V10LETBLUES said:

Boys and Girls is a good track but not a radio friendly track. Kiss was the only possible single on it. And it still stands out today and sounds as fresh as anything released today. Kiss does not sound like an 80's "oldie" that's for sure.

I believe that the radio playing Boys and Girls in the U.S. despite it not being a single and then high school kids thinking it was really cool indicate it was quite radio friendly. Missed opportunity. Not that it matters, he has three hit singles between himself, Sheila E, and the Bangles.

,.

[Edited 12/7/15 21:45pm]

Because it's a song about mountains.

feeluupp said:

I feel jealous of any young person these days who will discover 'Mountains' and any number of Prince tracks that have sunk into relative obscurity through time or disinterest...it's a treasure trove that I hope will affect their lives in the same way it did my own.

In terms of Mountains in particular, the song in it's entirety is funky and cohesive but as said previously it lacks a killer chorus...I hadn't thought of it before, but good observation on the slight clunkiness. What pulls it through is the instrumentation and the energy.

The video segment with P sitting cross-legged is just brilliant! I never knew anyone holding maracas could look so cool.

paulludvig said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I think 1983/84 as well saw such a peaking of newness originality and creativity

From 1983-1986 it was just non stop

I think it continued at least a couple of years longer.

that was more like the aftershocks of 1980-1987

hj

[Edited 12/7/15 21:47pm]

The song is amazing...but the falsetto did him in. There are only two Prince "falsetto" singles that ever did anything on the charts: "Kiss", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Pop fans just dont dig the falsetto Prince.

UncleJam said:

The song is amazing...but the falsetto did him in. There are only two Prince "falsetto" singles that ever did anything on the charts: "Kiss", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Pop fans just dont dig the falsetto Prince.

I Wanna Be Your Lover?

UncleJam said:

SoulAlive said:

UncleJam said:

The song is amazing...but the falsetto did him in. There are only two Prince "falsetto" singles that ever did anything on the charts: "Kiss", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Pop fans just dont dig the falsetto Prince.

In the verses,it's hard to understand what Prince is saying.Another reason why it wasn't a good choice for a single.

Yep.

FunkyStrange said:

What a perfect 12 inch Mountais was..

A good follow-up to Kiss, but the broader masses did not like it...

so strange it did not went to top-10, strange... IMHO.....

could be "a pearl before the swine"...

Wolfie87 said:

This track may be his best pop track during his perfect run. I just revisited it on the extened version and wow is that brutally good! That funky guitar laydown together with those tropicana sounds and beats around the 4 minute mark. Makes it a totally superior track compared to the single. But if we stick with the released track for radio and video. Why the hell wasn't this song of the year 1986 (or 80's)? Is the only reason "Kiss" ? This track got killer horns in the chorus (and on the extened version, holy fucking shit!), a playful and catchy tune throughout the entire song and Prince's voice which is stellar. The only thing we got from this track is the iconic silhouette of Prince with the hat on the single cover. This image is as much Prince as his purple trenchcoat, for me at least.

Totally agree! Mountains is one of my faves especially the extended version. Love or Money is awesome too!

V10LETBLUES said:

It's a great track, but also an artsy track. This type of track even as poppy as it is, goes over the heads of most listeners. I also agree with you on the extended version. Parade is a tad too sophisticated for general audiences. Imagine that! After hitting low low bottom with simpleton garbage like Art Official Cage, it's hard to remember when Prince music was sophisticated.

Ow c'mon. We should know by now that "Art Official Cage" production was meant to be ironic.
Even in the way it autoquotes "Thunder".
I think Prince let Josh have its way only to pinpoint the fact that he, Prince, can pervert even the blandest Eurodance beat.

Because near the end of the song, it's a whole different soundscape than the stadium horn intro.

I really think it's a way for Prince to catch your ear into tricking you into the idea that you're going to listen to schmoozak, but again, it evolves into something that is reminiscent of "7", or broadly of the bizzaro part of his catalogue.

renfield said:

SoulAlive is right, the stink of failure that was all over Under The Cherry Moon murdered any chance post-"Kiss" singles had. Plus I think people were having a bit of Prince burn-out at that point. "Mountains" was his 14th single in just over three years, with 9 of those being big top ten hits (plus the ubiquitous #12-peaking "1999"). Warner's fears of him being overexposed to the general public weren't unfounded.

On top of that, I can picture the faces of the Warner representatives when Skipper brings them "Dream Factory", "Camille" and "Crystal Ball" that very same year.

Like "hey guys, I need a whole alley of my own genre in the Wrecka Stows.". If you add the side projects, there should have been a Prince-related radio station only. in 1986.

