He loves us all.” Just two weeks after that, with minimal warning, his new album, Around the World in a Day, arrived in record stores, and the Purple Rain era was over.

And, THIS (and the WB battle to a lesser degree) is why this talented MF only has 7 Grammy's in his illustrious 40 year career. He alienated a lot of important people in the industry that night. Damn!

OldFriends4Sale said:

jazzvirtuoso said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

As bad a decision as it may have been to blow off the “We Are the World” recording, it is worth remembering that Prince was in the middle of a tour that included an ongoing charity component that raised $250,000 for Marva Collins’s work in Chicago and included multiple food drives and four free concerts for special-needs children. He would write a song, “Hello,” that would be released in July as the B-side to Around the World’s “Pop Life” and would present his side of the incident with the paparazzo.

When he spoke to MTV at the end of 1985, Prince offered something close to humility. “We had talked to the people that were doing USA for Africa, and they said it was cool that I gave them a song for the album,” he said. “It was the best thing for both of us, I think. I’m strongest in a situation where I’m surrounded by people I know. So it’s better that I did the music with my friends than going down and participating there. I probably would have just clammed up with so many great people in a room. I’m an admirer of all of the people who participated in that particular outing, and I don’t want there to be any hard feelings… The main thing [the song ‘Hello’] says is that we’re against hungry children, and our record stands tall.”

Five days after the AMAs, following a sold-out show at the 80,000-plus-seat Superdome in New Orleans, he recorded “4 the Tears in Your Eyes,” the song he contributed to the USA for Africa album. “We had a mobile truck there, and Prince recorded the song during sound check,” says Susan Rogers. “As soon as the check was done, he came back into the truck and we stayed up all night, did the overdubs, finished it, mixed it. The next day we’re still there, we’ve been up all night, and he’s got another show to play. He was hungry, and he said, ‘Do you think you can find any food here?’ So I left the truck and went upstairs, and there were some people who were clearing out a room; they had catered a party and they had some leftover cold cuts and bread and pickles and chips and warm soda that they were going to throw out. I asked them if I could have some of it, and they said, ‘Yeah, help yourself,’ so I made up a couple of plates and I brought them back, and he and I had our leftover sandwiches and our warm soda, and we finished the track.

“A bit later, I remember reading in People magazine that at the ‘We Are the World’ session, they had champagne and caviar. In the papers, they had just torn Prince up: ‘How dare he? He doesn’t care about starving kids.’ And I thought, ‘No, actually, he was the one who went hungry on their behalf, who sat up all night and was happy to eat stale bread and warm soda to make a track for your record. He’s the one who didn’t have caviar and champagne.’ But you can’t say those things. I asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ And he said, ‘No, if you say anything, they got you.’ ”

The USA for Africa album shot to number one, and “4 the Tears In Your Eyes” was well received by critics, though it didn’t generate any real radio interest or move the needle for the project. And the damage was already done. Bob Cavallo looks back on the “We Are the World” fiasco as a crucial turning point in Prince’s entire career. “All of the superstars there just said horrible things about him,” he says. “I don’t know that they said anything to the press, but I know how incensed they were.

“I believe that moment is what made people ambivalent about his greatness. When you get negative press going, you need twenty years for people to stop reflecting on it. And if guys like Springsteen or whoever are talking about how great he is, like they used to, it would add to the legend. But instead, everybody kind of backed off, like, ‘What the fuck kind of idiot is he that he would go to some dance club instead of just going there and singing two lines in the song?’”

Saturday Night Live opened the February 2 episode with a sketch about the situation. Cast member Rich Hall, playing MTV VJ Mark Goodman, introduced the bit, saying, “As you know, Prince did not appear in the big USA for Africa video because he was busy bailing out his bodyguards after they beat up some of his fans outside of a Hollywood restaurant.” But now, the “sultan of screen” had organized his own video effort for world hunger. Billy Crystal, as Prince, sang:

I am also the world, I am also the children,

I am the one who had to bail them out, Now ain’t that givin’!

It’s a choice I made! The kids will have to wait,

There’s got to be another way to get on MTV

Cast members playing Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Willie Nelson all entered the studio, trying to sing, but each time “Prince” signaled to his bodyguards—played by Mr. T and Hulk Hogan—who manhandled the other artists and tossed them out of the room.

Two months later, Prince played the final date of the Purple Rain tour, to an audience of 55,000 in Miami’s Orange Bowl. He ended the show saying, “I have to go now. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I want you to know that God loves you. He loves us all.” Just two weeks after that, with minimal warning, his new album, Around the World in a Day, arrived in record stores, and the Purple Rain era was over.

Wow, reading this brought a profound sense of sadness over me for some odd reason. I've had a person once tell me that Prince could've been bigger than even Michael, if not for his oddball antics. Not so sure? I think he got as big as he was meant to get either way, he retained his TRUE fans and changed the course of music and did things his way. But one observation about MJ, he was looking to Prince for inspiration because no matter how you slice it, they were each PEERLESS, sheilded away from the other and in their own bubble. MJ was fascinated by Prince but Prince thought of MJ as little more than a passing curiosity, and to go a step further, I'm actually of the opinion that he felt MJ was overhyped, overrated and childish..

That's an opinion.

