Unfortunately, for the YouTube generation, they have little to no knowledge of who Prince is because his music is constantly being scrubbed from the Internet. If you had an opportunity to create a single-disc collection of Prince's greatest hits, which 15 songs would you choose to whet a new listener's appetite? Here's what I would suggest:

1. When Doves Cry
2. Kiss
3. Pop Life
4. I Wanna Be Your Lover
5. When You Were Mine
6. Controversy
7. If I Was Your Girlfriend
8. Sign o' the Times
9. Little Red Corvette
10. I Would Die 4 U
11. The Beautiful Ones
12. Raspberry Beret
13. 1999
14. Let's Go Crazy
15. Purple Rain

ChrisLacy1990 said:

Unfortunately, for the YouTube generation, they have little to no knowledge of who Prince is because his music is constantly being scrubbed from the Internet. If you had an opportunity to create a single-disc collection of Prince's greatest hits, which 15 songs would you choose to whet a new listener's appetite? Here's what I would suggest:

1. When Doves Cry
2. Kiss
3. Pop Life
4. I Wanna Be Your Lover
5. When You Were Mine
6. Controversy
7. If I Was Your Girlfriend
8. Sign o' the Times
9. Little Red Corvette
10. I Would Die 4 U
11. The Beautiful Ones
12. Raspberry Beret
13. 1999
14. Let's Go Crazy
15. Purple Rain

You know what? Considering that kids can go to Amazon or iTunes and pick up a Greatest hits download, I would want to hip them to Prince's lesser known songs that illustrate his prowess as a composer and songwriter. Meaning released and unreleased songs in his canon that would help them understand his legacy beyond his legend as a pop star. Here's mine.

1. Joy In Repetition

2. The Question Of U

3. Alexa De Paris

4. The Grand Progression

4. God (Instrumental)

5. Reflection

6. Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

7. If I Was Your Girlfriend

8. The Cross

9. Adore

10. And God Created Woman

11. I Hate U

12. Condition Of The Heart

13. Moonbeam Levels

14. Gotta Broken Heart Again

15. Pink Cashmere,

The YouTube generation for all the information they have at their disposal, only get the surface appeal of great artists. Many of the artists that are popular with the YouTube generation are greatly inspired by his creative works, especially progressive artists like St. Vincent who are DIY. It would be great to see these songs catch on with this demographic.

Isn't that the same generation as the Spotify generation?

Which has the advantage that the kids don't have to see Prince's often tragic wardrobe.

bashraka said:

ChrisLacy1990 said:

Unfortunately, for the YouTube generation, they have little to no knowledge of who Prince is because his music is constantly being scrubbed from the Internet. If you had an opportunity to create a single-disc collection of Prince's greatest hits, which 15 songs would you choose to whet a new listener's appetite? Here's what I would suggest:

1. When Doves Cry
2. Kiss
3. Pop Life
4. I Wanna Be Your Lover
5. When You Were Mine
6. Controversy
7. If I Was Your Girlfriend
8. Sign o' the Times
9. Little Red Corvette
10. I Would Die 4 U
11. The Beautiful Ones
12. Raspberry Beret
13. 1999
14. Let's Go Crazy
15. Purple Rain

You know what? Considering that kids can go to Amazon or iTunes and pick up a Greatest hits download, I would want to hip them to Prince's lesser known songs that illustrate his prowess as a composer and songwriter. Meaning released and unreleased songs in his canon that would help them understand his legacy beyond his legend as a pop star. Here's mine.

1. Joy In Repetition

2. The Question Of U

3. Alexa De Paris

4. The Grand Progression

4. God (Instrumental)

5. Reflection

6. Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

7. If I Was Your Girlfriend

8. The Cross

9. Adore

10. And God Created Woman

11. I Hate U

12. Condition Of The Heart

13. Moonbeam Levels

14. Gotta Broken Heart Again

15. Pink Cashmere,

The YouTube generation for all the information they have at their disposal, only get the surface appeal of great artists. Many of the artists that are popular with the YouTube generation are greatly inspired by his creative works, especially progressive artists like St. Vincent who are DIY. It would be great to see these songs catch on with this demographic.