But hey, fuck Warner. They didn't realize they had a true genius under contract, they should have let him have its way, act more like Columbia did for Bruce (5 disc set of live recordings, motherfuckers, TEN SIDES OF VYNIL), or Dylan in the sixties (an album every 6 months). It was the beginning of the end, the businessmen had already taken the building over.

[Edited 12/9/15 16:12pm]

Pentacle said:

Ego101 said:

'Life Can Be So Nice' is my favourite song on Parade... (which is my favourite Prince album). 8-

Yes, but it's not a single...

It could have been. The Talking Heads "Road to Nowhere" is an absurd song, with an absurd video.
We have to agree on what we call "single". Even The Smiths had singles.
A single is not necessarily "U Got The Look". It doesn't necessarily have to be FM radio friendly.

Prince has always been an underground artist which had an accidental epiphany with Purple Rain.
But the true nature of SKipper lies in "All The Critics Love U In New York".
He knew how to write stuff that would allow him to finance all the bizarro production ("Manic Monday" comes to mind).

[Edited 12/9/15 16:13pm]

Poplife88 said:

As much as I love Mountains...I think it went over a lot of peoples heads. It was a bit too arty for the basic top40 listener.

Girls & Boys should've been the next single.

Please, would you north americans stop thinking you're the center of the world?

Someone said it above, it's BEEN a single. It charted in the UK, Ireland and in France.

http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_Girls_%26_Boys

feeluupp said:

Ego101 said:

Parade Era forever!!!!

Genius era... Genius... Didn't get the critical and commercial credit it deserves...

PARADE was really slept on as an album in 1986... Didn't receive a lot of recognition besides Kiss going #1 and his own harcore fans which can appreciate the genius of this album.

How old were you in 1986? Europe was on its knees.
Every serious music magazine made it Album Of The Year or/and Single Of The Year.
Prince is known amongst people having good taste in music (and not being Prince fans) for Parade. SOTT just confirmed it. We fans are not only ones who bought his records.
These albums sold millions, even if not in PR proportions.

UncleJam said:

The song is amazing...but the falsetto did him in. There are only two Prince "falsetto" singles that ever did anything on the charts: "Kiss", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Pop fans just dont dig the falsetto Prince.

What about "I Wanna Be Your Lover" ? Look at the charts :
http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_I_Wanna_Be_Your_Lover

"Controversy" ?

http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_Controversy

bonatoc said:

Poplife88 said:

As much as I love Mountains...I think it went over a lot of peoples heads. It was a bit too arty for the basic top40 listener.

Girls & Boys should've been the next single.

Please, would you north americans stop thinking you're the center of the world?

Someone said it above, it's BEEN a single. It charted in the UK, Ireland and in France.

http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_Girls_%26_Boys

I don't think Poplife88 is trying to say that North Americans are the center of the world, but rather that Europe got it as a single, but the US didn't...and it's baffling why. G&B could have been a hit in the US at the time. But, during that time period, Europe got lots of singles that the US didn't...and not just Prince, mind you. Your side of the world got many better tunes released as singles than we did. In some ways, I think that may be why he went with Mountains...he was trying to challenge the US radio (unfortunately, they didn't accept the challenge).

I remember being a teen during these years, and many of us would pick up UK magazines to see what was charting across the pond. It always amazed me, because the European audiences of the time DEFINITELY had better taste...but that probably had a lot to do with the radio stations over there playing better quality stuff than what was played over here. For a while there, Europe was the place that REALLY seemed to get Prince (and many other acts I loved), and I would lament how we were stuck with shit like Debbie Gibson on our radios! Y'all seemed to understand that he was a genius, while only the hardcore fans were getting that fact over here.

Nevertheless, I think Mountains scored honorably being the avant-garde pop it as and still is.

Peaked at 26, and stayed eleven weeks in the Top 100, that' almost 3 months, nothing to be ashamed of.

To those who argue there's no melody, I would say that "Mountains" is as ethereal as "I Would Die 4 U". The melody is non-existent here as well. Fuck, the whole verses are on ONE note!

Great track, loved the 12". Listen to Sly, Gonna take u higher and then Mountains, tell me what you think ? they remind me of each other.

bonatoc said:

UncleJam said:

The song is amazing...but the falsetto did him in. There are only two Prince "falsetto" singles that ever did anything on the charts: "Kiss", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Pop fans just dont dig the falsetto Prince.

What about "I Wanna Be Your Lover" ? Look at the charts :
http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_I_Wanna_Be_Your_Lover

"Controversy" ?

http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Single:_Controversy

I was referring to Prince songs that made the top 10 on the pop chart...

jcurley said:

mechanicalemotion17 said:

jcurley said:

Girls and boys was released as a single in uk and went top 10

Apparently I was just too young to know better(and too old to refuse) because I thought Girls and Boys was a single in the states. Video Soul played the video everyday.

...and now you've got the blues.