Javi said:

masbas said:

The cover. The music was a letdown from what he was doing around that time. It is a great album, musically, but like The Rainbow Children, some found the lyrics quite silly and immature.

Silly and immature? People may agree or not with the lyrics in Lovesexy or The Rainbow Children, but I think they aren't precisely that. They are actually more complex and reflective than most of his work, in which you can actually find other examples of "silly and immature" lyrics.

I really liked TRC and I did enjoy LoveSexy, but songs like Dance On and Glam Slam do have pretty silly lyrics. Prince was on a roll with Purple Rain, SOTT, but then LoveSexy threw most for a curveball in the U.S. I believe.

funkomatic said:

Tremolina said:

This more or less explains it all why it worked really well in Europe but not in the USA.

Not true, there's way more funk on Lovesexy (Eye know, 2nd part of Glam Slam, Alphabet St., The fills of "Dance On", Lovesexy, Positivity) than on Purple Rain!

haaaaaaaaaaa!haaahaa! Omg! Lovesexy a funk album???? POP all the way down. Hell, even some songs sound like Stock/Aiken/Waterman stuff, specially Glam Glam

Lovesexy is a late-80's POP album, face it. Eye No, pop; Alphabet St. pop as hell, I wish U Heaven, pure pop, McCartney would be proud...

NouveauDance said:

First off - It was big in the UK and Europe. Like casual fans of a certain age know and remember it, it was a hit here.

There's so many variables to whether something is a hit or not - Prince shoots himself in the foot all the time and Lovesexy is like a textbook case. The cover for starters, I mean we all know this is not going to fly in the US - it is why he does this kind of thing - to cause a stir, and sometimes it shocks in a good way (sales, promo) and sometimes it shocks in a bad way (PRINCE IS GAY!!!! OH NO!!!!) - this was the latter. Female nudity works wonders Male? Not so much.

A big thing is the singles were all wrong, wrong, wrong except Alphabet St. Glam Slam as followup was an even bigger fuck up than IIWYGF or Mountains, I mean really it was such a stupid choice for single #2, and I love the song, don't get me wrong.

yeah, I've always thought that the singles should have been

a) Alphabet St (shorter remix, with a harder sound) and a better video

b) When 2 R in Love (moderate sexual video, moderate sex always sold in the US)

c) Lovesexy (with a clip using footage of the live tour)

anyway Lovesexy was a difficult album to sell, starting with the cover, as you said. But who cares? It was his "big message album" and he succeeded in that department. In many ways, Lovesexy is his TRC off the 80s.

Any american "fan" (ha!) disappointed with LS got that maninstream pop/funk fest called Batman just some months later...

funkomatic said:

Tremolina said:

This more or less explains it all why it worked really well in Europe but not in the USA.

Not true, there's way more funk on Lovesexy (Eye know, 2nd part of Glam Slam, Alphabet St., The fills of "Dance On", Lovesexy, Positivity) than on Purple Rain!

I would say that Lovesexy is perfectly balanced between funk and pop/rock.

JoeTyler said:

NouveauDance said:

First off - It was big in the UK and Europe. Like casual fans of a certain age know and remember it, it was a hit here.

There's so many variables to whether something is a hit or not - Prince shoots himself in the foot all the time and Lovesexy is like a textbook case. The cover for starters, I mean we all know this is not going to fly in the US - it is why he does this kind of thing - to cause a stir, and sometimes it shocks in a good way (sales, promo) and sometimes it shocks in a bad way (PRINCE IS GAY!!!! OH NO!!!!) - this was the latter. Female nudity works wonders Male? Not so much.

A big thing is the singles were all wrong, wrong, wrong except Alphabet St. Glam Slam as followup was an even bigger fuck up than IIWYGF or Mountains, I mean really it was such a stupid choice for single #2, and I love the song, don't get me wrong.

yeah, I've always thought that the singles should have been

a) Alphabet St (shorter remix, with a harder sound) and a better video

b) When 2 R in Love (moderate sexual video, moderate sex always sold in the US)

c) Lovesexy (with a clip using footage of the live tour)

anyway Lovesexy was a difficult album to sell, starting with the cover, as you said. But who cares? It was his "big message album" and he succeeded in that department. In many ways, Lovesexy is his TRC off the 80s.

