One difference Jackson was already a megastar that we watched fall into darkness. Prince on the other hand was just climbing to stardom when he outed himself as weird with Purple Reign. Prince was never really normal like Jacksin was during the 70s. But besides his wardrobe his weirdness was that it was rumored that he had an affair with every woman who worked with him.
And sleeping with every woman he worked with differs from every other rock star how, exactly?
As for 'outing himself as weird' with
Purple Rain...I assume you are talking about the fact that some of the songs (and one in particular) are so sexually explicit. But, have you listened to some of his earliest records?
Darling Nicki was not exactly a big surprise to those who had been listening to his music all along...he had been working in that direction for some time.
And now
Darling Nicki has been covered by The Foo Fighters.
I agree that Prince was always weird...but weird in a way that drew alot of people to him. At the time
Purple Rain (the movie) came out, Prince was considered to be pretty much the sexiest guy alive by girls my age. Good LORD! All we knew was that in that movie, Prince demonstrated 'abilities' that normal guys just didn't have....nor ever would.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Michael Jackson was pretty much reinventing himself. There were a few years, if I recall, between when little Michael Jackson was known for fronting the Jackson 5 and singing
Rockin Robin...to when he became Michael Jackson the megastar who put out
Billie Jean and
Thriller.
But I think that as soon as the very first Michael Jackson 'adult phase' album hit the market, he started getting the reputation as weird...and it built up stronger and stronger as time went on. By the time
Thriller hit the market, he was already considered to be certifiably bizarre. But at that time, bizarre in a way that was more easy to accept. You had the 'one glove 'thing...and you had the instant marriage to Elvis Presley's daughter...and you had that hanging around with Emanuel Lewis...and you had the keeping of really weird pets...and you had the beginning of the epic exploits into the world of plastic surgery..... ALL of that was happening by the time
Thriller came out, I believe...or at least very shortly afterward.
So in my opinion, during his adult phase, he was always considered to be weird. He just got worse as time went on, whereas Prince pretty much maintained a steady state of 'weird' without getting much weirder over time.
Personally, at this point, I think that Prince's weirdness and Jackson's weirdness come out of completely different places - and thinking about it in retrospect, they always
have come out of completely different places! I think Prince is weird because he is an artist who sees the world very differently than most people. But I think Michael Jackson is flat out mentally disturbed. And I mean that I think he is mentally disturbed, even putting aside the pedophilia issue.
I think that Michael Jackson's family, combined with extreme levels of fame, has totally fucked him up. I don't think Michael Jackson is in any way living in the same reality that we are. I don't even think the guy knows right from wrong anymore nor is he is capable of understanding any boundaries of acceptable behavior.
Prince, on the other hand, I think is living in reality, and in fact never left it. He just expresses what he feels about that reality in a way that most people would never dare.
Even with his record label problems Prince continued to produce music like a 60s artist. It seemed like an alblum every three months instead of the every three years most others did.
Well, I think he went in spurts. He would do 2 or 3 in one year...and they nothing for a year or two. I don't think Prince was ever really into the idea of churning out stuff to meet a consistent schedule - I think he wrote when inspired to.
And then the kicker with Larry Grahmn as his spiritual mentor Prince found God, through Jackson's old faith and continued to produce music, although like Donna Summer refused to do her first hit Love to Love You Baby when God spoke to her Prince also cut many hits from his playlist. And then with the triumphant Super Bowl halftime show two years ago Prince became accepted. A normal guy.
Well, I'm not sure I understand that first sentence you wrote at all.
But I do understand the sentence about the Super Bowl.
And I wouldn't say that at this point, Prince is considered to be a 'normal guy'. I think that in that Super Bowl program, people saw that Prince is still hot and can still crank it out...and I think that as others after him have pressed the envelope still further than Prince did in the 80's, Prince is no longer considered to be the 'pioneer' that he once was.
But 'normal guy'? I think that still might be a bit of a stretch.
