a case of backlash ?

after the Purple Rain phenomenon everyone got suddenly tired of Prince, the backlash happened, people were ridiculing Prince, didn't took him seriously, a lot of great albums and singles didn't sell that much,

maybe he was releasing too much music and people just couldn't keep up with him, or maybe his albums were too "demanding", they weren't the "smooth package" like Madonna or Michael Jackson could deliver.

people - in the mid to late 1980s - looked at Prince as he was a weird freak,

of course the incident at the We Are The World/ USA for Africa didn't help on his reputition,

I guess these are the reasons that Prince didn't sell, sadly but true.

Prince deserved better, Parade / SOTT / Lovesexy.. fantastic albums, but they didn't sell that much.

OK, I realise that no one can definitively answer this question but I've always been surprised that these two singles did so poorly. Prince was hot in 1986 just coming off of a #1 hit with "Kiss" so what went wrong with the other two Parade singles? Usually with a major artist just the momentum of having a #1 hit guarantees that the next single will at least hit the top ten. Any older fans remember the reaction to these songs when they were initially released?

Here's how his singles from 1982-1987 did (pop/r&b):

1999 (12/4)
Little Red Corvette (6/15)
Delirious (8/18)
Let's Pretend We're Married (52/55)

When Doves Cry (1/1)
Let's Go Crazy (1/1)
Purple Rain (2/4)
I Would Die 4 U (8/11)
Take Me With U (25/40)

Raspberry Beret (2/3)
Pop Life (7/8)
America (46/35)

Kiss (1/1)
Mountains (23/15)
Anotherloverholenyohead (63/18)

Sign 'O The Times (3/1)
If I Was Your Girlfriend (67/12)
U Got The Look (2/11)
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (10/14)
Hot Thing (63/14)

You can see that the last single released off of an album typically fares the worst which makes sense. So I can kind of understand why "Anotherloverholenyohead" fared poorly but I think that "Mountains" should have been a bigger hit.
[Edited 5/31/09 13:42pm]

The horrible box office performance of the movie killed the chart success of those songs. The brilliant Parade album also suffered from the movie. It was much more appreciated in Europe.

OK, I realise that no one can definitively answer this question but I've always been surprised that these two singles did so poorly. Prince was hot in 1986 just coming off of a #1 hit with "Kiss" so what went wrong with the other two Parade singles? Usually with a major artist just the momentum of having a #1 hit guarantees that the next single will at least hit the top ten. Any older fans remember the reaction to these songs when they were initially released?

Here's how his singles from 1982-1987 did (pop/r&b):

1999 (12/4)
Little Red Corvette (6/15)
Delirious (8/18)
Let's Pretend We're Married (52/55)

When Doves Cry (1/1)
Let's Go Crazy (1/1)
Purple Rain (2/4)
I Would Die 4 U (8/11)
Take Me With U (25/40)

Raspberry Beret (2/3)
Pop Life (7/8)
America (46/35)

Kiss (1/1)
Mountains (23/15)
Anotherloverholenyohead (63/18)

Sign 'O The Times (3/1)
If I Was Your Girlfriend (67/12)
U Got The Look (2/11)
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (10/14)
Hot Thing (63/14)

You can see that the last single released off of an album typically fares the worst which makes sense. So I can kind of understand why "Anotherloverholenyohead" fared poorly but I think that "Mountains" should have been a bigger hit.
[Edited 5/31/09 13:42pm]

jdcxc said:

I believe it was the movie that soured the following singles.

OldFriends4Sale said:

But Mountains came out two months before the film, and girls and boys scored a top 20 hit in europe despite being released a month after the movie.

I wonder if maybe at this point he had already given up on the whole Parade/Under the Cherry Moon project (hence the lazy Anotherloverholenyohead single/video). After Kiss was released, he was already fighting over the Dream Factor/Camille/Crystal Ball stuff with WB. He probably didn't care and figured "Don't worry, the next album will kill 'em!"

Girls and Boys would've been perfect! Put Sexual Suicide as a b-side and you have another classic single. Sigh, if only Prince let me run his business (even though I was 8 at the time).

Movie bombed
Comparatively crap videos
Bad single choice order (G&B should've followed Kiss)
Lack of promo

And competition.


.
[Edited 5/31/09 15:23pm]

NouveauDance said:

both mountains and anotherlover r great songs...but how many out of P fandom really know them...

their lose IMO

Oh, and when it comes to the second single of Alphabet Street: What could have been a better choice then Glam Slam?

