TylerHippie said:

SquirrelMeat said:

I said it failed to make the top ten because....it failed to make the top ten.

Where did you get the 1 million sales from? Its only certified as gold, which post june 1979 is 500k.

The biggest selling song worldwide in 1979, My Sharona, only sold just over a million, and 22 places below it worldwide sales was The Commordores "Still" which was number one at the time Prince stalled at number 11.

I wanna be your lover sold a healthy amount, but it was not a big hit. Most casual fans won't even know it, but they will know a dozen other Prince songs.

Yeah your right, my bad it did go Gold.

Do you hate I Wanna Be Your Lover or somethig? Because you keep sayig it wasn't a hit when it reached #11 on the Pop Charts. U might as well say "1999" wasn't a hit.

No, I don't hate it, but I suppose I look at it more from the view worldwide, and in particular, my country. 1999 went to number 2, I wanna be your lover failed to chart. 1999 is regarded as a classic accross Europe. I wanna be your lover is barely known.

SquirrelMeat said:

TylerHippie said:

Yeah your right, my bad it did go Gold.

Do you hate I Wanna Be Your Lover or somethig? Because you keep sayig it wasn't a hit when it reached #11 on the Pop Charts. U might as well say "1999" wasn't a hit.

No, I don't hate it, but I suppose I look at it more from the view worldwide, and in particular, my country. 1999 went to number 2, I wanna be your lover failed to chart. 1999 is regarded as a classic accross Europe. I wanna be your lover is barely known.

Well you can't tell me or any other person who lives in america that "I Wanna Be Your Lover" wasn't a hit. I'm not tryig to sound harsh.

It's not right for you to say another song wasn't a hit because it did not chart in the top ten in your country or another.

[Edited 7/26/11 9:44am]

TylerHippie said:

SquirrelMeat said:

No, I don't hate it, but I suppose I look at it more from the view worldwide, and in particular, my country. 1999 went to number 2, I wanna be your lover failed to chart. 1999 is regarded as a classic accross Europe. I wanna be your lover is barely known.

Well you can't tell me or any other person who lives in america that "I Wanna Be Your Lover" wasn't a hit. I'm not tryig to sound harsh.

It's not right for you to say another song wasn't a hit because it did not chart in the top ten in your country or another.

[Edited 7/26/11 9:44am]

I'm sure there are many Americans who would argue that only a top ten spot could be deemed a big hit. If you lined up 1000 casual fans in the US and asked them to call Princes biggest hit, I wanna be your lover or Little red corvette I think you would get a landslide.

Besides, the thread didn't ask specifically about the US. Worldwide, I wanna be your lover was not a hit in comparison to a lot of other Prince singles.

Your original point was to to compare it as a hit against the likes of lesser hits like Alphabet St, Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette. Worldwide, all of those songs out sold I wanna be your lover. They were also top ten hits in both the US and most of the world.

The charts were a very different animal that they are now. The single was king, and top ten hits counted.

SquirrelMeat said:

TylerHippie said:

Well you can't tell me or any other person who lives in america that "I Wanna Be Your Lover" wasn't a hit. I'm not tryig to sound harsh.

It's not right for you to say another song wasn't a hit because it did not chart in the top ten in your country or another.

[Edited 7/26/11 9:44am]

I'm sure there are many Americans who would argue that only a top ten spot could be deemed a big hit. If you lined up 1000 casual fans in the US and asked them to call Princes biggest hit, I wanna be your lover or Little red corvette I think you would get a landslide.

Besides, the thread didn't ask specifically about the US. Worldwide, I wanna be your lover was not a hit in comparison to a lot of other Prince singles.

Your original point was to to compare it as a hit against the likes of lesser hits like Alphabet St, Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette. Worldwide, all of those songs out sold I wanna be your lover. They were also top ten hits in both the US and most of the world.

The charts were a very different animal that they are now. The single was king, and top ten hits counted.

So to Americans,"1999","Get Off","Partyman" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" wasn't hits?

Of course people are going to take Little Red Corvette over I Wann Be Your Lover because it's a better overall song, that doesn't mean I Wanna Be Your Lover isn't a hit.

