This thread title may be a bit confusing, so let me explain. While my Condorcet poll of Prince songs released on the A-side of U.S. singles is underway, I thought I would begin collecting nominations for a different poll.

My long-term plan (if enough people continue to participate in these polls) is to do the next poll on the B-sides of U.S. singles, and do then separate polls to rank all of the songs on Prince's individual albums. I could then take the top songs from each poll and combine them into one final poll to determine the best of the best, including single A-sides and B-sides as well as album tracks not released on singles. Sort of like a tournament, I guess. I would include more album tracks from the albums that ranked high in my album poll, to take into account that some albums have more strong tracks than others. The top 25 in the final poll might make a great playlist for people just getting into Prince's music, or a great setlist for a Prince tribute band.

The problem, though, is that by doing it this way I'll miss out on a lot of great songs written or co-written by Prince and released under the name of another artist, or never officially released at all. Gathering up the names of all the songs Prince has ever written would be a difficult task. What I propose to do, then, is to solicit nominations for songs that you think might rank in a list of the top 25 Prince songs even though they were not released on either side of a U.S. single or on any of the albums released by Prince or 0+> and included in my prior poll of official albums. If I get enough nominations, I'll do a separate poll of these songs that would otherwise slip through the cracks. I'm not looking for overlooked or underappreciated songs: rather, I'm looking for songs that might plausibly be voted in the top 25 by Prince fans even though they weren't released under his name.

To start things off, I would nominate five songs:

1. "A Love Bizarre," released by Sheila E. but co-written and performed with Prince.

2. "Rebirth of the Flesh," never officially released on an album or single (as defined in my polls), but generally regarded as a classic by fans.

3. The original version of "Old Friends 4 Sale," much beloved by Prince fans, at least in comparison with the version on the contractual obligation album of the same name, but never officially released.

4. "Nothing Compares 2 U," first released by The Family, and never released on a Prince album (unless you count "The Hits/The B-Sides," which I don't) but written by Prince.

5. "Nasty Girl," written by Prince for Vanity 6, and released on their album as well as the "Girl 6" soundtrack, neither of which I counted as a Prince album on my album poll.

I think it's plausible that one or more of those five might make it into a final top 25 list. I'm not saying I would necessarily vote all of them in my top 25, but I think they would be contenders. What songs would you nominate?

P.S. If you haven't yet voted in the U.S. Singles poll, please go here and do so:

http://prince.org/msg/7/359981

The album poll (now closed) is here:

http://prince.org/msg/7/357438

Thanks!

Update: I discovered that Prince's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was released as a B-side in the U.S. I've decided to include that song as well as the other bonus tracks on "The Hits/The B-Sides" on the B-sides poll.

[Edited 6/1/11 8:04am]

Some of the ones I would nominate (In addition to yours)

1. Love Thy Will Be Done

2. Manic Monday

3. Get It Up

4. Cool

5. We Can Fuck (1983 version) and We can Funk (1986 version)

6. A Place of Heaven (Never released)

7. All my Dreams

8. Stand Back

9. The Glamorous Life

10. Sister Fate

11. A Love Bizarre

12. Blue Limousine

13. Train

14. Rebirth of the Flesh

Just to name a few

1.The Dance Electric (given to andre cymone)

2. All Day All Night (given to Jill Jones)

3. Open Book

4. Get Blue (think he gave this one away too)

Some good suggestions here. Do you think all of these have the potential to make the top 25 on my final list? To do that, they would have to beat out more than half of the songs he released as A-sides of singles as well as most of his own album tracks. I can see that for a few of these, but there are others I don't even remember hearing (though I probably have at some point).

Hi there,

First of all, I'd like to congratulate electricberet for his polls, wich I follow with great interest.

Regarding this thread, I fully agree with some of the songs already mentioned, especially All My Dreams, A Place In Heaven and A Love Bizarre. I'd like to add three that haven't been mentioned:

- Desire (The Family)

- Mia Bocca (Jill Jones)

- Elephant Box (Ingrid Chavez)

electricberet said:

Some good suggestions here. Do you think all of these have the potential to make the top 25 on my final list? To do that, they would have to beat out more than half of the songs he released as A-sides of singles as well as most of his own album tracks. I can see that for a few of these, but there are others I don't even remember hearing (though I probably have at some point).

the dance electric was a hit for andre, i am pretty sure it can make the top 25. As can All Day All Night

Javi said:

Hi there,

First of all, I'd like to congratulate electricberet for his polls, wich I follow with great interest.

