Her version is a modern classic, from one of the best pop albums of the 80s.

Prince's? The bare bones is there, but it ain't nothing special. The harmonica and Chaka's vocals really took what was just a decent album track to a whole other level. And of course, the legendary "Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka, Chaka Khan, let me rock you Chaka Khan..."

Agree/disagree?

[Edited 7/3/16 8:19am]

MattyJam said:

Didn't Prince win an award for her version?

I disagree.I love Chaka,but I never cared for her remake of "I Feel For You".It's a noisy,overproduced mess.Prince's original is more subtle,but that's the way it should sound,imo.

I thought so - Prince won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for Chaka's version of I Feel For You

That doesn't mean it's better than the original though

laurarichardson said:

MattyJam said:

Her version is a modern classic, from one of the best pop albums of the 80s.

Prince's? The bare bones is there, but it ain't nothing special. The harmonica and Chaka's vocals really took what was just a decent album track to a whole other level. And of course, the legendary "Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka, Chaka Khan, let me rock you Chaka Khan..."

Agree/disagree?

[Edited 7/3/16 8:19am]

--- Agree and I believe he liked he performed with her with arrangement.

I looooove Chaka's version..it was my jam back in the day

Different versions, different moods. Prince's version is intimate and romantic, whilst Chaka Khan's has more energy, so more suited for a party... If I had to keep one only, it would be Prince's of course!

i don't know, hard to say, chaka's is the one that popularized the tune, otherwise it would probably be just another great song that got lost in the mix. so got to give her props. I like hearing the actual chords and stuff though, without all the rap shit

interesting factoid, before anyone knew who prince was, during his first warners recordings, he called chaka and imitated sly stone and said he wanted to see her, she got there and first met prince and she was pissed.

breakdown2k14 said:

Chaka owns that song. The original, to me, always sounded like a cheesy 80s sitcom theme song.

laurarichardson said:

Prince's version is so much better.

GeniusLuv said:

Of course Chaka owns that song. She and Arif took it to a whole different level. The Pointer Sisters and Rebbie Jackson stuck with the original feel of Prince's version. Chaka's version is a masterpiece!

CherryMoon57 said:

Different versions, different moods. Prince's version is intimate and romantic, whilst Chaka Khan's has more energy, so more suited for a party... If I had to keep one only, it would be Prince's of course!

Great answer accept I'll say I'd keep both; one is a lazy afternoon song, the other is a great cardio workout.

With Chakas version you could sing along, dance around the room and just have a great time...it was just so damn catchy, especially that 'chaka khan, chaka khan, chaka khan..chaka khan let me rock you, let me rock you chaka khan...'' she said in an interview she was so embarrassed by that...LOL...but it was so damn catchy and i love her voice!!!! One of the BEST covers of a Prince tune. IMHO

chaka has a great bootie too and she know it.

On the subject of Chaka singing Prince songs, have you folks heard her rendition of Sign O The Times from her Funk This album?

Normally I would say covering a song like that is a sacrelege, but Chaka makes it her own.

MattyJam said:

On the subject of Chaka singing Prince songs, have you folks heard her rendition of Sign O The Times from her Funk This album?

Normally I would say covering a song like that is a sacrelege, but Chaka makes it her own.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

yes 100%....... I agree, the Chaka version of I Feel For You is a pop classic...

Prince's original is too sparse, it sufferes a bad production - too simple sounding imho, like it wasn't fully developed?

It's a cover done the right way - totally different from the original. Think of the other covers of IFFY, many of them just immitate the Prince version. Arif Mardin/Chaka Khan just put their stamp on it and it's a classic in every way.

MattyJam said:

NouveauDance said:

It's a cover done the right way - totally different from the original. Think of the other covers of IFFY, many of them just immitate the Prince version. Arif Mardin/Chaka Khan just put their stamp on it and it's a classic in every way.

Good to see Sue Ellen hang around again. Hold on to your bottle/Soul, Sister.

There isn't a really perfect Prince cover out there, me thinks.
I love Sinead O'Koo-koo, but nothing compares to Clare, Susannah, Eric and St. Paul.

But this "I Feel For You" takes bold steps away from the original, and made it a flagship for DJs, it helped them being part of a song construction (and years later we got stuff like Moby, yeech). It further popularized scratch and rapping, and made it to #1. It's an early achievement for Urban Black Music at the top of the Billboard 200.
Remember, this is 1984! Michael and Prince changed the landscape forever, and Prince understood rappers were just stealing the fruit of their seeds, and that probably pissed him off ("Dead On It").

It's an important piece of pop. Not to mention the killer musicans and production. Geez, you have Steve jammin' to a Prince's groove, for crying out loud.

Man, to only think he could have work with the entire industry in the eighties... But we got the gems that fill The Vault instead, us Pirates. It was worth it every seclusive reflex from Skipper.


I loooooved finding out "I Feel For You" being a Prince song some months later after my Purplemania had spread to my bones. I thought it was an incredible production already. The original disappointed me at first, but it ages better, and you can tell it's a Prince song all the way.Those riffs are great. It's humble where he could have chosen a huge sound. Therefore it's funkier.

To think that this song and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" were destined to another artist... Pheew, that was close. Prince needed that platinum right away, it gave him confidence for daring America with "Dirty Mind", no doubt.

[Edited 7/4/16 4:26am]