I believe the single went to #11 (on Rick Dee's weekly top 40 show), and the album sold pretty dismalling (in comparison to previous sales) in the USA. Also, it was quickly released after the controversy surrounding the 'Black Album', which at that time was the most widely bootlegged album ever.

A Prince album used to be an event. Even commercial duds like LoveSexy sold 500,000 copies. And eventually, in the UK/Europe many times that number.


But Alphabet street to me was one of those singles (like Te Amo Corizon) that leads you to believe the album will sound a certain way, but none of the songs end up sounding quite like it.

It was a strange single to release, but a quirky, fun, VERY Prince song to release. There was nothing on the radio that sounded like it--which was a common feature of Prince's music at the time. You could make fun of his personality (which was shitty), his excesses (which were many), and his reclusiveness (which was notorious), but you couldn't ever call his music "normal".


I was told that Alphabet Street (the video) was a production compromise and the end result was cheap an amateurish. However, I think it works very well for the type of song that it is...and I very much like the video.

I love that it feels....like a student project or something. It makes the song even more fun to see performed live.



Who digs this video?

The video is nasty.

And not in a good way.

i like it. its actually the first prince song/video i remember.

wish it wasnt so short though.

MattyJam said:

It could have been made in 1981 and no one would have noticed the difference. I cringe at that thing.

it is cringeworthy. but that mic stand trick during the second verse makes it worth it.

im a total whore for any mic stand trick.

nevermind.

went back and watched it again after not seeing it for a few years.


turns out my memory was more than charitable.

i take back every nice thing i said about the video

I love this video. It's one of my favorites of his, and I really don't mind the low production values.* It's playful and fun, and best of all, it's a mini encapsulation of the Lovesexy tour, minus the band. I love seeing the white rad ride in it, and the letters shooting out everywhere in the video remind me of the Alphabet St. encore during the tour--when that song was on, there were letters and lights being projected all over the stadium. For me, the video works with the entire wonderful theme of the album and elicits warms feelings because of it.

*IMO, production values have never made a difference in Prince videos anyway. "Somewhere Here on Earth," for example, might look more professional, but it's one of my least favorite videos. In fact, I think it's pretty terrible.

the Alphabet St. video deserves some appreciation:

The video is brilliant, I love it

Prince's split in the beginning, his dancing in the letters, playing the model C guitar on the car's roof....




Beatiful look as well, Prince's hair and clothes.

Brilliant. And sexxy too.

I remember seeing this video back in '88, on MTV and on a very small black & white tv set. I was amazed... and I still am amazed.

Alphabet St.

brilliant music video....

ps... Te Amo Corazon, no thank you.

ZZzZZzZzzz, boring.

thedance said:

Sorry darlin', it's not "brilliant", by any means. It just looks cheap and like it was done at a local news station on the Weather set. "Cinnamon Girl" is brilliant in its approach. "Raspberry Beret" is brilliant in its animation. "Take Me With U" is brilliant in that it truly captured the Purple Rain tour, which was all the rage and talk at the time. Just not thrilled w/ "Alphabet St." He could have at least done it on film.

OK, I'll take this one...

The thing is, the video had kinda the same effect as the song in a different way. They both made you go "What the F?" and wonder if he'd lost it. They were both kinda retro in different ways, but not really resembling any particular style or period, just a feeling of sounding out-of-date, In fact, that was really what gave them that edge. LK did the same thing alter with "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" but that was more slick and the references were clearer and more explicit.

Like you say, Imago, AS sounded like nothing else, and the video looked like nothing else (OK, except the Cars' You Might Think :lol; )

This thread was inspired by Christopher Tracy (facebook).

ernestsewell said:

the Alphabet St. video looked hot back then, very sexxy too - not cheap at all... it was and is brilliant

But comparing to these days high budget "products" videos on MTV, you are maybe right. The music videos today are completely "far out"...

Even MJ's Thriller can't live up to modern videos, even though the music from back then is a 100.000 times better than what is made today.

back on topic.... I will still take Alphabet St. from '88 - instead of any of these current r'n'b hiphop videos which rules the MTV in 2009.


[Edited 12/13/09 14:24pm]
[Edited 12/13/09 14:25pm]

thedance said:

Then and now "Alphabet St." looked cheap. Look at the video camera photography next to the filmography of "Glam Slam" or "I Wish U Heaven".

^ Alphabet St. is still one of my absolutely fave Prince videos,

I know I am nostalgic, but it still doesn't look cheap to me:

Yeah Yeah Yeah YEAH!

i love the video,the music, Princes all round look


[Edited 12/13/09 15:13pm]

ha ha... you don't think the "cheap" look is an intentional decision to stand out amongst all the film shot cinematic videos? Like how the Beastie Boy's videos are intentionally "cheap"? It's a retro tube video look straight out of the late 70's. I suspect it was a creative choice.

Imago said:

I feel one of the most appealing things about Prince from day one is the fact that he never seemed to give a damn about what people thought about him or anything related to him. I think he's still that way to this very day. I think Alphabet St. was okay, but Prince hasn't lost any sleep over my opinion. That's why I still care about the man and his music.

I love this video, this is Prince at his best. I'm not joking either.

Prince at his best.


Love,
Butterscotch

I like the video and especially the outfit he wore and his mmmmm hair!!

lol this video is extremely bad but its still kinda fun to watch. and a great song

ernestsewell said:

you're right, but is a prince video, and almost all of them suck. I would say this one is OK as far as the idea goes. if you look at picture quality it really sucks.

My username came from alphabet street, I think it is his best song of his career, I love the buildup. When I first saw the video, I went WTF too, I discovered it in the 90's though I remember hearing the song when I was younger though too young. But I saw it again a few years ago and thought he looked soooo sexy in it, like mj bad era sexy!

i responded to this thread because of the title

"givin' it up"

anyone say that anymore?

lol

Arsenio

"Don't buy the Black Album"....

it´s a GREAT video, i love it!

YAY, Alphabet Street!!!!
Prince likes to standout musically. So why not also in video production? Those colorful neon letters are so funky crrrazy.
What amazes me from the intro is how he can make his hips bounce and his back arch like that. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

ernestsewell said:

I think you miss the point, in 1987-1988 music video was becoming more stylish, with brilliant cinematography and perfect movie settings, thanks to newcomers like David Fincher, everybody was so aboard the trend (George Michael, Madonna, Aerosmith, Don Henley etc.), like always Prince went the opposite way, with a off beat, bizarre looking video, made on a old analog video system, with kitschy intentions and old school special effects.

I think the video works brilliantly back then, it was raw, surreal and sexy, really fresh for the MTV heavy rotation (Straight up, Faith, End of the innocence, etc.).

The video looks even cooler on todays indie video scene, so ironic that "the cheap local news station on the Weather set" is the avant garde today.

In fact I just bought a old VHS camera to get the authentic look of that magic era.

aarontj said:

I didn't miss any point. I made mine.

Prince going the opposite way my ass. It was probably filmed in his garage on Kiowa Trail with a green screen and Matt Fink running the camera. Then he dropped it under his bik.....oh hell, you know the rest.

thedance said:

I dig it. What kind of car is that?