Regarding this thread, I fully agree with some of the songs already mentioned, especially All My Dreams, A Place In Heaven and A Love Bizarre. I'd like to add three that haven't been mentioned:

- Desire (The Family)

- Mia Bocca (Jill Jones)

- Elephant Box (Ingrid Chavez)

Thanks! And thanks for your nominations.

hhhhdmt said:

electricberet said:

Some good suggestions here. Do you think all of these have the potential to make the top 25 on my final list? To do that, they would have to beat out more than half of the songs he released as A-sides of singles as well as most of his own album tracks. I can see that for a few of these, but there are others I don't even remember hearing (though I probably have at some point).

the dance electric was a hit for andre, i am pretty sure it can make the top 25. As can All Day All Night

OK. I'll include those two, but not the other two you nominated. Don't want to make the poll list too long, as it might scare some people off. But I also don't want to miss any serious contenders. Thanks!

Adorecream said:

Some of the ones I would nominate (In addition to yours)

1. Love Thy Will Be Done

2. Manic Monday

3. Get It Up

4. Cool

5. We Can Fuck (1983 version) and We can Funk (1986 version)

6. A Place of Heaven (Never released)

7. All my Dreams

8. Stand Back

9. The Glamorous Life

10. Sister Fate

11. A Love Bizarre

12. Blue Limousine

13. Train

14. Rebirth of the Flesh

Just to name a few

I know there have been threads on the different versions of "We Can Funk/Fuck." I haven't been able to track down the 1983 version (and I'm not asking how to get it). Do you think both versions are circulating widely enough to make the top 25 in the poll? Or just the version on the BOC bootleg? If they both should go on the poll, should they be listed separately?

hhhhdmt said:

1.The Dance Electric (given to andre cymone)

2. All Day All Night (given to Jill Jones)

3. Open Book

4. Get Blue (think he gave this one away too)

I don't think it ever got released, it was recorded by Martika and (maybe) Jevetta Steele but remains unreleased. (I Think)

bigd74 said:

hhhhdmt said:

1.The Dance Electric (given to andre cymone)

2. All Day All Night (given to Jill Jones)

3. Open Book

4. Get Blue (think he gave this one away too)

I don't think it ever got released, it was recorded by Martika and (maybe) Jevetta Steele but remains unreleased. (I Think)

It doesn't have to be released to be included in this poll, as long as there is a version circulating that fans can listen to. I would guess that the songs on widely circulating bootlegs like "Dream Factory" and "Box 'O' Chocolates" are as familiar to orgers as some of the lesser known A-sides, and perhaps more so. However, I think hhhhdmt acknowledged that his first two choices are more likely to make the top 25 in an overall poll of Prince songs. If an unreleased song has only been heard by a small minority of potential voters, then it won't get many votes in the final poll even if it's an amazing song.

1. Stone

2. Act of God

RodeoSchro said:

1. Stone

2. Act of God

"Act of God" will be considered as part of a poll for 20Ten. I don't recall "Stone." I take it that is an unreleased track?

u are right this is a confusing thread .. on one hand i agree that a song as majestic as a love bizarre deserves to ranked among his best songs .. but i place it there partially because i feel that sung by prince it still can have the same impact, where as a song like nothing compares to you is without a doubt a classic and should be a standard in a book of standards by the all time greats, i also dont think prince version or attempts have been that great .. the song is bigger than prince ..

so is it a question of us imagining it sung by prince even if it hasn't been (such as manic monday) or are we to consider it as a great song even if it was made truly great by another performer and prince version is not as good and therefore would not rank in his top 25 competing with songs he actually sang on?

