TrivialPursuit said:

lavendardrummachine said:

I can understand why he would have been scared by a studio production he had zero control over, singing lyrics he had no control over. I think we could all see him wanting to avoid a situation where he'd have to offend someone, or refuse to get paired up with Hall and Oats or Phil Collins, or whoever. He was at his most guard point for his image, and to not be able to put the right reverb on his voice or a variety of anxiety causing situations might have just been too much for him.

It's literally what ever other artist in the room had to deal with, yet they showed up.

He'd have to offend someone? Okay then.

PS: Phil Collins wasn't part of USA For Africa. And what's wrong with Hall and Oates? (Answer: nothing)

Doesn't mean he'd want to get paired with them, or like he knew exactly who was showing up that night.

Just saying, there was a lot of room for awkwardness. Doubt he was the only one who bowed out or who could have had anxiety about it, but Prince's image was finely crafted then, there was a lot of mystery he cultivated, and he needed control at that stage of his career.

Do you actually picture him anywhere in that group singing We Are the World?

uPtoWnNY said:

rlittler81 said:

uPtoWnNY said:

So am I....to this day, I still hate that sappy, self-righteous crap song.

Me too and I’m glad Madonna won the day after knocking it off the number one position with ”Crazy For You” after not being invited to the session. Plus we got “Hello” from the experience which is a great song.

One story is that Madonna's management decided she shouldn't go because she it would have required missing tour dates (I don't get why), and they told her to stay the course instead.

bsprout said:

Prince donated the song ‘4 the Tears in Your Eyes’ to the ‘We are the World’ album; it’s a beautiful song. It’s also on his ‘The Hits/ The B-sides’ album (an alternate version), along with ‘Hello.’

We know.

TrivialPursuit said:

bsprout said:

TrivialPursuit said:

We know.

This was for those who didn’t, smartass. Maybe you, who bloviates your Prince knowledge ad nauseum, is bored by it, but I, for one, appreciate hearing things I don’t know. Maybe someone who’s new to Prince doesn’t know this.

Wow, you clutchin' hard today. Calm down, boo. It ain't that serious. But kudos on using bloviate.

Not sure if this contributed to Prince's refusal, but on Questlove's podcast Huey Lewis said his part was originally Prince's section...and if you remember in the video, Huey's part follows immediately after Michael. Obviously there is no way of knowing whether Quincy/Lionel told Cavallo/Prince who was assigned which part and the order on the phone and if Prince then felt some kind of way following Michael....but something to think about.

AZStreet said:

Not sure if this contributed to Prince's refusal, but on Questlove's podcast Huey Lewis said his part was originally Prince's section...and if you remember in the video, Huey's part follows immediately after Michael. Obviously there is no way of knowing whether Quincy/Lionel told Cavallo/Prince who was assigned which part and the order on the phone and if Prince then felt some kind of way following Michael....but something to think about.

Just looking at a few things, I have no doubt MJ would have tried to up 1 on Prince in that

The song was huge back then, but man it has not aged well. And it kind of drags on and on.

Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", on the other hand, sounds as fresh today as it did in 1984. I still get goosebumps when that one comes on the radio.

I remember being a kid and wishing that Prince had done the WATW song. It may not have done anything positive for his image if he'd performed, but not performing did get a lot of negative press for him at the time.

And yeah, the story I always heard was that he wanted to play guitar in it. It's not really a "guitar" song so who knows how that would've gone.

lavendardrummachine said:

TrivialPursuit said:

It's literally what ever other artist in the room had to deal with, yet they showed up.

He'd have to offend someone? Okay then.

PS: Phil Collins wasn't part of USA For Africa. And what's wrong with Hall and Oates? (Answer: nothing)

Doesn't mean he'd want to get paired with them, or like he knew exactly who was showing up that night.

