Tontoman22 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Tontoman22 said:

s

Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at the top of the charts and sold 13.6 million copies by the end the decade. Houston's debut sold over 13 million by the end of the decade and spent 14 weeks at the top. These were their biggest albums. Their biggest singles were; When Doves Cry which was the top single of 1984 and spent 5 weeks at number one. I Wanna Dance with Somebody was the #4 single of 1987, spent 2 weeks at number one. World wide his single finished the decade at #12 , hers #18. He had additional singles in the top 100 worldwide - she did not. As far as the US Charts go, Prince spent 378 weeks in the charts and charted 26 singles; in the top 100 He was the top artist of the decade. Whitney spent 215 weeks in the charts and charted 12 singles, she was 29th for the decade. 6 of Princes singles did not crack the top 40 (which is the cut off point for hits). 2 of Houston's singles did not crack the top 40 - so yes she did have flops. There is no question who bigger, Prince was the 80's biggest artist.

Are we pretending Michael Jackson doesn't exist?

Did u actually read the original question?

MotownSubdivision said:

Tontoman22 said:

s

Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at the top of the charts and sold 13.6 million copies by the end the decade. Houston's debut sold over 13 million by the end of the decade and spent 14 weeks at the top. These were their biggest albums. Their biggest singles were; When Doves Cry which was the top single of 1984 and spent 5 weeks at number one. I Wanna Dance with Somebody was the #4 single of 1987, spent 2 weeks at number one. World wide his single finished the decade at #12 , hers #18. He had additional singles in the top 100 worldwide - she did not. As far as the US Charts go, Prince spent 378 weeks in the charts and charted 26 singles; in the top 100 He was the top artist of the decade. Whitney spent 215 weeks in the charts and charted 12 singles, she was 29th for the decade. 6 of Princes singles did not crack the top 40 (which is the cut off point for hits). 2 of Houston's singles did not crack the top 40 - so yes she did have flops. There is no question who bigger, Prince was the 80's biggest artist.

Are we pretending Michael Jackson doesn't exist?

I don't compile Billboard charts or the information. Prince is the number artist of the decade on the Billboard chart for the 80's, and worldwide. Jackson was #4 worldwide, and #5 in the (US) Billboard. We all know that sales and airplay are what these charts are complied from. Not sales alone.

MickyDolenz said:

Tontoman22 said:

We are talking about the 80's. Prince ruled the 80's. I have given you the facts of the charts for the US and world wide. If a song didn't chart in the top 40 on the pop chart it wasn't a hit - PERIOD. I am not going by anything but what Billboard has listed themselves about their own charts. Secondly if it's a duet; then both singers are responsible (if it was a top 10 hit you'd all over it). The song with Teddy is on Houston's debut album. The song with Aretha is not from her album either, but a Narda Walden album. Rihanna, Nicki Minaj are not from the 80's, so why are you off topic here ?? As I have said before there are several artist in the 80's that were bigger than Houston. Whtiney Houston is the most promoted artist in history..Clive Davis promoted her for a year and half before her debut was released. Her album cost almost a half million dollars and Arista poured 3 million into her promotion - which was completely unheard then, and now. She should have been a huge seller with that kind of support. You won't find that anywhere else in anals of the music indusrty. But Prince ruled the 80's, it's just a fact.

I didn't say Whitney was the biggest act of the 1980s, but that she was bigger than Prince. I also clearly said in the USA, because I don't know about other countries. If a song is Top 10 on a chart, then it is still a hit. So how did they flop? A flop doesn't sell much anywhere. So are you saying popular country acts were flops because they didn't hit the Top 40 pop singles chart much, but still sold millions of albums and had hit singles on the country singles chart? So how do explain Garth Brooks then (I know he's 1990s)? I bet a lot of acts would like to "flop" like that. You sound like that guy who said rap was not mainstream in the 1980s because most did not chart high, when it was in mainstream commercials, TV shows, movies, and fashion. The Top 100 is not the only chart in the USA. The R&B and country charts are in Billboard, and so are other types like the 12" singles chart (aka dance chart). Maxi singles are not counted on the regular charts. Prince released more singles and albums than Whitney so of course he had more Top 100 hits, like Prince released more albums than Def Leppard & Michael Jackson. But their albums sold more than Prince's. Thriller & Bad probably sold more than all of Prince's non-Purple Rain 1980s albums put together. I don't think many people would claim Prince was bigger than Michael Jackson in the 1980s, whether they followed the charts or not. Those lists I posted came from Billboard, so how can you say Prince ruled, when most of his albums were nowhere being the biggest of the year. Prince's post 1999 albums all hit the Top 10 pop albums, but most tended not to remain there as long as other acts like Bon Jovi, Madonna, Phil Collins and Def Leppard.

