Prince's Forty Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits

The break in "Pop Life" after the second chorus is all time (the best way I can describe it is 'swirly'

going u got the look

Wow, "1999" was only his twentieth biggest hit....

How do people feel about the 12" inch versions, generally? I love them, especially Pop Life.

always loved Prince's twelve inches

They are amazing

Glad to hear it. Other faves are AnotherLoverHoleInYourHead, Let's Work, Little Red Corvette (in which he does a hilarious spoken verse in a German psychiatrist voice), Mountains, and I Would Die 4 U

Like "Erotic City." Which was a B-side, right, of a Purple Rain track, I think, can't remember which.
(Xp)

Like "Erotic City." Which was a B-side, right, of a Purple Rain track, I think, can't remember which.
(Xp)

Fuck it, there's just too many... yes, Erotic City, b-side of Let's Go Crazy, which also has a great 12" version. But the main one I forgot, the greatest Prince song you don't know you know and love, 17 Days

17 days is in my top 10 prince but its extended 12" mix is sadly a forgery edited together by a fan

"Kiss" and "Mountains" singles vital for the appearance of "Love or Money" and "Alexa de Paris", although the latter is also on the "Lesotho" Cd single

17 days is in my top 10 prince but its extended 12" mix is sadly a forgery edited together by a fan

Really! Wow. I guess the song is better known from that awful Hits/B-Sides comp so it's not really a hidden gem anymore. Oh well, I think I like the extended 17 Days just the same

Er, "Letitgo"

I like it too whether or not prince edited it. I've never been able to find a good sounding download of it though.

wait, why is the hits/b-sides comp awful?

"She's Always in My Hair" was the b-side to ..."Paisley Park?" That was a single? Anyway, "Hair" is incredible.

Ok I read yesterday that Glam Slam didn't even make the Billboard 100, that seems off. Good chance it'd have gotten my vote if it was here.

Also until I groaned when its name appeared I had no idea how little I liked Thieves in the Temple. 7's kinda similar but approx 50x better/sillier imo.

I honestly don't know how that's even possible if you're currently an adult and aren't now and have never been amish.

I think most everything on here that's 1988 and after I first heard when I got the 3-CD best-of in college in the 90s. Definitely very clearly remember hearing "7" and being like "wow who knew the guy from my childhood is still making great records?"

Voted "Let's Go Crazy" because I still don't really understand how that song works. Could have voted "1999" for being the one I've truly cared about the longest, or "7" for being the one I have the strongest idiosyncratic relationship with.

die 4 u

"7" charted at #7. Nice!

was it a boy when you wanted a girl

Little Red Corvette. It was a perfect way to get the rock kids into Prince's world.

i don't feel like voting for "i would die 4 u" or "purple rain" or "kiss" or "little red corvette" so i think i'm gonna vote for "diamonds and pearls" or "7"

it is kind of impossible to choose among these, but "u got the look" is the last one i cried to so that

Extended version of u got the look is incredible. That rhythm guitar intro.

wait, why is the hits/b-sides comp awful?
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, April 22, 2016 10:24 PM

well, looking back now maybe I didn't realize what he included were 7" versions of album tracks, but I remember some of the songs being drastically cut down from their album versions. Anyway, it bugged me and I put it away, I'll try it again

single edits made sense for a hits comp, you don't need all 7 minutes of "Controversy" for something like that

It's also basically the only time any of his stuff has been remastered, that comp.

the only edits on that comp i take issue with are on the b-sides disc

That comp always felt invaluable to me for both containing the only remastered versions of several of these songs and as a go-to for road trips (back before iPods anyway). I guess I can see people taking issue with the edits chosen (I've heard the same argument taken up with The Immaculate Collection) but, in the case of the B-sides disc, this was the only reasonable means I had of hearing these songs for years, so...

yeah I guess it's easy enough to get the full versions bc there are always tons of prince singles at record stores

....for now

Stop the presses! My new jam is "Batdance."

I will hear no one dis that 1993 comp

'Purple Rain', barely, over 'Pop Life'.
God I love that keyboard track that lends 'Pop Life' an almost haunted feel.

Only problem with the compilation is the lack of Parade b-sides. And the lack of stuff like "Mountains" and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

well, looking back now maybe I didn't realize what he included were 7" versions of album tracks, but I remember some of the songs being drastically cut down from their album versions. Anyway, it bugged me and I put it away, I'll try it again

I like the 7-inch outro of "Kiss" just as much as having it run into "Anotherlover," and those were the versions I grew up on (owning the singles separately but not having a copy of Parade until 10+ years later).

However I suppose the "I Would Die 4 U" outro really needs "Baby I'm a Star."

the only edits on that comp i take issue with are on the b-sides disc

Which ones? afaik they're all the same versions that were the 7-inches (except for the We Are The World song).

"She's Always in My Hair" was the b-side to ..."Paisley Park?" That was a single? Anyway, "Hair" is incredible.

In my top 5 for sure, and it's on "Raspberry Beret."

shoulda used blockquotes whoops

truly bizarre that "mountains" is not on the 1993 comp…

Yeah I am kinda offended by that, I adore mountains and it warranted a video...

The strategy worked for me. I bought Parade because of the singles that weren't on Hits 1 & 2.

Forgot about "Delirious" - one of the best.

"Mountains" peaked at #23.

Mountains had a video! Prince directed it.

Xp

and it's marvelous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2x5vb9P8E

Yes I was saying, it was worth him doing a video so it's weird that he didn't include it in the 3cd

there is extra song at the end of that video.