My original point of this thread was asking people what single you thought should've sold more? Example, "I Would Die 4 U" was a hit, and it should've gone Gold.

when 2 r in love.....oh by the way i wanna be your lover still gets played here pretty regular on our rb station,hou tx

SquirrelMeat said:

TylerHippie said:

Well you can't tell me or any other person who lives in america that "I Wanna Be Your Lover" wasn't a hit. I'm not tryig to sound harsh.

It's not right for you to say another song wasn't a hit because it did not chart in the top ten in your country or another.

[Edited 7/26/11 9:44am]

I'm sure there are many Americans who would argue that only a top ten spot could be deemed a big hit. If you lined up 1000 casual fans in the US and asked them to call Princes biggest hit, I wanna be your lover or Little red corvette I think you would get a landslide.

Besides, the thread didn't ask specifically about the US. Worldwide, I wanna be your lover was not a hit in comparison to a lot of other Prince singles.

Your original point was to to compare it as a hit against the likes of lesser hits like Alphabet St, Raspberry Beret and Little Red Corvette. Worldwide, all of those songs out sold I wanna be your lover. They were also top ten hits in both the US and most of the world.

The charts were a very different animal that they are now. The single was king, and top ten hits counted.

In the R&B radio stations and in the black community I Wanna Be Your Lover was HUGE.

That's how I remember it. I don't know about white radio because I grew up in a neighborhood where we "didn't listen that mess". Back then times were different and the radio stations were just as segregated as the neighborhoods were.... but he made it on to be interviewed by Dick Clark with that same single and I remember folks digging that song. I was a kid then and all the kids in my school black and white sang that one. That was a MAJOR accomplishment back then for any artist to do. Prince did that damn thing with that single.

Back then people like Teena Marie, Hall & Oats, Kenny Rodgers and Micheal Jackson were breaking all kinds of new ground. Well.... that's how I remember it... that's why Prince was special to me.

As for the topic, Anotherloverholeinyourhead, Mountains, Adore, 17Days, Dorothy Parker... all should have been huge hits... I don't even think they were singles, just B-sides.

Hands down If I Was Your Girlfriend" because music like that wasn't or isn't even today heard and appreciated and had a deeper meaning than the title suggested. just my 2 pennies

paintedlady said:

In the R&B radio stations and in the black community I Wanna Be Your Lover was HUGE.

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

SquirrelMeat said:

paintedlady said:

In the R&B radio stations and in the black community I Wanna Be Your Lover was HUGE.

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

Plain amd simple, it wasn't a hit in your country or anywhere else but to America and New Zealand( It was #2).

And in America, I Wanna Be Your Lover outsold Little Red Corvette.

SquirrelMeat said:

paintedlady said:

In the R&B radio stations and in the black community I Wanna Be Your Lover was HUGE.

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

OMG that damn song was everywhere! It was so overplayed.... I hated that song. Loved the video though. Prince FINALLY learned how to dance for that video.

We were like Prince got moves now! Check him out!

I Wish U Heaven was killer. I don't know what was wrong with people - that single should sold millions upon millions. It is fantastic! One of his best.

17 Days

Alphabet Street

Singles that should have sold less:

Partyman -- just crap!

HotGritz said:

I Wish U Heaven was killer. I don't know what was wrong with people - that single should sold millions upon millions. It is fantastic! One of his best.

I agree.I was surprised that this song didn't make much of an impact.Prince killed the momentum of this album by releasing a lame second single ("Glam Slam") but I was hoping that "I Wish U Heaven" would turn things around.

HotGritz said:

I Wish U Heaven was killer. I don't know what was wrong with people - that single should sold millions upon millions. It is fantastic! One of his best.

17 Days

Alphabet Street

Singles that should have sold less:

Partyman -- just crap!

It sure was!!! Love that song... I think America just didn't appreciate that gem like it should have been.

vgjelec said:

definitly GOLD

If you're serious, I agree! He opened with Gold tonight at Ahoy Rotterdam and it's such a great song. First time I heard it live.

HotGritz said:

Singles that should have sold less:

Partyman -- just crap!

What the fcuk!!!!!!!!

