Current Events > Best of these three: Prince, David Bowie, Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson, and by far for me. Never really cared for the other 2.

People are extremely protective of Jackson and his reputation. I don't think any other public figure has ever had as much benefit of the doubt as he has.

Which, in a way, is an indication of how much people like his music.

"Best" is so subjective in something like this, but my personal rankings:

Entertainer-
MJ
Bowie
Prince

Creative depth of catalog of songs-
Bowie
Prince
MJ

Creative career trajectory-
Bowie
MJ
Prince

Pure talent-
Prince
MJ
Bowie

Personal favorite-
Bowie (in my top 3 all-time favs)

Prince (some great songs I dig, but not a big impact in my life of listening)

MJ (obvious, recognizable talent at entertaining, but never really did anything for me)

Also, just because I like to drop this clip in conversations about Bowie now and then (from 1983):
https://youtu.be/vPFI930A3xw?si=mJOE118KxX-BiVTT

Bowie easily, then Prince, then MJ.

I'm much more of an album guy than a singles person, and Bowie is my favorite artist of all time. His run of albums from 1970 to 1980 is unmatched.

That's a tough call but I went with Prince. MJ is obviously the most pop-culturally impactful of the three but Prince is probably the best musician overall to me. I've probably listened to all three equally tho.

David Bowie is a bit of a weird one to group in with the other two tho. MJ and Prince made pop music, comparing them made sense. David Bowie wandered around and experimented a lot and tried ti to be counter-culture, prided himself on off-putting performances. More in the genre of european rock stars.

I think Madonna would make the most sense as a third in this poll.

Villain_S_Fiend posted...

Also, just because I like to drop this clip in conversations about Bowie now and then (from 1983):

Always loved that clip. Post 70s Bowie was always such a class act.

Bowie is the godfather of New Wave as far as I'm concerned, so I've gotta give it to him. The other two are great too though

The Most Famous? MJ
Most Talented Musician? Prince (Bowie is a close second)
My Personal Fav? Probably Bowie

Ziggy Stardust.

Prince>Bowie>MJ

They are all really good musicians though so I could see people putting them in any order.

MJ. But that's more by default.

Prince is supremely talented, I just don't care for his songwriting. Bowie is also supremely talented, but his songwriting feels like he's being weird for the sake of being weird. Even his most popular tunes on classic rock radio tend to get me switching the stations (Fame, Modern Love, Changes... haven't heard Suffragette City or Space Oddity in a while).

MJ has some solid tunes, and you kind of have to tune out his alleged personal life.

bsp77 posted...

Always loved that clip. Post 70s Bowie was always such a class act.

Yo MTV Raps wasnt until1988 but basically if you had a hot single you were on MTV. Black or white.

And he wasnt that much of a class act. He fucking stole SRVs guitar solo and passed it off as his own.

MJ had more iconic songs than anyone I can think of except maybe the Beatles. I don't think I've ever heard a Bowie song that I liked. I'm only familiar with Prince's most popular songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret. And that Cream song he had in the 90s.

divot1338 posted...

Yo MTV Raps wasnt until1988 but basically if you had a hot single you were on MTV. Black or white.

Starting at some point in 83/84. Before that, MTV was famously almost all white people. Prince's label had to threaten to pull ALL their label's music if they didn't give Primce a chance.

And he wasnt that much of a class act. He fucking stole SRVs guitar solo and passed it off as his own.

In the Let's Dance video? Sure. But their are lots of examples of him being a class act throughout his life after he got clean at the end of the 70s. Not gonna discredit that because of one video.

LeoRavus posted...

MJ had more iconic songs than anyone I can think of except maybe the Beatles. I don't think I've ever heard a Bowie song that I liked. I'm only familiar with Prince's most popular songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret. And that Cream song he had in the 90s.

He wrote Nothing Compares 2 U but he thought it wasnt a good song for him.

I wish we could go through his archives. He was such an obsessive perfectionist theres undoubtedly some absolute treasures no one has ever heard that he just had some issue with.

bsp77 posted...

Starting at some point in 83/84. Before that, MTV was famously almost all white people. Prince's label had to threaten to pull ALL their label's music if they didn't give Primce a chance.

They only started in 1980. Some of that has to be inherited from the music industry.

I dont know if it was a response to this kind of complaint or not but I definitely learned about rap from MTV.

In the Let's Dance video? Sure. But their are lots of examples of him being a class act throughout his life after he got clean at the end of the 70s. Not gonna discredit that because of one video.

Me neither but he was clearly passing someones guitar work off as his own.

MJ is kind of untouchable. It's kind of mind-blowing that one guy can become a legend of singing, and songwriting, AND dance, AND choreography.

But the other guys are cool too.

I voted Prince, but I'd accept Bowie.

divot1338 posted...

They only started in 1980. Some of that has to be inherited from the music industry.

That is part of it. Did you watch the clip? It gets at that, but Bowie argues it is their job to change perceptions.

I dont know if it was a response to this kind of complaint or not but I definitely learned about rap from MTV.

Me too. MTV did get really good at promoting black artists, but only after their first couple years ignoring them. People like Bowie helped change that.

Edit: I should add that MJ and Prince obviously had a huge part to play in black artists getting promoted on MTV

Bowie, but all three are fucking iconic.

divot1338 posted...

He wrote Nothing Compares 2 U but he thought it wasnt a good song for him.

I wish we could go through his archives. He was such an obsessive perfectionist theres undoubtedly some absolute treasures no one has ever heard that he just had some issue with.

I could hear him singing that. I remember when Sinead's career took a dive on the Arsenio Hall show and he offered her a ticket to go back to Ireland. Back before it was cool to be anti-American.

I'mma go with Bowie. Out of the three of them, I liked his better works the most, and his songs have undoubtably made a much bigger impact on me than MJ or Prince.

MJ was more of an entertainer than anything. Did he even play any instruments?

hmnut7 posted...

MJ was a certified weirdo.

But his music was next level, and his videos were masterpieces of art.

All three here are pretty damn weird, Prince and Bowie had plenty of strange stories. MJ might be the most weird but it's basically like taking three right wing guys, and then claiming one is right wing so he can't be picked.

Prince is a top 5 artist for me, so I'm going with him.

I'd rank them Prince > David Bowie > Michael Jackson, but all three were fantastic.

McSame_as_Bush posted...

MJ was more of an entertainer than anything. Did he even play any instruments?

he had Quincy Jones doing that, so he probably knew more than your average pop artist

I like maybe 5 songs by Micheal and I respect his singing style the most.

Maybe 2 songs by Bowie and not really a fan of how he sings.

Prince I like maybe 1 song if I'm being generous and don't like how he sings.

When I see BEST, I'm not reading that as, Oh, his genres are so diverse! Or he is such a Le Artiste!

All I care about is... Did he release music I like to listen to today.

Jackson 5 / MJ is that for me.