Any american "fan" (ha!) disappointed with LS got that maninstream pop/funk fest called Batman just some months later...

Those are the three singles that I would have chosen but I think the title track should have been the second single.

SoulAlive said:

JoeTyler said:

yeah, I've always thought that the singles should have been

a) Alphabet St (shorter remix, with a harder sound) and a better video

b) When 2 R in Love (moderate sexual video, moderate sex always sold in the US)

c) Lovesexy (with a clip using footage of the live tour)

anyway Lovesexy was a difficult album to sell, starting with the cover, as you said. But who cares? It was his "big message album" and he succeeded in that department. In many ways, Lovesexy is his TRC off the 80s.

Any american "fan" (ha!) disappointed with LS got that maninstream pop/funk fest called Batman just some months later...

Those are the three singles that I would have chosen but I think the title track should have been the second single.

I woukd do the same thing but then add I Wish U Heaven as the last single

Did anybody say, "because all albums are the same size" yet? I wish I had thought of that sooner.

SoulAlive said:

funkomatic said:

Not true, there's way more funk on Lovesexy (Eye know, 2nd part of Glam Slam, Alphabet St., The fills of "Dance On", Lovesexy, Positivity) than on Purple Rain!

I would say that Lovesexy is perfectly balanced between funk and pop/rock.

Honestly ( no I wasn't really before)

LoveSexy is mostly GOSPEL

Yeah I know most of it sounds like pop/funk/rock, but it is really GOSPEL.

JoeTyler said:

funkomatic said:

Not true, there's way more funk on Lovesexy (Eye know, 2nd part of Glam Slam, Alphabet St., The fills of "Dance On", Lovesexy, Positivity) than on Purple Rain!

haaaaaaaaaaa!haaahaa! Omg! Lovesexy a funk album????

He didn't say that. He said there was more funk on it that Purple Rain and there was.

Tremolina said:

SoulAlive said:

I would say that Lovesexy is perfectly balanced between funk and pop/rock.

Honestly ( no I wasn't really before)

LoveSexy is mostly GOSPEL

Yeah I know most of it sounds like pop/funk/rock, but it is really GOSPEL.

there are gospel elements throughout,but I wouldn't call it a 'gospel album'

Swa said:

Genesia said:

Maybe later. But in 1988, most folks were still buying vinyl. (Actually, it'd be interesting to find out which album really marked the crossover from vinyl to CD. The first Prince CD I bought was Diamonds and Pearls.)

I think a bigger factor was that he was naked on the cover. Trust me - there were a lot of places that sold the album from behind the counter as a result. It wasn't put in the bins with everything else.

I bought the album in 88 an I bought it on CD.

Lovesexy is the last album i bought as LP.

^Yep, the same with me!

remko said:

Swa said:

I bought the album in 88 an I bought it on CD.

Lovesexy is the last album i bought as LP.

Ironically, it was my first Prince cd. I got my first cd player for Christmas in 87, and I got this cd when it dropped.

SoulAlive said:

there are gospel elements throughout,but I wouldn't call it a 'gospel album'

lol I know.. however gospel music doesn't necessarily have to sound like it was recorded with a church choir and a hammond organ. The essence of Gospel is that it is all about God. And LoveSexy is all about God.

SoulAlive said:

there are gospel elements throughout,but I wouldn't call it a 'gospel album'

Me neither. I am not that sensitive to make such recognition. My little brother practically stole the Lovesexy album from me and now he is priest and Doctor of Theology. So you'll never know, which is cause and effect.

[Edited 8/29/11 8:38am]

funkomatic said:

ufoclub said:

This only applies to the U.S.:

I was around at the time of release, getting to be a huge Prince collector (as opposed to a fan) because of the SOTT movie and hearing a cassette Black Album. I was a freshmen/sophomore in college.

It was not just the album cover's fault.I know this because I saw people not getting into the music without ever even seeing the album cover.

And even though MTV and other music video shows played the Alphabet St video, the song was just not produced in a way that was that cool to people's ears. I beleive this because I had overheard people talking about the new songs they liked or disliked, and the response to Prince's track was disinterest to a mild like.

