I am revisiting all of Prince's albums , currently on the Hits/B Sides. I was wondering whether, given the sheer quality of many of these songs, whether it would have been a better idea to include them as part of his albums to make the albums even stronger. I mean, his records from that era are great and very consistent but are not free from filler or otherwise ordinary songs (e.d Jack U Off, It, etc).

On the other hand, songs like She's Always in my Hair, 17 Days, Erotic City, How Come You Don't call me anymore, Hello etc are all great or atleast good songs. (In fact, SAIMH is my all time favourite Prince track).

So would you have preferred if his high quality B Sides were included in the albums or do you prefer just the way everything was released?

Absolutely love those four B-sides. He couldn't go wrong by me if he had finished and included them on the albums of that time (or any other time lol).

Whether they were written with the Purple Rain stuff or Around The World In A Day stuff, those songs were strong enough to be standouts and add to those projects.

NorthC said:

The question isn't whether they're good songs or not, but if they would fit within the context of an album. I absolutely love La La La He He Hee and Scarlet Pussy, but they wouldn't fit on the Sign O'the Times or Lovesexy albums.

true, but Sign is such a diverse album that something like Shockadelica or Joy in Repitition (not a b side, i know) would have fit incredibly well in there.

SAIMH would have fit well on Around the world in a Day. You could argue that it is not a psychedelic influenced song like much of the album, but neither is the song America. Hello is a good b side that would have fitted just fine on the record as well.

Eh, excuse me, Jack U Off and It are GREAT songs.

Erotic City, 17 Days & She's Always In My Hair should have definitely been on albums I think. If he had loaded up Around the World In A Day with all these songs that album could've been almost as massive as Purple Rain (which was already too loaded with A material to really fit in any of these tracks.)

His late 80s stuff started to sound more goofy and experimental to me, songs like La La La Hee Hee and Scarlet Pussy seem like they were probably intentionally written as silly b-sides, but Erotic City used to get a pretty good amount of radio play back in the day, 17 Days was kind of a club hit, etc.

[Edited 10/25/15 4:02am]

weirdozmedia said:

Erotic City, 17 Days & She's Always In My Hair should have definitely been on albums I think. If he had loaded up Around the World In A Day with all these songs that album could've been almost as massive as Purple Rain (which was already too loaded with A material to really fit in any of these tracks.)

His late 80s stuff started to sound more goofy and experimental to me, songs like La La La Hee Hee and Scarlet Pussy seem like they were probably intentionally written as silly b-sides, but Erotic City used to get a pretty good amount of radio play back in the day, 17 Days was kind of a club hit, etc.

[Edited 10/25/15 4:02am]

Scarlet Pussy was intended for Sheila E's 4th album, and definately wouldn't have fit with the direction of Lovesexy's message directly.

.

with the Purple Rain Bsides, none of them (except 4 God the Love Theme) were in the movie, so I can see why they wouldn't fit on the Purple Rain album.

But most of those B sides like you said got steady radio play

hhhhdmt said:

I am revisiting all of Prince's albums , currently on the Hits/B Sides. I was wondering whether, given the sheer quality of many of these songs, whether it would have been a better idea to include them as part of his albums to make the albums even stronger. I mean, his records from that era are great and very consistent but are not free from filler or otherwise ordinary songs (e.d Jack U Off, It, etc).

On the other hand, songs like She's Always in my Hair, 17 Days, Erotic City, How Come You Don't call me anymore, Hello etc are all great or atleast good songs. (In fact, SAIMH is my all time favourite Prince track).

So would you have preferred if his high quality B Sides were included in the albums or do you prefer just the way everything was released?

I think you're looking at it retrospectively.

For a long time, Prince was putting out hit singles with b-sides equally as strong. There are a lot of b-sides which could have easily been double A-sides.

It was a testiment to how much (good) music was flowing out of him at the time.

Irresistible Bitch, She's always in My Hair,Erotic City shpuld be in the Purple Rain album and maybe How Come U

jaawwnn said:

Eh, excuse me, Jack U Off and It are GREAT songs.

"She's Always In My Hair" should have been on ATWIAD,instead of the filler track "Tamborine"

SoulAlive said:

"She's Always In My Hair" should have been on ATWIAD,instead of the filler track "Tamborine"

Filler track!?

Pfft.. Tamborine reeks of ATWIAD.

214 said:

Irresistible Bitch, She's always in My Hair,Erotic City shpuld be in the Purple Rain album and maybe How Come U

But they were not in the movie,

The movie was not long enough to have much more

if there were scenes not removed then I could see Erotic City in there, maybe Blue Limousine and Ice Cream Castles or If the Kid Can't Make U Come

.

but not the others

OldFriends4Sale said:

214 said:

Irresistible Bitch, She's always in My Hair,Erotic City shpuld be in the Purple Rain album and maybe How Come U

But they were not in the movie,

The movie was not long enough to have much more

if there were scenes not removed then I could see Erotic City in there, maybe Blue Limousine and Ice Cream Castles or If the Kid Can't Make U Come

.

but not the others

Haven't listened Blue and Ice.

