Ok, I'm prepared to take a lot of heat based on my remark. I've heard a lot of people giving this song such high praise. Often calling it one of the best tracks on SOTT. Now, musically I won't argue against that statement. Clearly nothing have sound anything like it before or after really. My only problem is this.

Picture a mainstream nightclub in a random city who is paying an homage to the eighties. The theme is partymusic with all the classics you know, for example "Thriller" "La isla bonita" "Take on me" "Wake me up before you go-go "Rhytm is gonna get you". All in that 80's neon pastel feeling. And after all those song you play the fucking brilliant "Housequake" and not even five seconds later the dancefloor, which by this time was packed, is now empty. I guarantee this is a scenario that could've happened. Why isn't "Housequake" a stapled track on heavy rotation among DJ's around the world. No, I haven't heard it outside my mp3. Is it really that ahead of it's time? Haven't 2014 catched up yet?! Even when he's doing club music it's still too complicated for the common listener. Was back in -87, still is today. Not in a bad way. But no one outside the Prince community would put it in the same realm as the songs mentioned above. No one knows the dance, the music is not stuck in 1987 which in this case is really bad. In my opinion it's too slow though. I can't really explain it. It's just a Prince recording that everbody should dance too but nobody does. I think it's because of the beat. It never really get anywhere. No real structure, just a funky ass trip. No powerful chorus. That's how i feel about it. Argue against my statement please! Love this forum. Your music knowledge is beyond comprehension

[Edited 12/1/14 15:43pm]

[Edited 12/1/14 15:46pm]

its not remotely close to a "dance anthem". Prince pretty much stopped doing dance music in 1980.

Housequake is Prince gving JB the truest Princely treatment. As such, it was never a typical 80s dance hit but at the time there was a JB/Soul revival that made it sound current despite the obvious retro elements.

So it was atypical back then and now it's just not emblematic of 80s music enough. Someone could fit it between similar JB/Prince-esque tracks like Susudio and stuff like Kid Creole if they really wanted to go full 80s.

Housequake, aaaaah yes!! - this is a true Prince classic song-masterpiece.

and the 7 minutes Mo'Quake B-side is so wonderful as well.

a very "fiercefunky" song.

Unlike those other songs you mentioned, it was never a single and therefore not as exposed. SOTT album sold relatively poorly anyway. That in itself was a travesty. Housequake is pretty much relegated to being known to hardcores and people with taste only.

Wolfie87 said:

Wolfie87 said:

Ok, I'm prepared to take a lot of heat based on my remark. I've heard a lot of people giving this song such high praise. Often calling it one of the best tracks on SOTT. Now, musically I won't argue against that statement. Clearly nothing have sound anything like it before or after really. My only problem is this.

Picture a mainstream nightclub in a random city who is paying an homage to the eighties. The theme is partymusic with all the classics you know, for example "Thriller" "La isla bonita" "Take on me" "Wake me up before you go-go "Rhytm is gonna get you". All in that 80's neon pastel feeling. And after all those song you play the fucking brilliant "Housequake" and not even five seconds later the dancefloor, which by this time was packed, is now empty. I guarantee this is a scenario that could've happened. Why isn't "Housequake" a stapled track on heavy rotation among DJ's around the world. No, I haven't heard it outside my mp3. Is it really that ahead of it's time? Haven't 2014 catched up yet?! Even when he's doing club music it's still too complicated for the common listener. Was back in -87, still is today. Not in a bad way. But no one outside the Prince community would put it in the same realm as the songs mentioned above. No one knows the dance, the music is not stuck in 1987 which in this case is really bad. In my opinion it's too slow though. I can't really explain it. It's just a Prince recording that everbody should dance too but nobody does. I think it's because of the beat. It never really get anywhere. No real structure, just a funky ass trip. No powerful chorus. That's how i feel about it. Argue against my statement please! Love this forum. Your music knowledge is beyond comprehension

In my experience as a DJ, Housequake was not a good song to play for the "masses". The few cool people in the club would nod or give the song props but the average mainstream patron was lost on the song's brilliance. I think the song is considered a classic by those that know good music but not beyond that.

