In your own words can you expllain why you'd consider this song to be such a hit? More than lyrically, what other elements in the song make it what it is? If you know music can you explain how this song had an impact in it's time on pop culture? For example I heard that one of the factors that made WDC so amazing is that Prince took out the bass. I'm sure that's cool but I wouldn't even have noticed had someone not told me. I hope this question makes sense.

For me: It sounded absolutely like nothing around at the time of it's appearance on top 40 pop radio or MTV. IT was surrounded by The Cars, and Ratt... well I associate it with the video because that was how I first saw it.

It also sounds very masculine (the electric guitar, the bass on the drumsound), and wild (the electric guitar, the sceams).

This is a song where all the parts form a very cohesive sound. And that kind of leads to a sugar to the ears type of effect.

Kind of the opposite of some of his other songs, where the arrangement seems more discordant and clashing.

Chile, I lived through the 80s and let me tell you a thang or 2.

People was getting tired of Michael Jackson's squeeky clean

image at the time, and no amount of hair grease catching on

fire during pepsi commercials was gonna keep our interest.

We were looking for something more mature and adult like

to replace his creepy ass. And, Prince's record dropped at

exactly the right time.

That year was all about Springsteen and Prince. And,

about pushing the envelope on sexual materials. I swear,

kids back then was just a singing all his nasty lyrics on

school buses, in bible class--you name it.

Now, I will admit, his music was a bit

more mature than I was expecting, me being a good church

girl and all, so I would often give Darlin Nikki a spin and then

run the hell to church for forgiveness, but I was running to

church with pointy nipples, I tell you what.

Lordy, BettyB is back! It's a new year's miracle!

BettyB said:

Chile, I lived through the 80s and let me tell you a thang or 2.

People was getting tired of Michael Jackson's squeeky clean

image at the time, and no amount of hair grease catching on

fire during pepsi commercials was gonna keep our interest.

We were looking for something more mature and adult like

to replace his creepy ass. And, Prince's record dropped at

exactly the right time.

I guess, because I was born in 79 I wouldn't have known the impact the song and album had on the culture at that time. So, what you said makes alot of sense. I watched "Prince - The Glory Years" and they talked about the impact and now I get what they were saying.

BettyB said:

Now, I will admit, his music was a bit

more mature than I was expecting, me being a good church

girl and all, so I would often give Darlin Nikki a spin and then

run the hell to church for forgiveness, but I was running to

church with pointy nipples, I tell you what.

TMI...

and yes, we thank you for it.

BettyB said:

Chile, I lived through the 80s and let me tell you a thang or 2.

People was getting tired of Michael Jackson's squeeky clean

image at the time, and no amount of hair grease catching on

fire during pepsi commercials was gonna keep our interest.

We were looking for something more mature and adult like

to replace his creepy ass. And, Prince's record dropped at

exactly the right time.

That year was all about Springsteen and Prince. And,

about pushing the envelope on sexual materials. I swear,

kids back then was just a singing all his nasty lyrics on

school buses, in bible class--you name it.

Now, I will admit, his music was a bit

more mature than I was expecting, me being a good church

girl and all, so I would often give Darlin Nikki a spin and then

run the hell to church for forgiveness, but I was running to

church with pointy nipples, I tell you what.

You are aware 'chile'...that the whole of the above is saying nothing about the song 'When Does Cry?'...right?

When Doves Cry...was particularly striking to the ear at that time..drums mainly and vocals and of course it was off the back of the film, Purple Rain.

Yet another individual, unnecessarily bringing MJ into the discussion deriding and demeaning him in order to boost up, the other...

We like your make-up artist though.

.

I remember hearing the song for the first or one of the first couple times I heard it. That was the thing about the song, most people can remember the first time they heard it because it was so unusual. Let me back up a bit, I first saw P on American Bandstand, I thought he was "either wierd, crazy or gay" (said this to my family at 12), but his music made me feel like only great music does, Controversy and 1999 and Little Red Corvette were special tracks even before when doves cry so it was like "here he comes again" by the time of Purple Rain, anticipation was set. Still nothing had prepared me for the song, it wasn't the bass, I didn't even concsciously notice that, didn't even know the term at that age. It was the passion, the naked passion, alongside the drone of a melody which leads to the screams at the end. That kind of pain, lust, was not standard fare on family radio. The song is interesting but secondary to the intensity of the singer. Ok, so you got no base, you have a Jimi Hendrix guitar opening which mimics human howls, then you have the clean ass synth riff, then you have the drums to fill in all that empty space, ok, you have a melange of black then you throw this crazy quasi-classical solo in and you have something brilliant and new and fresh. Still, for me, it's the passion that begins and ends it, where the music comes from and where it ends. Very special song and it's not even my favorite Prince song but it was the one where we all began to become familiar with this bizarre, wonderful artist who would not be contained.

Doves also stuck out as different for the reason is was bare and sparse instrument wise.

During that time in music more was more, most music had tons of synths on and tons of reverb and echo making them sonically full.

Doves came out and there was space in it, the track concentrated on the vocal melody and lyrics.

It's a beautiful moment.

It was the first thing we heard from Purple Rain - and anticipation for the movie was a big part of it.

And don't forget - Prince didn't release an album in 83. People were hungry.

Not saying the song isn't great in its own right. It is. But context is important.

funkyandy said:

BettyB said:

Chile, I lived through the 80s and let me tell you a thang or 2.

People was getting tired of Michael Jackson's squeeky clean

image at the time, and no amount of hair grease catching on

fire during pepsi commercials was gonna keep our interest.

We were looking for something more mature and adult like

to replace his creepy ass. And, Prince's record dropped at

exactly the right time.

That year was all about Springsteen and Prince. And,

about pushing the envelope on sexual materials. I swear,

kids back then was just a singing all his nasty lyrics on

school buses, in bible class--you name it.

Now, I will admit, his music was a bit

more mature than I was expecting, me being a good church

girl and all, so I would often give Darlin Nikki a spin and then

run the hell to church for forgiveness, but I was running to

church with pointy nipples, I tell you what.

You are aware 'chile'...that the whole of the above is saying nothing about the song 'When Does Cry?'...right?

When Doves Cry...was particularly striking to the ear at that time..drums mainly and vocals and of course it was off the back of the film, Purple Rain.

Yet another individual, unnecessarily bringing MJ into the discussion deriding and demeaning him in order to boost up, the other...

We like your make-up artist though.

.

Actually the entire PR project was WB's answer to Thriller. Prince gained a great deal of his success through MJ's success--not that Prince didn't deserve success on his own, but MJ paved the way.

People were getting quite creeped out by MJ pretty early on, long before he got caught for molesting boys and stuff like that. Prince was the answer to MJ, and WB knew it. There were magazine articles out at the time that referenced Prince and Springsteen's successes and compared them to MJ under the context of the impact each artist had on the pop landscape.

The comparisons, no matter how tired they may seem, are perfectly understandable under the context of pop influence. It would be like talking about Christina Aguelera's impact on the last decade without mentioning a contrast between her and Britney--it's unlikely to happen. One can't mention Prince without MJ being too far behind just as one can't mention MJ without oxygen tanks or 12 year old boys.