But I don't think Prince, given his own upbringing, didn't have some sympathy for MJ.
He would have been a fierce competitor if Michael had been of the sexual type.
I can understand some, going as far saying that Michael succeedeed because he was odorless, colorless.
He wasn't funky. Real funk smells. So it was an innocuous product, in a way, even if it's precisely the uncertainty around his sexual identity (asexuality included) tha fascinated the masses, because it was the opposite of his pelvis moves. The media promoted MJ big ways because he was safe, a washed-out black, with lyrics about anything but getting it on. Syrupy love songs. Harmless sexy.

I really believe Prince when he said that the best he could do is giving a song. Ain't no way Prince would have survived 10 minutes of Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes and Cyndi Lauper trying to get 12 bars right.
But that's besides the point: How can a guy whose frequent process for lead vocals consisted in the engineer setting the board and then leaving the control room, a guy who has to be alone because he feels naked when sings the lead vocal next to a candle light, how can this guy stand next to Kenny feckin' Rogers and his vulgar branded sweat shirt? If "ego was to be left at the door", what the fuck was MJ doing in his royal embroideries?

Not only that. Prince would have been the most outrageously elegant of the bunch.
Fuck Michael and his Peter Pan wanabee Rock Royalty childish outfit.
Fuck Cyndi, her apparently coked up nose and her fake hippie junk jewels.
Everyone else is either an extra for a Knight Ryder episode, or a female Ewing family member.

How someone who checks every photo taken of him since very early in his career, could feel at ease with an entire video and photo crew filming all over the studio for several hours? Prince had the right to be in control of his image, it was a well earned privilege.

Last thing: it may seem trivial, but remember, Prince is kinda short. It would have shown. Especially next to Michael. But this is silly. He did not go, because he was enjoying himself, his Purple Rain awards and records were something he had the right to indulge in and celebrate, but nobody knew his pace of work at the time.
It would have shut up everyone.

I mean just look at the schedule of the Purple Rain Tour.
During that time, he recorded parts of ATWIAD and Sheila E.'s 2nd album, and God know what else, I don't have the time to check Princevault right now, but I bet my ass he wasn't back from Ibiza just to show his face to the We Are The World session just because his manager advise him so.
What a bunch of hypocrites. They wouldn't let Bob Geldof have it.

[Edited 11/1/16 15:21pm]

Prince seems as though he felt insecure comparing to Michael Jackson. Some people here really consider Jackson as a wannabe artist, some of you despise Michael so much that is so obvious.

I know we cannot ignore the MJ / Prince connection here, let's back away before it turns into a Prince vs MJ thing. Lionel Ritchie is also co-creator of this song along with Quincy

214 said:

Prince seems as though he felt insecure comparing to Michael Jackson. Some people here really consider Jackson as a wannabe artist, some of you despise Michael so much that is so obvious.

Probably cause he felt MJ was completely inferior to him talent wise, yet, MJ was getting the most acclaim. As I've come to realize, unfortunately, talent plays the smallest part in popularity, acclaim, awards, etc.

[Edited 11/1/16 17:24pm]

Missmusicluver72 said:

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.

I have some of those records, and a few I have the videocassette or DVD for. I really like the new Forever Country one. It's nice that Randy Travis is in the video, although I guess he still can't sing after having a stroke a while back

endiadj said:

214 said:

Prince seems as though he felt insecure comparing to Michael Jackson. Some people here really consider Jackson as a wannabe artist, some of you despise Michael so much that is so obvious.

Probably cause he felt MJ was completely inferior to him talent wise, yet, MJ was getting the most acclaim. As I've come to realize, unfortunately, talent plays the smallest part in popularity, acclaim, awards, etc.

[Edited 11/1/16 17:24pm]

Yes, keep telling yourself that if that makes you feel good inside.

MickyDolenz said:

Missmusicluver72 said:

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.

I have some of those records, and a few I have the videocassette or DVD for. I really like the new Forever Country one. It's nice that Randy Travis is in the video, although I guess he still can't sing after having a stroke a while back

Funny you picture George Harrison.

Wasn't he the first to put up a rock stars gathering for fighting third-world hunger?
The Bengladesh Festival?

214 said:

Prince seems as though he felt insecure comparing to Michael Jackson. Some people here really consider Jackson as a wannabe artist, some of you despise Michael so much that is so obvious.

Yes, let's not derail. MJ is an incredible, magnetic artist, in more fields than one.
He had fire in him, we all wished this fire would stay longer.
Medias crushed him in the end. His own fame.
There's a lesson in it, and it's sordid.

The Bad album, the Bad Tour couldn't have been further apart in terms of concept and looks
than SOTT the album and the SOTT Tour.
They filled the entire pop space sprectum that year. Michael made mainstream pop "four-and-a-half-stars", and Prince gave him the high-"five".
1987 was funk. Take "Sledgehammer". or RUN DMC's "Walk This Way".
In the underground, Public Enemy was blasting and making the Moral Majority shaking (more about niggaz and their place in the eighties society below).
"The shifting of the tectonic plates".

