RNLA got the most Radio spins of a Prince song in germany since probably Gold....

Especially one of the remixes was played a lot on dance music stations...

I don't think it was popular because it wasn't promoted much, and then the video was pulled down of the net. I agree that it should have appeared on either AOA or PlectrumElectrum. Nevertheless, at Monday's 8pm concert in Toronto, he did an extended version of it and got the whole room chanting along ("Rock, Rock, Love Affair...").

MadeUpName said:

Prince is like 80 years old now.

Here are some reasons.

1. Prince is old. Rock 'n' Roll is for the young. It would be like 1984 when Prince is huge and asking why Englebert Humperdink couldn't score a number one in the pop charts.

2. The distribution and release of the single far, FAR preceeded the release of his two albums.

3. The song isn't any good. I can't even remember what it sounds like.

ZiggmanZoo said:

Many people that I know and don't really care for Prince's music really liked RNRLA. They described it as a catchy fun track, reminding them of old Prince stuff. Now that cannot be a bad thing! I think this song could have done so much better with proper care...

Yep, I love the song too. I think it, like Te Amo Corazon are more popular with non Prince.org fans becasue the songs are a tad more sophisticated than the No Candy 4 U and Chocolate box crowd can tolorate.

Dj friends i know, who know I like Prince, have come up to me on tell me they like those particular tracks. They turn their nose at the corny recent stuff. He has become way too corny for anyone but the fams here.

KingSausage said:

MadeUpName said:

I don't think it was popular because it wasn't promoted much, and then the video was pulled down of the net. I agree that it should have appeared on either AOA or PlectrumElectrum. Nevertheless, at Monday's 8pm concert in Toronto, he did an extended version of it and got the whole room chanting along ("Rock, Rock, Love Affair...").

He played it in Toronto? That's awesome!

He did it at Paisley Park in April too. He should get rid of some of those sampler songs (if not all) and add it into the set.

I always liked this little song...to me, it showed that he's still capaple of writing a plain, good-old fashioned pop song...some people on here seem to forget that Prince is a pop artist, first and foremost...

As to why it wasn't a hit..well, like already mentioned on this thread, Prince is an old fart by now...and really, when I look at the crap that's featured on the so called charts nowadays, he should be glad...he seems to be doing fine for himself without scoring Top10 hits anyway.

I have always loved this tune. It's sincere and has lovely seniment. I also REALLY enjoyed Groovy Potential. I can't believe neither of these tracks was released on either album. And, he DID promote RRLA! The problem was (as someone else mentioned) he promoted it like a year before any proper album release! He sang it on Jimmy Kimmel and even had a decent video for it. He promoted Breakfast Can Wait, which generated 5 million views on VEVO but did so way too soon before the release of AOA so the casual Prince fan didn't even know it was on the album!!!! This guy wouldn't be able to properly promote a box or a paper bag....LOL...so silly.

As Prince once said himself; his audience has become more sophisticated and expect something out of the norm from him. Odly enough, songs like RnRA sound to me like he's writing a fluffy pop-song for 16-20 year olds... from the 80s.

His audience of the 80s has now expanded their musical taste and became more demanding on the level of originality and quality. So for them this is too plain. And for the actual young kids of the today this single has nothing linking to what they listen to. They probbaly need to look up what Rock'n Roll was.

So despite it maybe being an OK song, I think he made it for a target audience that simply doesn't exist.

I like R&RLA, but overall it had a "by the numbers" vibe to it. It's also an orphaned song (no album to belong to) so that doesn't help it with staying power.

V10LETBLUES said:

ZiggmanZoo said:

Many people that I know and don't really care for Prince's music really liked RNRLA. They described it as a catchy fun track, reminding them of old Prince stuff. Now that cannot be a bad thing! I think this song could have done so much better with proper care...

Yep, I love the song too. I think it, like Te Amo Corazon are more popular with non Prince.org fans becasue the songs are a tad more sophisticated than the No Candy 4 U and Chocolate box crowd can tolorate.

Dj friends i know, who know I like Prince, have come up to me on tell me they like those particular tracks. They turn their nose at the corny recent stuff. He has become way too corny for anyone but the fams here.

Te Amo Corazon is a bit higher caliber than R&RLA, but I would not set the bar at No More Candy 4 U or Chocolate Box . . . when in fact those two songs are well below the standard that most Prince fans want. They're down there with Never B Another Like Me and Life O The Party.

The extended part is awesome! "Don't stop, nothin' ever comes from scared..." The lyrics to this song are kinda meh (except that part ), but the music is great! It could'a happened...