Again, "Sleep Around" was slated as a single, but EMI folded.

SoulAlive said:

Private Joy Lovesexy (title track) And God Created Woman 319

"Lovesexy" was also supposed to be a single.

I would love a clean copy of that remix!!!

Almost any of Prince's songs could've been made into a "hit", with the right promotion and focus on that particualr song, Prince was never really interested in that idea - he would routinely have a single out and go on a TV show and play a different song! He did what he wanted, and that's the main thing, but he could've had more higher charted singles if he had been more focused on the song that was out at that point in time. He had a more scatter shot approach and tried to sell the album rather than the singles.

[Edited 11/14/23 10:52am]

So Far So Pleased seems like the ultimate missed opportunity for Prince to score a huge radio hit. It is not my favorite song, but it is upbeat and catchy and sounds like a radio hit. Plus it had Gwen Stefani on it, who was very popular in that era.

dodger07 said:

On the back of TMBGIW; Love Sign. With the gun control message, Marvin Gaye’s daughter, Ice Cube directed video I’m sure it would’ve done well if WB hadn’t blocked it

Nice one, I could see this one doing pretty well as a single in that era.

lurker316 said:

RJOrion said:

Glam Slam

Glam Slam was released and promoted. MTV played the video somewhat regularly. But it never caught on.

I liked the video but I think this was the wrong choice for the second single.It's a good album track but it didn't stand a chance on pop radio in 1988.

lustmealways said:

pope

Strange,

'Pope' is to me one of the worse song Prince ever wrote...

wasn't it released as a single?

paisleyparkgirl said:

LOVE from 3121.

Right back here in my Arms (Emancipation)

Good ones.

dodger07 said:

On the back of TMBGIW; Love Sign. With the gun control message, Marvin Gaye’s daughter, Ice Cube directed video I’m sure it would’ve done well if WB hadn’t blocked it

Great song.It is so catchy and fun,with a good message.It deserved to be a proper single.

RJOrion said:

^^YES..."Party Up" for sure...i cant believe i forgot to mention that joint...one of my very favorite Prince songs EVER

Check out the SNL performance!

nayroo2002 said:

SPOOKYGAS said:

Adore

Yep. It was a smash on black radio with no promotion at all. A decent performance video would've driven it to even greater heights.

AUTOMATIC would have been much better single than LPWM

GIRLS & BOYS should have been the 2nd Single in the US (love Mountains but wtf)

HOT THING should have been a proper single, it was consistently in the top 5 requested songs of the night on Z100 in NYC

STRANGE RELATIONSHIP - this is a no-brainer

ADORE - as an RnB Chart Single (why didn't they do this???)

and of course U GOT THE LOOK - should have been the 2nd single

GOOD LOVE I think this could have been something special

THE MAX Am I crazy here?

SLEEP AROUND - Yep, an edit should have been first (BBGW = clunk)

SO FAR SO PLEASED - For sure like everyone said

LOVE - Te Amo Corazon??????

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Pope should have been left in the vault. New Position should have been a single.. not another lover... Lovesexy the title song is a better single choice than glam slam but it needs a cleaner, less cluttered mix. Ana stesia might have been a better single than i Wish u heaven, much as i love that video.

I got into Prince and bought Parade largely on the strength of Anotherlover. New Position is cool on that album but probably not as a stand alone single. I agree that Anna Stesia would've been the better choice as a single.

SoulAlive said:

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

That's what I thought at the time. Not that he would've got back to Purple Rain popularity or anything, but it would've kindled more interest in the album.

whodknee said:

SoulAlive said:

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

That's what I thought at the time. Not that he would've got back to Purple Rain popularity or anything, but it would've kindled more interest in the album.

That's why he lip-sync'ed an edit on 'Oprah'

It would have been a single if EMI didn't close shop.

AnnaStesia

The Cross

Chelsea Rogers (but then he would have been sued ;=)

Same as others said

Private Joy would've been his breakout hit if it was released.

Strange Relationship, Play in the Sunshine, and Adore all should've been singles. That album died the minute If I Was Your Girlfriend dropped. Then of course he should've have toured the states and released the above singles and it could've been on par with 1999 as far as sales were concerned.

As much as I love Lovesexy the song, nothing couldve saved that album in the states...the cover killed it immediately. WAY too daring at that time in the states.

Sleep Around of course should've been the first single. He was on a kick of releasing ballads after The Most Beautiful Girl, and BBW sounded a lot like that so I get what he was thinking...but massive miss from a massive album. T

So Far So Please would've done better that the Greatest Romance...but not sure it would've been the sure-fire hit.

A Million Days as first single would've been a bigger hit than Musicology imo.

RODSERLING said:

Poplife88 said:

Private Joy would've been his breakout hit if it was released.

I totally agree.Not sure why Warners couldn't see its' hit potential.

Enjoying this thread...

Can someone confirm or explain what is meant when saying that if EMI had not folded, then Sleep Around would have been the first single?

So, did EMI want that as the single and when they went down, it was up to Prince and he chose that rotten one (JK)

Thanks

"So Far, So Pleased". As others have said, Gwen and No Doubt were all over radio and MTV back then. The pop stations would have probably played that song every hour.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said: