Bathing in the Purple Rain

When I was a kid, battles between celebrities didn’t take place on Twitter — they happened on the charts. And so it was, between the Gloved One and the Purple One. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, released in November of 1983, was literally everywhere, commandeering radio and television waves and boombox speakers across the country. It was the biggest album in the world. And then, six months later, Prince released Purple Rain in the summer of 1984.

Similar musicians are frequently compared and contrasted, and “suddenly” in the mid-80s we had two megastars. Both sang, both danced, and both tore up the charts with multiple singles from a single album. Seven of the nine tracks on “Thriller” were released as singles and reached the Billboard Top 10; Prince had five singles chart from “Purple Rain.” Both albums vie for the top spot on lists of best albums from the 1980s. Tempo magazine named “Purple Rain” the greatest album of the 1980s and Vanity Fair named it the best soundtrack of all time. On Slant Magazine’s list of best albums of the 1980s, “Purple Rain” ranked number two. “Thriller” was number one.

The difference to me though was their sexuality. Despite being photographed with Brooke Shields and eventually marrying Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Jackson was almost asexual. Nobody took his hip-thrusting seriously, and his idea of romance in 1983’s “PYT” (Pretty Young Thing) was to offer girls TLC (Tender Lovin’ Care). Prince, on the other hand, had sex oozing from every pore. In songs like “Little Red Corvette,” “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” and “Darling Nikki,” Prince offered more than tender loving care. The thought of Michael Jackson dating a woman was akin to your little nephew picking a fight with you, whereas nobody thought letting their niece hang around backstage at a Prince concert was a good idea. While Prince was constantly being photographed with sensuous women like Vanity, Apollonia and Sheila E., Michael Jackson frequently appeared with Emmanuel Lewis, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Feldman, and Bubbles the Chimp.

Both artists continued to record and churn out hits, of course. Michael Jackson released “Bad” and “Dangerous” in the late 80s/early 90s and continued to record, while Prince released “Around the World in a Day” in 1985, “Parade” in 1986, “Sign ‘O’ the Times” in 1987, “Lovesexy” in 1988, “Batdance” in 1989, “Graffiti Bridge” in 1990, and “Diamonds and Pearls” in 1991. It was a different time.

Both men were weird, eccentric, and in later years, reclusive — most likely the result of being both extremely artistic and extremely shy. Michael Jackson withdrew to Neverland Ranch, a childhood circus that never ended, while Prince retreated to Paisley Park, a fortress reportedly filled with hidden rooms and concealed audio bugs.

The biggest difference between the two artists however may be their legacy for future generations. My kids saw “Captain EO” at Disneyland and love the DVD we own of Michael Jackson’s music videos, but they never got that from Prince. While my kids were playing Michael Jackson Dance Party on the Wii and singing along with songs I sang along with at their age, Prince and his team of lawyers were busy scrubbing every clip containing Prince’s likeness or music from YouTube and removing his music from streaming services. It’s his prerogative, but my children do not know what it sounds like when doves cry, or how to party like it’s 1999.

At 42 I don’t know that I would call myself a “Prince Fan” any more than I would refer to myself as a “Michael Jackson Fan,” but no one who grew up in the 80s can deny the impact they had on our radios and our lives. Whether it was learning to moonwalk like Michael Jackson or rock a club like Prince at the end of “Purple Rain,” those were the images that inspired us and defined, at least then, what cool was.