What's up everybody. I really want to get a friend of mine into Prince. He mentioned that he's going on a LONG drive in a few days and suggested that I might make a playlist. Here's what I scraped together. Let me know what you think:

For You

I Wanna Be Your Lover

I Feel For You

When You Were Mine

Gotta Broken Heart Again

Controversy

Annie Christian

1999

Little Red Corvette

Let's Pretend We're Married

Take Me With U

When Doves Cry

Baby, I'm A Star

Condition of the Heart

Raspberry Beret

Kiss

Venus De Milo

Mountains

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man

Adore

Alphabet St.

Anna Stesia

I Wish U Heaven

Positivity

Electric Chair

Scandalous

Thieves in the Temple

The Question of U

Gett Off

Diamonds and Pearls

Love 2 the 9's

7

And God Created Woman

NPG Operator

Come (part 1) - From The Dawn 4.1

Endorphin Machine - From The Dawn 4.1

Space

NPG Operator

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

NPG Operator

Gold

Right Here Back In My Arms

My Computer

Don't Play Me

Circle of Amour

Comeback

The One

Wasted Kisses

The Greatest Romance Ever Sold

Strange But True

The Work Pt.1

Everywhere

She Loves Me 4 Me

Cinnamon Girl

Reflection

3121

The Word

The Dance

From The Lotus...

Colonized Mind

Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful

77 Beverly Park

Breakdown

affirmation I and II

Way Back Home

Purple Rain

I considered the 1993-1995 period to be a loose amalgamation of Come, TGE, and Chaos and Disorder. So, I didn't think it too aggregious to leave out any tracks from C&D. I don't own Planet Earth or 2010 (yet). Reflection almost feels like a more appropriate/resonant closer than Purple Rain to me. Also, there are various points in which I play it safe with the hits and some that I don't and there are some periods that I favor more highly and give more time too. Lmk if you might treat some eras and the transitions between them differently. (Kind of want to include The Sensual Everafter between Everywhere and She Loves Me 4 Me. Also, I did want to include the Mustang Mix of TMBGITW in the 93-95 era but didn't see a smooth way of including it) - (This is partly for discussion partly for fun). Thanks!

[Edited 12/30/17 0:12am]

This is a great list, but can you please add "The Beautiful Ones"?

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Another strategy would be to use songs that align with his general musical tastes. For example, if he likes Funk, play funkier songs like DMSR, Let's Work, Wonderful Ass, and so forth. If he likes a lot of genres, then your list has a great mix of different styles.

And "Black Muse" also

These are all fantastic suggestions! Thanks!

I don't think he's particularly into funk. Which is to say, not yet because that's just crazy.

I failed to note that I also have yet to purchase Hit n Run Phase 1 and 2, so those tracks are out for the time being (sadly). That said, The Beautiful Ones, She's Always In My Hair, and Joy in Repetition all feel pretty necessary to me now that I'm looking at them. It's unbelievably difficult to limit my selection so much from each era. All of 1986 is condensed into Kiss, Venus de Milo, and Mountains. That feels criminal but look at how long that list already is lol. AND I'm missing material from multiple albums.

Anyways, I've read a similar thing about non Prince fans regarding The Vault album which is strange to me. But I'll make a point of mentioning that that track may be a good in road.

[Edited 12/30/17 2:33am]

Just realized that I can send the Hit n Run, Planet Earth, and 20ten tracks later on through Dickie Holmes' youtube channel if need be.

OK so he is not into funk. So throw him a curve ball

How about some soild rock tunes or Blues?

AnotherLove (3rdEyeGirl)

THE RIDE / THE TRUTH/DONT PLAY ME to show off his acoustic/blues abilities

[Edited 12/30/17 3:41am]

Where's Housequake?

I would add Still Would Stand All Time.

where's uptown, if i was your girlfriend, starfish and cofee?

This is an interesting hits collection, but I think it would overwhelm newcomers like your friend. After all, it's really big and missing some of Prince's essential singles from the 80s anyway.
_

It'd be easier to get your friend to listen to the Purple Rain album, which is much shorter, and see what they think.

If that still doesn't convince them, you could play the first three songs from the Small Club live show on a good sound system or something. The choice is yours, just avoid overwhelming anyone.

[Edited 12/30/17 8:58am]

The Ride would be an excellent idea. (Big fan of John Mayer. There's the guitar playing connection). I've got Don't Play Me on there.

Housequake is the one track which I feel NEEDS to be on there but might turn him off. It's a bit like when you see a cat on the street and try to convince it that it's ok to approach you lol. Before I can basically hit him over the head with the endlessly incredible tracks, I basically have to convince him that he might be very interested to hear them or rewarded in learning about them. This is meant to be a very wide and appealing net. I also kind of want to prove my claim that Prince is the greatest popular artist of all time. I mean, look at that list AND consider all the music that's been ommitted lol. But I've (SADLY) had very little success of turning my friends on to Prince (I'm a millenial btw). In the past I've either just sent along my favorite tracks or advised they start with Purple Rain. Only reason I care all that much is to maybe contribute my 0.0001% to continuing his legacy as well as spreading the incredible joy I got from exploring his oeuvre. There's nothing like it. Plus, it's always fun when your friends get into the same things as you.

Anyways, all of your suggestions have got me thinking I should revise my list into two smaller lists: One containing the hits and another containing the more thought-provoking deeper cuts. Or to seperate playlists by subject matter/musical tradition that's being invoked. (Eg. Songs from Lovesexy, Graffiti Bridge, and The Rainbow Children to cover his brand of gospel).

Shockalaka: You're right. This would likely be pretty overwhelming lol. At the same time I can't resist my desire to prove Prince as the GOAT. Also, since in my experience Purple Rain has SOMEHOW failed to open the door I'm not entirely sure which era would most likely open the door for my friends. Hence the extremely wide net. Small Club is an interesting idea!

Maybe I will try recommending Old Friends 4 Sale. The only reason I'm resistant to the idea is I like the idea of blowing someone's mind with Prince's music haha. I have a rough time operating more subtly, I guess lol.

[Edited 12/30/17 17:30pm]

Yeah, I want to say that it's around 4 hours. He's got nothing better to do lol. That said, your previous post still seriously makes me wonder if this length is the right way to go. At least for me, once I skip one track it's like breaking the seal. You are less inclined to stick with a track that doesn't immediately grab you and I feel like Prince's music requires some degree of patience. So it casts a seriously wide net but also invites excessive skipping, I think.

[Edited 12/30/17 17:57pm]

[Edited 12/30/17 18:00pm]