Michael never made a secret of his world-wide ambitions, he had a revenge burning in him, just like Prince, and by achieving a mediatic presence much broader than Prince (you could say Prince kept his "integrity", but again, unfair to Michael: you can aim for success but you never know what it's going to be), he has been like a pre-Obama in the public consciousness, the #1 Ubiquitous Black Star.
Everyone in America knew Michael was black. By 1984, the whole world.
Who poses next to Reagan, except Elvis with Nixon?
Michael wanted to be Elvis too.
Prince quickly understood it was a trap. He may have said this and that,
but he knew one has to evolve.

Doesn't it occur to the naysayers that "Thriller" is about Niggaz In Da Hood?
Black people haunting cities with their presence, scarying people because they know how to dance/rock/roll?
Black folks scaring white folks, as usual? Isn't what the video is all about?

"Am I Black Or White", Prince sings in Controversy. If Prince lived it, the bridge across cultures, Micheal embodied it, not only in the song/video but in the flesh through surgery, like some Christ giving away his body in the name of race gathering.
You either have big balls and are surprisingly politically-aware for a Peter Pan syndrome, or you're crazy.
"Bad" is all about Michael in full control of his abilities. Not some crazy puppet.
And he tries as many genres as Prince, and succeeds indeniably.
Prince goes faster and produces more than Michael only because he just needs a small multi-track recorder and 24 hours to get a damn fine song.

Michael united kids and explain them racial problems through Wesley Snipes. It was important, he knew his demographics.
He hypnotised the masses like Bob Fosse does in "The Little Prince". With a glove and white socks.
With his raw talent.
Ain't no way Prince can sing "Keep The Faith" the way Michael does. Major Throat/Spirit Control.
Let alone the hits of "HIStory". The boom-boxing talents of Michael are... He's his own Linn.
The "They Don't Care About Us" pattern is as good as the "When Doves Cry" one.
"Who Is It" is pure James Brown romantic despair.
Prince very rarely sobs (or ironically:"Slave").
Blame the phone booth "last cry"?

Sure, Prince's voice can be as potent and soulful as on "Keep The Faith", but.. live.
It's incredible, and yet, when it comes to God/Spirituality,
it's the audience which his Prince's greatest spiritual high.
It's so important to him, that he did not rerecord "Purple Rain" in the studio.
Voice or guitar for that matter. That's history, man!
Purple Rain is a studio/slash/live record. I don't see anyone underlying this enough.
Michael was slave to the studio much more than Prince was, it's obvious.
It's like Prince telling us, for all the great music he makes wouldn't have no sense at all if it wasn't for us listening. Because real magic happens live.

Plus, some of us preferred raw talent with some boobs crossing the scene.
Thank you Cat. Thank you Roy Bennett, for ever.
And Prince has an axe he can grind. And how: for some of us, that's the definitive winner if we had to really play this vs. stuff.

Thank you Prince for the influence on the "The Way You Make Me Feel" video.
Oh how I wished for Michael to chase after Prince's unabashed sexual approach in his dance performances.
But with Michael at one point it's like "The Adventures Of Tintin", the belgian comic.
Great story, but he's a manchild with no girls around.
Cool when you're 11, not so cool when you're 15.

But there, in the summer of 1987, all of a sudden, as we were still getting aroused by the upcoming SOTT concert in Paris, we see Michael on mondiovision T.V. premiere humping concrete, making fire pumps ejaculate, ripping his shirt, screaming like some harmonic animal. Apparently, Michael wants to get laid!

What is also fascinating, is the über-erotica moment of "Smooth Criminal" in "Moonwalker".
Come on, what is happening from 5'00 to 7'45 is genius stuff.
Like Michael suddenly understands what sexual drive is about (but then suddenly comes the shot of a little girl, eew, Michael!).

I don't expect Prince to fulfill the same role as Michael.
They both have their gospel/sexual distinct area.
Michael could never have achieved the paganic/religious mass, the apocalyptic vision.
Women were already the most scary stuff, imagine the network news.
And yet Michael was as philantropic, so he wasn't that far out.

Alas for us and the music world, real sexuality was (litterally) Science-Fiction to Michael.
A 2030 Dinky Toy and a Transformer toy cripple the second half of "MoonWalker".
This is a young man whose sexuality is still, apparently, mostly masturbations (the "You Are Not Alone" sequences with Presley are blatant) and modeling.
Prince is an full-grown adult by then.
They're only 29 at their acme. It's a miracle.
Stop this fight, it's senseless. Different breeds.

[Edited 11/2/16 5:56am]

214 said:

endiadj said:

Probably cause he felt MJ was completely inferior to him talent wise, yet, MJ was getting the most acclaim. As I've come to realize, unfortunately, talent plays the smallest part in popularity, acclaim, awards, etc.

[Edited 11/1/16 17:24pm]

Yes, keep telling yourself that if that makes you feel good inside.

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, composer, performer, imo, Prince was much better. Guarantee he felt he was better also. Argue with me all you want. My opinion will never change on this.

[Edited 11/2/16 6:21am]

The impression Prince's choices re: "We Are the World" left on the mainstream record-buying/concert-going/radio-listening public cannot be overstated in terms of palpable negativity.

.

Even following April 21 of this year, the amount of comments I saw from casual observers referencing the whole "We Are the World" thing was pretty surprising. A lot of years have passed, but for many people the damage was irreparable.

.

Among many in the Prince hardcore, there seems to be a dichotomy.

.

"Who cares? He was above that crappy song. He called his own shots. Screw the mainstream."

.

But also...

.

"Why wasn't Prince the biggest star of them all? Why was MJ bigger? Why do people not recognize P's genius over everyone else?"

.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

.

It's super-duper easy to bag on "We Are the World" as a sugary gloss on a real problem. It's equally easy to piss all over the multitude of stars who partook (someone here called it a "celebrity dick-sucking contest").

.

The single, album, and "making of" video raised an ever-loving assload of money for humanitarian causes - and raised the profile of famine in Africa. Before squatting over the entire project and moving your bowels all over it, just ask - "What *exactly* have I done that even comes close?" Not entirely FAIR, of course - because most of here aren't household-name superstars. I'm not suggesting no one here has 'given back' in a significant way to a charitable cause. I'm just surprised sometimes by the out-and-out VITRIOL that a relatively innocent, positivity-infused project like "USA For Africa" is often met with.

.

For those scoffing that P "probably considered MJ inferior" etc, etc and that Huey Lewis and other "lesser" artists were beneath his level - consider that HAD he taken part, he would've been on a record with Springsteen, Dylan, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. Would that really, REALLY have been so friggin' bad???

.

I personally TOTALLY RESPECT P's decision not to participate. I agree the song wasn't really his thing (and nor was it many of the other luminaries who did take part, truth be told, though folks like Bruce and Bob utterly seized their moments and made them their own).

.

But... in the eyes of the mainstream public, his decision to avoid the whole scene transformed him from a generally off-putting figure to an outright *prick*. Was the negative publicity ultimately worth it? It wasn't just a headline or two. This event positively killed off a portion of his audience (or potential audience). It was the beginning of a series of inescapably disastrous PR moves that ensured it would be impossible for Prince to EVER capture a "Purple Rain" sized audience ever again.

CAL3 said:

But... in the eyes of the mainstream public, his decision to avoid the whole scene transformed him from a generally off-putting figure to an outright *prick*. Was the negative publicity ultimately worth it? It wasn't just a headline or two. This event positively killed off a portion of his audience (or potential audience). It was the beginning of a series of inescapably disastrous PR moves that ensured it would be impossible for Prince to EVER capture a "Purple Rain" sized audience ever again.

Even though at this time Prince didn't talk much, but it would have been cool 4 him to have down a video recording with his camp, talking about the support of the project, explaining his place in the project and then sharing the 4 the Tears In Your Eyes video. But avoiding it all he left too much room for people to come to conclusions...

Good post in general by the way..

OldFriends4Sale said:

CAL3 said:

But... in the eyes of the mainstream public, his decision to avoid the whole scene transformed him from a generally off-putting figure to an outright *prick*. Was the negative publicity ultimately worth it? It wasn't just a headline or two. This event positively killed off a portion of his audience (or potential audience). It was the beginning of a series of inescapably disastrous PR moves that ensured it would be impossible for Prince to EVER capture a "Purple Rain" sized audience ever again.

Even though at this time Prince didn't talk much, but it would have been cool 4 him to have done a video recording with his camp, talking about the support of the project, explaining his place in the project and then sharing the 4 the Tears In Your Eyes video. But avoiding it all he left too much room for people to come to conclusions...

Good post in general by the way..

.

I think you're absolutely correct (about the positive turnaround that could've occurred by him addressing the issue in a meaningful way).

.

And I also wanted to say, I remember being obsessed with that "making of" the "We Are the World" because it was, quite frankly, an earth-shattering moment in pop music history to have that assemblage of talent working together. I LOVED it.

.

But I also LOVED Prince's rebel stance and the resulting "Hello" that is one of (IMO) his greatest b-side, hidden gem (hidden = not known by mainstream) in his entire discography.

.

I LOVED when he offered that lollipop to Quincy at the AMA's when they had that singalong.

.

As much as I am confounded by some of the professional choices made by P throughout his career, I remain in constant awe by his ability to march to his own beat. What a one-of-a-kind original that we'll never see the likes of again.

.

But for the past 30 years I've encountered friends, co-workers, family members, and acquaintances who I just *knew* would totally DIG Prince if they just gave him a chance. But the common refrain was, "He's too weird" or even "He seems like an asshole" or something along those lines.

.

I know, THEIR loss. But for people of a certain age (big emphasis there) some of that attitude can be traced back to the "We Are the World" debacle. There were other reasons that mainstream audiences had such difficulty embracing Prince - but in 1985 this seemed like the icing on the cake for those who couldn't stand him (or his image, at least).

[Edited 11/2/16 7:27am]

CAL3 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Even though at this time Prince didn't talk much, but it would have been cool 4 him to have done a video recording with his camp, talking about the support of the project, explaining his place in the project and then sharing the 4 the Tears In Your Eyes video. But avoiding it all he left too much room for people to come to conclusions...

Good post in general by the way..

.

I think you're absolutely correct (about the positive turnaround that could've occurred by him addressing the issue in a meaningful way).

.

And I also wanted to say, I remember being obsessed with that "making of" the "We Are the World" because it was, quite frankly, an earth-shattering moment in pop music history to have that assemblage of talent working together. I LOVED it.