I know that ultimately it was the music's fault because I saw, that summer time after time, when people I knew of all different types (from advertising computer nerds to rock n roll stoners, to frat guys/sorority girls, heard tracks from Lovesexy through me or around me, they expressed disappointment and dislike compared to the older Prince songs they did like. And very often after hearing Black Album tracks, I would get asked by some of the guys (very mainstream guys) for copies of that album, but I never got a request for Lovesexy.

And after the single of Alphabet st? Glam Slam? There's no way that would hit in the States! I had a friend who saw the video ONCE on MTV. I was taping hours of MTV just to catch it, and never got it recorded. It was just not played. And then I wish U Heaven's video got played on BET, not even MTV.

You know why they asked you for copies? Not because of the music, but because of the story surrounding "The black album". It was cool to listen to something which was kind of illegal and not available to everybody. IMO there's no single material on "The black album" that would would have done any better than the one on "Lovesexy".

WRONG. They had no background info on the album at all. They just liked the aggressive sounds and grooves, and LOVED Bob George. Just like many mainstream white frat guys embraced Public Enemy for it's agressive sound just a bit later.

They thought "Lovesexy" sounded "gay" compared to the "Black Album". And I quote. They were just going by the songs they were hearing. No background info. No artwork even. No videos.

Swa said:

Genesia said:

Maybe later. But in 1988, most folks were still buying vinyl. (Actually, it'd be interesting to find out which album really marked the crossover from vinyl to CD. The first Prince CD I bought was Diamonds and Pearls.)

I think a bigger factor was that he was naked on the cover. Trust me - there were a lot of places that sold the album from behind the counter as a result. It wasn't put in the bins with everything else.

I bought the album in 88 an I bought it on CD.

Yeah, well...you Aussies are always one up.

ufoclub said:

funkomatic said:

You know why they asked you for copies? Not because of the music, but because of the story surrounding "The black album". It was cool to listen to something which was kind of illegal and not available to everybody. IMO there's no single material on "The black album" that would would have done any better than the one on "Lovesexy".

WRONG. They had no background info on the album at all. They just liked the aggressive sounds and grooves, and LOVED Bob George. Just like many mainstream white frat guys embraced Public Enemy for it's agressive sound just a bit later.

They thought "Lovesexy" sounded "gay" compared to the "Black Album". And I quote. They were just going by the songs they were hearing. No background info. No artwork even. No videos.

I agree that there is no real 'single material' on the The Black Album and I doubt that it would have done that much better than Lovesexy (commercially).For the most part,neither of these albums seemed to be geared to pop radio.

SoulAlive said:

ufoclub said:

WRONG. They had no background info on the album at all. They just liked the aggressive sounds and grooves, and LOVED Bob George. Just like many mainstream white frat guys embraced Public Enemy for it's agressive sound just a bit later.

They thought "Lovesexy" sounded "gay" compared to the "Black Album". And I quote. They were just going by the songs they were hearing. No background info. No artwork even. No videos.

I agree that there is no real 'single material' on the The Black Album and I doubt that it would have done that much better than Lovesexy (commercially).For the most part,neither of these albums seemed to be geared to pop radio.

Black Album would have started selling like hotcakes just because of something like "Bob George" being so extreme for a mainstream pop artist. I can't tell you how many people liked that track and thought Prince was cool for it back then when I would play it. It was cool for the college crowd in the same way that the track SOTT seemed hard and minimal and funky and too cool for teeny boppers. But this was taking it into underground taboo cultural territory. Compare to Michael Jackson or Madonna or U2 at the time. It was different and addictive for a whole new crowd for Prince. Public Enemy and later NWA unwittingly capitalized on this with the mainstream.

because folks didnt want to be accused of being pedophiles by music store register clerks

ufoclub said:

SoulAlive said:

I agree that there is no real 'single material' on the The Black Album and I doubt that it would have done that much better than Lovesexy (commercially).For the most part,neither of these albums seemed to be geared to pop radio.

Black Album would have started selling like hotcakes just because of something like "Bob George" being so extreme for a mainstream pop artist. I can't tell you how many people liked that track and thought Prince was cool for it back then when I would play it. It was cool for the college crowd in the same way that the track SOTT seemed hard and minimal and funky and too cool for teeny boppers. But this was taking it into underground taboo cultural territory. Compare to Michael Jackson or Madonna or U2 at the time. It was different and addictive for a whole new crowd for Prince. Public Enemy and later NWA unwittingly capitalized on this with the mainstream.

