I was surprised to note the failure of 'Gold' on both the US mainstream and R&B charts! It reached a dismal #88 on the US charts, and fared even worse on the R&B chart.

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Given Prince's P.R. issues that was starting at the time, his oversaturation of the market, and the rise of slow-jam R&B and mainstream hip-hop, I'm not surprised that 'Gold' wasn't a huge #1 or whatever, but I would have expected it to get some radio/MTV support (it had a glossy, easily digestible video) being that it was such an obviously strong song with easy hooks and a fairly maintream sound. It came out only a year after 'The Most Beautiful Girl...' had been an international smash, too.

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It was a top-10 in the UK and top-20 in some European markets, which would seem to me to have been a logical chart-placing in the US, too. But instead it completely flopped. Why?

I was also kinda surprised it didn't fare better. It is a big song that has 'hit' written all over it. I guess Prince's feud with WB made them decide not to give it the song the big commercial push.

The song/production is slightly cheesy though, maybe that's another factor why it didn't work at the time? Gold sounds like a cheesier, glossed up 'glitter' version of Purple Rain to me. Maybe people compared it with the 'original' and thought of it as 'Prince light'?

I'm surprised Gold wasn't as big as Purple Rain. It's just as great as Purple Rain is...for me atleast.

It was really a hard time for songs that weren't hip hop tio get played during that era. I also wonder if it had been the first single rather than follow Hate U, if it might have been played. Hate U was too far removed from anything on top 40, so they played it a few times and apparently stopped quickly due to negative listener reaction. Once a song from an album fails on radio, the stations are more resistant to playing the next single. Interestingly Hate U, with it's soufulness was more appropriate than the poppish Gold for R & B stations, where it was a top 5 hit!

PurpleColossus said:

rainbowchild said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

He was at war with his record company. There is no 'hit' without label support. Also the song was a bit cliche - he had done similar enough sounding songs better previously in his career.

Also it can't be overstated, he was not 'Prince' anymore, he was so the general public were

mynameisnotsusan said:

He was at war with his record company. There is no 'hit' without label support.

Exactly.Because of Prince's feud with Warners,that song (and the album itself) didn't get the full promotion and attention that it deserved.

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[Edited 9/25/16 6:35am]

ScarLett said:

True .. there was a lot to contend with during that time period.. Prince was great for romance and getting it in. But day to day we were rolling biggie - Tupac- Kelly - etc.. they were at the height of their game then .. and honestly he was a bit weird then

best typo ever.

Genesia said:

Name change. Obscure album. No label to promote it. Take your pick.

There it is.

IstenSzek said:

When Prince was sent to the R&B division of Warner Brothers it changed the way his music was marketed. It also cut his fan base.

love the song! IMO:

1 - Radio didn't play

2 - People didn't buy it

3 - Enough people didn't want to listen to it

4- Record company didn't want to promote it

5 - Prince didn't give a shit what it did..

PurpleColossus said:

I'm surprised "Gold" wasn't as big as "Purple Rain". It's just as great as "Purple Rain" is...for me at least.

It was truly the "Purple Rain" of the 90s. Anthemic, begs for audience sing-along, great guitar solo, etc.

I think there was so much being released, that it got lost in the mix. COME and The Black Album were released three months apart. Less than a year later The Gold Experience was out, and in an even shorter time Chaos and Disorder dropped. All that coupled with the constant media joking about the name change, and his seemingly erratic behavior, etc., I can see why many things were ignored. It should have been the opposite. VH1 special, live appearances, and all that. It could have been a good promotional period, but it was all backlash.

For me, "Gold" was a brilliant single, and could have been the final on the WB era. It was a phase-ender, and Emancipation could have been the beginning of something new. But I think America was just tired of Prince, and the "he wants to be free" chant.

FUNKNROLL said:

Let's focus on the song. It's farcical and over the top in a way that alienates. Otherwise - Prince seemed to be obsessed with besting the standard set by Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody which had received a bump from Wayne's World at the time. Not a good look for him, IMO.

That was more with 3 Chains Of Gold then Gold. Gold was trying to channel Purple Rain transcendency.

Gee, what's going to do better on the radio, a singalong about how girls are beautiful or a preachy tune?

Folks its a matter of two things:

1. At that time the only people who understood the name change was Prince and diehard fans. The general public let their own perceptions and misunderstandings of it get in the way of the music.

2. Air play and promotion. If this song was properly promoted it would have done better.

So, if Prince was still Prince back then, and it had proper promotion, it surely would have dont better IMO.

leadline said:

So, if Prince was still Prince back then, and it had proper promotion, it surely would have dont better IMO.

bam

It was a minor hit in the UK (reached the top 10 if I recall). I remember quite a few non-fans liking this song at the time. Other than TMBGITW, I would say it's Prince's most fondly-remembered song from the 90s in the UK.

As for North America, well, I'm not North American, so fudge knows....

Iamtheorg said:

rebelenterprise said:

"Gold" is an awesome song...but it was never going to be heavily played on R&B radio. IMO, A better track for R&B radio from the album would've been something like "Billy Jack Bitch" (edited, of course) or "Now". I do remember ATL R&B stations playing the hell out of "I Hate U" & they started playing the TGE version of "Shhh" as well during that time period. But "Gold" definitely could've been a hit on adult Pop/Rock stations if it was promoted properly.

I think "319" would have been a perfect single.It would have done well on R&B and pop stations,I think.I consider it to be the "Kiss" of the 90s

NorthC said:

Iamtheorg said:

bam

In France they have a saying that with "if" you can put Paris in a bottle because "if" Paris had been a little smaller and"if" the bottle had been a little larger, then...

In America, we have a saying of make my funk the p funk, I wants ta gets funked up.