Just saying, there was a lot of room for awkwardness. Doubt he was the only one who bowed out or who could have had anxiety about it, but Prince's image was finely crafted then, there was a lot of mystery he cultivated, and he needed control at that stage of his career.

Do you actually picture him anywhere in that group singing We Are the World?

No! Hated that song then and hate it now.

Quincy can go fuck himself ass far ass I´m concerned....Prince did the right thing...everybody knows Prince doesn´t like others in the studio when he´s recording vocals so it was disrespectful of QJ (the legendary bullshitter) to even ask Prince to do that..Prince is not his little puppy.....and his management can kiss my ass too who the fuck are they to tell Prince to pretend to be sick and not go out? Prince did the right thing...offered them a song , went out partying at Carlos´ with the ladies , lookin superfly big pimpin in his fur coat and then wrote Hello to tell his side of the story.

Fuck Quincy Jones. Cant stand that dude. he still has his little vendettta goin on to this day, spreading his bullshit everywhere....maiking shitt up...

that song sucks ass anyway

RufusRawfield said:

Quincy can go fuck himself ass far ass I´m concerned....Prince did the right thing...everybody knows Prince doesn´t like others in the studio when he´s recording vocals so it was disrespectful of QJ (the legendary bullshitter) to even ask Prince to do that..Prince is not his little puppy.....and his management can kiss my ass too who the fuck are they to tell Prince to pretend to be sick and not go out? Prince did the right thing...offered them a song , went out partying at Carlos´ with the ladies , lookin superfly big pimpin in his fur coat and then wrote Hello to tell his side of the story.

Fuck Quincy Jones. Cant stand that dude. he still has his little vendettta goin on to this day, spreading his bullshit everywhere....maiking shitt up...

that song sucks ass anyway

So are you saying what I just recently thought (assumed) after reading this thread that the song was actually recorded at Paisley Park and if that's the case I don't blame Prince for not being on the track since it seems like they all basically crashed his crib to make it happen?

That?

Se7en said:

The song was huge back then, but man it has not aged well. And it kind of drags on and on.

Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", on the other hand, sounds as fresh today as it did in 1984. I still get goosebumps when that one comes on the radio.

I remember being a kid and wishing that Prince had done the WATW song. It may not have done anything positive for his image if he'd performed, but not performing did get a lot of negative press for him at the time.

And yeah, the story I always heard was that he wanted to play guitar in it. It's not really a "guitar" song so who knows how that would've gone.

-

Agree.

Well to me, the ''We Are The World'' songs sounds like schmaltzy Michael Jackson (no dissin' Michael though),

and the ''Do They Know It's Christmas'' sounds more like a Wham! or Ultravox song.

(Obviously because each one wrote their song.)

Yeah, the negative press Prince received. Even over here in EU it was a hot topic.

-

heartpeacesheart said:

bboy87 said:

heartpeacesheart said:

So are you saying what I just recently thought (assumed) after reading this thread that the song was actually recorded at Paisley Park and if that's the case I don't blame Prince for not being on the track since it seems like they all basically crashed his crib to make it happen?

That?

? "We Are The World" was recorded at A&M Studios in LA. Paisley wasn't built in January 85

Right? Like where did that idea come from?!?!?! The session was on the night of an award show, ergo everyone being in the same place at the same time. They don't really think 50 or 60 some odd people flew their asses to Minneapolis in goddamn January, do they?!?!

OldFriends4Sale said:

Vannormal said:

-

Is that so ?

How do you know that ?

Lionel said he only wanted to be 'recorded' in a seperate room, which they found not fitting in the idea of the project.

-

When his manager Bob Cavallo called up Jones to lobby for Prince to do just that, he says that Q's angry response was "I don't need him to fucking play guitar!" Cavallo told Prince that if he was going to skip the session, he needed to claim illness, and that no matter what, he couldn't go out to party after the AMAs, because the publicity would be terrible if people knew he had blown off the charity gig. Prince did, in fact, head out to a club on Sunset Boulevard, where his bodyguard got into a fracas and ended up in jail; on a night where music's biggest stars were visibly selfless, Prince was the one who stood out as selfish. He ultimately told his side of the story in the song "Hello," the B-side to "Pop Life."