If the newcomer has already digested "the classics" I listed above, I think your list would be perfect for those that want to go beyond.

Pentacle said:

Isn't that the same generation as the Spotify generation?

Which has the advantage that the kids don't have to see Prince's often tragic wardrobe.

Haha, I believe you could bundle the Spotify and YouTube generations together.

Sticking to 15 songs, a mix of classics and deeper cuts.

When Doves Cry

Darling Nikki

Sign o the Times

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Kiss

Sometimes It Snows in April

Little Red Corvette

She's Always in My Hair

Bambi

Calhoun Square

Annie Christian

Boom

Family Name

How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore

Just give them Purple Rain and tell them to cop on to the rest.

It all really depends on who it is you're giving the CD to. Even the YouTube generation can't be painted with one brush, there'll be several different groups who like different kinds of music. I assume you mean mainstream pop lovers, so in that case you should load the catchy Prince hits on the CD

01. I Wanna Be Your Lover

02. Controversy

03. 1999

04. Little Red Corvette [dance remix]

05. Delirious

06. Let's Go Crazy [dance remix]

07. When Doves Cry

08. Purple Rain

09. I Would Die 4 U

10. Take Me With U

11. Raspberry Beret

12. Kiss

13. Sign 'O' the Times [movie version] (IDK, this version has more juice)

14. U Got the Look [Long Look]

15. I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man [movie version]

16. If I Was Your Girlfriend [movie]

17. Alphabet St. [edit]

18. Glam Slam

19. I Wish U Heaven

20. Thieves in the Temple [house mix]

21. Cream

22. Gett Off

23. Diamonds and Pearls

24. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World [single version]

25. Peach

26. I Hate U [edit]

27. Gold

^ something along those lines (I'd understand if some would take out certain tracks/go 'wtf' at some selections), this is afterall a newbies playlist. If they love mainstream pop, they'll probably like a majority of these songs because they're mostly catchy and memorable. Even though it's kind of long, it'd probably take a week or so listening to it in your car. If interested, you should go with a deeper cut follow-up CD

01. Just as Long as We're Together

02. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad

03. Bambi [live]

04. Sexy Dancer [extended remix]

05. Private Joy

06. DMSR

07. Let's Pretend We're Married

08. Automatic

09. International Lover

10. Computer Blue [longer version]

11. Darling Nikki

12. The Beautiful Ones

13. Baby I'm a Star

14. Paisley Park

15. Temptation [edit]

16. Mountains [extended version]

17. Anotherlover [extended version]

18. Sometimes It Snows in April

19. Play in the Sunshine [movie]

20. Housequake [movie]

21. Hot Thing [movie]

22. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

23. The Cross

24. Adore

25. Le Grinde

26. Bob George

27. Anna Stesia

28. The Future [remix]

Id continue into the 90s but it got too long

thisisreece said:

Sticking to 15 songs, a mix of classics and deeper cuts.

When Doves Cry

Darling Nikki

Sign o the Times

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Kiss

Sometimes It Snows in April

Little Red Corvette

She's Always in My Hair

Bambi

Calhoun Square

Annie Christian

Boom

Family Name

How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore

Very nice list! I know it's hard when you've got 15 songs to work with.

CharismaDove said:

It all really depends on who it is you're giving the CD to. Even the YouTube generation can't be painted with one brush, there'll be several different groups who like different kinds of music. I assume you mean mainstream pop lovers, so in that case you should load the catchy Prince hits on the CD

01. I Wanna Be Your Lover

02. Controversy

03. 1999

04. Little Red Corvette [dance remix]

05. Delirious

06. Let's Go Crazy [dance remix]

07. When Doves Cry

08. Purple Rain

09. I Would Die 4 U

10. Take Me With U

11. Raspberry Beret

12. Kiss

13. Sign 'O' the Times [movie version] (IDK, this version has more juice)

14. U Got the Look [Long Look]

15. I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man [movie version]

16. If I Was Your Girlfriend [movie]

17. Alphabet St. [edit]

18. Glam Slam

19. I Wish U Heaven

20. Thieves in the Temple [house mix]

21. Cream

22. Gett Off

23. Diamonds and Pearls

24. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World [single version]

