Last night on AXS TV they had a short (about 15 minutes) documentary on the "rivalry" between Prince and Michael Jackson.
I always the whole thought of such a rivalry was contrived. It's like a "rivalry" between Wayne Gretzky and Cal Ripken.
Hence the quotation marks. It started in 1983 at a James Brown concert. The only time they were on stage together. It did not go well for Primce. Prince turned down the offer to do We Are the World (good for him. That thing was terrible). Watch the show or not. I don't care about either of them, but I really do not like Michael Jackson.
Prince made a meal out of androgyny, tho, to the point where a lot of us questioned the bolded early on in his career. Not that anybody really cared, tho- few held it against Freddie Mercury or Elton John. Mike never had a chance. Grew up as a child artist, crazy JW family, never got to be a real man, altered his appearance... I'm not excusing him, but he was primed for something out of sorts.
I was more referring to that as my favorite song from that album. Sign O The Times is quite possibly his last epic one to me. I think of the albums I like post Sign O The Times that I'm particular to, it's Diamonds and Pearls. Right now though, I've been highly interested in a Japanese musician named Ryuichi Sakamoto. He's a pianist and keyboards player, so it's a stark jump going from his stuff to Prince.
If my mp3s had grooves his BTTB and Ongaku Zukan albums would be worn through. He's an underrated musician.
He all the hallmarks of being abused himself. When the Catholic Church thing broke, there were a lot of similarities between the cyclical nature of the abuse and what MJ was doing.
I’ve been obsessed since I discovered him years ago. Dude starts out as a studio musician, becomes part of a band called Yellow Magic Orchestra* (the only Japanese group on Soul Train), has an excellent solo career and composes movie soundtracks, and stars alongside David Bowie in a WW2 movie. I’ve been attempting to learn his songs on guitar. *Yellow Magic Orchestra is great listening. They had an influence on the NY hip hop scene and were excellent at trolling.
Wow! I remember Yellow Magic Orchestra. Name I haven't heard in years... decades, really. Firecracker was quite a hit back in the day. Soul Train was good for inviting guest artists based on what they sounded like as opposed to how they looked. Props to them for it.
Firecracker was a cover of a jazz song. Same sound, they just saw it as a way to make it theirs. The individual members all had interesting solo careers themselves. I see clips on YouTube and am impressed by the guests they have there. Same with early 90s Arsenio Hall, impressive musical guests.
Both are great albums and you can make a case for either of them. I still think Purple Rain is perfect, though--it's one of those "zeitgeist" moments in pop culture history. Prince had blown up with 1999, and then seized the moment with PR. It's a bit streamlined/less expansive than 1999 or Sign of the Times, but every song is perfect.
Yeah, it was pretty hairy. Hits the wall at 140mph and goes up in a ball of fire. GroJo the driver OK. Car needs some panel work.