Everything from the Come onwards more or less?

.

With Emancipation and Rave he was trying to replicate TMBGITW, but they just weren't strong enough songs. Betcha is pleasant enough and had a USP that it was a cover, but the project needed to launch with a bang and this wasn't it. TGRES is just very mediocre and not really single material in general, unless they were to promote the Jason Nevins mix as the radio version and even then not as a lead single.

.

It's a shame Eye Hate U wasn't promoted properly as it was a strong, commercial track, but again leading with a ballad? Dinner With Delores? OK, it was slim pickings on that album lol. Te Amo Corazon? Lovely track, not a lead single. I guess it becomes a moot point after that.

.

.

.

[Edited 1/30/21 9:32am]

I'm surprise no one mentioned "If I Was Your Girlfriend." It's not a knock to the quality of the song, but fuck... with a 2 CD set of bangers, and he picks that as a lead single?! No thank you, ma'am. (I think about MJ releasing a ballad to launch BAD.)

ATWIAD is odd since radio was left to decide at first, but he sorta knew "Raspberry Beret" was gonna be a single. It's just sad no video existed for "Pop Life." Great album, but singles? Ehhh, there were never going to be huge hits from that record.

So "Kiss" was a great lead single, a #1. But it flat out didn't reflect the aural aesthetic of the album at all. I think people expected some sorta stripped down funky record, and got... Parade. While we love it as fans and musicians, the general public saw it as fluff. So I'm not sure any single could've survived that sort of word of mouth, coupled with bad movie reviews.

"Sign O The Times" was actually the first single, not IIWYG as some mention, but both weren't as strong as "U Got The Look" or even "Housequake."

"Alphabet St." was a great lead, but "Glam Slam" was a bad follow up. I think artists should almost always start with two upbeat songs, then a ballad as a 3rd single. "Glam Slam" is too mid-tempo. The album sorta suffers from the Parade issue I mentioned earlier, but in different ways.

"Sexy M.F." as a lead single - welp, it's almost like he wanted to kill before it started.

"The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" is probably the worst lead single in the history of his career. It's a flat, boring song, and no one gave a shit about it or Rave. Touting all these duets and no one really got to hear them or see videos for them. "Baby Knows," "So Far, So Pleased," "Everyday Is A Winding Road," "Prettyman," "Wherever U Go." That should've been the single release order.

Speaking of lead single ballads, "Te Amo Corazon." Girl, really?

Betcha By Golly jumps out at me too....it's not bad but it's nothing special you want to hear over and over.

SOTT... Title track and a good song, but not a single. The press fawned over it which made it worse. Tons of great singles to be had too. That was the first single I didn't buy when it came out.

Agree about Uptown being a weaker song too.

lavendardrummachine said:

SOTT... Title track and a good song, but not a single. The press fawned over it which made it worse. Tons of great singles to be had too. That was the first single I didn't buy when it came out.

In some ways, it was a quasi-Zeitgeist moment, where he really hit on people's moods and the focus of their attention. AIDS, Reagan's Star Wars program, heroin and crack... I'm sorta glad he found that newspaper and wrote those things down. I can see the press and critics taking huge note of it. The artist who was always known for his big dick energy took a tuck and left turn lyrically.

TrivialPursuit said:

The artist who was always known for his big dick energy took a tuck and left turn lyrically.

He'd already done Controversy though. It still cracks me up there's a real Disciples gang, because I thought it sounded so corny, like he was talkig about a gang from West Side Story. It's like someone's uncle trying to scare his nephews. Watch out, my cousin tried weed and six months later he was addicted to Horse. Still one of the most ridiculous nicknames for a narcotic.

It would have been a good Talking Heads song.

I don't dislike the song, for the record.

I've gone off on Betcha By Golly Wow before. This was Prince's Emancipation, hyped and heralded with TV ads, his 3 CD declaration of creative freedom... and he leads off with an adult contemporary cover? Whoops.

TrivialPursuit said:

lavendardrummachine said:

mtlfan said:

RODSERLING said:

Sexy MF is one of its best selling single in Europe. You americans are too focused on yourself.

One has nothing to do with the other.

TrivialPursuit said:

RODSERLING said:

SoulAlive said:

SoulAlive said:

Nonsense.”Sleep Around” would have been an excellent first single from Emancipation.

Agreed. It was screaming for an EP of remixes a la "Cream" or "New Power Generation." It should've been a single, period.

RODSERLING said:

SOTT was a worldwide hit... It was the best lead single possible.

Based on that criteria, U Got the Look would have been the better choice.

I don't remember SOTT getting much radio play. I guess it did somewhere. Anyway the topic is single choices we're not crazy about.

TrivialPursuit said:

lavendardrummachine said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I think Betcha By Golly Wow is a truly bizarre choice for a first single. Especially given the ambition of the project, and how many songs he had. It wasn't even a reimagining, it was just a straight cover. So odd.

Mintchip said:

RODSERLING said:

SOTT was #1 in airplay in the USA, and at least #5 for two weeks in Europe. U Got The Look is a duet with Prince having a pitched voice. It would have been too risky as a lead single.

All I see is it topped out at #2, and if it was ever a #1 radio chart, it was totally manipulated. It didn't get even half the radio play U Got the Look did. It was an instantly recognizable as Prince, there was zero confusion. He's in the video.

FasterThan67 said:

people mention U Got The Look being risky as it had the Camille voice, but when i first listened to SOTT, i barely noticed his voice was altered in that song..

Yeah it wasn't like Erotic City. It's pretty close to the same voice we heard in Girls and Boys and other songs.