SquirrelMeat said:

paintedlady said:

In the R&B radio stations and in the black community I Wanna Be Your Lover was HUGE.

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

R&B is not mainstream? O are you implying that R&B's impact is not as important as your concept of mainstream? Sounds a little elitist to me.

kok said:

SquirrelMeat said:

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

R&B is not mainstream? O are you implying that R&B's impact is not as important as your concept of mainstream? Sounds a little elitist to me.

No! Its not my concept . R&B as in the R&B charts. Its an official chart, along with Metal, Alternative etc.

Mainstream and crossover are terms for songs that make it out of the charts above and into the hot 100. And its when you end up selling a hell of a lot more.

A lot of songs make it to mumber one in their smaller specific genre, but don't make the same impact on the hot 100. In the case of late 79, Prince made it to the top of the R&B, but didn't make top 10 on the pop. But bigs hits like Le Freak, Still and Bad Girls made it to number one on both. Crossover hits that end up shifting serious volume.

The biggest problem with the whole US music system is that it can be elitist, and can be controlled by the record companies too easily. Faceless nobody's decide what genre a song is and allow radio play (which can be controlled with money) to influence the charts.

TylerHippie said:

SquirrelMeat said:

It was. It was number one on the R&B.

But it wasn't a huge mainstream hit. It missed out on the top 10. And it certainly didn't outsell Little Red Corvette as suggested in the thread opener.

Plain amd simple, it wasn't a hit in your country or anywhere else but to America and New Zealand( It was #2).

And in America, I Wanna Be Your Lover outsold Little Red Corvette.

Plain and simple your thread opener didn't specify you wanted to discuss US sales only. So if you do want to exlude the sales elsewhere, I suggest you edit the text to state it, otherwise its misleading at best.

Besides, Where did you get the sales data? Please don't say wiki, the Prince info on there is WAY out.

renfield said:

daPrettyman said:

I remember hearing it on radio in my area, but not much.

I don't understand why it wasn't bigger, especially after following "U Got The Look." Pop radio should have been ready for another Prince hit. Maybe WB was through marketing the project by that time. After all, it was almost a year later that ICNTTPOYM was released.

It was successful, reaching number 10 on the pop chart in 1988. It could have been bigger, but you have to remember that it was the 4th single from SOTT, plus Prince was ready to drop Alphabet St. WB didn't want to make a big push for ICNTTPOYM since they were about to start the promo for his next album.

Which sort of justifies their claims he was releasing too much too quickly. If they could have had a solid year and a half to two years to market SOTT it could have been so much bigger!

I agree with Warners.SOTT is the type of album that could have lasted over a year.It was filled with so many strong potential singles.But Prince was already "done" with the album by December 1987,when he was planning to release The Black Album.One of the Warner execs also said that the concert film was released at the wrong time.Warners felt that a concert film would do better in the spring or summertime,and they were right.That's why the film was independently distrbuted.Warners knew that it wouldn't do well in a month like November when movie studios release alot of big-budget films in time for the holidays,so they passed on it.

Black Sweat was a really solid single, I think it could have really made a big impact on Prince's recent career if it had been heavily pushed. Great song, great video. He hasn't put out a single as good as that in a long long time.

fishwillbite said:

Black Sweat was a really solid single, I think it could have really made a big impact on Prince's recent career if it had been heavily pushed. Great song, great video. He hasn't put out a single as good as that in a long long time.

Agreed. I think it was the most solid potential hit of the last 15 years.

SquirrelMeat said:

fishwillbite said:

Black Sweat was a really solid single, I think it could have really made a big impact on Prince's recent career if it had been heavily pushed. Great song, great video. He hasn't put out a single as good as that in a long long time.

Agreed. I think it was the most solid potential hit of the last 15 years.

I agree also. Black Sweat has a crazy musical arrangement is cool, humorous and is incredibly hot. Fierce dance beats. I always believed lack of concert support, the need for more radio and video support was a major factor in the songs not recieving the world wide acculodes it deserved. The lack of contunity in promotion from the record lable also was a contributing factor. The song was sizzling hot and should have conquered all the charts, including, the "mainstream" R&B and pop and the rest of the world covering all genres, places in and outside the US. now...does that cover everbody and everywhere?

