If Tracks Are Good, Let's Get 2 Pollin - PRINCE TRACKS POLL RESULTS

and "Insensitive" at #2.

i'm serious you guys, i want to do a funniest and/or worst prince song poll thread after this thing runs its course

also possibly a "most WTF song written after 1980 that Prince has covered" poll

That poll would be a nonstarter because the obvious winner would be his football song

yeah i kept thinking of that as a standout

oh i didn't even see 'black sweat' in there. that's one of mine.

"Black Sweat" is really good but it feels a little on the nose as an '00s pick, i went with "Call My Name" because i love gloopy slow jam Prince sometimes

I came really close to voting for "Beginning Endlessly" from 20 Ten, but didn't love it enough to squeeze it in. It's definitely one of his finest post WB songs, though.

"Call My Name" was my only '00s track given consideration. Then I looked at all the '80s stuff I'd have had to leave off and said screw that.

"The Cross" is the only pick thus far that I just - don't - get.

haha that video for 'black sweat' is AWESOME

lol 'the cross' is my fav of the ones to appear so far

rtc otm

Black Sweat was my only post-80s choice - the beat is phenomenal. I like the 90s hits mentioned so far but never loved them.

Someone help me out here - which 80s alt-rock band does the guitar on The Cross remind me of?

no idea -- i always thought Soundgarden should cover it, though

It actually sounds like a Soundgarden cover already. That early grunge/psych sound. Maybe I was thinking of the Meat Puppets too.

You're not going to like this, but it's kind of a precursor to 'Govinda'

I always thought Eric Weisbard's remark about "The Cross" (it "rocks like eighties Lou Reed") was OTM as hell.

Listening to it again, it's not that dissimilar to 'All Apologies'.

Soundgarden + Meat Puppets + 80s Lou Reed + Nirvana + Kula Shaker = The Cross. Solved.

would have thought Uptown would place higher, glad i had it at 5 on my ballot to help it squeeze into the top 50

okay a few of these were hard to find videos for, we'll have to put up with a cover for this first one

40. Condition Of The Heart (from Around The World In A Day, 1985) - 141 points, 5 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzdXNlRfJ2Q

39. Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O Connor, 1990) - 142 points, 6 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUiTQvT0W_0

Def prefer Sinead's version to any others.

would listen to Susanna cover pretty much anything tbf

Ooh, Condition Of The Heart was my #2 and Nothing Compares was my first reserve...

Prince doing NC2U live a few years ago was great but I kept hearing Sinead's phrasing in my head - she owns it.

Can't believe 'Condition Of The Heart' was so low...definitely thought top 20 at least...well this is gonna be interesting...

38. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? (from Prince, 1979) - 146 points, 5 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIp0QV5B5R4

:D

I've always loved Condition Of The Heart's spaciness. Like an attempt at recording a prolonged swoon. The synth sounds are some of my favorite of any Prince song, too.

37. Starfish And Coffee (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 147 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUGz8wmAwVg&feature=related

36. The Glamorous Life (Shiela E, 1984) - 154 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJLZi0uyJw

was watching some old Prince bootlegs I have last night and man... has anybody else seen the MTV footage of the Under the Cherry Moon premiere party? holy shit. he doesn't do any songs from the album lol (except for Mutiny) but the band is phenomenal. horn-driven arrangements of Controversy, Raspberry Beret, something called Mutiny (?). I can't find it on youtube, of course.

fucked that up, Mutiny is not from Under the Cherry Moon, I dunno where it's from

the Bounty?

Glamorous Life TOO LOW

(also, makes me think A Love Bizarre now has no shot)

Love Starfish and Coffee. Attains a rare sweetness.

ah here it is

^^^highly recommended

35. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (B-Side to 1999, 1982) - 155 points, 6 votes

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

34. Sexy MF (from Love Symbol, 1992) - 158 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4hf7sfEwr0

I'm with xhuxk about "Sexy MF" – one of the unsexiest songs ever.

Pretty Man is a better James Brown homage

xpost no joke, Tony M. sounds like Rodney Dangerfield delivering that refrain

Also, sort of shocked at the low placement of "How Come" here? Guess it's gonna be "Sometimes it Snows" that ranks highest among sleeper ballads.

Fuck, these days "Musicology" is a better James Brown homage despite the old-fart lyrics. Used to love "Sexy MF," still like it. Never thought it was particularly sexy. But I love the way Levi Seacer or whomever sings the title - "you sexy muthafeckerr". Over and over and over again.

33. She's Always In My Hair (B-side to Paisley Park, 1985) - 170 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIHLVMfC2rI

I really like Sexy MF but I always thought it should be about 2 minutes shorter, the album version is over 5 minutes and starts to drag near the end.

Really enjoying the list so far, not a bad song in sight. I'm Especially happy to see Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad make it, that was in my top 5.

Surprised to see The Glamorous Life so high, I've always liked it but for me that album was all about The Belle Of St Mark.

RE "She's Always In My Hair" - Seems about right, placement wise. I thought about including this or "17 Days" on my ballot b/c I didn't have any other b-sides, but when I listened to them I decided I just didn't like them enough.

BTW, did anybody else who voted for "The Most Beautiful Girl" specify the album version? Crucial distinction, I think. When I bought The Gold Experience and the song came on I wondered why I liked it so much - it never particularly stuck out to me before, except as one of the first Prince songs I ever heard. A few years ago I heard the original single version and understood - it's pretty thin and unremarkable, at least compared to most of his great ballads. The fuller arrangement on Gold Experience made a huge difference.