Which song you always wanted to be released as a single, but never was?

I think every album has one on it.
Here'smy thought:


Dirty Mind : Sister
Controversy : Do Me Baby (was this one a single release? can't remember...)
1999 : Something In The Water (Does Not COmpute)
Purple Rain : Darling Nikki
Around The World In A Day : Tamborine / Temptation
Parade : SOmetimes It Snowes In April
Camille : Shockadelica
Bright Lights Big City (soundtrack) : Good Love
Sign 'O' The Times : Play In The Sunshine / It / The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker / It's GONNA Be A Beautiful Night
The Black Album : Bob George / SuperFunkyCaliFragiSexy / Cindy C
Lovesexy : Dance On / Eye No
Batman : Lemon Crush
Graffiti Bridge : I Can't Stop / We Can Funk

SUPERCUTE is an obvious choice. GREAT song that would get killer airplay on the radio

Tambourine
Had U
There's Others here with Us
Rock Hard in a funky place

Computer Blue
Vicki Waiting
Endorphinmachine
The Continental
Le Grind...

...probably think of some more later.

Sleep Around.

"Dolphin" - I think it would have been a great lead single for the Gold Experience CD

Cloudbuster said:

It was the obvious choice for a single, wasn't it? Can't really see why Prince didn't release it.

SUPERCUTE... everyone i know loves this on first listen. Very cool for in the car or getting ready to go out.

The singles up until 1986 were well chosen..

Then between 87-88, P stopped listening to management and sent some boners up the flagpole.. If I was your Girlfriend; Glam Slam; I Wish U Heaven; New Power Generation

I'd rather have these 3 classics as singles instead..

Starfish & Coffee
Anna Stesia
Question of U

Songs which could've been huge hits:

Computer Blue
Starfish & Coffee
Anna Stesia
We Can Funk
Dolphin
Billy Jack Bitch
Soul Sanctuary
Mad Sex
Wherever U Go Whatever U Do
Last December

MinneapolisFunk said:

Great choice. My personal favorite and with a cool video too, woulda been very popular was "So Far, So Pleased" with Gwen off of Rave. I know some hate it, but its a great pop rock tune, alot of fun and non-Prince people like it alot.

Good Love
She's Always In My Hair
Strange Relationship(instead of If I Was Your..)

Adore
TBODP
17 Days(should have made the album cut and released as a single)
She's Always In My Hair(same as above)

I'm reading everyone's choices and it's amazing how many album cut's could have been top 10 singles on the radio. Who is responsible for choosing singles, the artist or record company? Whoever was doing the choosing, or not choosing in this instance made some horrible decisions.

Bambi (yeah, I know it was released in belgium or wherever, but, you know..)
When You Were Mine (obvious single!)
D.M.S.R. (sooo funky)
Computer Blue (well, not sure if it's really 'single' material, but I just love it)
The Beautiful Ones (everyone loved this song, it would've been huge)
Girls & Boys (well it WAS a single in Europe, definitely 'A'-side material)
Adore (why wasn't it?)
Housequake (another 'A'-side)
Lovesexy (almost was a single, edits & remixes were made)
The Question Of U (again... almost was the 1st single)
Elephants & Flowers (well, I think so)
Thunder (it WAS a ltd.ed. 12" pic.disc in the UK, but you know)
Blue Light (dunno why, just think it would've done well)
I Wanna Melt With U (...same again)
Come (...loads of remixes were made)
Race (just cuz it's funky)
Dolphin (would've been a great single)
P. Control (... again, remixes were made, it almost happened)
Endorphinmachine (cuz it rocks)
The Same December (well, it was gonna be the 2nd single)
Sleep Around (it was gonna happen)
Baby Knows (God knows he plugged it enough)
Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (had that old school sound)

Still Waiting
When You Were Mine
Free
The Beautiful Ones
Girls and Boys (US)
Housequake
Vicki Waiting
Electric Chair
Elephants & Flowers
Dolphin
Baby Knows
So Far So Pleased

The obvious missed gem was...

When U were mine.

Failing that, singles thats should have been...

Good Love
Lovesexy
Strange Relationship
The Ladder
Elephants And Flowers
Walk Don't Walk
Three Chains O Gold
Same December
My Computer
Wherever U go whatever you do

I ALWAYS thought that "Play In The Sunshine" woulda kicked major ass off of Sign O' The Times, instead he put out "If I Was Your Girlfriend" which is a great song, but in NO WAY chart-topping hit material.


"Dance On" was another obvious (IMO) single, hell, the musical portion (no voice) was used in beer comercials on TV & radio in 1989.

Who the hell said "Had U" should have been a single??? Like it or not, there's no way this would EVER appeal to anyone but a hard-core Prince fan. Maybe you misunderstood the question on the first post... ???

"Songs which could've been huge hits:

Computer Blue
Starfish & Coffee
Anna Stesia
We Can Funk
Dolphin
Billy Jack Bitch
Soul Sanctuary
Mad Sex
Wherever U Go Whatever U Do
Last December"


Comp Blue - Agree!! It actually got radio play in Los Angeles.

