I remember a music critic friend telling me, you know, Michael Jackson had Quincy Jones, David Bowie had Nile Rodgers, Madonna had Jellybean Benitez — Prince had Prince. - ThreadSky

seantcollins.com • 142 days ago

I remember a music critic friend telling me, you know, Michael Jackson had Quincy Jones, David Bowie had Nile Rodgers, Madonna had Jellybean Benitez — Prince had Prince.

Reposted from Brendel

Prince being able to do the greatest guitar solos in the world when it’s maybe the fourth most notable thing about him is pretty funny. It’s like if Lebron just out of nowhere threw a javelin farther than any human being in history.

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karlsteel.bsky.social•141 days ago

Madonna *also* had Nile Rodgers, which is so wonderful. Saw him open for Duran Duran last year, and lemme tell you: Duran Duran should have opened for *him.*

pearljamfixer80.bsky.social•141 days ago

She had Niles as well.

jeof.bsky.social•142 days ago

A bunch of other people had Prince also, e.g. wrote the Bangles 2nd biggest hit, produced, etc. Pete and Shiela Escovedo were SF Bay Area stars for years (father and daughter) and collaborating with Prince turned her into Sheila E.

takethepith.bsky.social•141 days ago

And wrote Sinead O'Connor's biggest hit. Plus Morris Day and the Time.

jeof.bsky.social•141 days ago

I mentioned Nothing Compares 2 U in another comment here, I mean it goes on and on.

stepmonster2014.bsky.social•141 days ago

I love Nile Rodgers. I learned a few years ago that, because the UK didn't really have a "death to disco" backlash, he went over there in the 80s and produced a bunch of the great British New wave music. The man is amazing.

gurn.bsky.social•142 days ago

I remember sometime in the early 90s my dad mentioning I should listen to this Prince. It wasn't his type of music, but said the guy is a genius and that's always something worth checking out.

alexremington.bsky.social•142 days ago

Really, that's the difference between a pop star and (say) a singer-songwriter.

Prince is more like an Ani DiFranco who could totally fucking shred.

seantcollins.com•142 days ago

it's not a distinction that means much to me, but yeah he's just so formidably talented. Like if Paul McCartney could play guitar like Jimi Hendrix and also was funky

alexremington.bsky.social•142 days ago

What I really mean is that, in general, a pop star is a performer who frequently performs on songs that others have written, who works with producers based on the "sound" that they are best known for.

A singer-songwriter is someone who performs their own work, and frequently self-produces.

marlaink.bsky.social•142 days ago

David Bowie is not in that category

alexremington.bsky.social•142 days ago

When he worked with Nile Rodgers he was! (Likewise IMO when he worked with Reznor.) And when Iggy Pop and Lou Reed worked with him, they hoped he could bring them a greater measure of pop stardom, too.

Bowie's most distinctive attribute was being a pop chameleon. That included his collaborators!

marlaink.bsky.social•141 days ago

I mean, no lol. “Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention...” Nile Rodgers called him The Picasso of Rock 'N' Roll

alexremington.bsky.social•142 days ago

Anyway, all this is just my opinion, obviously, and I'm not a professional critic. So I could definitely be wrong and the distinction might not actually be defensible as I've stated it. But it's how I think about music.

jeof.bsky.social•142 days ago

Really more than a singer-songwriter also, his producing maybe had even more influence and impact.

https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=339741&title=OUT-OF-NECESSITY:-PRINCE-THE-PRODUCER

alexremington.bsky.social•142 days ago

Some of our greatest pop stars are also, or have been at times in their careers, singer-songwriters, eg the Beatles, Taylor Swift, Tyler the Creator, Trent Reznor, Prince.

I just see a radically different set of expectations outlined by each term.

takethepith.bsky.social•141 days ago

In addition, I'd say Prince was far more vibrant as a stage performer than those.

danaonair.bsky.social•140 days ago

Prince and Ani Difranco are the best examples of true artists! https://youtu.be/jrUF1GtTBOM?si=dM4suljDD-hwWLF9

paingodruss.bsky.social•141 days ago

It's funny to me, as a 54-year old, that so many people don't seem to realize what a genius Prince really was.

seantcollins.com•142 days ago

to me it's not a question of this making him more authentic or more important or more vital or whatever, it's just like, wow, yeah

kenlowery.bsky.social•142 days ago

we were watching this very song/solo last week and having the old-person-but-also-correct convo "they simply do not make pop stars like this anymore."

kenlowery.bsky.social•141 days ago

In fairness I'm not sure they made pop stars like that before him either

rahawahaile.bsky.social•141 days ago

This is how I feel about Nina Simone being like ugh fine I’ll sing, I guess, but I came here to play piano.

jdemartino.bsky.social•142 days ago

Not that it’s a 1:1 but this reminds me of how Mookie Betts, one of the greatest players in MLB history, can also dunk a basketball (at 5’9”) and has bowled several perfect games. Just like, come on man

liberalvixen.bsky.social•142 days ago

I remember seeing Rolling Stone’s ranking of guitarists and he wasn’t anywhere near the Top 25 and thinking it was a garbage list. Rolling Stone magazine never gave him the accolades he deserved.

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