Prince f'ed up the singles here...BIGTIME

Betcha By Golly Wow

The Holy River

Somebody's Somebody

then no more?!?!?!

what do you think would have been a better list of releases from the album?

this album deserved to be a bigger hit then it was and (damn, is it really

over 15 years old?)

here's my take

1-Emancipation w/ bside Sex in the Summer

start off funky and doesn't hurt to have the album title in the first single

plus the news back then was how he had "freed" himself from WB

2-Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife w b-side Let's Have a Baby

gorgeous ballad, his wedding song i believe

3-In this bed eye scream w/ bside Sleep Around

probably would have been biggest hit from the album

4-Soul Sanctuary w/bside One Kiss At a Time

pure wonder here.

i might have even done a "club only" release of New World/Human Body.

this could have been a multiplatinum record with better singles!

whatcha think?

"Then no more.."

You are aware that EMI in the US went down and closed in the middle of the campaign to Emancipation..?

There might have been more singles if this did not happen.

Also the child tragedy, of course Prince wasn't into promotion, (even tho he actually did a lot of it, together with Mayte).

To answer the question,

I think the single choices were actually ok:

Betcha By Golly Wow

The Holy River

Face Down

thedance said:

"Then no more.."

You are aware that EMI in the US went down and closed in the middle of the campaign to Emancipation..?

wasn't aware of that no.

but still couldn't disagree with you more. those singles were bad

choices. especially with the first single being a cover, and a crappy one at that.

"Betcha By Golly Wow" was adressed to Mayte right, a beautiful (cover) song from Prince to her, showing how much he loved her at that time, I think it was very touching, both the lyrics and the music. Sweet.

The video was good as well, showing the pregnant Mayte at the hospital... if that tragedy had not happened it would had been a good beginning to promote the album, unfortunately they lost their child, sad..

I still think Betcha By Golly Wow was great pop, very sweet, there's something "universal" about that song. I have very fond memories to it. However I was hugely disappointed with the rest of the album when it was released, even tho I have learned to appreciate it, despite the plastic production.

Beautiful song & lyrics. I don't get why so many dislikes it.

Betcha By Golly Wow!

There's a spark of magic in your eyes
Candyland appears each time U smile
Never thought that fairy tales came true
But they come true when I'm near U
U're a genie in disguise
Full of wonder and surprise and...

Betcha by golly wow! (wow!) (wow!)
U're the one that I've been waiting 4 4ever
And ever will my love 4 U keep growing strong
Keep growing strong

If I could, I'd catch a falling star
2 shine on U so I know where U are
Paint a rainbow in your favorite shade
2 show I love U, thinking of U

Write your name across the sky
Anything U ask, I'll try cuz...

Betcha by golly wow! (wow!) (wow!)
U're the one that I've been waiting 4 4ever
And ever will my love 4 U keep growing strong
Keep growing strong

Betcha by golly!
U're the one, yes U are! (Don't U let 'em tell U otherwise)
And ever will my love 4 U keep growing strong!

Baby, sometime
A man can't find words 2 express all the things he feels inside
But every just so often
The words of another who's truly in love seem 2 work out fine

2 say I love U (I love U)
2 say I'm thinking of U!

Betcha by golly wow! (wow!) (wow!)
U're the one that I've been waiting 4 4ever
And ever will my love 4 U keep growing strong
Keep growing strong

U're the one I'm thinking of, thinkin' of
Ever will my...
And ever will my love 4 U keep growing strong
Keep growing strong

I love U, baby

thedance said:

Beautiful song & lyrics. I don't get why so many dislikes it.

not so much dislike as a bad choice for a first single.

i.e. here's prince celebrating his "freedom" from WB, puts 3 hours of music

together and his first single is.........(drum roll)

a lame ass cover....(sound of album imploding)

i hear you all on the tragedy surrounding Prince's child and his unwillingness to promote

in general. i'm just saying trade those 3 singles with some other choices and that album

wouldn't have ended up in the bargain box for $5.

Why Emancipation failed?

He chose EMI.

EMI nothing. Put it on again and you will hear why. I tried to listen to it recently and it more atrocious that I ever remembered. Just a terrible terrible mess of project. Unlistenable.

it's sterile; the whole album is too slick and plastic. there is some good material there but most of it has no spark

I think the price had a lot to do with it, too. I think it was around 40 bucks when it 1st came out.

I personally Love Love LOVE THE album. It is one of my favorites (I have 5 copies ). I would only remove my least fave tracks .... such as

disk 1... We gets Up / Damned If I do

disk 2 .. Love it as is

disk 3... da,da,da

Other than that I LOVE THIS Project.