Starfish & Coffee - great song, but the mainstream public wouldn't buy it.

Anna Stesia - one of his best, but not commercial meterial. No radio station woulda played that, and no one woulda had the patience to really listen to it enough to "get the message"

"We Can Funk" - maybe.

"Dolphin" - probably would have done well, especially if the kick-ass video got a little play. man that's a great video!

"Billy Jack Bitch" - I definetly think this had potential to be a hit.

"Soul Sanctuary & Mad Sex" - I like both songs alot, Soul Sanctuary especially, but neither of these songs would cut it on the radio.

"Wherever U Go" - My personal favorite off of Rave. This coulda been a hit. Just look at Lenny Kravitz copy-cat effort for proof. Lenny's "Again" was huge.

"Last December" - Hmmm, possibly. Balads have a tough time as singles in general. But... this song went to #1 in Japan, and I think that was without even having a single or video. It was huge over there for a while.

GoodLove and "Computer Blue" where actually played on radio stations in where i lived, but they where overshadowed by tracks from Sign of The Times. Compared to SOTT, they didn't stand a chance.
I would like to see the following:

1) LoveSIgn (Crystal Ball version)
2) So Far, So Pleased
3) Jack U Off
4) Pretty Man
5) Bob George
6) There's Others here with Us
7) Loose!

Strange Relationship.

From the 90s:

Pheromone
Race
P Control
Endorphinmachine
5 women
Slave
I like funky music
Pretty Man
Strange But True
Beautiful Strange
Supercute
Va Voom
When I lay my hands on u

EMPTY ROOM

It would have been a number ONE in th eUK for sure. Video was excellent also.

EMPTY ROOM

EMPTY ROOM

EMPTY ROOM

EMPTY ROOM

There are many,many Prince songs that I really think should have been singles.In many cases,the wrong singles were released and the public didn't get a chance to hear the REAL gems from certain albums.


*** "Lovesexy"---this would have been a better choice than "Glam Slam",which is an okay song but really should have remained an album track."Lovesexy" is better in every way...it's fast,sexy and exciting.Can you imagine the remix/video possibilities?

*** "Strollin" ---I once read an interview where Prince expressed his anger that this song wasn't released as a single.In his view,it would have been the perfect song to release in the summertime,"to chill people out".I think he's right.It could have become a surprise hit.

*** "The Beautiful Ones" ---if there had to be a fifth single from 'Purple Rain',it really should have been this song (instead of "Take Me With U").

*** "Private Joy" ---this is the real gem on the 'Controversy' album and it had alot of hit potential.

*** "It's Gonna Be Lonely" ---this song is haunting and moody...very effective.It could have been a huge R&B slow jam in 1979/1980.

*** "It" ---with a great video,tell me this wouldn't have been a Top 10 smash in 1988!

*** "Housequake" ---another obvious choice for a single.In fact,the 'SOTT' album is filled with potential hits. "Adore" really should have been the final single from this album.It got a great response from R&B radio.

*** "The Future" ---I think this song was actually planned as a single? It's one of the strongest tracks on the 'Batman' album.

*** "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" ---Am I the only one who thinks that this song would have been a perfect second single from 'Graffiti Bridge'? As opposed to the bland "New Power Generation".

*** "And God Created Woman" ---the real gem of the 'Love Symbol' album,this song is just heavenly.

*** "The Continental" ---another strong track that could have been a huge pop hit in 1992/93.

*** "319"

*** "Hide The Bone" ---shame on Prince for not placing this song on a real album,and releasing it as a single!! This is the funkiest thing he did in the 90s.
[This message was edited Thu Jan 29 2:57:01 PST 2004 by DavidEye]

All My Dreams.

Savannah said:

I agree,those songs aren't exactly the best choices for singles."IIWYGF" is simply too bizarre (although it's a great song),"Glam Slam" doesn't have too much going on,"I Wish U Heaven" is nice,but perhaps a little too brief? And "New Power Generation" is a snoozefest,one of Prince's least exciting singles ever.

One HUGE mistake Prince/Warners made in 1986...releasing "Mountains" as the second single from 'Parade' instead of the superior "Girls And Boys".

PrettyMan72 said:

I'm sure Boris and Langebleu will correct me if I'm wrong but I think "Still Waiting" was released as a single here in the States? In 1980? It didn't do that well on the charts,but it's the song that got me into Prince.

Taurus said:

I once read somewhere that Prince and Warners made a compromise.He would pick the first single from the albums,and Warners would choose the subsequent singles.In some cases,they were at odds with his choices ( initially,they didn't agree with his decision to release "When Doves Cry""Kiss" and "My Name Is Prince" as first singles) but they both deserve blame for some of the post-1986 choices.
[This message was edited Thu Jan 29 3:23:00 PST 2004 by DavidEye]

DavidEye said:

Didn't he release Girls & Boys as a single in the UK?