25. Peach

26. I Hate U [edit]

27. Gold

^ something along those lines (I'd understand if some would take out certain tracks/go 'wtf' at some selections), this is afterall a newbies playlist. If they love mainstream pop, they'll probably like a majority of these songs because they're mostly catchy and memorable. Even though it's kind of long, it'd probably take a week or so listening to it in your car. If interested, you should go with a deeper cut follow-up CD

01. Just as Long as We're Together

02. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad

03. Bambi [live]

04. Sexy Dancer [extended remix]

05. Private Joy

06. DMSR

07. Let's Pretend We're Married

08. Automatic

09. International Lover

10. Computer Blue [longer version]

11. Darling Nikki

12. The Beautiful Ones

13. Baby I'm a Star

14. Paisley Park

15. Temptation [edit]

16. Mountains [extended version]

17. Anotherlover [extended version]

18. Sometimes It Snows in April

19. Play in the Sunshine [movie]

20. Housequake [movie]

21. Hot Thing [movie]

22. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

23. The Cross

24. Adore

25. Le Grinde

26. Bob George

27. Anna Stesia

28. The Future [remix]

Id continue into the 90s but it got too long

WOW! That's a pretty extensive list that would probably overwhelm a new listener but you have some amazing choices here.

I would just load up Dirty Mind. That oughta do it

Why would you want to introduce the YT generation to Prince, when he does everything to prevent that?

nextedition said:

Why would you want to introduce the YT generation to Prince, when he does everything to prevent that?

Exactly. Prince cant be bothered, so why should we? Perhaps all his fans should get together and upload video after video, performance after performance on YouTube, en mass. And every time it is taken down, put more up. Thousands of his fans constantly putting it back when it gets taken down. Over and over again. If anything, his lawyer fees would go through the roof. Maybe he would give in and just let it stay there in the end.

nextedition said:

Why would you want to introduce the YT generation to Prince, when he does everything to prevent that?

Because young folks my age (yeah, I'm only 25) have little to no knowledge of who Prince is. Ask almost any 20-something-year-old who Prince is and they'll most likely say, "Oh, that guy from Purple Rain?" or "The guy that changed his name to a weird symbol?" There's so much more to Prince than that and, unfortunately, not a lot of kids know that because he's not as accessible as Michael Jackson, for example.

Rebeljuice said:

nextedition said:

Why would you want to introduce the YT generation to Prince, when he does everything to prevent that?

Exactly. Prince cant be bothered, so why should we? Perhaps all his fans should get together and upload video after video, performance after performance on YouTube, en mass. And every time it is taken down, put more up. Thousands of his fans constantly putting it back when it gets taken down. Over and over again. If anything, his lawyer fees would go through the roof. Maybe he would give in and just let it stay there in the end.

That would be HILARIOUS if the scenario unfolded like that.

SanMartin said:

What's the Youtube generation? Is it the first generation to get all of its music online? Give 'em 'Ultimate'. That's how I go into Prince.

Yes, I classify the YouTube generation as those who used the Internet as a go-to for music. "Ultimate" would be a great reference but I'm asking fellow Org members, such as yourself, to basically give me their Top 15 Prince songs that they would recommend to a novice Prince fan.

PurpleSkipper58 said:

Hmm... 1)ENDORPHINMACHINE 2)Wow 3)When Doves Cry 4)Kiss 5)AnotherLoverHolenYoHead 6)Around The World In A Day 7)Baby, I'm A Star 8)Clouds 9)This Could Be Us 10)1999 11)I Like It There 12)Partyup 13)Little Red Corvette 14)Letitgo 15)Gett Off 16)Graffiti Bridge (Nahh jk! lol) Idk that's what I'd give to a friend to try to convert then into a P fan..

I like that compilation! Little bit of '80s, '90s and '10s... Clever GB reference by the way lol!

