I've seen for the first time, the music video during summer 84'. Since then, Prince music never left me...

What are your memories regarding the single ?

this is the day I was expexting the first news on a big Boxed set...what a great day to releas on of the early mixes! I would love to hear the full mix as well as the last mix with bass...

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I remember the first day it came on the radio. I stopped in my tracks and was mesmerized. As soon as it was over with I wanted to hear it again. When I heard it was Prince I was already calling up the local record store to see when the album would come out.

I remember catching the video premier on MTV and trying to wrap my brain around it. Not only did it sound nothing like anything else on the charts, it even sounded alien to the material on Dirty Mind/Controversy/1999, all of which I had in heavy rotation at the time. WDC is the sound of the beginning of summer 1984.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Oh, I wish I wasn't such a dumb 10 year old when this came out. All I knew of Prince was the videos for 1999 and Little Red Corvette, which I thought were totally cool. But Prince crawling out of a bathtub... didn't quite know what to make of that. As my older brothers made it clear that Prince is "music for girls", I just never gave this track a chance. What can I say - I was a little kid who idolized his older brothers.

When I finally came around about 3 years later, I got Purple Rain on cassette and side 2 got the majority of the playtime. I wasn't initially savvy enough to understand how incredible this song is musically. What really won me over was the vocal performance. Just an incredible track!

By the way, when my Purple Rain tape went missing at one point, I eventually found it in my oldest brother's car. Hmmmm... I wonder how that got in there....

sahara said:

Oh, I wish I wasn't such a dumb 10 year old when this came out. All I knew of Prince was the videos for 1999 and Little Red Corvette, which I thought were totally cool. But Prince crawling out of a bathtub... didn't quite know what to make of that. As my older brothers made it clear that Prince is "music for girls", I just never gave this track a chance. What can I say - I was a little kid who idolized his older brothers.

When I finally came around about 3 years later, I got Purple Rain on cassette and side 2 got the majority of the playtime. I wasn't initially savvy enough to understand how incredible this song is musically. What really won me over was the vocal performance. Just an incredible track!

By the way, when my Purple Rain tape went missing at one point, I eventually found it in my oldest brother's car. Hmmmm... I wonder how that got in there....

I was 10 too and like your brothers (and many others) I didn't know what to make of it at first. I didn't react with disgust or disdain for it though. I really liked the song and that summer was ruled by Prince, the Boss and Billy Joel from what I remember. I hadn't put together that this was was the same guy that sang "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Do Me Baby" from my early childhood. I don't even think the 1999 album was on my radar because "black" radio didn't really feature it out in the Bay Area. Purple Rain was one of my first legit cassette tapes. Before that I only had a couple of records.

40 years back, I was seated at my mother's kitchen table in Georgia when the radio DJ played it. I was completely taken aback. Even now, I can't help but stop whatever I'm doing when I hear it.

RODSERLING said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

this is the day I was expexting the first news on a big Boxed set...what a great day to releas on of the early mixes! I would love to hear the full mix as well as the last mix with bass...

Some trolls here says anniversary don't matter.

well they are arbitrary.... we put meaning on them... the thing is if there was going to be something BIG this year...it seems something would have been announced or leaked by now. The fact that they did announce the Movie 40th edition (that is basicaly the same as the 20th just better quality) but NOTHING about the album... epecialy that it is what 39 days from the accual 40th year anniversery seems to indcate there will be no big release this year....

OnlyNDaUsa said:

RODSERLING said:

OnlyNDaUsa said: Some trolls here says anniversary don't matter.

well they are arbitrary.... we put meaning on them... the thing is if there was going to be something BIG this year...it seems something would have been announced or leaked by now. The fact that they did announce the Movie 40th edition (that is basicaly the same as the 20th just better quality) but NOTHING about the album... epecialy that it is what 39 days from the accual 40th year anniversery seems to indcate there will be no big release this year....

....so little faith for a year with 7 months to go before 2025....of course something will be out before 2025....sure The Estate will gain more money with PR era than any other material from his musical legacy...The Estate are not so nuts & they know it !

RODSERLING said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

this is the day I was expexting the first news on a big Boxed set...what a great day to releas on of the early mixes! I would love to hear the full mix as well as the last mix with bass...

Some trolls here says anniversary don't matter.

You mean some logical people, along with experts in marketing say anniversaries don't matter.

Hardcore fans such as us will always buy the boxset, regardless of the date it's released. And casual fans don't care at all about anniversaries. That's why anniversary releases don't increase sales.

Like most suburban white kids, I had discovered Prince with the Little Red Corvette single, but the 1999 video is what made me a fan! Loved the tune, and the sight of Jill & Lisa playing the keyboard together stirred emotions in me I didn't understand. That album quickly became a favorite, so I was primed for the next album. The first time I heard When Doves Cry, I was completely stunned...and was dying to hear the tune again! It was SO different from anything else on the radio, and completely different from what Prince had previously done. It can't be overstated how impactful the tune was in the summer of 1984!

This was my introduction to Prince. It preceded the film and album, and in the UK Prince hadn't registered with 1999/LRC, they became hits afterwards. My memories are:

1. The video showed a whole world beyond the suburbia I grew up in

2. The sparse sound was so different to anything else at the time

3. The lyrics. Seemlessly going from "..you and I engaged in a kiss, the sweat of your body..", as a teenager I could imagine this. Then in a couple of beats "maybe you're just like my mother... maybe you're just like my father.." From lust to disfuntional families in a few lines; flowing in a way that is a natural progression. Amazing.

I think point 3 was the absolute clincher for me.

AndyMac said:

This was my introduction to Prince. It preceded the film and album, and in the UK Prince hadn't registered with 1999/LRC, they became hits afterwards. My memories are:

1. The video showed a whole world beyond the suburbia I grew up in

2. The sparse sound was so different to anything else at the time

3. The lyrics. Seemlessly going from "..you and I engaged in a kiss, the sweat of your body..", as a teenager I could imagine this. Then in a couple of beats "maybe you're just like my mother... maybe you're just like my father.." From lust to disfuntional families in a few lines; flowing in a way that is a natural progression. Amazing.

I think point 3 was the absolute clincher for me.

great points, but that lyric actually is, "...maybe i'm just like my father..."

[Edited 5/22/24 7:37am]