Skip to main content

Michael Jackson & Prince

Michael Jackson, born August 29, 1958
Prince (Rogers Nelson), born June 7, 1958

Note: Originally posted 1/31/05; reposted in honor of Prince performing at the Super Bowl this weekend...


Once upon a time, I wanted to be Mike. Michael Jackson was the lovable lead singer of the Jackson 5 during the 1960s and 1970s. His family had been poor, so it is no surprise that they were releasing at least one album a year. Michael was the family's lottery ticket.



I was a big-time fan. I was a member of the Jackson 5 fan club. My brothers and I tried to be just like Mike.



I'm the tallest of the three. Check me out, I was so C-O-O-L! Look at that 'Fro. Could there have been a cooler Bible-carrying kid? I could have hid entire African villages under that cap. And the African villages that could not have fit in that Afro could have squeezed into my bell bottoms. You'd have to pay me money to wear those beads today, but I was stylin' then. But it was clear that I was destined to become a scholar. Of the three of us, I was the only one with a book.

But I digress.

As I said, I was a big-time Michael Jackson fan during the 1970s. To this day, I have a photograph signed by Michael Jackson and his family, probably around 1977. Forget a college education. If I fall on hard times, I'll be selling that signed photo on EBay to pay off my home mortgage.

In the late 1970s, I first heard of Prince. He was very different from Michael Jackson. Kind of freaky in fact. Here's one of his early album covers.



I mean, come on, son! You finally make it into the music world and you want people to think that you're naked when you're making your music?

But I liked his music. I was buying his albums almost from the beginning. Prince and Michael Jackson were born the same year, but the contrast could not have been greater. While Prince was performing half-nekkid before hard-core fans, Michael was already internationally known and loved. In the mid-1980s, they both hit the top. Michael with the Thriller album, Prince with the Purple Rain album and movie. I was a pretty good singer and did a good Michael Jackson imitation, both singing and dancing.

No kidding--I have seen Prince's Purple Rain at least 30 times. Well, okay, maybe 50 times. Some people can recite from Shakespeare--I can recite from Purple Rain. As a college student, I got up at 3 or 4 in the morning so I could stand in line to buy tickets for his LoveSexy tour.

It was the 1980s.



Michael was the king of cool.



Prince apparently had started making enough money to buy himself some clothes.

I would post a photo of myself from that time, but I wouldn't want to cause a riot. I was dressing more like Prince was in his early musical days, and things only got worse once I got to college.



They both have had their ups-and-downs in their careers. But it is strange to see the directions they are now headed. Prince keeps pumping out the music; he's tried to be revolutionary by selling his CDs online; he gave out free copies to people who went to his concerts last year (I was on the road when he passed through DC on his tour). I'm pretty sure that he has released at least one CD or album a year since he started. Instead of being in the Michael Jackson fan club, I am now a member of Prince's online music club. Meanwhile, I recently read that Michael Jackson released an album last October--his first release in six years.

Michael is now the one who looks like a freak while Prince is looking sharp (at least, on those days he remembers to get dressed). Michael and Prince are both worth millions, but Michael is constantly fighting allegations of molesting kids while Prince has become a family man who appears to be in complete control of his life. In a few years, Michael will probably look the way Prince did in the 1970s.


Michael Jackson, today


Prince, today

CJL

Popular posts from this blog

Obama debating Keyes, 2004, education excerpt

PONCE : Thank you. Let's move to the question of education. Mr. Obama, you've said that you consider education as the most important civil rights issue facing America today. Currently, your children are in private schools. If you're elected to the Senate, will you send them to public schools? OBAMA: Well, my children currently go to the lab school at the University of Chicago where I teach, and my wife works, and we get a good deal for it. But, so - - (laughter, applause) OBAMA: - -it depends on whether we move or not. And that, obviously, hinges on the election and what's gonna happen. We're gonna choose the best possible education for our children, as I suspect all parents are gonna try to do. And that's part of the reason why, consistently when I've been in the state legislature, I've tried to promote those kinds of reforms that would improve what I think is an inadequate performance by too many public schools, all across the state. PONCE : But yo...

Breen's column that outraged Samsung

“What People Got for Christmas” Michael Breen The Korea Times December 25, 2009 At this time of year when Seoul’s bare winter trees are wrapped in beckoning lights ― blue and white are the in colors ― and Merry Xmas signs at hotels and department stores are really saying come-hither-gentle-reveler-and-empty-your-purse, and when expensive restaurants belch noisy year-end office party groups onto every street and the karaoke rooms are full, it is tempting to declare that Christmas has lost its soul. But that would be a mistake. Christmas is a time for giving, and, before they can be given, gifts have to be bought. Commerce is good. Here, as proof, is a round up of some of the gifts given and received today by people in the news. Samsung, the world’s largest conglomerate and the rock upon which the Korean economy rests, sent traditional year-end cards offering best wishes for 2010 to the country’s politicians, prosecutors and journalists, along with 50 million w...

Rating the 10 Magazine speakers

I attended another 10 Magazine speech organized by Barry Welsh. Here are my unofficial grades for the speakers I have heard so far: 1) Shin Dong Hyuk (A+) : The audience was captivated. A few ladies were in tears as he discussed his escape from North Korea, his adjustment to living in South Korea, his difficulty at enjoying life. I first met Shin shortly before the best-selling book (Escape from Camp 14) in America about him was published, and was a bit surprised when he recognized me at an event and struck up a conversation with me even though he is so shy. Even though I was already familiar with his story, it was still great to hear it first hand in an informal setting. I threw a curveball at him, mentioning that that some people have doubted the veracity of his story. He took it in stride. After escaping from a prison camp in North Korea, I guess that there aren't many things that could rattle him. Shin, Lartigue 2) Michael Breen (A): An outstanding mix of humo...

2020-10-31 Those wonderful moments...

That wonderful moment when your organization gets featured by a huge government office. In this case, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I am sure they did research about us or have been watching us for a while. http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=mofakr&logNo=222130813183&redirect=Dlog *********************************************** That wonderful moment when a staffer in your office buys you a drink after she has run an errand. Sharon has been a student at TNKR since 2015 and a staffer with us since2018. She and TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee work together closely. *********************************************** That magic moment when donors pledge their support for TNKR. Some donors want to know that an organization is barely surviving and the donor will be the one to save the organization. But Haanong wants to support us and to know that we are growing and getting stronger. *********************************************** That wonderful moment when you go to an...

Race, race, race

On the issue of race: Clinton goes first, (surprisingly) without her Selma accent. Biden doesn’t mention that there is a clean and article black person on the stage. Richardson says the next president must talk about race…we need less talk about race, and more about individual action. Edwards said something, apparently to help us transition to the only somewhat black candidate on the panel. Obama has the home field advantage being at Howard, but doesn’t do much with the initial question. Kucinich says that people are told to raise themselves up by their own bootstraps, but then they steal the boots. He gets the loudest cheers. This will be a long night if that continues... Gravel —who? Dodd —like the 64th team in the NCAA basketball pool, Dodd should be one and done. Brb, I’m checking on the NBA draft… CJL