[Edited 12/1/14 20:26pm]

emesem said:

Prince pretty much stopped doing dance music in 1980.

wtfuck?
I know all the words you used but your sentence makes no sense to me. Gibberish.

[Edited 12/1/14 20:25pm]

I'm still trying to picture a nightclub playing La Isla Bonita. Where do you live???

This should have been the second single from SOTT.In my area,the R&B stations played it so much during the summer of '87,I thought it was a single.One of Prince's funkiest jams ever.

The only way possible for people to dance to this track is if they know how to do the quake!!

I worked at an indoor amusement park that had a nightclub for teens in back in 1988, and Housequake was one of the tracks on the tape they ran... along with Depeche Mode "Behind the Wheel/route 66" and... well I can't remember anything but those two....

I never was in the club... so I have no idea if people were dancing.

Correction... this was in 1988.

[Edited 12/2/14 15:32pm]

SoulAlive said:

One of Prince's funkiest jams ever.

Marrk said:

TheEnglishGent said:

emesem said:

its not remotely close to a "dance anthem". Prince pretty much stopped doing dance music in 1980.

Dance 4 Me much?

DMSR much?

Le Grind much?

Life of the Party much?

Gold Standard much?

[Edited 12/2/14 6:07am]

Have you ever actually been to danceclub? All of those songs would clear the floor on any given night in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s or today.

Life of the Party? really?

I stand by my statement that Prince has not done "dance music" (ie a music that is played in a dance club) since the disco era. thats ok. Its not his thing.

paisleypark4 said:

emesem said:

its not remotely close to a "dance anthem". Prince pretty much stopped doing dance music in 1980.

Dance 4 Me much?

DMSR much?

Le Grind much?

Life of the Party much?

Gold Standard much?

[Edited 12/2/14 6:07am]

I still play Kiss, Erotic City and Gett off at the bar I DJ at. They still dance to them. It's not exactly a night club though. The place I play at has more 40 and 50 year olds. They love the 80's stuff like Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince.

Housequake used to get played in the clubs in the 80's but it was never a proper single, it was only released as the B-side to "I could never take the place of your man".

[Edited 12/2/14 21:38pm]

It was Prince trying to do that kinda 808 style kick drum music that was big in the clubs and not exactly getting it. Wasn't it one of the tracks he did for some party Shiela E. was having?

If you listen to Afro-Rican's "give it all you got" or Newcleus' "Jam on It" it might give a better idea of what was considered a club track back then. Neither make it obvious how the heck you would dance to them, but there were also 80's dances made for songs like Housequake. I never heard of a club playing it though.

ufoclub said:

I worked at an indoor amusement park that had a nightclub for teens in back in 1988, and Housequake was one of the tracks on the tape they ran... along with Depeche Mode "Behind the Wheel/route 66" and... well I can't remember anything but those two....

I never was in the club... so I have no idea if people were dancing.

Correction... this was in 1988.

[Edited 12/2/14 15:32pm]

Shit man that soundz like Club K at Knott's Berry Farm, I don't know if it was but..they played all that stuff and my friends and I ate it up.

paisleypark4 said:

TheEnglishGent said:

jdcxc said:

TheEnglishGent said:

It's not even a good song. Happily dropped for my 1 cd sign o the times.

Dumbest Org post of the week. C'mon man...u need your funk card confiscated.

I don't like it, nothing dumb about that. Horses for courses.

It's my jam but I've read countless times that everyone at the time at WB and around thought it shoulda been the second single, or at least a single, and I've always felt it was waaaay too weird to appeal to the masses or mainstream radios. I remember the first time I heard it, OK I was 14, but my first though was WTF? I just didn't understood what I was hearing, it took me a few listens to get into it. OK, I was 14, but the average listener don't have a much more sophisticated ear than I did at that time.

If the song is mixed into a set

not the whole song from start to finish

but at a point when it really gets going

it would easily work on a dance floor

I've seen people run to the dance floor when Kiss came on

and Kiss isn't an 'easy' song to dance to

SoulAlive said:

This should have been the second single from SOTT.In my area,the R&B stations played it so much during the summer of '87,I thought it was a single.One of Prince's funkiest jams ever.

With the Camille voice, some mugs didn't know it was him, until the end of the tune.

[Edited 12/3/14 9:15am]