I'll be honest: I had no idea Prince had so many music videos. Blame it on age or lack of awareness or whatever, I've been introduced to a lot of them thanks to this estate uploading them on the official channel. I'm extremely partial to Love 2 9's, Cream & U Got the Look. Some of them really make the song for me (despite the song already being amazing!)

What are some of y'all favorites?

I have it on good authority that Prince's favorite music video was Uptown.

To me is When Doves Cry.

My favorite is Kiss.

The Same December
Violet the Organ Grinder
Glam Slam

Face Down

They're pretty boring, honestly. Most are straight performance videos. All the 1999-era videos look the same, the only difference being film or video. There are only a small handful that stand out as visually interesting or different (Purple Rain and SOTT videos aside because they're so movie-specific). They did get better in the 90s. It's hard to judge others later, because they were put into long-form videos sometimes.

Better ones:

Raspberry Beret

America (performance but live)

Girls and Boys (BOO!)

Anotherloverholenyohead (performance but live, I was obsessed with it)

Glam Slam (feels like a rehearsal which is cool; reminds me of "Control," wish it was not so edited)

Batdance

Partyman

Cream

Diamonds and Pearls

Willing And Able (performance but one for the sake of the video with live sound, killer take)

Cinnamon Girl

I really dug "Gangsta Glam" and "Clockin' the Jizz" because there was so much stuff filmed in and around the Galpin house. "Violet The Organ Grinder" isn't such a great video, although some good shots, but the song saves it.

Videos he should've made:

Pop Life

Sometimes It Snows In April

Private Joy

Erotic City

Adore

The Future

Vicki Waiting (almost as if he were the entertainment at the Wayne party early in the film when Vicki is looking for Bruce)

Joy In Repetition

Endorphinmachine (although the French TV performance could be a stand-in)

One Of Us

3121

can't think of others off hand.

Stinkers are anything he threw together as a collage.

Gett Off

Dolphin. A really simple, yet effective video.

For a video that's "just" a performance the 1999 video is a pretty iconic, permanently embedded in people's brains, video. It's probably my favourite for that reason, even if he made better "proper" videos.

TrivialPursuit said:

They're pretty boring, honestly. Most are straight performance videos.

I cannot relate. Prince performing is never boring. In fact, he was one of the most captivating performers of all time. Even just standing there. Hell, even a still shot of him. Those eyes and facial expressions were so interesting.

The Bat videos were probably the best, but I have special fondness for I Wish U Heaven. It was such a unique style of video, from the visual effects, to the camera work - just the look of it.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

The Bat videos were probably the best, but I have special fondness for I Wish U Heaven. It was such a unique style of video, from the visual effects, to the camera work - just the look of it.

There are two versions of that video. There used to be a DVD set of Prince videos circulating, which included a side-by-side of "I Wish U Heaven." In general, it's the same video, different color correction and a few different edits. On that set, there's also the band version of "I Wanna Be Your Lover," and an alternate version of "Paisley Park."

"I Wish U Heaven" seems to be the one video that squarely fits with the Lovesexy aesthetic more than "Glam Slam" (despite it being shot on the tour stage) and the local cable access-feel of "Alphabet St." (which is pretty close to how it was shot anyway).

I do love "Batdance" and "Partyman." Fun stuff. Took me years to realize he was whistling "The Arms of Orion" when he saunters into the room at the beginning of "Partyman." In fact, I think I learned it here on the Org in the last year or so.

Another vote for I Wish U Heaven. It looks like what the song sounds like.

eyewishuheaven said:

Another vote for "I Wish U Heaven." It looks like what the song sounds like.

That is a great description.

I always liked I Wish U Heaven, cheese and all.

Love the way it scrolls left to right like you were reading a long sentence or a piece of music and all the little touches and flourishes it sprinkled in as a story unfolds. I thought it captured the spirit of the song and the symbolism of the album really well.

I kind of dig Crimson and Clover too just from a trippy weird standpoint.

Videos weren't really his strong suit, tbh.