Prince or Stevie Wonder?

[The Slider]

I like them both but Steve's records just *sound* better - warmer, more analogue, organic

That is just the 70s vs 80s argument, I guess.
It'd be interesting to hear what Prince's 80s records would have sounded like if he'd made them 10 years earlier than he did. And vice versa

[Goat Boy]

Prince was far more fuckable

[clive gash]

Yeah but you would have had a better chance at boffing Stevie.

[Goat Boy]

Yeah but you would have had a better chance at boffing Stevie.

His wandering eyes would be offputting


(I’ll get me coat)

[clive gash]

I assumed you’d be behind him.

[Goat Boy]

Master blaster!

[clive gash]

I ain’t gonna stand for it!

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Let’s be honest.

Prince just oozed genius. But he seldom put it together. His records are full of bad sonic choices, bad lyrical choices, maddening song sequences. You just swallowed all of that because there was something undeniable in the shambolic mess that was his oeuvre.

Stevie also oozed genius, and he seldom put his foot wrong is his peak years. During that time, he realized his genius in a way Prince never fully did.

Secondary thought. Lately Songs in The Key of Life gets knocked a bit as inconsistent. But it feels a lot like a Prince record in that sense, doesn’t it?

I’m heading off to work, but if someone wanted to start a Songs In The Key Of Life vs. Sign O’ the Times thread...that might be a good conversation.

[Goat Boy]

Some of this just comes down to 80s v 70s. I honestly don’t find those 70s synths any more appealing that Prince’s 80s ones. Some of them actually jar even more to my ears. I think Prince used technology in a much more adventurous and satisfying way. On 1999 he’s creating his own synthesised sound world.

The notion that Stevie seldom put a foot wrong is odd too. Stevie had weaknesses. He was mawkish, occasionally cloying. His worldview simplistic. Sometimes this can be moving (Heaven is ten zillion...), other times sickly. Songs in the Key is far too long. I think with soul greats like Stevie - I’d apply this to Gaye as well - we are not as critical as we are with other genres as a general comment

But with debates like this it’s easy to overstate one argument to show your support for the guy in the other corner.

I love both but Prince is MY artist in a way Stevie never has been. I recognise some of his faults, but I certainly don’t agree with some of the criticisms here

[sloopjohnc]

Stevie Wonder. He was more a part of my musical education with Innervisions and Talking Book, especially. I just loved his music when music started meaning a lot to me.

Prince was important to me too, but his music didn't seep as deeply into my bloodstream as Stevie.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Hey...I totally get somebody preferring Prince. He certainly had his own thing.

But I’ll just put it this way:

By the time Stevie hit his purple patch album-wise (essentially Where I’m Coming From through Songs in the Key of Life - he had already tossed off a run of singles equal to or greater than Prince’s entire run of singles.

Individual taste may vary (and some folks may legitimately prefer Prince’s more unruly gestalt). But Stevie was simply the more realized artist. Even Prince would agree.

[sloopjohnc]

By the time Stevie hit his purple patch album-wise (essentially Where I’m Coming From through Songs in the Key of Life - he had already tossed off a run of singles equal to or greater than Prince’s entire run of singles.

I remember Paul Simon in his speech winning the Grammy for single of the year thanking Stevie for not putting out any music that year.

[clive gash]

On Innervisions it’s the anti-authenticity that thrills, those 70s synth sounds, that gloopy funk.

I don’t think Prince’s weaknesses -his promiscuous profligacy, his narcissism - can be blamed on the 80s though. I loved him as a Pop star - 1999, Purple Rain - less so when he had to show us his chops or social conscience. I found it hard to accept that he gave a fuck about anyone else.

[Goat Boy]

I'm glad you're speaking on behalf of the dead!

I'm listening to Living In The City just now. You know that da-da-da-da bit with the synth? It's naff. It's naff like Abba naff. Those bits annoy me.

Even the stuff that people really rate like You Are The Sunshine... I find it a bit drippy, you know?

But when he's right he's right in the way that only great artists are right.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I find you a bit drippy, but we let you stay. Personally I don’t think Prince has a single track as great as Living For the City.

Has any major artist curated their own work less effectively than Prince? He’s more maddening than McCartney.

[clive gash]

I’m channeling him now, watch me post 753 times on the Word Association thread in the next hour!

[Goat Boy]

On Innervisions it’s the anti-authenticity that thrills, those 70s synth sounds, that gloopy funk.

I don’t think Prince’s weaknesses -his promiscuous profligacy, his narcissism - can be blamed on the 80s though. I loved him as a Pop star - 1999, Purple Rain - less so when he had to show us his chops or social conscience. I found it hard to accept that he gave a fuck about anyone else.

I don’t think he was narcissistic on record bar the odd thing like Cream. That was part of his stage presence, the James Brown thing. He was into exploring sex and romance from all angles, including the female one.

I imagine he was a VERY GENEROUS LOVER

[clive gash]

He’s Zappa for the mirrored-ceiling boudoir set

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I don’t really buy the narcissism rap either. He might have been - but so what? Artists are supposed to indulge their obsessions. BPrince was clearly an artist of the first order.

[Goat Boy]

He’s Zappa for the mirrored-ceiling boudoir set

Now you’re getting NASTY