I don't believe the way Prince handled this issue was selfish in the least. He didn't sing witht the group, but he donated a song to the album. Donating a song surely did more to boost its sales (and hence provide more money for charity) than his singing a solitary line on one song.

Even as a hardcore Prince fan, there was no chance I was going to buy an album so that I could hear Prince sing one line in a terrible song. But as a hardcore Prince fan, you can bet that I would buy an album to get a full, completely new Prince song.

Taking part in the group sing-a-long for the title track wasn't about being selfless or charity -- it was about conformity. It was virual signally. I'm glad Prince didn't show up. There are lots of things Prince did that embarass me as a fan, but his dissing We Are the World isn't one them. In fact, I'm proud of him for not going.

lurker316 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

When his manager Bob Cavallo called up Jones to lobby for Prince to do just that, he says that Q's angry response was "I don't need him to fucking play guitar!" Cavallo told Prince that if he was going to skip the session, he needed to claim illness, and that no matter what, he couldn't go out to party after the AMAs, because the publicity would be terrible if people knew he had blown off the charity gig. Prince did, in fact, head out to a club on Sunset Boulevard, where his bodyguard got into a fracas and ended up in jail; on a night where music's biggest stars were visibly selfless, Prince was the one who stood out as selfish. He ultimately told his side of the story in the song "Hello," the B-side to "Pop Life."

I don't believe the way Prince handled this issue was selfish in the least. He didn't sing witht the group, but he donated a song to the album. Donating a song surely did more to boost its sales (and hence provide more money for charity) than his singing a solitary line on one song.

Even as a hardcore Prince fan, there was no chance I was going to buy an album so that I could hear Prince sing one line in a terrible song. But as a hardcore Prince fan, you can bet that I would buy an album to get a full, completely new Prince song.

Taking part in the group sing-a-long for the title track wasn't about being selfless or charity -- it was about conformity. It was virual signally. I'm glad Prince didn't show up. There are lots of things Prince did that embarass me as a fan, but his dissing We Are the World isn't one them. In fact, I'm proud of him for not going.

I agree with U 100%

HELLO

Se7en said:

The song was huge back then, but man it has not aged well. And it kind of drags on and on.

Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", on the other hand, sounds as fresh today as it did in 1984. I still get goosebumps when that one comes on the radio.

I remember being a kid and wishing that Prince had done the WATW song. It may not have done anything positive for his image if he'd performed, but not performing did get a lot of negative press for him at the time.

And yeah, the story I always heard was that he wanted to play guitar in it. It's not really a "guitar" song so who knows how that would've gone.

Yeah, sappy songs like that wear on me quick. BUT the worst of the 80s is often better than the best of the 2000's lol

Not the song as much but the surrounding event made for some great times in music history/pop culture

OldFriends4Sale said:

So I believe the artists donated a song to the album and the proceeds from it to USA for Africa. But was publishing donated as well? On the 45 of We are the World, the B-side is a song called Grace that was written by Quincy. To put that on a record that is guaranteed to sell, begs the question if publishing was also donated...cause otherwise Quincy being Quincy with it.

Does anyone know?

MotownSubdivision said:

It kinda baffles me how whenever this topic gets brought up, people rush to P's defense and grasp at straws to justify his no-show. "He recorded his vocals separately!" "He would have clammed up next to all those other stars!" "He offered to lay down a guitar solo after the fact!" "He contributed "4 the Tears in Your Eyes"! That was enough!" Y'all don't have to like the song but damn, can y'all just admit Prince was in the wrong here? Considering the variety of names that showed up and went with the flow, there's no reason Prince couldn't have done the same. "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" may have been the better song but it was damage control since he was getting reamed in the press for not making the session. I even understand that he wanted to celebrate since he cleaned up at the AMAs but you can't say it was a bad look at the time and it's very easy to see why if you choose too.

