Rick singlehandedly kept the Temptations off life support for a long time.
Rick James Vs. Prince
- Thread starter kes1111
- Start date
NAW.. based on the original question. it's has to be Rick James!! Rick was poppin way before prince. Know your history. True Prince body of work over time is untouched but back in the 80's RICK JAMES!! The street song phenomenon was the precursor to MJ thriller but without the videos. Remember back in the 80's it was all about the music. No video, no hype, no twitter..just music to shake your ass and Rick James rules in the 80's
n 1980, Prince opened for James on the Fire It Up tour. James complained that Prince stole his stage moves and according to Marie, Rick paid Prince back by stealing his gear. “Back then people weren’t really programming their own synthesizers,” says Teena. “Prince - you know – he’s a genius... he was one of the only one’s who could really do that – probably him and Stevie [Wonder] were the only one’s really doing it…[Prince] was programming all his synthesizers and setting the presets with his own sound and …at the end of the tour [Rick] took [Prince’s] synthesizers.” Teena cannot help but chuckle as she recounts the story. “He took them to Sausalito and he actually used them on the Street Songs album and then he sent them back to [Prince] with a thank you card. He was a piece of work…and a brilliant genius, too!”.
By 85 Ricks stardom was starting to wane. That Glow album was wack. He even tried copying Princes look.
Both talented, but we all know who is the winner.
Wrong! Based on the original question (and in total) Prince was the much bigger artist. In the 80's, Rick only put out 4 good albums in the early half of the decade, after that it was downhill.
- Garden of Love (1980) Big Time the only thing I remember
- Street Songs (1981) Whole album nice, his best album
- Throwin' Down (1982) Dance wit' me, Standing on the top
- Cold Blooded (1983), You bring the freak out, Cold Blooded and Ebony eyes.
- Dirty Mind (1980)
- Controversy (1981)
- 1999 (1982) 2 album set
- Purple Rain (1984) Billboard #1, Oscar and Grammy winner, plus it was movie.
- Around the World in a Day (1985)
- Parade (1986) "Kiss" Billboard #1 and won a Grammy.
- Sign o' the Times (1987)
- Lovesexy (1988)
- Batman (1989)
A lot of Rick James' albums had filler on them but from Dirty Mind to Around the World for Prince was full of jams, no filler. Radio DJ's used to put on a Prince album and let the whole thing play.
Rick James was popping before Prince but not much more. He had the edge going into the 80's but got left behind. All Prince really had in the 70's was the For You and the self-titled albums, I really don't even remember Soft and Wet. But from Dirty Mind on, Prince went on a run that hasn't been matched since. I only thing I can remember that can compare was Stevie Wonder's run through the 70's.
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from what I understand.. prince was a whole nother artist...
then he seen rick perform and changed his whole style up....
then he seen rick perform and changed his whole style up....
Prince had already done Bambi and Sexy Dancer so you could see where he was going. I'm sure Rick James influenced him but musically he was his own artist. He definitely learned some swagger on stage from Rick. Even with the long version of Wanna be your Lover you could see he was going to be funky.
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u do know rick blew up before prince rightPrince sent Rick into a downward spiral, it was a competition between the two and Prince won, same way he won vs Michael Jackson. Both of them dead chasing Prince, with RJames went to his grave collecting L's from the GoAT, MJ Died trying to chase Prince's touring record at the time, and look at the GOAT going to drop two albums with diff bands on the same day , wether u like the music or not, dat is kick ass
And it's not apple and oranges if you know the history of the two
Damn, you're right. I just tried it. I've got a lot of Rick James music but the only album titles I could remember was Street Songs and Busting out of L 7. All I ever listen to are the hits. With Prince, I know the album titles and the B-sides.
what profits what did the reissue of 1999, do what did the reissue of signofthe times do, hell what numbers did the anniversary of purple rain do
Purple Rain? Really? ....nahhhhh, White folks discovered Prince with Purple Rain. Black folks came on board with Prince in 1978.
Off the top of their heads, how many people can name what album Mary Jane, Love Gun or Big Time was on? I can tell you exactly what album any Prince or Michael Jackson song was on. I can tell you what year it came out and what time of year. And I have bought every Rick James album.
Bro, even Prince said that he noticed that there were much more white folks with Purple Rain. Stop with the revisionist history.
I can remember a lot of white people at the Controversy tour and even more white people during 1999. My best friend took me to a white beer bash in 83 and they played a lot of the Prince sound. Purple Rain was when he went mainstream.
Bro, I didn't say not one person liked Prince before Purple Rain, some white people did; however the vast majority of his audience were Black Folks. Also "going mainstream" used to be a euphemism for "white people discovering something." Overall, I think you're trying to split hairs.
I get your point exactly. There were some white people before Purple Rain and a lot more after. Remember they booed him off stage.
Lol...yeah, I know you remember, & hence why you said it, the opening act for The Rolling Stones....smdh