For singles.... lol oh wow i'd pick alot of them lol

NoVideo said:

Let's look at this, shall we?

Diamonds & Pears : 4 top 10 hits (2 #1s), and the most albums sold since batman.

: 2 top 10 hits, media recognition, and airplay as well as MTV and Arsenio spot.

Come: ignored

Gold Experience: ignored

Emancipation: heavy self-promotion and even appearances on Oprah, Rosie, Good Morning America, etc..... but only moderate sucesss.

are you seeing it? Yes, that's right.... Tony M. is missing in the failures, but an ingrediant in the sucesses.

Prinice needs Tony M. back desperately.

^^Lol on the lack of Tony.

The music was good but production could have been a lot better (Think producing it in the sound of SOTT). I agree the cd is to sterile in sound.

does prince purposefully release the worst singles? he seems to do it way too often

face down. b side betcha by golly wow

somebodys somebody

the love we make

soul sanctuary

The singles from this album were lackluster choices.

"Sleep Around" should have been the first single,accompanied by an excellent,well-choreographed video.It's a fun,catchy,danceable tune.It would have even done well in the clubs.

Follow-up singles should have been "Sex In The Summer","Get Yo Groove On" and possibly "One Kiss At A Time".

I don't care about the albums commercial merit, I enjoy the musicianship thoroughly.

Can't believe the love for sleep around, one of the worst on the whole set for me!

uuhson said:

does prince purposely release the worst singles? he seems to do it way too often

he nearly ruined the commercial success of some of his albums,by picking the wrong singles.

uuhson said:

does prince purposefully release the worst singles? he seems to do it way too often

I remember when he was on some radio station early in the morning promoting Musicology, and they asked him which track he'd like them to play, and he [Prince] thought about it for a moment then responded with "Call my Name"..... WTF

TheEnglishGent said:

Can't believe the love for sleep around, one of the worst on the whole set for me!

I really hate that track.

It sounds like something you'd hear in Vegas.

I think if you put all the answers in this thread together, you'd be pretty spot on.

It wasn't just one thing, it was a whole host of circumstances that added up.

imago said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Can't believe the love for sleep around, one of the worst on the whole set for me!

I really hate that track.

It sounds like something you'd hear in Vegas.

The important thing about picking singles is....you wanna choose songs that have mass appeal and not just songs that are "fan favorites" I think "Sleep Around" would have appealed to many people outside of Prince's regular fanbase.

I had a little to do with EMI in the Uk at the time of Emancipation and the other factor no one has mentioned yet is Prince's intransigency. EMI UK were happy with Bethcha as a first sngle, mainly because they had a Top of the Pops exclusive to come from Prince which had promised songs other than Betcha from Prince. When Top of the Pops turned up he gave them a 'to camera' version of Betcha and nowt else. EMI UK were perplexed. Discussions occured re various other singles from Emancipation including ideas such as trying to get Jam and Lewis to remix a song (they were still relevant and it may have been my idea), pushing songs like Joint 2 Joint or The Human Body... and all were smiled upon... the only problem appeared to be that Prince had a grand plan. This was fine and dandy up until Prince stopped having a grand plan and his interest waned and he moved on and that's when Emancipation failed.

In truth, if Emancipation had been composed of songs he had recorded that month it maight have worked. It wasn't Prince was bored of the songs and he moved on.

jackmitz said:

How are you defining "failure"? Creatively? Financially? Personally, 'Emancipation' is fucking brilliant. 3 discs, with MAYBE five stinkers? To me, that's a success.

Financially.

He was obviously trying for a big commercial hit here, given the material, and his

number of appearances to promote the album.

proofs in the pudding though. and singles are ultimately what get people, beyond the fan base,

to buy the album.

here are the results for the singles.

Betcha by Golly Wow!" (#31 U.S. Airplay, #10 US R&B Airplay, #11 UK, #20 Australia)

"The Holy River" (UK CD 1) (#58 US Airplay, #19 UK)

Somebody's Somebody" (Promo CD) (#15 US R&B Airplay, #19 UK)

btw, 2 of the 5 stinkers for me are BBW and holy river.

BoySimon said:

It wasn't Prince was bored of the songs and he moved on.

thanks for all that info. and ultimately, your last line probably says it all.

did he play maybe one or two of the songs in the "Jam of the Year' tour?

imago said:

Prinice needs Tony M. back desperately.

YEs!!!