I recently made a "Graffiti Bridge: Revisited" playlist where I picked eight of the best songs and re-sequenced them. GB would have been far better if it didn't have 17 songs on it.

the beautiful ones

international lover

do me baby

adore

scandalous

insatiable

i love u in me

damn u

eye hate u

shhh

the one

one kiss at a time

friend lover sister mother wife

betcha by golly wow

call my name

ChrisLacy1990 said:

PurpleSkipper58 said:

ChrisLacy1990 said:

I like that compilation! Little bit of '80s, '90s and '10s... Clever GB reference by the way lol!

I recently made a "Graffiti Bridge: Revisited" playlist where I picked eight of the best songs and re-sequenced them. GB would have been far better if it didn't have 17 songs on it.

Does GB playlist include 1)Can't Stop This Feeling I Got 2)NPG 3)The Question Of U 4)Elephants And Flowers 5)We Can Funk 7)Joy In Repetition 8) Thieves In The Temple? Because that's what I'd put on it [Edited 4/13/15 19:15pm]

I wish someone could remix "Can't stop this feeling I got". Theres a killer song there somewhere.

Prince is idiotic.

PurpleSkipper58 said:

ChrisLacy1990 said:

I like that compilation! Little bit of '80s, '90s and '10s... Clever GB reference by the way lol!

I recently made a "Graffiti Bridge: Revisited" playlist where I picked eight of the best songs and re-sequenced them. GB would have been far better if it didn't have 17 songs on it.

Does GB playlist include 1)Can't Stop This Feeling I Got 2)NPG 3)The Question Of U 4)Elephants And Flowers 5)We Can Funk 7)Joy In Repetition 8) Thieves In The Temple? Because that's what I'd put on it [Edited 4/13/15 19:15pm]

Yes, those are the songs I have in my playlist. However, I want to add some liner notes here:

* New Power Generation - My least favorite Prince track on the album; however, it's stronger than any of the material from The Time, Mavis Staples, and Tevin Campbell.

* We Can Funk - The album version is good but I enjoy the '86 demo for two reasons - Prince's bass playing and Miko's noodling on the guitar at the end.

* Tick, Tick, Bang - The '81 demo is FAR superior to the album version, in my opinion.

* Still Would Stand All Time - The Small Club '88 version is FAR superior to the album version, in my opinion.

Graffiti Bridge (the album) had the potential to be great but it has one too many hiccups in its overall presentation... Let's not even get into the film itself. Hahaha!

ChrisLacy1990 said:

PurpleSkipper58 said:

Yes, those are the songs I have in my playlist. However, I want to add some liner notes here:

* New Power Generation - My least favorite Prince track on the album; however, it's stronger than any of the material from The Time, Mavis Staples, and Tevin Campbell.

* We Can Funk - The album version is good but I enjoy the '86 demo for two reasons - Prince's bass playing and Miko's noodling on the guitar at the end.

* Tick, Tick, Bang - The '81 demo is FAR superior to the album version, in my opinion.

* Still Would Stand All Time - The Small Club '88 version is FAR superior to the album version, in my opinion.

Graffiti Bridge (the album) had the potential to be great but it has one too many hiccups in its overall presentation... Let's not even get into the film itself. Hahaha!

Ooh ok. I think I agree that the original demos of We Can Funk and Tick, Tick, Bang are better and superior to the album versions. I love the drumming in the original TTB! But I haven't heard that version of Still Would Stand All Time. Now that you mention it, I'll check it out some time.

Pentacle said:

Isn't that the same generation as the Spotify generation?

Which has the advantage that the kids don't have to see Prince's often tragic wardrobe.

What are you talking about?
You can't go wrong with a jellyfish on your shoulder.



And on the topic, I think Grooveshark is one of the places where newbies (and even aficionados)
can get a grasp ot the Magnus Opera.

[Edited 4/17/15 4:00am]

trax said:

the beautiful ones

international lover

do me baby

adore

scandalous

insatiable

i love u in me

damn u

eye hate u

shhh

the one

one kiss at a time

friend lover sister mother wife

betcha by golly wow

call my name

Would have been a sure-fire way to get me to outright dismiss prince.