Mine was Cloreen Bacon Skin. Before I became a Prince fan, I was listening to a podcast episode called Worst of Prince where two people went over what they thought were Prince's worst songs, and Cloreen Bacon Skin was the first one they talked about. Even though that was the first one I went out of my way to listen to, the first one I heard was the Happy Feet version of Kiss.

What about you?

Well leaving aside what the first Prince I heard (1999 or Raspberry Beret perhaps?) or even remember hearing (Diamonds & Pearls, although I saw the Batman film so something off that I suppose) was...

For You. I kind of made a conscious decision to give him a go and started at the start.

That's really cool that you started at the beginning. 1999 was the first proper Prince song I heard, but Sign "O" the Times was the first album of his I listened to after hearing great things about it.

Soft & Wet........I was carrying my boom box on my shoulder when it came on.

The song smacked me in the mouth.

While it was playing, I ran full speed 2 the record shop which was right down the street, asked the shop owner what on Earth was this playing, and purchased it on the spot.

My musical world was never the same.

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" on K-Tel Soundwaves. It was tucked in the middle of side one. I thought I'd heard "Soft and Wet" before that, but at this point I don't think that's true. I still have two copies of Soundwaves on vinyl. It was my introduction to Prince. And because K-Tel is/was a Minneapolis based company, it seems a wee bit cooler than randomly hearing it on the radio in Oklahoma City.

I think mine was Do Me Baby because I remember being at a club back in the early 80's and that song was playing and I was like WTF? Who is THIS? I had to know who was singing such a seductive song and once I found out it was Prince, I've been a fan since.

1999. Was watching MTV one afternoon afterschool and was mesmorized by this new band called "Prince". They were so cool looking.

[Edited 7/23/20 12:48pm]

"Still Waiting".My mother had Prince's second album,which she bought mainly for this song.It was her favorite.

Temptation

Graycap23 said:

Soft & Wet........I was carrying my boom box on my shoulder when it came on.

The song smacked me in the mouth.

While it was playing, I ran full speed 2 the record shop which was right down the street, asked the shop owner what on Earth was this playing, and purchased it on the spot.

My musical world was never the same.

love this

I'm sure it was I Wanna Be Your Lover from the radio back in the day but it didn't really register with me at the time so I'm gonna go with Controversy at the dance club.

"I Wanna Be Your Lover".....I knew who P was when his first album came out, but R&B radio out here never played "Soft And Wet". "Lover" (the short version) was played on the pop stations and the long version was played heavily on the R&B stations. Not too long after that, I saw him on "Bandstand".

I was 13 years old when "I Wanna Be Your Lover" played on the radio, but it was the "Little Red Corvette" video (much later, of course) that peaked my interest in Prince. The song "When Doves Cry" sealed the deal.

Either Little Red Corvette or 1999. I'm pretty sure it was LRC music video.

I think it was International Lover.

I remember hearing Kiss and Purple Rain on the radio a couple times when I was younger. 1999 was the first song I made an effort to listen to and that's what got me to eventually check out the rest of his stuff.

MTV either "Little Red Corvette" or "1999"

Interestingly, it didn't make me a fan. Then "When Doves Cry" came out so I got "Purple Rain". It was great but I really didn't consider myself a fan.

Then I bought "Dirty Mind" and "Prince". Became a HUGE FAN and the rest is history!

"I wanna be your lover" 1978. It was my first vynil record. 45 in. Single 😎

TrivialPursuit said:

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" on K-Tel Soundwaves. It was tucked in the middle of side one. I thought I'd heard "Soft and Wet" before that, but at this point I don't think that's true. I still have two copies of Soundwaves on vinyl. It was my introduction to Prince. And because K-Tel is/was a Minneapolis based company, it seems a wee bit cooler than randomly hearing it on the radio in Oklahoma City.

I'm east coast and I loved K-tel records late 70's 😎

IstenSzek said:

Graycap23 said:

Soft & Wet........I was carrying my boom box on my shoulder when it came on.

The song smacked me in the mouth.

While it was playing, I ran full speed 2 the record shop which was right down the street, asked the shop owner what on Earth was this playing, and purchased it on the spot.

My musical world was never the same.

love this

I stared at that record like it was from the moon.

Musically it rewired my brain.

Great day 4 the music in me.

Wow, all of these replies are interesting. The most common answer seems to be I Wanna Be Your Lover. It's cool to see how many people got to get into Prince when he was just starting. I never had that experience. I only got into his music in 2020.

[Edited 7/23/20 21:14pm]

Rev said:

TrivialPursuit said:

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" on K-Tel Soundwaves. It was tucked in the middle of side one. I thought I'd heard "Soft and Wet" before that, but at this point I don't think that's true. I still have two copies of Soundwaves on vinyl. It was my introduction to Prince. And because K-Tel is/was a Minneapolis based company, it seems a wee bit cooler than randomly hearing it on the radio in Oklahoma City.

I'm east coast and I loved K-tel records late 70's 😎

1999. Does anybody what their first prince song they listened to was? Can you change the title to english please.

The first Prince song I heard was 1999.

Our 6th Grade music teacher in 1983 had us sing that song in our school talent show.

I distinctly remember some of the kids who labeled as "burnouts" wanting to sing Photograph by Def Leppard and calling Prince pretty much every name in the book. But, 1999 won out and we all sang it.

Boys first, then all girls, then everyone on the opening lines. I'm sure it was horrible but it was a lot of fun.