.

But I also LOVED Prince's rebel stance and the resulting "Hello" that is one of (IMO) his greatest b-side, hidden gem (hidden = not known by mainstream) in his entire discography.

.

I LOVED when he offered that lollipop to Quincy at the AMA's when they had that singalong.

.

As much as I am confounded by some of the professional choices made by P throughout his career, I remain in constant awe by his ability to march to his own beat. What a one-of-a-kind original that we'll never see the likes of again.

.

But for the past 30 years I've encountered friends, co-workers, family members, and acquaintances who I just *knew* would totally DIG Prince if they just gave him a chance. But the common refrain was, "He's too weird" or even "He seems like an asshole" or something along those lines.

.

I know, THEIR loss. But for people of a certain age (big emphasis there) some of that attitude can be traced back to the "We Are the World" debacle. There were other reasons that mainstream audiences had such difficulty embracing Prince - but in 1985 this seemed like the icing on the cake for those who couldn't stand him (or his image, at least).

[Edited 11/2/16 7:27am]

All it took was 1 little thing, and it could have changed the course of Prince's timeline... even if he just stayed in the hotel and partied pretending to be sick.

.

Yes as much as I liked he didn't do it, if he was in it being a Prince fan seeing him & his band(it seems the whole Revolution was to be a part of it too) would have been another take over of that night. lol Rude Boy Prince could have demanded Sheila e's whole band Jerome Jill Jones & Apollonia 6 be in there too, 2 full rows of purple soldiers in full regalia

.

But the WATW event was very cool for Popular 80s culture 2 have all these people who musical worked hard through the 60s 70s and 80s to be on a song 4 aid. All the latter years of people trying to duplicate it failed.

1980s in Uptown was a great time lol

bonatoc said:

Funny you picture George Harrison.

Wasn't he the first to put up a rock stars gathering for fighting third-world hunger?
The Bengladesh Festival?

There was an album for that, but I think the money got tied up by the British government & taxman wanting to take most of it. I don't like terms like "third world". It implies bigotry to me since the so called "third world" places are genenerally not ones with white people as natives, same with "world music". All music is made in the world, so "world music" doesn't make any sense. People are people and that makes it sound like some are less important. Money, capitalism, and technology doesn't make someone better. Money is just paper and metal, it only has a value because someone says it does and it's the same for everything else.

CAL3 said:

The impression Prince's choices re: "We Are the World" left on the mainstream record-buying/concert-going/radio-listening public cannot be overstated in terms of palpable negativity.

.

Even following April 21 of this year, the amount of comments I saw from casual observers referencing the whole "We Are the World" thing was pretty surprising. A lot of years have passed, but for many people the damage was irreparable.

.

Among many in the Prince hardcore, there seems to be a dichotomy.

.

"Who cares? He was above that crappy song. He called his own shots. Screw the mainstream."

.

But also...

.

"Why wasn't Prince the biggest star of them all? Why was MJ bigger? Why do people not recognize P's genius over everyone else?"

.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

.

It's super-duper easy to bag on "We Are the World" as a sugary gloss on a real problem. It's equally easy to piss all over the multitude of stars who partook (someone here called it a "celebrity dick-sucking contest").

.

The single, album, and "making of" video raised an ever-loving assload of money for humanitarian causes - and raised the profile of famine in Africa. Before squatting over the entire project and moving your bowels all over it, just ask - "What *exactly* have I done that even comes close?" Not entirely FAIR, of course - because most of here aren't household-name superstars. I'm not suggesting no one here has 'given back' in a significant way to a charitable cause. I'm just surprised sometimes by the out-and-out VITRIOL that a relatively innocent, positivity-infused project like "USA For Africa" is often met with.

.

For those scoffing that P "probably considered MJ inferior" etc, etc and that Huey Lewis and other "lesser" artists were beneath his level - consider that HAD he taken part, he would've been on a record with Springsteen, Dylan, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. Would that really, REALLY have been so friggin' bad???

.

I personally TOTALLY RESPECT P's decision not to participate. I agree the song wasn't really his thing (and nor was it many of the other luminaries who did take part, truth be told, though folks like Bruce and Bob utterly seized their moments and made them their own).

.

But... in the eyes of the mainstream public, his decision to avoid the whole scene transformed him from a generally off-putting figure to an outright *prick*. Was the negative publicity ultimately worth it? It wasn't just a headline or two. This event positively killed off a portion of his audience (or potential audience). It was the beginning of a series of inescapably disastrous PR moves that ensured it would be impossible for Prince to EVER capture a "Purple Rain" sized audience ever again.

Prince does whatever Prince wants. And not all of his moves succeeded. Not every move ended up being When Doves Cry or Kiss, but I'm glad he kept true to himself regardless. Id rather have 10 80s records that sold decently than a handful of high-selling projects. In that way, P was a lot like today's hip hop stars who release much more music yearly than your average pop star.

And the reason P fans shit over WATW is because back then people acted like it was a fucking crime that P didn't want to do it. And for a "innocent, positivity infused project", WATW sure was strategically planned by MJ to continue his red-hot popularity streak and show his humanitarianism. P did a lot of charity himself but people chose to turn against him because of media hype (which had a lot to do with the backlash). After your mass fame threatens to turn on you like THAT, shit I would just drop ATWIAD and stop giving a fuck too.

