"Housequake" is definately another single he should've released. Pure party track, and a great one at that. I say Top 20.

RRA said:

"Housequake" is definately another single he should've released. Pure party track, and a great one at that. I say Top 20.

The camille voice and the sparse production are much less "radio friendly" than starfish and coffee, imho. housequake was sooo different from all the stuff that was played on the radio in the 80ies.

"Housequake" would have been a smash hit on the R&B charts.It would have easily went to Number One on that chart.Our local R&B station played it like crazy and it got a tremendous response.It was the summer of '87 funk anthem in my area.

It would have been less successful on the pop charts,but I think it would have had much more appeal than "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

yes, these would have been successful singles:

Housequake, super funky track

Strange Relationship, excellent pop funk and excellent lyrics too imo

The Cross, maybe the greatest Prince rock song ever?

Adore, well it was included on The Hits that tells it all, should have been a single, a crime it wasn't

there's so many hit songs on the Sign.. album.

And yes, I agree Starfish & Coffee would have been a top 10 pop hit.

thedance said:

yes, these would have been successful singles:

Housequake, super funky track

Strange Relationship, excellent pop funk and excellent lyrics too imo

The Cross, maybe the greatest Prince rock song ever?

Adore, well it was included on The Hits that tells it all, should have been a single, a crime it wasn't

there's so many hit songs on the Sign.. album.

And yes, I agree Starfish & Coffee would have been a top 10 pop hit.

Starfish & Coffee, Strange Relationships, Adore are 3 that I believe would have been very good singles and would have had a wide audience appeal.

Strange Relationships just feels good, there is not a studio or live version i don't like

My nod for an additional single would have been Play in the Sunshine. Infectious and catchy. Starfish and Coffee would have done okay

V10LETBLUES said:

SoulAlive said:

This is not a good pick for a single the title alone is too odd for pop radio and listeners would have been very confused.Furthermore,the song isn't all that great.

"If I Was Your Girlfriend" wasn't a good choice for a single,either.Not surprisingly,it bombed big time.Notice that the next single (the catchy,radio-friendly "U Got The Look") got all the way to Number Two on the charts.

"Dont Worry be Happy" was a hit.

I rest my case.

It's also become a joke. Wider exposure for Starfish & Coffee probably would have met with a lot of ridicule shortly after it peaked on the charts, the same way that Batdance and some other corny, but cool stuff by Prince and other artists have. You can bet, with its lyrics, it would be topping "worst songs of all time lists".

It works perfectly as a quirky, fun, lighthearted album track. But it's not one you want to shine the spotlight on too brightly.

CUTE!

"Sign O The Times", "U Got The Look" and "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" were perfect single picks.

"If I Was Your Girlfriend" was not, imo.

"Starfish and Coffee" would've charted better than "If I Was Your Girlfriend", I think, but I think "Adore" would've done better than either.

"Strange Relationship" is good, but I don't see it as that spectacular to chart real high.

"Housequake" would not go over well with non-fans. Never has in my experience.

What about It's Gonna be A Beautiful Night ??? That would have charted well in my opinion..

Chas said:

Ya think Prince is somewhere giggling that people are arguing over whether a song should've been a single 26 years after he recorded it?

I hope so!!!

errant said:

V10LETBLUES said:

"Dont Worry be Happy" was a hit.

I rest my case.

It's also become a joke. Wider exposure for Starfish & Coffee probably would have met with a lot of ridicule shortly after it peaked on the charts, the same way that Batdance and some other corny, but cool stuff by Prince and other artists have. You can bet, with its lyrics, it would be topping "worst songs of all time lists".

It works perfectly as a quirky, fun, lighthearted album track. But it's not one you want to shine the spotlight on too brightly.