Underground taboo cultural territory? "Bob George" never ever made it on my list of favourite Prince songs. Musically it's much too simple and somewhat unexciting in comparison to strokes of genius like WDC, SOTT or Kiss.

funkomatic said:

ufoclub said:

Black Album would have started selling like hotcakes just because of something like "Bob George" being so extreme for a mainstream pop artist. I can't tell you how many people liked that track and thought Prince was cool for it back then when I would play it. It was cool for the college crowd in the same way that the track SOTT seemed hard and minimal and funky and too cool for teeny boppers. But this was taking it into underground taboo cultural territory. Compare to Michael Jackson or Madonna or U2 at the time. It was different and addictive for a whole new crowd for Prince. Public Enemy and later NWA unwittingly capitalized on this with the mainstream.

Underground taboo cultural territory? "Bob George" never ever made it on my list of favourite Prince songs. Musically it's much too simple and somewhat unexciting in comparison to strokes of genius like WDC, SOTT or Kiss.

All I can say is I observed what I observed. Mainstream male white kids liked what they thought was aggressive, "black", taboo to their parents, and explicit.

And I don't know, I've listened to "Bob George" more than any of those other songs. I think it's more creative. I think it might be his most extreme creative pinnacle so far (alter ego/movie soundtrack narrative over a barebones beat/chord progression, freeform improvised long take guitar, off-key spooky ghost organ chords and scissor snips mixed into the beat towards the end). "Crystal Ball", "Moviestar/Place in Heaven" and "Joy in Repetition" are close too. I think "Bob George" is even more genius than those other songs (and I do think those are pioneering pop masterpieces). I know it helped unlimit my imagination as to what could constitute a track on an album.

rdhull said:

because folks didnt want to be accused of being pedophiles by music store register clerks

Prince does not look that young on the cover in my opinion.

SoulAlive said:

Two reasons....

***the nude album cover----There were many people who were offended by that album cover (especially heterosexual males).It kept many people from getting into this album.

***the wrong singles---"Alphabet St" was a strong first single but the follow up "Glam Slam" was a snoozefest.That song didn't stand a chance on pop radio in 1988.Not surprisingly,it bombed and it also killed the album's momentum.Beginning with Parade,I started to notice a trend.Prince would release a kickass first single,then follow it up with a questionable second single.The title track to Lovesexy was the obvious choice for second single.

I completely agree with everyone who's said this. The title track is one of my all-time favorite Prince songs. It beat out "Glam Slam" in the poll I conducted a few months ago:

http://www.cs.cornell.edu...thm=runoff

If the title track had been released as a single I think it would be recognized as one of his greatest songs by now, whether it was a chart hit or not.

[Edited 9/1/11 0:41am]

ufoclub said:

funkomatic said:

Underground taboo cultural territory? "Bob George" never ever made it on my list of favourite Prince songs. Musically it's much too simple and somewhat unexciting in comparison to strokes of genius like WDC, SOTT or Kiss.

All I can say is I observed what I observed. Mainstream male white kids liked what they thought was aggressive, "black", taboo to their parents, and explicit.

And I don't know, I've listened to "Bob George" more than any of those other songs. I think it's more creative. I think it might be his most extreme creative pinnacle so far (alter ego/movie soundtrack narrative over a barebones beat/chord progression, freeform improvised long take guitar, off-key spooky ghost organ chords and scissor snips mixed into the beat towards the end). "Crystal Ball", "Moviestar/Place in Heaven" and "Joy in Repetition" are close too. I think "Bob George" is even more genius than those other songs (and I do think those are pioneering pop masterpieces). I know it helped unlimit my imagination as to what could constitute a track on an album.

Interesting, because it's not the first time that you appreciate some songs much more than I do. To me "Bob George" is nowhere near as good as Crystall Ball, Movie Star or Joy in Repetition. It's ok, not too good, not too bad, just somewhere in the middle.

funkomatic said:

ufoclub said:

All I can say is I observed what I observed. Mainstream male white kids liked what they thought was aggressive, "black", taboo to their parents, and explicit.

