I'm posting this here since it's about Prince's influence, but please move it if you see fit.

I'm talking about songs that you think could very easily be a Prince song, even though he has, on the surface, nothing to do with the song. At this moment, my favorite is Still a Thrill by Jody Watley. From the percussion, to the altered vocals, the bass and guitar, this one sounds like Prince could easily have written and performed this one himself. I'm sure the presence of André Cymone has much to do with this, but I think it's an excellent track (my favorite single of hers).

"Something About You" by Ebonee Webb. The first time I heard that song, I thought it was actually Prince. The musical style and the falsetto just screams "PRINCE!".

Ready for the World... Oh Sheila!

easy.

Waterfalls by TLC. Best song Prince didn't write. It would have fit perfectly on SOTT

Bsunshine said:

Guess I never thought of Waterfalls as a Prince song. I did think of it as a Paul McCartney song.

I mentioned this on another thread - almost anything off of Beck's "Midnight Vultures" album, but especially "Debra".

My brain isn't functioning yet, so I have to "borrow ideas" for now...

but I think "Still a Thrill" by Jody Watley and "Debra" by Beck are two PERFECT choices!!!!

Funny, I heard "Meeting in the Ladies Room" by Klymaxx yesterday and thought, "damn...this sounds like Prince." Of course they were the first act produced by Jam and Lewis, so there's that connection...

Keith/Kacey

RipHer2Shreds said:

I love that song. I remember when that song came out, people thought it was Prince.

My pick would have to be Outkast's "She Lives In My Lap". 2 funky. Sounds like SOTT ere Prince. LUV IT!

Let's take this a step further...I have a blank cd waiting to be filled sitting right here...

SO... (and it's probably been done here before, so I'm sorreeeee...)

LIST THE BEST PRINCE-SOUNDING TRACKS BY OTHER ARTISTS HERE FOR A COMPILATION CD!!!!!

Rule: The songs can't have been written by Prince or involve him directly in any way. "Still a Thrill," for instance, is "legal" because it has no involvement from Prince himself, even though it has a tangential link in Andre Cymone. Thus, a Jam/Lewis track would be eligible, etc.

The list so far:

1. "Still a Thrill" by Jody Watley
2. "Debra" by Beck
3. "Waterfalls" by TLC
4. "Oh Sheila" by Ready For the World
5. "She Lives In My Lap" by Outkast
6. "Something About You" by Ebonee Webb
7. ???

Keith/Kacey

You know what?

I'm going to make #7 something off of Nikka Costa's first cd...

but which song do you think has the biggest Prince vibe?

"Like a Feather"??? Something else?

I wouldn't have picked "Push & Pull" as sounding "Prince-y," so it's funny that they performed that one together.

Keith/Kacey

While it's not my favorite, i still like it a lot and u can't deny the princeliness of this particular tune: "Untitled" by D'Angelo. How does it feeyealll?
[This message was edited Mon Aug 9 12:15:31 2004 by Saturn]

Oh, man...just thought of another one...

"Bittersweet" by Me'Shell Ndegeocello from her 1996 disc, "Peace Beyond Passion" sounds VERY early Prince-ish! Lots of her other tracks have a Prince flavor to them, but I think it's the keys in this one that brings it closer. (They naturally share those rubber-funk bass lines in common).

Keith/Kacey

RipHer2Shreds said:

I never even knew people thought that song sounded like Prince until my niece mentioned (erroneously) that he wrote it. TBoz sounds lethargic on that song. To this day I still haven't heard their version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend."

Supernova said:

I don't think it does. This is the first time I've heard it compared to a Prince tune.

Kacey725 said:

Tangential link???? Prince and Andre wrote this song in 1980 - Recorded it at a studio in Boulder, Colorado - For the Rebels Project. A few cuts have surfaced from this recording session -

If I love you to night - (Same Title)
Instrumental Jam - Papa
Thrill you Kill you - Still A Thrill


Everything else you suggested works - I would included The Red Light Special - Listen to it - it sounds like a Morris Day Time song, (you here that Morris - TLC could make some NEW cuts for ya!!!!!).


whendovescry2000 has spoken ...again again again

Supernova said:

No More Rain In This Cloud - Angie Stone

Get U're Freak On - Missy Elliot

eyewishuheaven said:

Detroit ..Summer of '86...I would have bet my left nut that this was Prince singing Oh Sheila.... and I was on top of my Prince info....

Needless to say I felt kinda dumb when I found out otherwise

Bsunshine said:

I'm not sure about this bit of info, but I heard SOMEWHERE that JaRule wrote Waterfalls...

RipHer2Shreds said:

Me neither.

Usher's DO IT TO ME can you say "The Beautiful One's" revamped to the MAXXXXX? Most definetely. I love this song!

Nikka Costa--Everybody's got their Someting
most anything by Jamiroqui
wow Im really having a mental block
I'll tey again later

whendovescry2000 said:

How's that? I've never seen Prince credited as a songwriter on Still a Thrill.

RipHer2Shreds said:[/quote]

How's that? I've never seen Prince credited as a songwriter on Still a Thrill.[/quote]

First I have a copy of The Rebels CD Second Prince wasn't Credited for Stand Back and everyone here knows that he at least worked on it. Again this song was recorded in 1980. Does it sound just like Still a Thrill...no...but it has the same melody. Check out the Rebels CD - it should answer all of your doubts. Um...I have never read any where that Prince was credited as a songwriter on UN-HUH commercial but everyone says it to be true.....hmmmmm.....

Whendovescry2000 has Once Again ...SPOKEN....

I think that Freestylers song Pushup sounds a lot like Prince.

'Change Clothes' by Jay-Z (& Pharrell) reminds me of Prince in his 'I Wanna Be Ur Lover'-style days... And no-one's mentioned D'Angelo, 'Untitled (How Does It Feel?)' yet.

(Also, it's more of a Prince-influencing track, but 'The Love Sermon' by Al Green is full of the vocal stylings that eventually became quintessentially Princely...)

deebee said:

I was just about to!

C'mon Orgers!! Doesn't anyone remember back in '91, just before the release of "Diamonds & Pearls", back in the days of the New Power Phone Info line (I was calling daily..lol), there was a new song on the radio that EVERYONE swore was Prince! It was actually a song called "Do Anything" by a group (?) called Natural Selection.

I believe it still is debated to this day, adding fuel to the rumours that P had something to do with it is that Ingrid Chavez had a writing credit on the thing, I believe. And the fact it sounds like P at his most poppy, radio friendly. The song went Top 20, I think. It certainly sounds like a track that maybe had an original demo and was totally aped by an unknown group...along with speeded up Camille-style lead vocals.

Speaking of the speedup vocal thing, another song from that same era by Ween, "Push the Little Daisies" would be another choice of mine. They are admitted Prince fans and ape the Camille thing...sounds like weird Prince..i love it...