I mean, the Lovesexy album is not exactly full of potential hitsingle material. Most songs are rather experimental, with dissonant harmonies, jazz-elements and 'difficult' breaks.

I have read people write: Lovesexy should have been single nr. 2. But there are as many stylistic changes and weird breaks to be found on it as on the 'average' Progrock-song... lol... Not exactly hitmaterial.

I wish U Heaven, which was released as the single nr. 3 (and didnt exactly score on the charts), sounds too slight and throwaway to really impress IMO.

Apart from the extended quasi-classical bridge, Glam Slam carries one of the most infectious pop-melodies he has done in the eighties, and the chorus lends itself too sing along, so IMO it was the most obvious single choice right after Alphabet Street.

Anotherlover had a live video didn't it? That couldn't have helped.

i belive at one point girls and boys was being lined up as the 2nd single cause even b4 parade came out, news was out that he filmed a video 4 a girls & boys when he reshot scenes 4 UTCM.

but based on the chart positions, both songs (mountains and anotherlover) were hits, on the R & B charts so what's the big deal? cause it didn't succeed on the pop level?

there r have been indications in prince's career where some songs reach number 1 on the r & b charts but not on the pop chart that his singles r deemed as failures. far from it

L4OATheOriginal said:

So true. Songs like "Let's Work", "Controversy", "Do Me Baby," "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Housequake", "Irresistible Bitch", "17 Days", "Erotic City", etc. all were big on r&b radio and on the charts but didn't appeal to pop audiences.

there r have been indications in prince's career where some songs reach number 1 on the r & b charts but not on the pop chart that his singles r deemed as failures. far from it

L4OATheOriginal said:

And there have been indications that America is the world, and U.S. chart positions, be it pop or RnB define sucess....

Oh, and when it comes to the second single of Alphabet Street: What could have been a better choice then Glam Slam?

I mean, the Lovesexy album is not exactly full of potential hitsingle material. Most songs are rather experimental, with dissonant harmonies, jazz-elements and 'difficult' breaks.

I have read people write: Lovesexy should have been single nr. 2. But there are as many stylistic changes and weird breaks to be found on it as on the 'average' Progrock-song... lol... Not exactly hitmaterial.

I wish U Heaven, which was released as the single nr. 3 (and didnt exactly score on the charts), sounds too slight and throwaway to really impress IMO.

Apart from the extended quasi-classical bridge, Glam Slam carries one of the most infectious pop-melodies he has done in the eighties, and the chorus lends itself too sing along, so IMO it was the most obvious single choice right after Alphabet Street.

Why are we acting like there is a correlation between pop music charts and quality music. Some of the greatest artists and greatest albums didn't chart.

It is interesting trying to figure out the peculiar science of the "hit song" but Prince's best stuff are not the singles.

Why are we acting like there is a correlation between pop music charts and quality music. Some of the greatest artists and greatest albums didn't chart.

It is interesting trying to figure out the peculiar science of the "hit song" but Prince's best stuff are not the singles.

I remember at the time the general view was that it was a weak single for that era in either Prince's music or the charts at the time.

In the uk anyway, it recieved great promotion. Full video premiere on the old grey whistle test, bus stop posters and limited vinyl releases.

The radio stations simply didn't rate it, and play it.On the back of Kiss, Mountains was soft. The falsetto was a mistake.

Horns were a big no no in 86. It was keyboards all the way. Horns were simply out of fashion. Mountains with horns was like making a single now with scratching all over it. Its retro, not radical.

The biggest error in Princes judgement (of chosing the singles) was understanding what made the charts at the time. Mountains was simply the wrong choice of single.

Parade was always going to struggle for chart hits, but Anotherlover, with a studio video would have made a much better second single, if he was willing to remix it to include a third chorus.

Failing that, if he wanted the retro horn feel, Girls and Boys is a much better choice as a second single. At least some clubs would play it.

well in the uk.....kiss made number 6 (a sizable hit) then they released mountains which failed to make the top 40 .....then they released a double pack single led by girls and boys (which included erotic city , 17 days and under the cherry moon ) which made number 11 then anotherloverholenyohead was released scraping in the top 40 at 36 so a mixed bag where singles were concerned that year...
mountains not working as a single but i thought it was the right choice at the time so sometimes it just doesnt sell but girls and boys was a good sized hit because of the promotional push so it wasnt all bad...