I agree,and I'm surprised that so many people on this site think it would have been a surefire hit The song has a weird title and an odd subject matter.I just don't think that pop radio would have embraced it in 1987 or 88.Like you said,it works as a quirky,lighthearted album track but it is not 'Top 10 material'.People have to keep in mind that,singles must be the songs that have the most mainstream appeal.These songs have to appeal to people outside of Prince's regular fanbase."Starfish and Coffee" is one of those 'fan favorite'-type songs that the mainstream would have ignored (the same applies to IIWYG).

WinterIsComing said:

I LOOOOOVE star fish and coffee. I'm a little divided on its single chances. Sometimes quirky singles work. Starfish has an incredible catchy melody that anyone could sing along to. However, the second verse of the song is where it really gets weird (in terms of pop radio). But it also would have gotten people talking. You would have heard alot of "what the hell is starfish and coffee mean lol.

If you set your mind free maybe you'll understand.

Love the song along with Dorothy Parker but didn't think any of them should have been released as singles. My biggest question is about Adore. Why didn't he release that song as a single? With the airplay it got that would've been the albums biggest selling hit.

SoulAlive said:

"Housequake" would have been a smash hit on the R&B charts.It would have easily went to Number One on that chart.Our local R&B station played it like crazy and it got a tremendous response.It was the summer of '87 funk anthem in my area.

It would have been less successful on the pop charts,but I think it would have had much more appeal than "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

I remember Housequake being huge in Chicago that year...it should've been a single as Adore, Strange Relationship, and Forever in my Life should've been as well. All would've done well. If he had patience and toured the states SOTTs could've been a sizable hit album. But he threw his little hissy fit about Crystal Ball, and the rest is history. Starfish & Coffee while being a very cute quirky little tune, I don't think would've fit on 87 radio.

Looking @ the charts in 1987, hard drums playing/machines were prominent.

I think the backmasking(or whatever you call it) would leave a lot of listeners in a pause, despite the song having a great hook.

I'm on the same page as SoulAlive, I think Housequake as the 2nd single would've put SOTT's down in the charts, at least in the States, hell, it was faithful to the James Brown sound's revival going on back then.

[Edited 1/26/12 14:38pm]

thedance said:

yes, these would have been successful singles:

Housequake, super funky track

Strange Relationship, excellent pop funk and excellent lyrics too imo

The Cross, maybe the greatest Prince rock song ever?

Adore, well it was included on The Hits that tells it all, should have been a single, a crime it wasn't

there's so many hit songs on the Sign.. album.

And yes, I agree Starfish & Coffee would have been a top 10 pop hit.

Completly agree ^. Also Play in the sunshine is really great. Strange relationship and The cross are soooooo underrated. Love Love Love this album!!!!

stillwaiting said:

funny how one of the most critically acclaimed works he has done is owned by so few.

Doesn't this usually mean stuff that very few people buy or like? The music critics don't like tends to be the bigger selling and mainstream popular acts.

SOTT is full of single worthy songs .. couldnt release em all as singles

mysterymum said:

thedance said:

yes, these would have been successful singles:

Housequake, super funky track

Strange Relationship, excellent pop funk and excellent lyrics too imo

The Cross, maybe the greatest Prince rock song ever?

Adore, well it was included on The Hits that tells it all, should have been a single, a crime it wasn't

there's so many hit songs on the Sign.. album.

And yes, I agree Starfish & Coffee would have been a top 10 pop hit.

Completly agree ^. Also Play in the sunshine is really great. Strange relationship and The cross are soooooo underrated. Love Love Love this album!!!!

play in the sunshine .. the album version didnt have good enough production to be a worthy single .... but THE CROSS woulda been a nice single an woulda got interest of NONE PRINCE fans ..

beestonpoet1981 said:

mysterymum said:

Completly agree ^. Also Play in the sunshine is really great. Strange relationship and The cross are soooooo underrated. Love Love Love this album!!!!

play in the sunshine .. the album version didnt have good enough production to be a worthy single .... but THE CROSS woulda been a nice single an woulda got interest of NONE PRINCE fans ..

housequake,play,ballad,strange = demos .. not single material

the live versions were way better