Yeah, somebody brought this up on the Prince forum...some of the comments were something else.

Get ready for the horse to continue to be whipped because all this info is coming from an upcoming Rolling Stone article on MJ's last days.
[Edited 7/24/09 21:59pm]

Well guess that voodoo spell from the 80's finally came true.

I think musically they had a lot more in common than people like to admit.

There's a musical reason I gravitated towards listening to Michael and Prince.
[Edited 7/25/09 0:02am]

coolcat said:

Yeah, they were different, but come on, they had almost the same influences and grew up listening to the same people.

I think Prince had a lot more Rock influences compared to Michael, and Michael had a lot of cinematic influences in the world of dance, movies and theatre compared to Prince, but the foundations were the same.

I think Prince and Michael were like night and day musically. Their music takes me to completely, and I mean, completely different places. To me there are/were like the opposite sides of a coin and that is why it's sort of fun to compare them. Now as far as their images, other than the make up and stuff, I don't see any similarity there, either.

coolcat said:

Yeah, they were different, but come on, they had almost the same influences and grew up listening to the same people.

I think Prince had a lot more Rock influences compared to Michael, and Michael had a lot of cinematic influences in the world of dance, movies and theatre compared to Prince, but the foundations were the same.

lazycrockett said:

Yeah, the lil' old box that P brought with him in 84 (before PR was released)when he visited with Michael and he was coming on to LaToya. The "gift" consisted of a little box with leaves, twigs and a cassete tape. On the tape was a bunch of chants and shit which P recorded backwards. Michael's "people" told Michael to get rid of the tape because it was obvious that P was demonic and that P was trying to put a "hex" on him. As far as the "competion" or "rivalry" went, it was legit up to a degree. In the sense that both cats were competitive in general. They both knew that they were BAD and they both took much pride in that. They both wanted to be the best and to be seen by others as such. There is nothing wrong with that. Other than they were both the same age, both were/are men and both were/are black and in 84, they were both the two biggest stars in the music biz,... other than that, they couldn't have been more different from each other. Sure, the media played up on the Michael vs. Prince thing in 84 and 85. It was on every cover of every issue of Right On! and Black Beat for 2 years. Then and now, I always saw them as two entirely seperate entities. Personally, from the things I've heard, there was no bad blood between them. They respected each other's talent and they both knew that what each other had achieved, being black men in the music industry, was no small feat and was not easy in the least.
[Edited 7/25/09 0:00am]

blackguitaristz said:

The current MJ Rolling Stone cover story is indeed illuminating, especially how competitive Mike was with Prince til' the very in....At one point in the piece, Kenny Ortega, MJ's director for what was to be the This Is It shows, asked Mike why he had trouble sleeping during the run up to the gigs...

Clip from article:

"For the most part, nights seemed to be the biggest problem for Jackson--he had complained of insomnia. But it was also the time when he felt a higher power was channeling creativity to him. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," he would tell Ortega."I was up working on music. That's when the information is coming, and when it's coming you gotta work."

"Michael," Ortega joked with him, "why can't you make a pact with your higher power so that you could put these ideas on the shelf until after July 13?"

"No," Jackson responded. Then he might give them to Prince."


That says it all...lol....

Ellie said:

It's all subjective. Different people hear different things. What effects you in a certain way may not effect someone else at all. Personally, it's not an issue for ME to admit anything. It's not THAT deep to me. Never has been. They were two talented bruthas doing their thing. Period. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had many of the same influences as well but to me, they were night and day. I won't say that because P infused more rock into some of his sound then that meant he dug rock more than Michael. I don't know that. Obviously Michael liked rock. The 2 of them growing up on the same music? Hell, Prince grew up listening to the Jackson 5 like everybody else. I know that they both dug James, Stevie and Sly but the way they expressed and showcased those influences were very different. Obviously their approach to making music was vastly different and the reasons for that goes without saying. Again, to me, Michael and Prince were like The Beatles and The Stones. Two incredible bands that ruled the roost around the same period. Both with very similar influences but with entirely different outputs. Same as with MJ and P. But in Michael's and Prince's case, it was even more diverse. But again, it's all subjective. I was born listening to the J5 and I got into P from the word go. NEVER did I personally associate one to the other.... Never. Probably because I was black like them, it wasn't an issue. I just always saw them for doing THEIR thing.
[Edited 7/25/09 0:42am]

murph said:

Yeah, I have that issue and I saw that. Sure, I have picked up over the years regarding what I saw as Michael paying a little extra attention to what P was doing. It was no secret that Michael was curious in Prince dating all the way back to 1981 when P released Controversy. Some of Micheal's brothers, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy and Janet all were fans of Prince's and his production on The Time and V6. Michael knowing this and him not understanding how someone like P, who wore makeup like he did, was seen as a "lady killer" got to Michael. This if true, was documented in the 1991 book The Magic and the Madness. I do think, especially around the Bad album, that Michael took P's cue in trying to "toughen" up his image and come across with a lil' more edge. Which was cool. I never saw it as Michael "biting" off of Prince though. MJ still did it in his own way. I've heard in recent years, like every one else that it was rumored that MJ wanted to tour with Prince. And that he wanted to out do Prince's shows in England. There is nothing wrong in him wanting to out do Prince because he obviously respected P's talent.
[Edited 7/25/09 0:58am]

25/09 0:58am][/b]

blackguitaristz said:

The current MJ Rolling Stone cover story is indeed illuminating, especially how competitive Mike was with Prince til' the very in....At one point in the piece, Kenny Ortega, MJ's director for what was to be the This Is It shows, asked Mike why he had trouble sleeping during the run up to the gigs...

Clip from article:

"For the most part, nights seemed to be the biggest problem for Jackson--he had complained of insomnia. But it was also the time when he felt a higher power was channeling creativity to him. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," he would tell Ortega."I was up working on music. That's when the information is coming, and when it's coming you gotta work."

"Michael," Ortega joked with him, "why can't you make a pact with your higher power so that you could put these ideas on the shelf until after July 13?"

"No," Jackson responded. Then he might give them to Prince."


That says it all...lol....

All the kids I see in the music stores now stocking up on MJ CDs almost makes me angry. If Prince could just remaster his old catalogue (as if he'd ever do that!). I mean unlike MJ, young kids barely even know anything about Prince in the first place. It's time they did!

I was into Prince at the age of 9, and probably got into the more dirty stuff at 13 or 14. Ha, kids listen to all that foul Shit Hop and yet Prince is considered too risque. I'm quite prudish about all that misogynistic crap around now, but Prince's stuff actually had some imagination, thought and wit behind it, so I could easily get with that.

and one more for the road.....

Also, while I'm writing about Michael and Prince in the same topic, let me speak on folks being upset about P not speaking openly in the media about Michael's passing....For me, it's two fold. On one hand, yeah, I personally would have liked to have seen P made a statement in regard to Michael's passing. Like Madonna did and others. BUT, I also know that P doesn't do things like that. I was somewhat surprised at first that P didn't attend James Brown funeral. BUT then I thought that I don't know what's in P's heart so I can't pass judgement on the man. Everybody grieves differently. So yeah, I understand some people wanting or wondering why P hasn't said anything. To a degree, I think it's a natural thought. Many of the general public link Michael and Prince, largely because they were so popular in the 80's and I think some P fans would like to see P show some type of emotion regarding Michael. But for me, as I stated, everybody grieves differently. And P certainly is NOT obligated to make a public statement regarding Michael. Personally, I think Prince was saddened by Michael's death. They both experienced their greatest success in their careers really one year apart from each other. When Thriller truly blew up in 83 (although released in 82) and P's Purple Rain album and movie in 84 and tour in 84 & 85. And then the Victory tour in 84 as well. They were both at the height of their fame around and at the same time. P did show some compassion towards MJ during his trial and he spoke kind and supporting words regarding Michael. Which was nice to see. I believe, especially as they both grew older, that there was a true kinship there. If nothing else, as I stated earlier, they BOTH respected and admired each other's talents and what each other had achieved. I do think, in time, that P will show his respects to Michael in P's music. Either in a composed song or on stage dedicating a number to him. I don't believe that Prince is cold hearted or indifferent to Michael's passing. Not at all. Again, I believe the news hurt Prince like it hurt millions of others.
[Edited 7/25/09 1:47am]