CharismaDove said:

After your mass fame threatens to turn on you like THAT, shit I would just drop ATWIAD and stop giving a fuck too.

No kidding.

CharismaDove said:

Prince does whatever Prince wants. And not all of his moves succeeded. Not every move ended up being When Doves Cry or Kiss, but I'm glad he kept true to himself regardless. Id rather have 10 80s records that sold decently than a handful of high-selling projects. In that way, P was a lot like today's hip hop stars who release much more music yearly than your average pop star.

And the reason P fans shit over WATW is because back then people acted like it was a fucking crime that P didn't want to do it. And for a "innocent, positivity infused project", WATW sure was strategically planned by MJ to continue his red-hot popularity streak and show his humanitarianism. P did a lot of charity himself but people chose to turn against him because of media hype (which had a lot to do with the backlash). After your mass fame threatens to turn on you like THAT, shit I would just drop ATWIAD and stop giving a fuck too.

.

Prince does whatever Prince wants.

.

No kidding. That was the point I was making.

.

the reason P fans shit over WATW is because back then people acted like it was a fucking crime that P didn't want to do it.

.

That kind of thinking is just ridiculous grudge-holding that has nothing to do with the project itself. Judging a project's worthiness by people's reaction to it? That's simply stupid.

.

And for a "innocent, positivity infused project", WATW sure was strategically planned by MJ to continue his red-hot popularity streak and show his humanitarianism

.

Who fucking cares if he wanted a feather in his cap for doing it? Who cares if all the people involved did? The way to bring attention to a cause is to PUBLICIZE it. If a person chooses to privately do charity, that's fine. But it won't alert anyone to the issue at hand.

.

stop giving a fuck too

.

And that's what YOU think Prince did? Stopped giving a fuck?? Really?? Please.

CAL3 said:

CharismaDove said:

Prince does whatever Prince wants. And not all of his moves succeeded. Not every move ended up being When Doves Cry or Kiss, but I'm glad he kept true to himself regardless. Id rather have 10 80s records that sold decently than a handful of high-selling projects. In that way, P was a lot like today's hip hop stars who release much more music yearly than your average pop star.

And the reason P fans shit over WATW is because back then people acted like it was a fucking crime that P didn't want to do it. And for a "innocent, positivity infused project", WATW sure was strategically planned by MJ to continue his red-hot popularity streak and show his humanitarianism. P did a lot of charity himself but people chose to turn against him because of media hype (which had a lot to do with the backlash). After your mass fame threatens to turn on you like THAT, shit I would just drop ATWIAD and stop giving a fuck too.

.

Prince does whatever Prince wants.

.

No kidding. That was the point I was making.

.

the reason P fans shit over WATW is because back then people acted like it was a fucking crime that P didn't want to do it.

.

That kind of thinking is just ridiculous grudge-holding that has nothing to do with the project itself. Judging a project's worthiness by people's reaction to it? That's simply stupid.

.

And for a "innocent, positivity infused project", WATW sure was strategically planned by MJ to continue his red-hot popularity streak and show his humanitarianism

.

Who fucking cares if he wanted a feather in his cap for doing it? Who cares if all the people involved did? The way to bring attention to a cause is to PUBLICIZE it. If a person chooses to privately do charity, that's fine. But it won't alert anyone to the issue at hand.

.

stop giving a fuck too

.

And that's what YOU think Prince did? Stopped giving a fuck?? Really?? Please.

Agreed with you

bonatoc said:

214 said:

Prince seems as though he felt insecure comparing to Michael Jackson. Some people here really consider Jackson as a wannabe artist, some of you despise Michael so much that is so obvious.

Yes, let's not derail. MJ is an incredible, magnetic artist, in more fields than one.
He had fire in him, we all wished this fire would stay longer.
Medias crushed him in the end. His own fame.
There's a lesson in it, and it's sordid.

The Bad album, the Bad Tour couldn't have been further apart in terms of concept and looks
than SOTT the album and the SOTT Tour.
They filled the entire pop space sprectum that year. Michael made mainstream pop "four-and-a-half-stars", and Prince gave him the high-"five".
1987 was funk. Take "Sledgehammer". or RUN DMC's "Walk This Way".
In the underground, Public Enemy was blasting and making the Moral Majority shaking (more about niggaz and their place in the eighties society below).
"The shifting of the tectonic plates".

Michael never made a secret of his world-wide ambitions, he had a revenge burning in him, just like Prince, and by achieving a mediatic presence much broader than Prince (you could say Prince kept his "integrity", but again, unfair to Michael: you can aim for success but you never know what it's going to be), he has been like a pre-Obama in the public consciousness, the #1 Ubiquitous Black Star.
Everyone in America knew Michael was black. By 1984, the whole world.
Who poses next to Reagan, except Elvis with Nixon?
Michael wanted to be Elvis too.
Prince quickly understood it was a trap. He may have said this and that,
but he knew one has to evolve.

Doesn't it occur to the naysayers that "Thriller" is about Niggaz In Da Hood?
Black people haunting cities with their presence, scarying people because they know how to dance/rock/roll?
Black folks scaring white folks, as usual? Isn't what the video is all about?