For me to admit Prince was wrong, I'd have to think Prince was wrong - and I don't.

His actions need no justification. This little exercise was nothing more than virtue signaling - a bunch of celebrities doing something silly and of absolutely no value to make themselves look and feel good. Not one starving person in Africa was helped by this.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if all the controversy with the photographer and Prince's bodyguard was actually concocted by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in retaliation for Prince declining their "invitation." Maybe that's why Bob Cavallo warned Prince not to go out that night, because he knew someone would try to pull some shit.

Genesia said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Genesia said:

For me to admit Prince was wrong, I'd have to think Prince was wrong - and I don't.

His actions need no justification. This little exercise was nothing more than virtue signaling - a bunch of celebrities doing something silly and of absolutely no value to make themselves look and feel good. Not one starving person in Africa was helped by this.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if all the controversy with the photographer and Prince's bodyguard was actually concocted by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in retaliation for Prince declining their "invitation." Maybe that's why Bob Cavallo warned Prince not to go out that night, because he knew someone would try to pull some shit.

Africa not getting what it was owed isn't the fault of the people in the studio. Blame the money handlers. As for the photographer thing if you want to rely on conspiracy theories, go ahead, that's your call. Not like that incident even needed to happen for word to get out about a megastar like him being out in public partying.

Honey, the next time you're tempted to accuse other people of making excuses or justifications, you should reread this post.

MotownSubdivision said:

It kinda baffles me how whenever this topic gets brought up, people rush to P's defense and grasp at straws to justify his no-show. "He recorded his vocals separately!" "He would have clammed up next to all those other stars!" "He offered to lay down a guitar solo after the fact!" "He contributed "4 the Tears in Your Eyes"! That was enough!" Y'all don't have to like the song but damn, can y'all just admit Prince was in the wrong here? Considering the variety of names that showed up and went with the flow, there's no reason Prince couldn't have done the same. "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" may have been the better song but it was damage control since he was getting reamed in the press for not making the session. I even understand that he wanted to celebrate since he cleaned up at the AMAs but you can't say that it wasn't a bad look at the time; it's very easy to see why if you choose too. [Edited 5/4/21 9:12am]

-

You're right.

Reason is that his ego was seriously on the grow.

Bodygards and all, behaving like arock star and a Purple Rain movie star too tbh.

He could sack any naysayer around him in a split second.

Started to surround himself with yessayers and asskissers (imho).

He sure was aware of his growing power to that point.

He also had a newly attitude to live up to.

He probably felt insecure, shy. True, sure, abslutely possible.

But he should've pulled his tiny purple ass overthere, and just do the right thing.

It wasn't about him, nor about the other artists or MJ nor Quincy.

It was only and solely about ''a good cause'', and that is the most important.

Yes the song was serious damage control.

I even thought it was embaresing, though a very good song.

-

If he had lived long enough, he probably would write about what went on in his head.

Possibly.

-

Vannormal said:

If he had lived long enough, he probably would write about what went on in his head.

Possibly.

I always imagine what his autobiography could have been, had he lived to finish it properly.

TheBigBang said:

Vannormal said:

If he had lived long enough, he probably would write about what went on in his head.

Possibly.

I always imagine what his autobiography could have been, had he lived to finish it properly.

-

Full of God babbles, and lessons from the book, the usual lukewarm solutions and recommendations.

And here and there a bit of regret, but not too much or too detailed.

Probably a lot why he felt misunderstood by most, etc.

I'll bet my finger he would never give in on even 1 bad decision that we or the media think he made.

Then again, who knows. I have no truth or knowledge in this.

Just guessing and opinionating my frustrations with all things Prince in general over several decades of being a fan of his music.

-