that said i have often wondered what the entire FAMILY record would sound like with prince singing and the other revolution members adding parts .. even as is it rediculously brilliant .. i can easily overlook pauls somewhat underwhelming vocal presence and simply appreciate the essence of the entire project which in my mind was prince love letter to susannah not only in lyric but it reality sharing his music and his world and giving her such amazing music for her to swim in

i would agree that nothing compares 2 u should be up there but i'm not sure how far up if sung by prince .. not saying he couldn't do better than paul peterson but susannah would also have to be on it and the sinead arrangement without the daa da da daa daa would make it more of a contender in my mind .. i really dont care for the rosie duet

screams of passion

river run dry (my fav)

i'd say those 2 would sound great with prince and could condend with some of his bigger hits

its hard to say top 25 there are many stand outs but there are a lot that are tied for 25th place

TrevorAyer said:

u are right this is a confusing thread .. on one hand i agree that a song as majestic as a love bizarre deserves to ranked among his best songs .. but i place it there partially because i feel that sung by prince it still can have the same impact, where as a song like nothing compares to you is without a doubt a classic and should be a standard in a book of standards by the all time greats, i also dont think prince version or attempts have been that great .. the song is bigger than prince ..

so is it a question of us imagining it sung by prince even if it hasn't been (such as manic monday) or are we to consider it as a great song even if it was made truly great by another performer and prince version is not as good and therefore would not rank in his top 25 competing with songs he actually sang on?

that said i have often wondered what the entire FAMILY record would sound like with prince singing and the other revolution members adding parts .. even as is it rediculously brilliant .. i can easily overlook pauls somewhat underwhelming vocal presence and simply appreciate the essence of the entire project which in my mind was prince love letter to susannah not only in lyric but it reality sharing his music and his world and giving her such amazing music for her to swim in

i would agree that nothing compares 2 u should be up there but i'm not sure how far up if sung by prince .. not saying he couldn't do better than paul peterson but susannah would also have to be on it and the sinead arrangement without the daa da da daa daa would make it more of a contender in my mind .. i really dont care for the rosie duet

screams of passion

river run dry (my fav)

i'd say those 2 would sound great with prince and could condend with some of his bigger hits

its hard to say top 25 there are many stand outs but there are a lot that are tied for 25th place

I guess it's hard to define what I'm looking for because different voters would probably use different criteria to evaluate the songs. Some might vote on the songs based on the quality of Prince's own versions, while others might vote based on the best cover version or even an imagined idea of what the song might sound like if it were perfomed by an ideal band. With the U.S. singles polls, and the album-specific polls I'm planning to do, the idea is to compare Prince's versions of the songs. But I think the poll I'm soliciting nominations for here should probably focus on the overall quality of the songs regardless of who performed them, and the same goes for the ultimate poll for the "best of the best."

In any event, your nominations are welcome.

electricberet said:

Adorecream said:

Some of the ones I would nominate (In addition to yours)

1. Love Thy Will Be Done

2. Manic Monday

3. Get It Up

4. Cool

5. We Can Fuck (1983 version) and We can Funk (1986 version)

6. A Place of Heaven (Never released)

7. All my Dreams

8. Stand Back

9. The Glamorous Life

10. Sister Fate

11. A Love Bizarre

12. Blue Limousine

13. Train

14. Rebirth of the Flesh

Just to name a few

I know there have been threads on the different versions of "We Can Funk/Fuck." I haven't been able to track down the 1983 version (and I'm not asking how to get it). Do you think both versions are circulating widely enough to make the top 25 in the poll? Or just the version on the BOC bootleg? If they both should go on the poll, should they be listed separately?

I just heard the 1983 on a bootleg years ago, and have long since lost it, the 86 version only exists on boots as well, so it may be best to scrap it. Still I can say both versions are MUCH better than the 1990 George Clinton and Prince version on GB

Adorecream said:

electricberet said:

I know there have been threads on the different versions of "We Can Funk/Fuck." I haven't been able to track down the 1983 version (and I'm not asking how to get it). Do you think both versions are circulating widely enough to make the top 25 in the poll? Or just the version on the BOC bootleg? If they both should go on the poll, should they be listed separately?

I just heard the 1983 on a bootleg years ago, and have long since lost it, the 86 version only exists on boots as well, so it may be best to scrap it. Still I can say both versions are MUCH better than the 1990 George Clinton and Prince version on GB

I agree that the version on Box 'O' Chocolates (which I think is the 1986 version) blows the released version on GB out of the water, and it's almost a completely different song. I think I should probably list "We Can Funk" on this catchall poll in addition to the GB poll, because people might give it a low ranking in the GB poll due to the inferiority of that version. But I'll just list it once on the catchall poll, since this is about ranking songs and a lot of the songs that will show up in this poll exist in multiple versions.