"Am I Black Or White", Prince sings in Controversy. If Prince lived it, the bridge across cultures, Micheal embodied it, not only in the song/video but in the flesh through surgery, like some Christ giving away his body in the name of race gathering.
You either have big balls and are surprisingly politically-aware for a Peter Pan syndrome, or you're crazy.
"Bad" is all about Michael in full control of his abilities. Not some crazy puppet.
And he tries as many genres as Prince, and succeeds indeniably.
Prince goes faster and produces more than Michael only because he just needs a small multi-track recorder and 24 hours to get a damn fine song.

Michael united kids and explain them racial problems through Wesley Snipes. It was important, he knew his demographics.
He hypnotised the masses like Bob Fosse does in "The Little Prince". With a glove and white socks.
With his raw talent.
Ain't no way Prince can sing "Keep The Faith" the way Michael does. Major Throat/Spirit Control.
Let alone the hits of "HIStory". The boom-boxing talents of Michael are... He's his own Linn.
The "They Don't Care About Us" pattern is as good as the "When Doves Cry" one.
"Who Is It" is pure James Brown romantic despair.
Prince very rarely sobs (or ironically:"Slave").
Blame the phone booth "last cry"?

Sure, Prince's voice can be as potent and soulful as on "Keep The Faith", but.. live.
It's incredible, and yet, when it comes to God/Spirituality,
it's the audience which his Prince's greatest spiritual high.
It's so important to him, that he did not rerecord "Purple Rain" in the studio.
Voice or guitar for that matter. That's history, man!
Purple Rain is a studio/slash/live record. I don't see anyone underlying this enough.
Michael was slave to the studio much more than Prince was, it's obvious.
It's like Prince telling us, for all the great music he makes wouldn't have no sense at all if it wasn't for us listening. Because real magic happens live.

Plus, some of us preferred raw talent with some boobs crossing the scene.
Thank you Cat. Thank you Roy Bennett, for ever.
And Prince has an axe he can grind. And how: for some of us, that's the definitive winner if we had to really play this vs. stuff.

Thank you Prince for the influence on the "The Way You Make Me Feel" video.
Oh how I wished for Michael to chase after Prince's unabashed sexual approach in his dance performances.
But with Michael at one point it's like "The Adventures Of Tintin", the belgian comic.
Great story, but he's a manchild with no girls around.
Cool when you're 11, not so cool when you're 15.

But there, in the summer of 1987, all of a sudden, as we were still getting aroused by the upcoming SOTT concert in Paris, we see Michael on mondiovision T.V. premiere humping concrete, making fire pumps ejaculate, ripping his shirt, screaming like some harmonic animal. Apparently, Michael wants to get laid!

What is also fascinating, is the über-erotica moment of "Smooth Criminal" in "Moonwalker".
Come on, what is happening from 5'00 to 7'45 is genius stuff.
Like Michael suddenly understands what sexual drive is about (but then suddenly comes the shot of a little girl, eew, Michael!).

I don't expect Prince to fulfill the same role as Michael.
They both have their gospel/sexual distinct area.
Michael could never have achieved the paganic/religious mass, the apocalyptic vision.
Women were already the most scary stuff, imagine the network news.
And yet Michael was as philantropic, so he wasn't that far out.

Alas for us and the music world, real sexuality was (litterally) Science-Fiction to Michael.
A 2030 Dinky Toy and a Transformer toy cripple the second half of "MoonWalker".
This is a young man whose sexuality is still, apparently, mostly masturbations (the "You Are Not Alone" sequences with Presley are blatant) and modeling.
Prince is an full-grown adult by then.
They're only 29 at their acme. It's a miracle.
Stop this fight, it's senseless. Different breeds.

[Edited 11/2/16 5:56am]

I love your posts, really interesting and thoughtful, thanks.

Thank you 214.

Actually it's Leroy Bennett. My bad.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Lionel Richie is also co-creator of this song along with Quincy

Lionel has been performing it for the last few years. Here's one from July 2016 (at 12:00).

[Edited 11/2/16 17:11pm]

214 said:

bonatoc said:

Yes, let's not derail. MJ is an incredible, magnetic artist, in more fields than one.
He had fire in him, we all wished this fire would stay longer.
Medias crushed him in the end. His own fame.
There's a lesson in it, and it's sordid.

The Bad album, the Bad Tour couldn't have been further apart in terms of concept and looks
than SOTT the album and the SOTT Tour.
They filled the entire pop space sprectum that year. Michael made mainstream pop "four-and-a-half-stars", and Prince gave him the high-"five".
1987 was funk. Take "Sledgehammer". or RUN DMC's "Walk This Way".
In the underground, Public Enemy was blasting and making the Moral Majority shaking (more about niggaz and their place in the eighties society below).
"The shifting of the tectonic plates".

Michael never made a secret of his world-wide ambitions, he had a revenge burning in him, just like Prince, and by achieving a mediatic presence much broader than Prince (you could say Prince kept his "integrity", but again, unfair to Michael: you can aim for success but you never know what it's going to be), he has been like a pre-Obama in the public consciousness, the #1 Ubiquitous Black Star.
Everyone in America knew Michael was black. By 1984, the whole world.
Who poses next to Reagan, except Elvis with Nixon?
Michael wanted to be Elvis too.
Prince quickly understood it was a trap. He may have said this and that,
but he knew one has to evolve.