You sound pretty thick youself. Prince sold over 26 million albums in the US in 80's according to Billboard. In the top 100 songs of the 80's - both have 1 song on the list. Houston GLOF is at #71, Prince has WDC at #16. Prince has 14 top 10 hits, and 20 top 40 hits. Whitney has 10 top 10 hits. Both have 8 top 3 singles. Prince has 4 at 1, 3 at 2, 1 at 3; Whitney has 7 at 1, 1 at 3. Although WH has 7 number ones, they only spent a total of 13 weeks at the top of the chart and some fell off pretty fast. Her 2 albums didn't sell more than Prince, and she didn't have bigger hits than Prince. I can assure you at an 80's retro party - they won't be playing Didn't We Almsot Have it All or Where Do Broken Hearts Go or The Great Love Of All, the might play HWIK or IWDWSB. They would play 1999, Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Lets Go Crazy; maybe WDC & PR. The movie Purple Rain did for Prince what the Bodyguard did for Houston in the 90's. His cred also went up when he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He had wrote Stand Back with Stevie Nicks, I Feel for You for Chaka Khan, Glamorious Life for Shelia E, Manic Monday for the Bangles, Strutt for Sheena Easton, and had a #2 hits with her -The Look. Cyndi Lauper covered When You Were Mine, Melissa Morgan covered Do Me Baby, Art of Noise & Tom Jones did Kiss, The Pointer Sister covered him. He was responsilbe for Vanity, Apollonia, Wendy and Lisa and co wrote Waterfall with them; also Shelia E and Morris Day. Prince was all over in the 80's. Have I put it to bed for you....

Graycap23 said:

Tontoman22 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Graycap23 said:

Did u actually read the original question?

Clearly. Did you?

I think he meant 'biggest' in terms of Billboard and worldwide chart hits. There's no denying MJ was far more popular (than most others, actually), but his output was less.

I don't think @Tontoman is claiming Prince as a whole is more successful than Whitney. We all know she has outsold him and ended up having the upperhand when it came to popularity (her image was perfect for the masses too). All he's saying is that Prince had more success in the '80s, and everything he's saying is right. Check out http://tsort.info/music/f...rtists.htm

He had flops, like some of you mentioned, but he also had successes. He's speaking truth. Saying "Whitney was bigger than Prince" by pointing out he had far more flops proves nothing. He had more successes too.

[Edited 8/1/15 20:39pm]

CharismaDove said:

Madonna' work during the 80's was more impactful than Whitney's. Prince and Michael Jackson were on a whole other level, so it's not fair to compare any other artist to them during the 80's.

CharismaDove said:

I don't think @Tontoman is claiming Prince as a whole is more successful than Whitney. We all know she has outsold him and ended up having the upperhand when it came to popularity (her image was perfect for the masses too). All he's saying is that Prince had more success in the '80s, and everything he's saying is right. Check out http://tsort.info/music/f...rtists.htm

He had flops, like some of you mentioned, but he also had successes. He's speaking truth. Saying "Whitney was bigger than Prince" by pointing out he had far more flops proves nothing. He had more successes too.

[Edited 8/1/15 20:39pm]

Absolutely; and thank you for posting that link (if anyone wants to look at the billboard numbers, just google - billboards top 200 artist of the 80s). I was there in the 80's and I know Prince was bigger than Whitney in 80's. It makes sense since he was around for the entire decade, but also hit it big in 1984. Yes she had 2 big albums that ended up selling big as the decade (and time went on). But her hits weren't as big and she certainly didn't have the impact on the decade that Prince did; or sell more records in the 80s. We all know that MJ was the most popular male artist and Madonna most popular female artist.

Scarfo said:

Madonna' work during the 80's was more impactful than Whitney's. Prince and Michael Jackson were on a whole other level, so it's not fair to compare any other artist to them during the 80's.

+1

Prince was the biggest in the 80's to me, i was not a sheep and did not want to follow the predictable mainstream MJ , Whitney, Janet and others. I loved his bad boy antics, his riskay lyrics and his don't give a shit attitude. Why do so many other Prince fans worry about sales and shit like that. I don't give a damn who sold more or who was the most popular shite. Let sheep follow the boring popular artists.

Guitarhero said:

Prince was the biggest in the 80's to me, i was not a sheep and did not want to follow the predictable mainstream MJ , Whitney, Janet and others. I loved his bad boy antics, his riskay lyrics and his don't give a shit attitude. Why do so many other Prince fans worry about sales and shit like that. I don't give a damn who sold more or who was the most popular shite. Let sheep follow the boring popular artists.

