Which ones do you wish he kept for himself and relased on his best albums?

My list in no order:

The Dance Electric

All Day All Night

Nothing compares 2 U

Love Thy will be done

Imagine how much these songs would have improved his already great 1980's and early 1990's records.

He was certainly generous with some of the songs he gave away!

hhhhdmt said:

Which ones do you wish he kept for himself and relased on his best albums?

My list in no order:

The Dance Electric

All Day All Night

Nothing compares 2 U

Love Thy will be done

Imagine how much these songs would have improved his already great 1980's and early 1990's records.

Good choices. Not that he couldn't or didn't reclaim some of these, I think Dance Electric would have been a great track to keep and would have been an amazing concert closer to do a 12-15 minute version of a la baby i'm a star, take me with u or purple rain.

I think all day all night is classic revolution sound and could have found a home on his albums.

To anwer your question with new material, I think G Spot was a very good track he should have kept, also bang bang was a track that I felt got lost being given to Brown Mark. The Family album should have been a Prince (Christopher Tracey) no less album.

I think at the end of the day it probably enhanced Prince for Nothing Compares 2 U to have been covered (and in popular culture assumed to be the debut of the song and not the Family album), it is one of those tid bits. I think Martika does a fine version of Love thy will be done so I am glad that she covered it.

It all depends on a few things. Tevin Campbell was given Shhhh, but it didi not really do anything and Prince took it back and did the definitive version (and I actually really like the Tevin version).

I am Prince gave the strong tracks he did for the Sheila E albums. I think Prince should never have gave tracks away to artists who did not succeed with them (hindsight is a beautiful thing), so for example, I would rather have seen him do 100 MPH, as the Mazaratti version was nothing special and got lost in the wilderness due to Prince not fronting it.

I think Prince should have kept some of the Sheena Easton tracks. Not sure how he could have got away with sugar walls, but I would have liked to see him try.

I really like the track Minneapoliis by MPLS and while it has Prince on it I would have liked it under his name. I think it is much better than Rock and Roll is a alive and it lives in Minneapolis which is not a bad tune but is a better title (and repost to Lenny Kravitz) than a fully realised song, and much softer than something like endorphin machine.

I like Prince's take on Eternity. It is a pretty ballad that he gave to Chaka. I think he was probably right to be so generous but essentially I just like Prince doing Prince songs better than other people doing them.

The Dance Electric is the very first one that came to mind when seeing this thread title


Andre's version is okay, but man Prince's own versions of it especially with Wendy and Lisa on it is personally one of my favorite things he ever did.

The Stick and Get It Up. Prince at his best.

Most everything on The Family record.

Chocolate.

Cool.

Ice Cream Castles.

Sex Shooter (never would have thought so but damn).

Blue Limousine (kind of has a Sometimes it Snows in April vibe buried in there)

He played a lot of his songs live and reclaimed them, like Dance Electric and Nothing Compares. I don't mind him giving some good songs away in those instances. I think some of the protege material that sound like throwaways might turn out to have decent Originals versions, and had he planned to keep them he would ave recorded them and made them into better songs than they were.

[Edited 7/5/20 20:03pm]

[Edited 7/5/20 20:05pm]

G-Spot
Baby, You're A Trip
All Day, All Night

I'm starting to see a pattern here

I know it wouldn't have fit on "1999" but I always thought he should've kept "777-9311" for himself.

I Guess I'm Crazy and Come Home from Mavis

Open Book for Jevetta Steele

Noon Rendezvous from Sheila

Neon Telephone from 3 O'Clock

101 and yo mister would have made great singles for him

[Edited 7/6/20 3:06am]

RJOrion said:

Nasty Girl 100 MPH Screams Of Passion My Drawers Glamorous Life Screams Of Passion Get It Up

"The Glamorous Life" is such an iconic track because of the percussion which brings it to a whole other level. And the video and Sheila's image made it the success that it was. I doubt he would have had the same level of success had it been a solo release.

BlueShakooo said:

"You're My Love". Never liked it, until I heard his version.

This one always feels like a 1977-1978 demo song

I always felt Dance Electric would have been a great bridge 2 ATWIAD, either release Dance Electric and 4 the Tears In Your Eyes as a seperater 'single' or put it on ATWIAD. But this was definately a Prince & the Revolution piece and keeper

I think he should have kept "U" and "Ain't No Place Like U"

whitesockedfunk said:

jdcxc said:

jdcxc said:

I also wonder what the original 777-9311 sounds like (I won’t take it away from The Time yet 😂). Brilliant Funk. The Bass/Guitar/Drums will forever b legendary.

I actually think that one doesnt sound any different but the vocals

The Glamorous Life was never meant for him to keep.
In the midst of the Purple Rain, his protege Sheila E step Uptown with this song and expended the Purple Kingdom

I do with he kept Manic Monday, maybe a duet with someone or just Prince and the Revolution & Apollonia 6

"High Fashion"----it would have been perfect for Parade/UTCM

1. Neon Telephone
2. All Day, All Night
3. Eternity

SoulAlive said:

"High Fashion"----it would have been perfect for Parade/UTCM

Agreed, fits perfectly.