Lovesexy was released on this day in 1988.

Let's hear your thoughts about it.

1. No
2. Alphabet Street
3. Glam Slam
4. Anna Stasia
5. Dance On
6. Lovesexy
7. When 2 R In Love
8. I Wish U Heaven
9. Positivity

Prince – whatever
Sheila E. – drums (1, 2, 3, 8), drums and backing vocals (5, 9)
Boni Boyer – keyboards (1), backing vocals (4, 9)
Dr. Fink – keyboards (1)
Miko Weaver – guitar (1)
Levi Seacer, Jr. – bass (1)
Eric Leeds – saxophone (1, 2, 9)
Atlanta Bliss – trumpet (1, 2, 9)
Ingrid Chavez – spoken intro (1)

Cat Glover – rap (2), backing vocals (4)

• "Alphabet St." (#8 US, #3 US R&B, #9 UK)

1. "Alphabet St. – part 1" – 7" version only
2. "Alphabet St. – part 2" – 7" version only
3. "Alphabet St." – 12" version only
4. "Alphabet St. – This is not music, this is a trip" – 12" version only

• "Glam Slam" (#44 US R&B, #29 UK)

1. "Glam Slam" – 7" version only
2. "Glam Slam (Remix)" – 12" version only
3. "Escape (Free yo mind from this rat race)"

• "I Wish U Heaven" (#18 US R&B, #24 UK)

1. "I Wish U Heaven" – 7" version only
2. "I Wish U Heaven (Part 1, 2 and 3)" – 12" version only
3. "Scarlet Pussy"

The album hit #5 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and #11 on Billboard 200. It was #1 in the UK, Sweden, Holland, and New Zealand, making the top 10 in most other countries.

I will never forget playing this album right after i had just been listening to sign of the times. It blew my mind how different it was . And really cemented Prince as a genius to me

Listening to this on my walkman as a 14 y.o. in the summer gazing at the clouds changed my life. Never knew music could do such things.

Wasn't an easy one, tried it numerous times, one day it was Positivity that clicked and that i had to put on repeat. after that, the album opened for me and i discovered the magic. it was the peak of everything that started 10 years before. it was clear that he couldn't top that and so the Batman-soundtrack had to be a disappointment but today i think that he did nicely with the reduced sound of the future or electric chair.

I like Parade and Sign 'O' The Times better but it's this album that cemented his status as a genius - nobody can beat that album, it's absolutely unmatched. Without it, something would be missing - Lovesexy is the one...

Bought it on day of release.

Decades later still one of my favoutite Prince albums and why on earth Lovesexy wasn't released as a single is somthing I'll never understand.

Also start of the end for me and a lot of my Prince friends at the time

Edit.

[Edited 5/11/21 15:21pm]

emesem said:

Wolfie87 said:

Q Magazine described it as superfunk. Eric Leeds thought it overproduced. It's amazing how different sounding it is to Batman album and Sign of the Times album, sandwiched between the two. It's almost like someone said to him, Sign is a great album. But the production is meh. And P was like, I'll prove just how thic I can make music. Lovesexy all the way.

emesem said:

Cut out of a college class to go pick this up. Didn’t know what to expect based on the aborted black album, the A street video and the very feminine aesthetic. It was quite the turn from the gritty hippy dark vibe of SoTT. But I knew I would be ok if the music was good. Have to say I found LS to be a disappointment. The first Prince album that didn’t feel complete. Even ATWIAD, with a similar feel of incompleteness was able to coast on the PR afterglow. The production and engineering is terrible. Here the mix was too loud, the bass too muddy, the synths now cheesy digital rather than analogue and too many layers of backing vocals. But I was more than ok with the “message”. It felt positive, tolerant, hopeful. (Way better than the darkness and negativity of The Rainbow Children). I was cool with it since we all knew that in a year, maybe less, Prince would put out another masterpiece if the pattern held. (Nope). In retrospect LS has its charms and is superior to what came afterward. The LS concert i went to is one of the highlights of my musical life but this album marked the end of Prince’s perfect run. After this he’d be occasionally brilliant but more often frustrating but also revealed to be human. [Edited 5/11/21 5:51am]

I totally agree. I was a senior in HS and remember getting the cassette the day it was released. It was the first time I was disappointed in a Prince album. It has grown on me over the years and now think from Lovesexy to I Wish U Heaven is a perfect flow of songs. But coming from SOTT (my fave Prince album) this was a letdown at the time.

I also agree comparing it to ATWIAD & Rainbow Children...but as the years have gone by I play ATWIAD way more than Lovesexy. However the LS concert was amazing and actually helped me enjoy the album more.

Michael Bland loved the album and then became prince's drummer.

So. there's that

OH!

...and "Scarlett Pussy" was Camille's only real B-side with the 12" vinyl label in peach n black

[Edited 5/11/21 9:04am]

Lovesexy will always be in my top 3 albums. Bought it the day it was released. I 'got it' upon the first listen. Loved that it was all one track originally (which wasn't really a problem with an LP but on CD it definately made it hard to 'skip' songs).

kingricefan said:

Loved that it was all one track originally (which wasn't really a problem with an LP but on CD it definately made it hard to 'skip' songs).

From the moment I saw the vid for alphabet street I loved it all. Tour and album were something otherworldly.

mmart2008 said:

I thought the Alphabet St video looked cheap. Glam Slam was better...but I Wish U Heaven was the best video of the three...too bad no one saw it (at least in the States)! I ended up seeing years later.

The album that confirmed me as a fan. I bought it for my then girlfriend - and being the dutiful boyfriend I was, played the record first to check it wasn't scratched or damaged...and I was hooked.

*

I just think it is a prime example of someone being completely in control. And I love it. Then, of course, it was a trawl bakwards to get all the back catalog. Such glorious, glorious days.

Wolfie87 said:

MASTERPIECE

What I'd like to hear is what went through y'alls minds having to place that album on the record store counter with that cover in 1988.

I wouldn't get into Prince for a couple more years, but some thoughts I remember from the time when I got the CD:

- "Just act normal" as I bought a CD with a naked man on the cover. I was a 14 year old teen boy in the rural South...the concern was justified.

- "PLEASE don't skip!" as I played this one-track CD on a Sony Discman with a slow FF/REW feature.

- "I love this!" as I listened for the first of countless times.

[Edited 5/11/21 17:18pm]