I forgot one really great song off Crystal Ball and Dream Factory 18 July 1986 (My favourite Prince Bootleg at the moment) and that is "Last Heart", seriously its that good. Crucial and Good Love deserve to go on that list too. Crucial was from the same time as Dream Factory/Sign and Good Love a Camille number was on the Bright Lights Big City Soundtrack.

Adorecream said:

I forgot one really great song off Crystal Ball and Dream Factory 18 July 1986 (My favourite Prince Bootleg at the moment) and that is "Last Heart", seriously its that good. Crucial and Good Love deserve to go on that list too. Crucial was from the same time as Dream Factory/Sign and Good Love a Camille number was on the Bright Lights Big City Soundtrack.

I treated the 1998 Crystal Ball compilation as an official release in my album poll, so that will get its own poll, and the three songs you mention will all be included. It's the songs that were left off the 1998 release that will need to be included in this poll.

Electric Intercourse????

the original we can funk did not have the descending "if wanna go 4 or 5 baby its alright with me" but was still very good without it

the later versions and the graffiti bridge do have the descending ending

which one is better and is more qualified for the prince top 25?

i really like last heart too that one always popped, but does it qualify? ... it was officially released

crystal ball and dream factory are great too if so

DaveG said:

Electric Intercourse????

Good one. I'll add that to the list.

TrevorAyer said:

the original we can funk did not have the descending "if wanna go 4 or 5 baby its alright with me" but was still very good without it

the later versions and the graffiti bridge do have the descending ending

which one is better and is more qualified for the prince top 25?

i really like last heart too that one always popped, but does it qualify? ... it was officially released

crystal ball and dream factory are great too if so

I think that for purposes of the final poll, "We Can Funk" should be listed only once, although it can be listed in both the unofficial/non-Prince poll as well as the GB poll to take into account the multiple versions. Most of these songs, even the ones released as Prince singles, exist in multiple versions (even multiple released versions). It would be possible to do another poll later on just to determine which version of "We Can Funk" is the best, if that would interest folks.

The songs on the Crystal Ball compilation album will get their own poll. I considered that an official release in the album poll.

electricberet said:

RodeoSchro said:

1. Stone

2. Act of God

"Act of God" will be considered as part of a poll for 20Ten. I don't recall "Stone." I take it that is an unreleased track?

Yes.

Adorecream said:

Some of the ones I would nominate (In addition to yours)

1. Love Thy Will Be Done

2. Manic Monday

3. Get It Up

4. Cool

5. We Can Fuck (1983 version) and We can Funk (1986 version)

6. A Place of Heaven (Never released)

7. All my Dreams

8. Stand Back

9. The Glamorous Life

10. Sister Fate

11. A Love Bizarre

12. Blue Limousine

13. Train

14. Rebirth of the Flesh

Just to name a few

Cool and Love Bizarre were never singles????? Wow!

wonder505 said:

Adorecream said:

Some of the ones I would nominate (In addition to yours)

1. Love Thy Will Be Done

2. Manic Monday

3. Get It Up

4. Cool

5. We Can Fuck (1983 version) and We can Funk (1986 version)

6. A Place of Heaven (Never released)

7. All my Dreams

8. Stand Back

9. The Glamorous Life

10. Sister Fate

11. A Love Bizarre

12. Blue Limousine

13. Train

14. Rebirth of the Flesh

Just to name a few

Cool and Love Bizarre were never singles????? Wow!

They were, for The Time and Sheila E. They just weren't released on Prince albums or singles, so they would be missed on my other polls.

[Edited 6/1/11 13:07pm]

Why all the endless polls??

What do u do with the results??

Why haven`t u seen Prince live since Lovesexy??

kookooman73 said:

Why all the endless polls??

What do u do with the results??

Why haven`t u seen Prince live since Lovesexy??

1. Why not?

2. Post them on this forum.

3. Because the last time I had tickets to see him, he cancelled.

Why only U.S albums and singles? Prince albums and singles are 99% the same worldwide.

Just wondering.

[Edited 6/2/11 7:36am]