I'm not worried about sales but that doesn't mean that I won't bring them up if a discussion calls for them. Besides, people can't ask questions out of sheer curiosity?

And regardless of your opinion, the predictable mainstream MJ was/ is objectively still bigger than Prince. Your preference doesn't change that.

Also, you talk as though Prince was never mainstream. You must have hated him during the 1999 and Purple Rain eras, especially during the latter when he was likely the top artist of 1984. You sound like a hipster saying that something is bad simply because it is popular (something Prince was).

[Edited 8/3/15 13:51pm]

MotownSubdivision said:

Guitarhero said:

Prince was the biggest in the 80's to me, i was not a sheep and did not want to follow the predictable mainstream MJ , Whitney, Janet and others. I loved his bad boy antics, his riskay lyrics and his don't give a shit attitude. Why do so many other Prince fans worry about sales and shit like that. I don't give a damn who sold more or who was the most popular shite. Let sheep follow the boring popular artists.

I'm not worried about sales but that doesn't mean that I won't bring them up if a discussion calls for them. Besides, people can't ask questions out of sheer curiosity?

And regardless of your opinion, the predictable mainstream MJ was/ is objectively still bigger than Prince. Your preference doesn't change that.

Also, you talk as though Prince was never mainstream. You must have hated him during the 1999 and Purple Rain eras, especially during the latter when he was likely the top artist of 1984. You sound like a hipster saying that something is bad simply because it is popular (something Prince was).

[Edited 8/3/15 13:51pm]

I said the predictable mainstream, prince was not predictable and i said the boring popular artists, Prince was not boring.

Guitarhero said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I'm not worried about sales but that doesn't mean that I won't bring them up if a discussion calls for them. Besides, people can't ask questions out of sheer curiosity?

And regardless of your opinion, the predictable mainstream MJ was/ is objectively still bigger than Prince. Your preference doesn't change that.

Also, you talk as though Prince was never mainstream. You must have hated him during the 1999 and Purple Rain eras, especially during the latter when he was likely the top artist of 1984. You sound like a hipster saying that something is bad simply because it is popular (something Prince was).

[Edited 8/3/15 13:51pm]

I said the predictable mainstream, prince was not predictable and i said the boring popular artists, Prince was not boring.

Neither was MJ, Whitney, or Janet but that's all opinion so I can't take that from you.

MotownSubdivision said:

Guitarhero said:

I said the predictable mainstream, prince was not predictable and i said the boring popular artists, Prince was not boring.

Neither was MJ, Whitney, or Janet but that's all opinion so I can't take that from you.

I think after Thriller, MJ is sort of boring. One couldn't expect him to match Thriller though. Houston is boring, there is nothing creative or out of the box in her entire career; it's pretty grey. She also didn't have the same popluarity or sales after the second album, until the Bodyguard. Her 3rd album didn't sell a 1/4 of what the first 2 did, initially it was claimed it sold approx 4 million in the states, but it's not even certified 2 million today. I also remember in the earlier 90's, them cancelling concerts becasue she didn't sell half the venue out. They try online to put MJ & WH in the same sentence, it doesn't work. Her wiki bio say's she broke down the colour barrier with Jackson LOL, there a laugh. She didn't break down any colour lines - the doors had all been pushed wide open by the time she came along.

Tontoman22 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Neither was MJ, Whitney, or Janet but that's all opinion so I can't take that from you.

I think after Thriller, MJ is sort of boring. One couldn't expect him to match Thriller though. Houston is boring, there is nothing creative or out of the box in her entire career; it's pretty grey. She also didn't have the same popluarity or sales after the second album, until the Bodyguard. Her 3rd album didn't sell a 1/4 of what the first 2 did, initially it was claimed it sold approx 4 million in the states, but it's not even certified 2 million today. I also remember in the earlier 90's, them cancelling concerts becasue she didn't sell half the venue out. They try online to put MJ & WH in the same sentence, it doesn't work. Her wiki bio say's she broke down the colour barrier with Jackson LOL, there a laugh. She didn't break down any colour lines - the doors had all been pushed wide open by the time she came along.

In terms of sales, it was unreasonable for anyone to think he could match Thriller and unreasonable still to think that because his subsequent albums didn't sell as well that they were/ are worse. Thriller is his magnum opus but not his best album, it's a polished, refined Off the Wall (not that that's a bad thing) and MJ had more to offer than that. Bad was more thematically adventutous than Thriller, though the production not as sophisticated and dated sounding today. It's actually my favorite album of his. Dangerous and HIStory are socially conscious and personal, respectively and while not perfect albums (moreso HIStory than Dangerous), they are still great. Invincible is a disappointment but still underrated al lthe same, too bad that was his last album.