And I don't know, I've listened to "Bob George" more than any of those other songs. I think it's more creative. I think it might be his most extreme creative pinnacle so far (alter ego/movie soundtrack narrative over a barebones beat/chord progression, freeform improvised long take guitar, off-key spooky ghost organ chords and scissor snips mixed into the beat towards the end). "Crystal Ball", "Moviestar/Place in Heaven" and "Joy in Repetition" are close too. I think "Bob George" is even more genius than those other songs (and I do think those are pioneering pop masterpieces). I know it helped unlimit my imagination as to what could constitute a track on an album.

Interesting, because it's not the first time that you appreciate some songs much more than I do. To me "Bob George" is nowhere near as good as Crystall Ball, Movie Star or Joy in Repetition. It's ok, not too good, not too bad, just somewhere in the middle.

Well that might be because I'm a movie fanatic, and Bob George is like a little mini movie.

In the long run, it's run it's course for me. But when the Black Album first came out as a bootleg back in 1988, I was obsessed with listening to those crazy mixes, and above all "Bob George" stood out as something more creative than what any mainstream pop artist was doing at the time. But in the long run, I would get more out of other songs now. But, they are more like normal songs than "Bob George" which is like listening to a little crazy film soundtrack.

Lovesexy is one of my favorite Prince albums if for no other fact that when I am riding on an airplane, I almost always listen to it from A-Z. Very few other Prince albums make me listen from A-Z. Having said that the choice of singles like the album cover left much to be desired. Don't forget, at that time vinal was still widely used and that picture on vinal was much bigger than on a cassette or CD so that made the cover even more of a problem. Don't forget, despite the message of the cover, Prince was known to date for songs like Darling Nikki, Head, Sister, Erotic City, etc. . . . . so to the casual Prince fan and any parent, the cover couldn't be but sexual based on his past history.

I agree too that the 2nd single should have definitely been Lovesexy. That is a song I still long to see him do live again, so much energy and power in that song and it would have made for killer remixes for club music.

Probably what happened, like so many Prince projects, was that he lost interest in the album. One example of that is simply using concert footage for the Glam Slam video and the I Wish U Heaven video was like a cartoon. He had probably moved on even though the tour was still going on.

As far as the tour, it still stands out as his best yet in my opinion. The stage, the choice of music, the theme of bad vs. good, the dancing, the energy onstage, opening with Erotic City, closing the first half with Anastesia on the piano as he ascended high above the stage after the shootout of Bob George, then the second half upbeat Lovesexy material, the killer piano set, a few obligatory Purple Rain songs and then the Alphabet Street Encore with all of them on the T-Bird "riding away" as the concert closed-brilliant. (oh and don't forget the B-ball hoop on stage!).

Having said all that, I still realize that as far as popularity is concerned, a SOTT US tour would have made much more sense as that is probably his best material of the era and the songs lend themselves much more to radio play and access to the average listener. Again, bad choice of singles for SOTT, but still a lot of hits and pop on that album and another great tour.

[Edited 9/1/11 10:01am]

ufoclub said:

funkomatic said:

Interesting, because it's not the first time that you appreciate some songs much more than I do. To me "Bob George" is nowhere near as good as Crystall Ball, Movie Star or Joy in Repetition. It's ok, not too good, not too bad, just somewhere in the middle.

Well that might be because I'm a movie fanatic, and Bob George is like a little mini movie.

In the long run, it's run it's course for me. But when the Black Album first came out as a bootleg back in 1988, I was obsessed with listening to those crazy mixes, and above all "Bob George" stood out as something more creative than what any mainstream pop artist was doing at the time. But in the long run, I would get more out of other songs now. But, they are more like normal songs than "Bob George" which is like listening to a little crazy film soundtrack.

I absolutely love "Bob George." The idea that the narrator bought his girlfriend multiple wigs, but he really wants to see her in the reddish-brown one, is absolutely brilliant. Plus, I love knowing that at some point Prince had to ponder the fact that Bob is a palindrome.

The New York Times wrote an interesting review comparing Lovesexy and the Black Album as an unofficial two-part concept album. Which is how he treated them on the tour.