OldFriends4Sale said:

214 said:

Irresistible Bitch, She's always in My Hair,Erotic City shpuld be in the Purple Rain album and maybe How Come U

But they were not in the movie,

The movie was not long enough to have much more

if there were scenes not removed then I could see Erotic City in there, maybe Blue Limousine and Ice Cream Castles or If the Kid Can't Make U Come

.

but not the others

It was the limitation on the album as well - vinyl records could only hold like 45 minutes and Purple Rain used up pretty much every second of them, I think they had to edit Computer Blue down a bit to get everything to fit as it was.

214 said:

weirdozmedia said:

callimnate said:

SoulAlive said:

"She's Always In My Hair" should have been on ATWIAD,instead of the filler track "Tamborine"

Filler track!?

Pfft.. Tamborine reeks of ATWIAD.

I never liked "Tamborine" It's just not a good song."She's Always In My Hair" is a pop masterpiece that really belonged on the album.It's too good to be a B-side!

BEAUGARDE said:

As great as ATIWAD album is... Like Alex Han said... She's Always In My Hair was the song that was more powerfull than anything on the ATWIAD album.

feeluupp said:

As great as ATIWAD album is... Like Alex Han said... She's Always In My Hair was the song that was more powerfull than anything on the ATWIAD album.

as a 'general' commercial song, it is.

But not necessarily more powerfully creative.

Musically and lyrically Condition of the Heart is a powerhouse of a song

No No No

The albums are great the way they are released.

It was so great in the eighties when you bought a single or 12" record it had those wonderful songs on the other side.

An amazing time ! Don't wanna change a thing.

[Edited 10/27/15 6:41am]

feeluupp said:

As great as ATIWAD album is... Like Alex Han said... She's Always In My Hair was the song that was more powerfull than anything on the ATWIAD album.

Is great but not as great as Pop Life

lombard said:

No No No

The albums are great the way they are released.

It was so great in the eighties when you bought a single or 12" record it had those wonderful songs on the other side.

An amazing time ! Don't wanna change a thing.

I agree, and I find the assertion that anything that isn't hit single material is 'filler' disturbing. An album is an experience, and songs like Condition of the Heart, Tamborine, Life Can Be So Nice, Do U Lie?, and It are essential to the experience.

And oh, those 12" singles! I remember bringing the 12" of If I Was Your Girlfriend home, not particularly thrilled because I knew it was not an extended version. But then I got a facefull of Shockadelica. Good times!

[EDIT: also, though I love it, I've always felt that She's Always in my Hair sounds way too Purple Rain for Around the World in a Day.]

[Edited 10/27/15 18:36pm]

214 said:

feeluupp said:

As great as ATIWAD album is... Like Alex Han said... She's Always In My Hair was the song that was more powerfull than anything on the ATWIAD album.

Is great but not as great as Pop Life

Another Powerful song

She Is Always In My Hair is a WONDERFUL song, about a friend or lover/unrequited love who is there for Prince/the singer through thick and thin. Gives us a more intimate look at JJ at Jill Jones, the woman we saw in Purple Rain, the woman who sang backup on the 1999 album and tour. Which goes with the album in my opinion because the album has a more intimate message and connection.

But that is about it lyrically.
The other songs on the album ALL of them, take the listener on a deepr journey. We understand 'Prince' even more.
Pop Life is a message from someone who started out:For You out of obscurity in Minneapolis and now just finished taking Uptown/Erotic City to the world. Who bathed the world in Purple Rain. And has now come back home to Minneapolis to tell of his wisdom and knowledge of life.

eyewishuheaven said:

lombard said:

No No No

The albums are great the way they are released.

It was so great in the eighties when you bought a single or 12" record it had those wonderful songs on the other side.

An amazing time ! Don't wanna change a thing.

I agree, and I find the assertion that anything that isn't hit single material is 'filler' disturbing. An album is an experience, and songs like Condition of the Heart, Tamborine, Life Can Be So Nice, Do U Lie?, and It are essential to the experience.

And oh, those 12" singles! I remember bringing the 12" of If I Was Your Girlfriend home, not particularly thrilled because I knew it was not an extended version. But then I got a facefull of Shockadelica. Good times!

[EDIT: also, though I love it, I've always felt that She's Always in my Hair sounds way too Purple Rain for Around the World in a Day]

[Edited 10/27/15 18:36pm]

.That's what i think that it sounds way too Purple Rain the same with Pop Life sounds like Take Me With u

"Tamborine" is not filler...and "Temptation" DAMN sure aint filler...