MJ wasn't as in-depth as Prince nor could he pull off the bad boy attitude nearly as convincingly as Prince could but he still made excellent music and that's more than enough for me. Same with Whitney. Sure, she doesn't have remotely as legendary a catalog as MJ or an eclectic one like Prince's but she didn't have to. I appreciate variety more than every artist being a one-man show like Prince; if every artist was like him in how they made music then that would be pretty boring. This all boils down to opinion though, once again.

kitbradley said:

How many singers, especially black singers, after they have passed on, have had their entire funeral broadcast live on CNN or any other network? The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Micheal and Nippy. That is how highly regarded both were world-wide. I'm sorry, I know most of you love Prince but I really don't see that happening when he passes on.

U are a IDIOT for saying that!!!! How DARE U speak of like that !!!!!!!!

MotownSubdivision said:

Free2BMe said:

MotownSubdivision said:

In terms of sales, it was unreasonable for anyone to think he could match Thriller and unreasonable still to think that because his subsequent albums didn't sell as well that they were/ are worse. Thriller is his magnum opus but not his best album, it's a polished, refined Off the Wall (not that that's a bad thing) and MJ had more to offer than that. Bad was more thematically adventutous than Thriller, though the production not as sophisticated and dated sounding today. It's actually my favorite album of his. Dangerous and HIStory are socially conscious and personal, respectively and while not perfect albums (moreso HIStory than Dangerous), they are still great. Invincible is a disappointment but still underrated al lthe same, too bad that was his last album.

MJ wasn't as in-depth as Prince nor could he pull off the bad boy attitude nearly as convincingly as Prince could but he still made excellent music and that's more than enough for me. Same with Whitney. Sure, she doesn't have remotely as legendary a catalog as MJ or an eclectic one like Prince's but she didn't have to. I appreciate variety more than every artist being a one-man show like Prince; if every artist was like him in how they made music then that would be pretty boring. This all boils down to opinion though, once again.

Michael WROTE and produced some very in-depth music and songs. I can't say the same about Whitney, because she didn't write her own music; although I am a fan of her music. Michael and Prince are two completely different artists;however, I will dare to say that there are examples of Michael's music that are equally as "in-depth" as Prince's music. It basically depends on one's perspective. [Edited 8/6/15 11:24am]

I meant lyrically. Perhaps I should have been more clear.

MJ didn't delve into as many topics as Prince and when expressing them, he wasn't as complex in his wordplay as Prince was with his. He still got his points across clearly and I'm not saying Prince is better because he was generally more lyrically intricate but MJ was more simple in his approach to songwriting. At least that's the way I see it. His subject matter could be complex but the way he delivered it was more straightforward.

kitbradley said:

How many singers, especially black singers, after they have passed on, have had their entire funeral broadcast live on CNN or any other network? The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Micheal and Nippy. That is how highly regarded both were world-wide. I'm sorry, I know most of you love Prince but I really don't see that happening when he passes on.

Michael Jackson had a memorial service not a funeral, and the proceeds went to charity. Houston's family sold the rights to her funeral (her mother said for Bobbi). Remember she died owing the record company 20 million dollars. So there was a bit of a difference between the families.

[Edited 12/16/17 20:45pm]

[Edited 12/16/17 20:48pm]

MotownSubdivision said:

Free2BMe said:

MotownSubdivision said: Michael WROTE and produced some very in-depth music and songs. I can't say the same about Whitney, because she didn't write her own music; although I am a fan of her music. Michael and Prince are two completely different artists;however, I will dare to say that there are examples of Michael's music that are equally as "in-depth" as Prince's music. It basically depends on one's perspective. [Edited 8/6/15 11:24am]

I meant lyrically. Perhaps I should have been more clear.

MJ didn't delve into as many topics as Prince and when expressing them, he wasn't as complex in his wordplay as Prince was with his. He still got his points across clearly and I'm not saying Prince is better because he was generally more lyrically intricate but MJ was more simple in his approach to songwriting. At least that's the way I see it. His subject matter could be complex but the way he delivered it was more straightforward.

U don't have 2 say it........we already KNOW.

Graycap23 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I meant lyrically. Perhaps I should have been more clear.

MJ didn't delve into as many topics as Prince and when expressing them, he wasn't as complex in his wordplay as Prince was with his. He still got his points across clearly and I'm not saying Prince is better because he was generally more lyrically intricate but MJ was more simple in his approach to songwriting. At least that's the way I see it. His subject matter could be complex but the way he delivered it was more straightforward.

U don't have 2 say it........we already KNOW.

Sez you.