I was in my bedroom switching stations to keep listening for the new release I kept reading bout that was coming soon.When I heard it and it was already in the middle of the song and I thought,"hmm,what the hell is this?" and then after it ended they said it was Prince. I was like,"What is that crap?Where's the heavy 1999 like synth?What is When Doves Cry" etc. WDC was never talked about as a song for inclusion that was reported in Right On and other magazines discussing Princes upcoming movie. I was very shocked at the turn his music went. I was expecting Purple Rain to be the single and it was to sound like 1999-continuation.Oh yeah, it was very hot that day.

That Was the song That Made Me Become a Prince Fan!

I Was At my house, And then I just Said "TODAYS MUSIC IS CRAP!!! IM GOING TO HEAR SOMETHING CALLED REAL MUSIC!!"

And I was Going to Download Some music Of Ray Charles, But I Saw a Picture Of Prince and He was Sexier...

By the way, that night I Realized that YouTube + Prince = Not Good Fellas

In the car. I was probably in second grade. One of the first Prince songs I heard next to Kiss.

Watching the World Premiere of the clip on MTV, May something 1984. I was so excited for a week waiting for this to air. After I scraped my jaw off the floor, I went the the mall and bought the purple vinyl 45. I played it, then flipped it over and my jaw dropped again upon hearing 17 Days.

Seriously, this was life shaping music. I knew at the time I was hearing something that was so different and yet so inevitable it was bound to sell millions.

Mmm, it's not exactly a world changing event (at least for me) like the shooting of JFK, or 9/11.

Let me think now......................................

..............................Mmm...............................

...........................................................................

......................................................................No! Can't remember. Sorry.

This song/video is what made me literally fall in love with Prince back in June of 84. I was sitting on my bed "greasing" my friends scalp, when this video came on MTV. I heard the intro and then I saw him sitting in that tub, OMG, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. And for some reason, the outfit/hat and him coming down that spiral staircase just did it for me, I thought this man was the finest thing my teenage eyes had ever seen. Even though I knew who he was before WDC came out, it was this song/video that made me lose my mind and just pushed MJ to the back burner. So needless to say, WDC rocks!!!!!!

i was in the toilet doing a shit

Haven't a clue.

I was a High School sophmore at Horace Mann High in Gary Indiana. I was in the living room of my childhood home waiting impatienty for it to be PREMIERED on WGCI in Chicago. That was the song that changed my life 4 EVA!!!!!!!!!

noize said:

I was a High School sophmore at Horace Mann High in Gary Indiana. I was in the living room of my childhood home waiting impatienty for it to be PREMIERED on WGCI in Chicago. That was the song that changed my life 4 EVA!!!!!!!!!

We probably heard it that same night.

Only I was in a car when it came on.

I was like, "Funk with no bass?" ...wow

He had a hit & it's still his masterpiece

Isn't is strange that I really can't recall the events surrounding the first time I heard WDC? I was at a Jr. Varsity basketball game when I heard IWBYL the first time, and at my boyfriend's cousins on- base housing apt when I heard PR the first time. Since we didn't have cable at that time, and I was constantly coming from or going to work, it must've been on my car radio (WTMA) in Charleston, SC.

I was about 9ish and the video traumatized me lol. The part when he stands up inside the tub and gives that look in2 the camera. I screamed and my mom runs in asking what’s wrong and I remember saying something along the lines of “Michael Jackson’s brother was looking at me through the TV and tried to grab me!” She laughed and said that’s not his brother it’s Prince he’s weird turn that off and listen to your BAD cassette.

[Edited 3/17/12 15:44pm]

I remember now!!.............................

..........Nah, it's gone.

^^^^ lol !!!

i do remember this ...

I had heard "lil red corvette" and "1999" prior to this and became a "semi fan" ...

but i heard this blaring in the kitchen at work ... it was a huge area ... and I just remember thinking "it sounds like Prince" ... and being blown away ....

I was still in my mothers womb. But while I was just chillin in there waiting to be born and all, I could tell I was going to be born into a world of funk.

[Edited 3/17/12 23:03pm]

3 years old in my parents car when it was on the radio, probably in 1986. If it wasn't that time, it was the music video on my parents tape or on TV at home around the same time.

why do U need 2 know????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

and yes ~ its a secret ~ i'll never tell

I lived in Grand Forks, ND on the USAF base.

I use to listen to it in my room because my dad refused to let me listen to Prince on the stereo in our livingroom.

Funnier though was the first time I listened to WDC on my walkman. When the intro started playing and that buzz started moving from R to L earphone, I thought a bug was buzzing around my head.

I don't remember where i was when I heard When Doves cry for the first time, but I do remember where I was when i heard Purple Rain for the very first time.

I was in the back of my parents car listening to my portable radio with my headphone on.

I still get goosebumps when i hear the fist chords, absolute silence and then that beautiful guitarsound.

I cannot think of any other song that starts of so amazingly beautiful. It sets the mood in a few seconds.

ARock said:

I was about 9ish and the video traumatized me lol. The part when he stands up inside the tub and gives that look in2 the camera. I screamed and my mom runs in asking what’s wrong and I remember saying something along the lines of “Michael Jackson’s brother was looking at me through the TV and tried to grab me!” She laughed and said that’s not his brother it’s Prince he’s weird turn that off and listen to your BAD cassette.

[Edited 3/17/12 15:44pm]

Bad was released in 1987

Johnstown, PA, just returned home from a summer overseas in England. I heard Prince was coming out with a new single, and I was anxiously awaiting what it would sound like. I remember turning on the stereo after breakfast one day to just chill to some music...sat down, a song ended, and that guitar solo intro suddenly started. I knew immediately that it was Prince. Hit "record" on the tape deck and played it literally for hours. Funny how I remember that, but it was all due to the intro solo, cause I was literally like, "damn, what the fuck is this"? in a good way. I think in those days it was easy to tell a new Prince sone before knowing it was because it was just...different. Could never pinpoing a signature sound or anything, just that his shit was always wholly different fromanything else on the radio.

I was home one afternoon listening to the radio after summer school. I was both shocked and pleased at the same time to hear that Prince was back because I thought he had quit making music since he didn't release an album in 1983. It was unheard of back then for an artist to skip a year releasing an album because the majority of artists released one album per year and when you didn't hear from them the next year, it usually meant they quit.