Doesn't it occur to the naysayers that "Thriller" is about Niggaz In Da Hood?
Black people haunting cities with their presence, scarying people because they know how to dance/rock/roll?
Black folks scaring white folks, as usual? Isn't what the video is all about?

"Am I Black Or White", Prince sings in Controversy. If Prince lived it, the bridge across cultures, Micheal embodied it, not only in the song/video but in the flesh through surgery, like some Christ giving away his body in the name of race gathering.
You either have big balls and are surprisingly politically-aware for a Peter Pan syndrome, or you're crazy.
"Bad" is all about Michael in full control of his abilities. Not some crazy puppet.
And he tries as many genres as Prince, and succeeds indeniably.
Prince goes faster and produces more than Michael only because he just needs a small multi-track recorder and 24 hours to get a damn fine song.

Michael united kids and explain them racial problems through Wesley Snipes. It was important, he knew his demographics.
He hypnotised the masses like Bob Fosse does in "The Little Prince". With a glove and white socks.
With his raw talent.
Ain't no way Prince can sing "Keep The Faith" the way Michael does. Major Throat/Spirit Control.
Let alone the hits of "HIStory". The boom-boxing talents of Michael are... He's his own Linn.
The "They Don't Care About Us" pattern is as good as the "When Doves Cry" one.
"Who Is It" is pure James Brown romantic despair.
Prince very rarely sobs (or ironically:"Slave").
Blame the phone booth "last cry"?

Sure, Prince's voice can be as potent and soulful as on "Keep The Faith", but.. live.
It's incredible, and yet, when it comes to God/Spirituality,
it's the audience which his Prince's greatest spiritual high.
It's so important to him, that he did not rerecord "Purple Rain" in the studio.
Voice or guitar for that matter. That's history, man!
Purple Rain is a studio/slash/live record. I don't see anyone underlying this enough.
Michael was slave to the studio much more than Prince was, it's obvious.
It's like Prince telling us, for all the great music he makes wouldn't have no sense at all if it wasn't for us listening. Because real magic happens live.

Plus, some of us preferred raw talent with some boobs crossing the scene.
Thank you Cat. Thank you Roy Bennett, for ever.
And Prince has an axe he can grind. And how: for some of us, that's the definitive winner if we had to really play this vs. stuff.

Thank you Prince for the influence on the "The Way You Make Me Feel" video.
Oh how I wished for Michael to chase after Prince's unabashed sexual approach in his dance performances.
But with Michael at one point it's like "The Adventures Of Tintin", the belgian comic.
Great story, but he's a manchild with no girls around.
Cool when you're 11, not so cool when you're 15.

But there, in the summer of 1987, all of a sudden, as we were still getting aroused by the upcoming SOTT concert in Paris, we see Michael on mondiovision T.V. premiere humping concrete, making fire pumps ejaculate, ripping his shirt, screaming like some harmonic animal. Apparently, Michael wants to get laid!

What is also fascinating, is the über-erotica moment of "Smooth Criminal" in "Moonwalker".
Come on, what is happening from 5'00 to 7'45 is genius stuff.
Like Michael suddenly understands what sexual drive is about (but then suddenly comes the shot of a little girl, eew, Michael!).

I don't expect Prince to fulfill the same role as Michael.
They both have their gospel/sexual distinct area.
Michael could never have achieved the paganic/religious mass, the apocalyptic vision.
Women were already the most scary stuff, imagine the network news.
And yet Michael was as philantropic, so he wasn't that far out.

Alas for us and the music world, real sexuality was (litterally) Science-Fiction to Michael.
A 2030 Dinky Toy and a Transformer toy cripple the second half of "MoonWalker".
This is a young man whose sexuality is still, apparently, mostly masturbations (the "You Are Not Alone" sequences with Presley are blatant) and modeling.
Prince is an full-grown adult by then.
They're only 29 at their acme. It's a miracle.
Stop this fight, it's senseless. Different breeds.

[Edited 11/2/16 5:56am]

I love your posts, really interesting and thoughtful, thanks.

ya, great post. Mike gets shortchanged a lot because of the child stuff, molestion allegations and the idealism of pre-pubescense. Also, he didn't play an instrument or didn't play much, rather, that almost means nothing in that field. Millions of fantastic intstrumentalists so many it's redundant really. Michaels' gifts were his visionary video work and his ability to be as big and as broad as he was. Also, his songs weren't merely as silly and superficial as they seemed, he was a subversive artist. Said it many times, Billy Jean is nothing but the blues dressed up as a cheesy eighties pop song. In fact, some of his best stuff seemed to be in response to the grungers who knocked him/prince/bruce completely off the charts in the 90's he seemed to respond to the faux pain of Cobain and the rest with the songs Morphine and Blood on the dancefloore, completely revamping his sound with a new brittle funk.

OldFriends4Sale said:

i have a bigger problem with hypocrites, I've read the Geldoff was a real piece of shit so to hear him calling someone else, no less prince, a "jerk" is kinda fucked.