I know this thread is largely about artistic talent, but I’d like to chime in and say Prince has (or had, in his prime- haven’t seen him undressed lately) probably the best body, in my opinion, ever. The 1999 record sleeve image of him laying on the bed with the watercolors and the sheet barely over his ass probably gave me the first sexual thoughts of my life. Amen.
“Did I say an hour? / My face is red, I stand corrected (I stand corrected)”
You-sho-nuff-do-be-cook-in-in-my-book!
I must respectfully disagree with you. 
I agree with lissener; there are two eras of pop music - Before Prince, and After Prince.
I was shocked when Michael Jackson died; I’d still be in mourning if it had been Prince who died.
For the record, we always think of Mariah Carey when we think of a singer with an incredible range, but Prince equals hers (or at least challenges it). Plus there is the guitar playing, the playing of pretty much every instrument on stage (in one of his concert videos, he takes over for his drummer for a bit and matches her), the songwriting, and the producing. Prince is a musical god.
For all you Prince fans, what are your favourite Prince songs? My top faves are Solo, Anna Stesia, The Greatest Romance Ever Sold, Don’t Play Me, and my all-time favourite, The Dance.
::listening to the youtube clip::
Good Lord.
::listening to the youtube clip again::
Doesn’t the man age or begin to sound crappy - like normal human beings?
I love Prince. I’ve seen him in concert several times and buy up his music as soon as he releases it, but I can’t agree with people forgetting Michael. Regardless of what people think of his personal life, he was a genius. We’re so used to it now, but he was the start of a lot of the magic of pop music.
Anywho… YEAH PRINCE!!
I’m curious to know how you categorize Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Supremes, and Smokey Robinson, since you appear not to think of them as pop music.
Please don’t trot out ridiculous accusations over a damned music post, okay? I mean, I should expect it when you put something about Prince “winning” in the title as if it were a contest, but let’s not turn this into something stupid. Are you really that hard up for an argument?
Of course they were part of pop music, but do you really not get that when Michael Jackson blew up in the 80s it was a whole different type thing? Of course those artists were on TV on things like American Bandstand and Ed Sullivan, but not anywhere near as in-your-face as the MTV phenomenon. Videos were a thing all unto themselves and Michael Jackson probably had more to do with the success of MTV than any other artist.
Elvis is the only artist you mentioned that had anywhere near the worldwide success that Michael Jackson had. Of course the others were influential during their time, but that was an entirely different era and music and the way we accessed it changed so much from their time to his that it isn’t really fair at all to compare it.
But don’t let me stop you from having your fun with pretending that in 100 years nobody will remember one of the biggest selling artists in the history of music. Tell us some more about how Prince won!
I didn’t really mean to dis MJ in my OP title (that was me). As an artist, I think he was talented in his own right – but so much of that talent was wasted, you know?
As for MTV, OK, he was in the right place at the right time for a new medium, but I’m not sure that translates into artistic immortality. Who was the first bestselling artist when the Victrola start appearing in middle class homes, in what, the 1890s? Who was the first big pop star on the radio, some time in the 1920s, I’m guessing? I sure don’t know.
I love Prince’s “religious” ballads, like “The Ladder” and “The Cross”. When I’m in a silly mood, I want “Starfish and Coffee”. “Dolphins” is a thought-provoker. I also love “Mountains”, “I Wanna Be a Star”, “Friend, Lover, Sister,Mother/Wife”, and “Pop Life”.
Too many songs to list that I love from Prince. MJ had some good songs like “Stranger in Moscow” and “Human Nature” in addition to his dance jams, but he didn’t run the emotional gamet like Prince does. MJ was an incomparable performance artist. Prince is a musical genuis.
My sister has already informed me that if I were to find out that Prince died before she does, I’m supposed to tell her to sit down and brace herself before breaking the news, just like you do with a dead family member. Contrast that with the way we acted when MJ died, which was more like “Girl, did you hear Michael is dead! OMG!” We were sad, of course, but it was more like the kind of feeling you get when you hear that any major celebrity has died. But with Prince, it will be different. Tears will be shed, and there will be wailing and screams of “NO!!!”
For another thing, Prince dying will be the end of his musical output (until they get their hands on what I am sure is about a million songs he didn’t bother to release sitting in his cupboards somewhere). Michael Jackson has actually put out very few albums. Prince is a musician like Stephen King’s definition of a writer - writers write. Prince makes music because he has to - he was born to do it.
Well, knock on wood furiously!
Prince is the most comprehensively talented musical genius of his generation; possibly of the century. (Who else is even in the running?)
He’s the Mozart of pop. There is no close second, in my opinion, please correct me if I’ve completely forgotten anyone.
Well, I don’t know what your criteria is, but Stevie Wonder was a pretty comprehensively talented musical genius, and I think Lennon/McCartney, Louis Armstrong, James Brown and Miles Davis were all much more innovative; I don’t see where Prince redefined a popular form the way any of them did. And I’m definitely a fan - the guy’s a motherfucker as a musician (he’s probably the best living rock/soul vocalist) and songwriter. Then again, his lyrics are among the worst in pop, which has to count against him. I have no problem rating him highly, but IMO The Beatles did vastly more for popular music than he did, even if they weren’t as technically skilled as he is.
As to the OP, on a purely musical level, I don’t think there’s any question Prince kicked MJ’s ass all over the dancefloor. “Thriller” was a triumph of marketing (and production), but “Dirty Mind”, “Purple Rain”, “Parade” and “Sign O The Times” stand as collections of brilliant songs the way none of Jackson’s albums (save possibly “Off The Wall”) ever will.
ETA: You ain’t kidding about the unreleased stuff that will come out when Prince dies, either. Among many of his bootlegs, I’ve got a 20-disc collection of outtakes (and alternate versions - does anybody really need a 35-minute run-through of “I Would Die 4 U”? Well, I guess I do).
Plus, you do a damned fine version of “Kiss” at parties 
Aw, shucks. Some day we’ll have to get a private karaoke room and do Prince songs for an hour or two. I’ve always wanted to try “The Beautiful Ones”, but I might need a lung replacement afterwards.
Here’s how I’d rank the influence of the artists you mention:[ol]
[li]Armstrong[/li][li]Brown[/li][li]L/McC[/li][li]Prince[/li][li]Wonder[/li][li]Davis[/li][/ol]
Here’s how I’d rank the relative musical genius:[ol]
[li]Prince[/li][li]Davis[/li][li]Wonder[/li][li]Armstrong[/li][li]L/McC[/li][li]Brown[/li][/ol]
–just to show you that they’re two different things. In other words, I agree with you, but that doesn’t change what I said either.
Yeah, I guess my rankings would just be a bit different (though I’d definitely have Armstrong at the top of the influence list, as well). It’s an interesting topic; I’d probably rank Wonder as more influential than Prince just because he came first and Prince seemed (to me) to follow his lead. And I’d rank Lennon/McCartney higher on the musical genius scale because it’s such a hard-to-define quality; purely technically, they’d probably not make it as high, but what they did with what they had shot them up in the category, to me. But that’s why these discussions are entertaining.