I've always wondered this but... If Prince was a "One-hit wonder" what would be his song?

For me its The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker or Stare

[Edited 5/29/18 14:30pm]

LaurenceNoonan said:

I've always wondered this but... If Prince was a "One-hit wonder" what would be his song?

For me its The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker or Stare

[Edited 5/29/18 14:30pm]

Considering neither were even remotely hits I think that would make him a No Hit Wonder. I am quite fond of The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, though.

steakfinger said:

LaurenceNoonan said:

I've always wondered this but... If Prince was a "One-hit wonder" what would be his song?

For me its The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker or Stare

[Edited 5/29/18 14:30pm]

Considering neither were even remotely hits I think that would make him a No Hit Wonder. I am quite fond of The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, though.

I never said they had 2 be hits... It can be any Prince song u dig.

KISS

I Wanna Be Your Lover

I agree I think 1999 would be the song. To this day, sitcoms, movies, and comedians reference 1999.

Honorable mention goes to the ruffled shirt. That would be Prince's wardrobe one-hit wonder, for the same reason.

PennyPurple said:

KISS

And to me, that would be the best one hit wonder ever. It's just a great song.

Probably Kiss. Little Red Corvette would be a close second.

pdiddy2011 said:

I agree I think 1999 would be the song. To this day, sitcoms, movies, and comedians reference 1999.

Honorable mention goes to the ruffled shirt. That would be Prince's wardrobe one-hit wonder, for the same reason.

I saw many a folk in the thift shop the other day dancing around and singing along with 1999 when it came on the radio... gave me all the feels

NorthC said:

Nobody says Purple Rain? When I tell somebody I like Prince, quite often they say, "yeah, Purple Rain is alright, but other than that..." Purple Rain is the one Prince song everybody knows and even appeals to non-fans.

While you're right--everybody seems to know it and it seems to work at some level with most folks--I think that's because it also lends itself to other people doing it. But at the same time, it seemed to me like the least of the album's tracks at the time as far as being, I don't know, "hit-worthy," I guess. Yes, it seems to have broader appeal--I can imagine hearing it in a wide range of radio-formats or contexts. But Little Red Corvette seems maybe better for that.

But real one-hit wonders' hits are often a bit more gimmicky or odd than either of those tracks. A one-hit wonder is not just an act that has one hit--there's tons of those. It's an act that has one song that somehow is BIGGER than the act, or really most other songs out when it is. Not better or more popular, but somehow bigger in the general culture, and better able to hang on in the collective memory. I know that grammatically the wonder is the act, but it's really the song--it seems to come out of nowhere, not fit into a larger context of an act's work (because the general awareness of the act is only that song), and yet seems somehow JUST THERE. It's almost like they happen in the public consciousness all on their own, and that's it. The song is the real wonder.

So a one hit wonder's hit--it's like the song is the result of a "this is only gonna work once" kind of mixture, and is released into just the right moment in the culture, and the reason the acts don't hit big again (or subsequent hits are minor and leave the collective memory) is because the one song seems so "weird" to the audience that other tracks by them turn out to be too different from that hit (and thus seem bland by comparison) or too similar (at which point the original hit no longer seems as distinctive or memorable--and the act probably doesn't survive even as a one-hit wonder in people's minds). Thought of that way, the answer seems to me to be not just the biggest of Prince hits, but (as it turns out) one of the oddest: When Doves Cry.

Though honestly, U Got the Look is a fantastic mix of cliche, cleverness, and off-the-wall goofiness--ain't nobody else making that song... and it still worked on the radio--but not too well, so it feels kind of "special." A one-hit wonder that's really the biggest song around--that would be a bit unusual--so maybe U Got the Look would beat out When Doves Cry, especially since it also emphasizes fun and is unrelentingly poppy for poppiness' own sake.

It's also easy to imagine someone else (or a Prince with a very different career) coming up with Batdance and having his one hit with it. I mean, sure, that song's getting played in 1989 off the strength of Batmania, but who'd expect the guy who did that to have any other hits in him?

After a bad acid trip at a disco in MPLS he writes the Safety Dance in 1978.

All My Dreams

No Puple & Gold?

benni said:

No Puple & Gold?

*shudders*

sulls said:

benni said:

No Puple & Gold?

*shudders*

Appropriate reaction! What a song!

when doves fly

Shockalaka said:

The only likely example I can think of would be be Soft & Wet, if for some reason WB decided against signing Prince up for more albums after the commercial failure of For You. If that happened, S&W would be only hit song from that short run. _ By the time Prince was on a roll though, chances of him becoming a one-hit-wonder would be pretty much nil. There was so much fantastic material coming out from him during the 80s!

Exactly

pdiddy2011 said: