Check out the chart ascension of "KISS" on Billboard at http://neosoul.com/music/...ngles.html

March 8, 1986 it was the Hot Mover in Sales

[Edited 3/6/16 18:35pm]

The first 12" single i bought (30 yrs, wow! )

This one turned my head to go back and buy all 12"'s released before and made me realise there was more than just the surface of Prince's music.

The albums are great, but the tangents are even more intriguing!

Prost!

Very funky song but i do not find the 12"' version that great, i'd rather the original version.

Still love the video too.

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Doozer said:

March 8, 2006?

thanks for catching the typo

.

That was still the LM-1, right? Through some sort of filter?

.

Guess who had the HOT shot debut 10years ago (March 2006)?

Look at March issue of

Billboard

click on Billboard

TrevorAyer said:

Kiss is the most prince prince song of all time .. A perfect pop hit with some of his funkiest wierd drum sounds ... The funk wah guitar stank ... The highly colaborative element that produced his most unique yes most prince prince record ever ... The lyrics are universal and timeless as any perfect pop song would be ... And he tops it all off with easily his best vocal performance on wax ... The high notes at the end are fucking impossible and are the perfect moment when no mortal could deny the blinding brilliance of the prince and co. Machine ... Kiss is not my favorite prince song but kiss is prince most perfect pop moment

Indeed, those high notes are amazing.

DAVID Z

"We did a bunch of songs for Mazarati's album,” Z recalls. "Then, when we needed a single, Prince gave me this demo of him just playing straight chords on an acoustic guitar — one verse and one chorus — while singing in a normal pitch; not the falsetto that's on the finished record. To us, it sounded like a folk song and we were wondering what we could do with it. No way was it funky. Anyway, starting with a LinnDrum, I programmed the beat and began experimenting. Taking a hi-hat from the drum machine, I ran it through a delay unit and switched between input and output and in the middle. That created a very funky rhythm. Then I took an acoustic guitar, played these open chords and gated that to the hi-hat trigger. The result was a really unique rhythm that was unbelievably funky but also impossible to actually play... I'm sure that sound influenced the fabulous new Daft Punk song 'Get Lucky', because it uses the same trick, with the guitar gated to some sort of rhythm and sequencer.

"Next, I remembered a little piano part from a Bo Diddley song called 'Say Man' and put it on there, and then Tony Christian sang the lead part, an octave lower than what Prince wound up doing. The background vocals I adapted from the Brenda Lee song 'Sweet Nothings' — good music is always taken from somewhere else — and that was that. The whole thing was done in a day.”

Or David Z and the guys in Mazarati thought it was. The fact is, in this form 'Kiss' sounded OK — a so-so dance number. However, Tony Christian's lead vocal was a little soulless and uninspiring, and when Prince heard the track he decided to head in a different direction... with himself at the helm.

"When I came back into the studio the next morning, Prince had already taken it off the machine, replaced the vocal with his own falsetto performance — which, I guess, he felt it needed — got rid of the bass part and added a James Brown 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' guitar lick,” Z recalls. "'What happened?' I asked, to which he replied, 'It's too good for you guys. I'm taking it back.'”

Boasting a four-octave range, Prince sang virtually the entire song in head voice, reverting to chest voice for the final line, as well as a single note before the last chorus. "At the time, I think he was into using a [Sennheiser MD] 441,” says Z.

"We only used nine tracks for that song, including a bass drum on one track, the rest of the drums on another and the hi-hat on a separate track. As for the lack of bass guitar, we always ran the kick drum through an [AMS] RMX16 and put it on the Reverse 2 setting to extend the tail of the reverb. That served as a kick drum and a bass, and it was a signature sound that we used all the time with Prince. We didn't need a real bass. And there was no reverb on anything else; just the kick. The guitar was dry and gated, and everything else sounded kind of different to the corporate rock that was on the radio at that time.”

Mazarati's backing vocals ended up on the finished record, yet this was scant compensation for what they had hoped would be their breakout hit.

"They were pissed,” says Z. "Prince had promised everyone a share of the songwriting credit, but that never happened and they were kind of mad about it.”

I remember my dad walked in and saw the video and he said "who's that?" I said "Prince" he said "That's Prince... he looks.... almost normal...."

I also remember the local radio station played the album the night before it came out (May 7th IIRC sure I could look it up but why bother) so I did not have to skip school to go get it... when I did get it (later that day) the clerk was cute and we were flirting then i told her i wanted to new Prince album and she got a disgusted look on her face... i could have saved it with "yeah I know, it's a gift..." but i was all F-orget her...

How time flies....classic jam. I remember the world premiere video on MTV.

SPYZFAN1 said:

How time flies....classic jam. I remember the world premiere video on MTV.

what struck me and even my dad was how different it was from the Purple Rain and even the ATWIAD stuff... I think it was that which made my dad admit he was more than just the average rocker...

Another time i called him out on getting old when I asked "did grandma approve of the music you listened to when you were a teen?" he said he guessed not... and tried to argue how it was different now... but really couldn't... a year or so latter my mom made me listen to some preachers that bashed prince by mostly misinterpreting his lyrics.... (said Sister was about Prince raping his sister... and my mom was livid.. and i said "oh no he was 16 at the time she was 32..she raped him!"

she really had not way to argue....

Wish i have got those memories about his music, but it was not my time

I agree with you Only...Everything with the "Parade" LP and tour was different from what we saw 2 years before. Where "PR" and "ATWIAD" was so guitar rock and roll and psychedelia, "Parade" was almost the opposite. The tour was more James Brown meets Elvis meets Kid Creole. Everything was so polished and slick. That may have been intentional..I think he wanted to see if the fans could could keep up with him. Plus I remember him catching flack that he was loosing his hardcore R&B fans..he pulled it off with "Parade".

Stunning song, the song itself/ the production is incredible, the artwork, the video, the b-side.. absolute gorgeous.

KISS, - his most known song in Denmark (Europe) AFAIK.

Well togehter w Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret.....

I was in high school (in "Gymnasium" in danish) back in 1986, I was 20 and had moved in my own apartment, away from my father.

I was listening at high volume to this KISS 12 inch - and later the whole Parade album with such a pleasure.

Wow, truly wonderful music..


Those were the days, a great time to be a fan, I was a 100% Prince fan back then, in the 80s.

With unconditionally love towards Prince and his music.

Now these days Im on a 70% appreciation only. Because his music isn't appealing to me like his classics back then:

KISS was marvelous, another classic. Fantastic. Such a great time.

antonb said:

For me it's up there in the top ten best ever pop songs. It's just a perfect song.

214 said:

Wish i have got those memories about his music, but it was not my time

It was a great time to be a Prince fan. music RELEASED everywhere, videos, photographs, proteges

OldFriends4Sale said:

214 said:

Wish i have got those memories about his music, but it was not my time

It was a great time to be a Prince fan. music RELEASED everywhere, videos, photographs, proteges

I could only imagine.

I am old.

2freaky4church1 said:

Weirdly, I prefer the demo version...maybe because I've heard the released version many, many times

You don't have to be rich to be my girl

30 years...damn! I first heard it at a teen club I frequented. The DJ had snagged a promo from a friend at a record station and played it. It was, literally, at least a week or more before I heard the tune on the radio.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn...

214 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

It was a great time to be a Prince fan. music RELEASED everywhere, videos, photographs, proteges

I could only imagine.

Sorry buddy. Some people don't know how NOT to rub it in and make you feel worse.

AnnaSantana said:

214 said:

I could only imagine.

Sorry buddy. Some people don't know how NOT to rub it in and make you feel worse.

lol I get caught up