Ok so….I picked up Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” special edition and of course, I look out for the Prince entries and it appears he has six: four solo and two with the Revolution.

Now…reading thru the magazine (yes I read every damn entry), it occurred to me that Prince really is truly a rock musician that a lot of people admire. You’ll see why in a minute.

First to begin, he has six entries: Little Red Corvette (109), 1999 (215), Sign ‘O’ The Times (304), When Doves Cry (52), Kiss (464) and Purple Rain (144). His highest placing is When Doves Cry, which is at 52. That’s pretty good I think when you consider that is higher than all his influences placed except for Jimi Hendrix with Purple Haze at 17.

The first James Brown entry is 71 (Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag), Parliament at 202 (Flashlight), Sly Stone at 139 (Family Affair), Joni Mitchell at 171 (Both Sides Now) and there is no Santana. No Santana?

Plus there are only two other 80s tracks ahead of WDC – The Message and London Calling. So based on that, I think that’s pretty good. But wait there’s more.

So I looked again and he is named chacked all over the place. Kelly Clarkson puts Purple Rain at number one of her Top Ten. Turn two pages down and Missy Elliot puts Purple Rain and Nasty Girl at number two and three respectively on her Top Ten. On the Joni Mitchell entry “Help Me” (288), it mentions how Prince quoted the song on “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”. Turn the page directly over and Questlove puts When Doves Cry at number 5 on his Top Ten. Kinda cool.

It’s not over…..RS lists the seven artists with the most entries: The Beatles with the most (23) and Jimi Hendrix with seven. Prince clocks in with six, right? Not bad…pretty close. James Brown has six, Sly has six. Prince has more than Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Billy Joel, The Who, Pink Floyd, STEVIE WONDER!!!, Neil Young, The Temptations, The Clash, and so many others. Kinda interesting huh?

But wait, lookie here…..Sinead O’Connor’s version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” chimes in at 165. If I was to split hairs, I’d add that to Prince’s tally and give him seven putting him in line with Jimi Hendrix and The Beach Boys. Not frigging bad huh? I think it shows what he has accomplished and how much he is respected as an artist and a songwriter. Plus they show two pictures of him.

Now I think it’s kind of controversial but not even Michael Jackson had a good showing. He only had three entries!!!! Can you believe that?! What the hell? Billie Jean shows up at 58 and Beat It appears at 344. The Jackson 5 enter with I Want You Back at 121. That is is weird. No Thriller, no Man In The Mirror, no Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough….very weird.

Ok I’ll put my geek credentials away.

I was thinking of getting that magazine yesterday but I bought the original one when it came out. I wasn't sure if it was different and more in depth or just the same exact thing only without all the other magazine stuff so I decided against it.

Very cool analysis you have there!

Milty said:

His highest placing is When Doves Cry, which is at 52.

his best song and his current age.

i wonder if there's a message in that for him.

Milty said:

Ok so….I picked up Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” special edition and of course, I look out for the Prince entries and it appears he has six: four solo and two with the Revolution.

Now…reading thru the magazine (yes I read every damn entry), it occurred to me that Prince really is truly a rock musician that a lot of people admire. You’ll see why in a minute.

First to begin, he has six entries: Little Red Corvette (109), 1999 (215), Sign ‘O’ The Times (304), When Doves Cry (52), Kiss (464) and Purple Rain (144). His highest placing is When Doves Cry, which is at 52. That’s pretty good I think when you consider that is higher than all his influences placed except for Jimi Hendrix with Purple Haze at 17.

The first James Brown entry is 71 (Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag), Parliament at 202 (Flashlight), Sly Stone at 139 (Family Affair), Joni Mitchell at 171 (Both Sides Now) and there is no Santana. No Santana?

Plus there are only two other 80s tracks ahead of WDC – The Message and London Calling. So based on that, I think that’s pretty good. But wait there’s more.

So I looked again and he is named chacked all over the place. Kelly Clarkson puts Purple Rain at number one of her Top Ten. Turn two pages down and Missy Elliot puts Purple Rain and Nasty Girl at number two and three respectively on her Top Ten. On the Joni Mitchell entry “Help Me” (288), it mentions how Prince quoted the song on “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”. Turn the page directly over and Questlove puts When Doves Cry at number 5 on his Top Ten. Kinda cool.

It’s not over…..RS lists the seven artists with the most entries: The Beatles with the most (23) and Jimi Hendrix with seven. Prince clocks in with six, right? Not bad…pretty close. James Brown has six, Sly has six. Prince has more than Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Billy Joel, The Who, Pink Floyd, STEVIE WONDER!!!, Neil Young, The Temptations, The Clash, and so many others. Kinda interesting huh?

But wait, lookie here…..Sinead O’Connor’s version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” chimes in at 165. If I was to split hairs, I’d add that to Prince’s tally and give him seven putting him in line with Jimi Hendrix and The Beach Boys. Not frigging bad huh? I think it shows what he has accomplished and how much he is respected as an artist and a songwriter. Plus they show two pictures of him.

Now I think it’s kind of controversial but not even Michael Jackson had a good showing. He only had three entries!!!! Can you believe that?! What the hell? Billie Jean shows up at 58 and Beat It appears at 344. The Jackson 5 enter with I Want You Back at 121. That is is weird. No Thriller, no Man In The Mirror, no Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough….very weird.

Ok I’ll put my geek credentials away.

Thank you for all the info!!

I don't put a whole lot into those lists (although they are fun) but I'm very impressed with your research!

Very cool. Of course we are biased and I would put WDC in the top 20 of all time. I think MJ is just about right but I would also put Billie Jean in the top 20

The Beatles after all these years still sound as good as ever and better than most. I honestly haven't heard of anybody that comes close to them after all these years other than Prince's 80's run. (the Beatles also only had about a ten year run)

I have always felt that Prince would continued to be judged higher as time passed, and still think his 80's work will continue to keep crawling up critics best lists as time goes by.

I think that nearly every issue of Rolling Stone mentions Prince 2 to 3 times... in terms of his influence on newer artists, or comparing sounds to his, etc... shows just how much the editors think of him

i wouldnt use the rolling stone rag for anything other than maybe colonic irrigation ...

I read this issue too back when it came out in July. I was on a boat at the time, lol and had nothing else to do. I forgot about it afterward but I remember being impressed at how many entries Prince had in there, for sure.

People still readin' RS?

Someone very wise once said..."It's time these types of magazines to fade of into the sunset"...or something around those lines...

Used to give a damn.....stopped caring...advise everyone to do the same