What was supposed to be the first single from The Black Album?
Do you think any singles from that album would have gotten any radio play?

quite possibly
When 2 R in Love.

there was a video made for that.

The W2RIL single *only* comes from 1994 (correct me if I'm wrong).

RE: singles from the Black album.

You have to remember the 1994 release was limited edition, no singles were promo'd just the video was made for W2RIL, which is a black screen with the lyrics running at the bottom of the screen - I saw it once or twice on MTV/VH1 on the new release shows at the time, and never again.

For the original 1987 release - again, you have to remember, this wasn't going to be the next Prince release, the follow-up to Sign O' The Times (that was to be Graffiti Bridge) - Think of it more like a Madhouse album - a Prince release, without his name on the record.

I don't recall if there were any single ideas banded about (some other folks may).

I don't think Prince ever intended anything to be a single for the Black album...simply because no radio station would have played something so dirty. The whole thing was to be released nameless, so that let's me believe no singles would have come off of it.

There was a video for When 2 R in Love...and it's very akin to Sign O the Times (Not sure if it came out 87 or 94).

Possibly the only songs that could have been singles WOuld be Cindy C, Le Grind and perhaps Dead on It (tho Prince may have gotten shot by a gangsta rapper something had he released that one )

MetroArea said:

I'm not even sure if you can really call W2RIL a single...there was a video...but for promo purposes only (funny the album sounds NOTHING like that song)

Weren't there promo 45's printed up or at least planned of all 8 songs: one featured as the A-side and a less mainstream one as the B-side? Or were those bootlegs? For some reason I thought "Le Grind" was going to be the one sent to clubs and radio stations, but of course that could be really, really old rumors still floating around in my head.

GangstaFam said:

I never heard of that...though I could see him send these off for Club use only. I would imagine...

Le Grind/Rock Hard
Cindy C/When 2 R in Love
Superfunky/ 2 Nigs
Dead on it/Bob George

I know Superfunky has a few versions floating about...but not sure if that was to be a single (Same can be said for the track Lovesexy). I have heard NO alt versions of anything off this album...so that tells me that perhaps none were slated.

Let me see if I can find any information about this.

if he could have had Cindy Crawford in the Cindy C. video,
that track would have exploded!

whatsurname said:

He'd have to pay the usual fee.

But wasn't there a remix or extended version of Superfunkycalifragisexy?

Isn't there another version of the W2RIL video that predates the black screen version?

muirdo said:

No there isn't. That crap you see floating around the internet, was the WB's idea of a prank.

rexington said:

yea theres an extended one.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

there you go,
you learn something new everyday.

can you elaborate a little?

superspaceboy said:

I don't ever recall any other video for W2RIL except the black screen one. Are you sure? If so, where did you see this other one at?

superspaceboy said:

- Sorry, when I said single at the very start of my post, I meant "video" - Everything that I said makes sense then

Moonwalkbjrain said:

That is the original unreleased full length (i.e. unedited) version - Wasn't it played on one of the Ahdio shows though - I remember that's when it surfaced.


/////

Regarding those singles of the tracks - They are bootlegs, there's a 7" of a track, paired with another as the b-side, covering most of the tracks on the LP.

This comes from my very old and battered copy of Per Nilsen's 'A Documentary' - The fore-runner to Days Of Wild and The Vault.

The tracklists for these bootlegs were:

- Superfunkycalifragisexy / Cindy C
- Le Grind / Bob George
- Rockhard In A Funky Place / When 2 R In Love

I couldn't find any mention of any 7" for Dead On It / 2 Nigs. - Again these were bootlegs (more pirate material really), and don't reflect any single choices, of which there were none.


» MetroArea
[Edited 4/26/05 0:04am]

Eroticist said:

I heard that too. I heard that there was a version that came out in 88. The black screen one is 94

MetroArea said:

Okay. Thanks. That is where I got that info from. Thanks for settin' me straight.

muirdo said:

Prince already gave his blessing to have a video made, with just lyrics on the screen. "Sign ‘O‘ The Times" was rarely seen, or promoted by Warner Bros. Then, everybody started making videos like that.

Anyway, Prince tends to stay away from trends that he starts, and as much as a perfectionist as he is... why would he give his blessing to such a crappy video? The lyrics are all incorrect... you can tell someone just played the CD in a DVD player and let the televisions CC (closed caption) struggle with it.

I smelled something fishy the first time I saw this, and considering the timing, it was obvious the WB was taking a poke at him.

Similar to the letter, full of Prince spelling and symbols, to counter the letter he published, about how bad they treated him.