well it *was* morning in America
― Οὖτις, Friday, 22 April 2016 20:01 (eight years ago) link
For me it's partly the collective palette that reigned at the time - new wave influence fully saturated, analog polysynths in effect with the dx7 still just a new player in the cast, policey guitar compression and chorusing - combined with the old fashioned songcrafty writing values that still prevailed. Idk things changed in a big big way around 85 and it's about more than just busy beats and the dx7...
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Friday, 22 April 2016 20:23 (eight years ago) link
That was not very coherent
the fall-off between '84 and '85 is still kinda staggering. i managed to put together a decent 100-ish song playlist of '85 jams, but it was filled with artist double-dipping and stuff that woulda been clearly second-string (or even third-string) a year before. it's like all of music needed a pause for breath.
oh, and "raspberry beret." (shout-out to the extended single mix.)
― a basset hound (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Friday, 22 April 2016 20:57 (eight years ago) link
I'm still shocked no artist had ever thought to put finger cymbals against a Linn drum before.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 22 April 2016 21:05 (eight years ago) link
Right? Those fucking finger cymbals kind of make that LP for me
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Friday, 22 April 2016 21:07 (eight years ago) link
i discovered the song "when you were mine" today via the frank ocean post. that's the one i've been addicted to today.
― Treeship, Friday, 22 April 2016 21:22 (eight years ago) link
Matos has some great paragraphs about that song in his sign o the times book.
Don't sleep on the cyndi version which rules
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Friday, 22 April 2016 21:27 (eight years ago) link
Indeed. Got into that version first myself.
― Freakshow At The Barn Dance (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 22 April 2016 21:33 (eight years ago) link
"raspberry beret" prob in my top 5 singles of all time. having a hard time listening to it, or any prince, today. i heard "purple rain" in the car right after hearing the news and kinda lost it. but i'm voting for "pop life" which is lovely and special and never quite gets as much love as it deserves.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 22 April 2016 21:39 (eight years ago) link
The break in "Pop Life" after the second chorus is all time (the best way I can describe it is 'swirly'
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 22 April 2016 21:45 (eight years ago) link
going u got the look
― ulysses, Friday, 22 April 2016 22:45 (eight years ago) link
Wow, "1999" was only his twentieth biggest hit....
― Lee626, Friday, 22 April 2016 23:43 (eight years ago) link
How do people feel about the 12" inch versions, generally? I love them, especially Pop Life.
― Iago Galdston, Friday, 22 April 2016 23:54 (eight years ago) link
always loved Prince's twelve inches
― Neanderthal, Friday, 22 April 2016 23:56 (eight years ago) link
They are amazing
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:00 (eight years ago) link
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
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:03 (eight years ago) link
Like "Erotic City." Which was a B-side, right, of a Purple Rain track, I think, can't remember which.(Xp)
― His Royal Blecchness (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:04 (eight years ago) link
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
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:14 (eight years ago) link
17 days is in my top 10 prince but its extended 12" mix is sadly a forgery edited together by a fan
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:16 (eight years ago) link
"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
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:22 (eight years ago) link
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
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link
Er, "Letitgo"
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link
I like it too whether or not prince edited it. I've never been able to find a good sounding download of it though.
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:35 (eight years ago) link
wait, why is the hits/b-sides comp awful?
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 23 April 2016 02:24 (eight years ago) link
"She's Always in My Hair" was the b-side to ..."Paisley Park?" That was a single? Anyway, "Hair" is incredible.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 23 April 2016 02:37 (eight years ago) link
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.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 April 2016 02:38 (eight years ago) link
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.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 April 2016 02:40 (eight years ago) link
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?"
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 23 April 2016 03:01 (eight years ago) link
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.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 23 April 2016 03:05 (eight years ago) link
die 4 u
― 6 god none the richer (m bison), Saturday, 23 April 2016 03:25 (eight years ago) link
"7" charted at #7. Nice!
― Lee626, Saturday, 23 April 2016 03:31 (eight years ago) link
was it a boy when you wanted a girl
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 April 2016 04:43 (eight years ago) link
Little Red Corvette. It was a perfect way to get the rock kids into Prince's world.
― that's not my post, Saturday, 23 April 2016 05:01 (eight years ago) link
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"
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 23 April 2016 05:22 (eight years ago) link
it is kind of impossible to choose among these, but "u got the look" is the last one i cried to so that
― dyl, Saturday, 23 April 2016 06:01 (eight years ago) link
Extended version of u got the look is incredible. That rhythm guitar intro.
― StillAdvance, Saturday, 23 April 2016 06:55 (eight years ago) link
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
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 23 April 2016 12:24 (eight years ago) link
single edits made sense for a hits comp, you don't need all 7 minutes of "Controversy" for something like that
― some dude, Saturday, 23 April 2016 12:31 (eight years ago) link
It's also basically the only time any of his stuff has been remastered, that comp.
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 April 2016 12:40 (eight years ago) link
the only edits on that comp i take issue with are on the b-sides disc
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Saturday, 23 April 2016 17:22 (eight years ago) link
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...
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Saturday, 23 April 2016 17:25 (eight years ago) link
yeah I guess it's easy enough to get the full versions bc there are always tons of prince singles at record stores
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Saturday, 23 April 2016 17:29 (eight years ago) link
....for now
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Saturday, 23 April 2016 17:30 (eight years ago) link
Stop the presses! My new jam is "Batdance."
― His Royal Blecchness (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2016 19:07 (eight years ago) link
I will hear no one dis that 1993 comp
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 April 2016 19:13 (eight years ago) link
'Purple Rain', barely, over 'Pop Life'.God I love that keyboard track that lends 'Pop Life' an almost haunted feel.
― campreverb, Sunday, 24 April 2016 04:38 (eight years ago) link
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"
― Master of Treacle, Sunday, 24 April 2016 05:07 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 00:01 (eight years ago) link
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."
Which ones? afaik they're all the same versions that were the 7-inches (except for the We Are The World song).
In my top 5 for sure, and it's on "Raspberry Beret."
― billstevejim, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link