I went back through my tape of VH1 Soul's 8-hour Prince marathon from his 50th b-day last year, and damn if I didn't have to fast-forward through a few wretched videos in there.

Especially egregious had to be "Drive Me Wild" from Vanity 6 (a "WTF?" concept, shitty set design, Susan looking lost, Vanity looking bored, and the song being subpar to boot) and "Raspberry Beret" (one of my Top 10 jams of all time any day of the week, but the video all but sends me into epileptic shock).

What are your worst videos by Prince or his proteges? Or the best, for that matter?

I always love "Sexuality," "1999," "Sign o' the Times," "Sexy MF," "Cream," and "Partyman." Stuff that is either minimalist while still communicating a concept, or something that looks like it just got pulled out of a musical film.

jstarr99 said:

Lord, As much as I appreciate Drive Me Wild the video was just a mess.

I would say Greatest Romance for Prince video.....just a little boring.

Sweet Baby is a little tame too

Koo Koo was cool by Sheila E as for the group Good Question

When I first saw the videos for I wish u heaven and Alphabet street I thought These vids were lazy and uninspiring which was the total opposite of the music from LoveSexy. I wish you heaven eventually grew on me, but that Alphabet Street video STILL gives me the dry heaves..

I just watched it again to check me

paisleypark4 said:

I loved that one! I think the colours are beautifully chosen. Very stylish.

JOYJOY said:

I thought I was the only one who thought the "I Wish U Heaven" video sucked. I still do. It deserved better than that, well almost all of Prince's videos should have been better than they were. Alphabet St wasn't bad in all of its cheesy glory. It was full of alphabets, so it fit the song to some degree.

purplecam said:

U know what? both vids can kick rocks with socks on but Alphabet street is the worst of the two.. IMHO its his worst video ever! [Disclaimer] I have yet to view all of the NPG vids...

Please excuse me whilst I scrub my eyes with bleach to erase the memory that it the Alphabet street vid.. Those lame-o solarised images just wont go away!

JOYJOY said:

I like Alphabet Street and I Wish U Heaven. They were cool for back then. As for Sign O The Times that was boring

I always loved the extended When Doves Cry video except for the mirror image effect, and I'll be damned if he didn't ruin the Purple Rain concert footage for that song by doing the same damn thing to it. I probably would have killed to be at the Glam Slam video shoot, or the America one for that matter. I managed to be at the video shoot for Sexy MF (garage scene), My Name Is Prince, I Wanna Melt With U (my he's changed since then...lol) and The Beautiful Experience (concert footage from Paisley Park).
[Edited 3/10/09 16:40pm]

the worst video ever was the time ice cream castle...even Jesse johnson state the girl in the video were ugly and where did the casting get them. the 2nd worst was sex shooter AHHHHH

JJAMES2U said:

Ice Cream Castles was Jamie Starr Magical style don't hate!

Kookoo was real bad.