SquirrelMeat said:

kok said:

R&B is not mainstream? O are you implying that R&B's impact is not as important as your concept of mainstream? Sounds a little elitist to me.

No! Its not my concept . R&B as in the R&B charts. Its an official chart, along with Metal, Alternative etc.

Mainstream and crossover are terms for songs that make it out of the charts above and into the hot 100. And its when you end up selling a hell of a lot more.

A lot of songs make it to mumber one in their smaller specific genre, but don't make the same impact on the hot 100. In the case of late 79, Prince made it to the top of the R&B, but didn't make top 10 on the pop. But bigs hits like Le Freak, Still and Bad Girls made it to number one on both. Crossover hits that end up shifting serious volume.

The biggest problem with the whole US music system is that it can be elitist, and can be controlled by the record companies too easily. Faceless nobody's decide what genre a song is and allow radio play (which can be controlled with money) to influence the charts.

of course I know you mean the R&B charts...are you joking!?! ... I just don't agree in your assessment that those charts are the criteria for a songs' success and a true determination of it's reorganization factor. Whether a song, person, place or thing ,is crosses over, unto another form of self imposed elitism, is irreverent. How that song impacts that culture and the people with-in it, is the determination for it's success and reconiziton factor. The record company had so many problems trying to label Prince and trying to keep him in one genre or another that his music, no matter, how often he released it, was not properly promoted because...Prince can not be categorized. He has a world feel from record to record and he releases them as he feels them. Now, it may be popular to avoiding being pigeon holed to one list (pop, R&B, urban, jazz, country, etc) but Prince , was always ahead of the game, smarter than the average bear, he was a beast in creating all kinds of music it all and the record labels could neither control him or his creativity so many times they didn't support some of his best work instead of just releasing it,embracing it and allowing the listener to make the decision for themselves. As you know, so of Prince's most popular songs, were never released as a single and many times not even given full concert support, but remains the bomb (Joy in Repetition, Adore, Why Don't You Call Me Anymore?, Ballard of Dorothy Parker, Sometimes It Snows In April, Beautiful One and recently, Lay It Down, which was never released in the US but took on a life of it's own in the NBA play-offs). I guess I am tired of elitist and separation of music by black artists and even someone like MJ and Prince had to still fight for their space and finally had to take it by force out of their pure creativity. "Your Gift Will Make Room For You", always. So yeah, of course, I knew you meant R&B was a category. I love and embrace it but no body has the right to place the music in any category but the artist who created it....everything else is elitist and another form of musical isolation and separation . Another way to try to manipulate and control the artist but exploit their talents. That's why so many artists, in today's market, are trying to emulate Prince in his approach to marketing, PR, mechanising, concert promotion and implementation...even those who laughed at him had to recognize from his use of the Internet to sale music to his ability to announce concerts with in a relative short period of time and still nearly or almost sell-out in days....come on now...let's stop being divided over music especially O( > and just embrace it In or out of the US...talk about what you like or dislike but not where it was popular or to what the musical industry's definition of what is successful...if you love it O( > achieved his goal ....I'm just saying...

Please let's not talk about pop and R&B...

Anyways, I was shocked "Black Sweat" wasn't a bigger charted hit than it was since it definitely screamed "CHART COMEBACK", not in the way of Musicology (the album) but still.

nusole said:

when 2 r in love.....

was that song ever released as a single?

SoulAlive said:

nusole said:

when 2 r in love.....

was that song ever released as a single?

Nope.

Timmy84 said:

SoulAlive said:

was that song ever released as a single?

Nope.

I didn't think so

SoulAlive said:

Timmy84 said:

Nope.

I didn't think so

How long did he promote that album anyway? Six weeks?

colin murray (a big prince fan) a dj on radio 1 played black sweat even though it wasn't on the playlist. he said if enough people phoned in with positive comments he would keep playing it. the audience derided it and it wasn't played again. i'd be massively surprised if prince had another big hit in the uk.

Timmy84 said:

SoulAlive said:

was that song ever released as a single?

Nope.

There was a video, though. It was all black. I remember Beavis and Butthead making fun of it.