Does any one know the background to this event? Looks like it's a James Brown gig, a camera shot into the audience reveals MJ who then comes to the stage. Didn't believe it to be him at first but a quick Moondance routine made it certain, then JB comes to the mic and says, 'Michael wants me to introduce, Prince'.

Prince then comes to the stage.

• When was this?
  
• How did it happen?
  
• What's the origin of the video?
  

Apologies if everybody except me knows about this.

Possibly one of Prince's most embarrassing moments. I don't know much about it other then I think it was shot sometime in '83. Terribly embarrassing!

Thanks LittlePill, 'embarrassing' - Mm, that may be how you feel about it. Does any one know any factual stuff? Funny, you see I'm a musicologist.

It's from a 1983 James Brown concert.Michael Jackson and Prince were in the audience,and were soon brought up onstage.While many peeps on this site claim that Prince's performance was embarassing,I find it oddly amusing

Hi my friend.... in this event... J. brown call michael 2 the staGe 2 sing or do something..
michael begins 2 sing and do his moon stuff...
then, michael whisper 2 brown something... and brown the tell the public."that they want prince 2 do something on stage..... 1 min or so.. prince get up on stage an d Kick his guitar like he always do.. he is on the stage 3 min ... the clip is of this event is a must;)

This topic needs it's own forum

infinitetrio said:

No I'm sure it was definately embarrassing. The guitar part was good! He looked uncomfortable with it because it hung a little too low for him but he played it well, nothing special but good. Then he took to the mic. And to top off the performance he pulls a stage prop over (accidenatlly) while trying to exit, stage left, on Big Chick. Embarrassing enough for ya!!?

ConsciousContact said:

I can't watch it.

infinitetrio said:

THEN YOU SHOULD KNOW IT CALLED MOONWALK

NOT MOONDANCE

POOK JUST SAYING!

ConsciousContact said:

seriously.

it is quite funny when he takes off his lace glove and throws it into the crowd.Only for it to be thrown back at him seconds later.

muirdo said:

that was eeeeevil.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Seems a crazy thing to do,I bet the fool that did is regretting now ,that glove would probs fetch a few pennies now on ebay now.

Wait...Prince was onstage with MJ and James Brown?


this was a month or two befofe shooting on PR would commence..and if that glove was thrown back, only a year later after PR hit would that audience be eating out of Princes' laced gloved hands

SENSHY said:

That glove comes back at some speed the dude must have had a tennis racket or something or perhaps it was on elastic like those kids mittens.

I always thought he was drunk when he did that, only because the way he pulled down that lamp post prop, is a bit embarrassing i suppose but hey it makes me laugh, which is always good

richierich said:

lol yes it was

but I think the audience member was upset that prince takes glove off with his teeth, on piggyback of some big ol biker lookin mutha..and throws it to the audience like "here hold this pion!"..so natural response was to throw it right back like "eww" "muthafucka dont be throwin no glove at me batch!"

folks were there for JB anyways--folks at the JB concert weren't even feelin prince then/there

SENSHY said:

I can picture the dude is just some stoner fuck half asleep and shit when this object twats his face,his instant reaction is to just get rid coz he thinks it will kill him or something.

Insanecabbage said:

Ye he probablys should of just kept it short and sweet ,the guitar playing was fine,should of took a bow and left without touching the lampost.
Perhaps the bit I find worse is when he is sizing up the mic but half checking to see if James is looking,which he aint. Bet the poor bugger felt shit when he woke up in the morn and it all came flooding back.

richierich said:

Strange that this moment was not ever really described and or shown at the time as proof that prince drank and that it is historic in terms of the two premier black artists of their time sharing the stage with the godfather. I've read about the scene but never has it been described as it has on this site, perhaps because it would be libelous.

Well - this topic is REAL MUSICOLOGY.

Keep it flowing guys - fascinating.

Can I post a link to the QuickTime of this on my server or will I get done?

I just bought the video on ebay, but I think the Prince appearance was edited out. Oh well, I like JB!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eB...eName=WDVW

mozfonky said:

I suppose he could of been just chillin havin a few drinks,probablys didn't realise he'd get dragged up by one of his main heroes with MJ the biggest pop star in the world at the time,I read elsewhere that it was thought this JB thing effected in Prince in the sense that he made sure everything was properly planned out etc whenever he performed. I thought this was quite an interesting idea as performance wise P did seem to become more polished.

richierich said:

he was all lookin over at james like (stuart from "mad tv" voice), "look what i can do!"

LittlePill said:

THE GUITAR PART WAS GOOD?
!!!Boo could BARELY play he was so fucked up! Sit in a room full of musicians and watch this footage and everybody just falls on the floor because of how hilarious it is, and not hilarious in a clever way, but hilarious because metaphorically speaking what he did was the musical equivilent to vomiting on one's instrument when he picked up that guitar!!! The man was so far gone that night you wouldn't believe it was him. I actually did find it amusing, though, especially the part where he finally took to the mike, and for lack of anything better to do just kinda let his head roll back and let out that blood curdling scream- when he did that for the first time in my life I thought (about P. onstage) "Oh Lawd....! NO BOO, NO ; go on and sit your little booty down before you fall over somewhere cause you are CLEARLY not in the same world, space, or time as ANYBODY else in that theatre !

mozfonky said:

Libelous? Hummm. Never thought as the descriptions as being THAT harsh! All I know is that the general reaction to the sight of that clip amongst some established professionals in the music biz is that homeboy was clearly drunk that night and certainly not at his best. Most people who have been in or around the music business have seen this type of antic in performers so many times before it really is old hat to them. For the rest of us "civilians" I think it's almost like a shock of sorts because we're not used to the idea that an artist like Prince, when he was young and on top of the world, could have had those "rock god sydrome" moments when he could get his HAPPY-HAPPY on, (slip-up) and act a fool in public
. I reckon when you're young and at what feels like the zenith of your life ANYBODY can have a crazy moment like that!

ReeseStrongnight said:

Come on! It could've been a lot worst considering how the rest of his 'performance' turned out. It wasn't anything great or memorable but it wasn't terrible either.

This video really should be in the public domain.
Seems MJ left the stage sometime when P joined JB. Not quite as bad as Spinal Tap Stonehenge scene but the falling lamp post does kind of remind me of stage henges for some reason.
But when was James Brown ever about polished performances? It's the feeling that it's about. Call and answer. That night he called out and he got MJ & P and they responded at JBs level, tried to meet it. I wonder, was Maceo in that band, can't see him. But as I watch it, I can't help think it was an important moment for a lot of people. Has been for me.