I'm sorry but I dont know if Prince knows how to pick hit singles. For instance, on the COME CD..as lame as it is..why did he pick "Letitgo" was the lead single instead of "Dark" or Pheromone?" or even on the symbol album..he picked "My Name Is Prince" and "Damn U" as singles instead of "The Continental." WTF! Let's not forget how Prince totally overlooked "319" and "Shh" for single release. On to EMANCIPATION..."Sleep Around" definitely shoulda been a single and why wasnt a single released for "Somebodys Somebody?" That definitely woulda hit r&b...I have noticed that Prince needs assistance in picking his singles.....call me Prince. I will help you! LOL!

Well, there is a time-honored tradition here on the org of trying to pick better singles than Prince. The problem is there isn't much agreement on what songs he should have released instead. For exaplme the songs you mentioned I don't think would have done anything on the charts, but that's just my opinion.

There's a bunch of songs that I wish he had released myself and a bunch that I wish he'd kept in the vault. But, at the end of the day, if Prince was absolutely unable to pick hit singles then there probably wouldn't be a prince.org would there?


.
[This message was edited Sat May 22 16:38:42 2004 by Universaluv]

I think he's too attatched to the stuff to look at what the public is in to what the public is in to at the moment.
But then again Prince being the way he is he may do that intentionally as a way of seperating himself from the industry.
Personally I suspect the second reason for this lack of hit singles myself.

Nope.

To be a bit obscure, he reminds me of Paul McCartney trying to choose singles circa Band on the Run. Macca thought Helen Wheels would be a great single and needed the record company to tell him to get a life and release Jet.

Prince needs the same sort of outside influence. Prince likes Call my name a hell of a lot. Doesn't make it the right choice for the next single (certainly not in Europe at any rate).

Prince has always sucked when it comes to single choices.

SOTT sinlge number two? He chooses IIWYGF. A great album track, but never a single. He almost killed the album before it started.

Around the world in a day? Wrong order of release.

Parade? Mountains flopped because it was weak compared to Girls and Boys.

Gold? Dolphin or P Control as a lead! Not "I Hate U!"

Emanciaption! Sleep around!

What about the classic singles that never were?????.....Electric Chair, I can't stop, Thunder, Race, 319, Style, So Far so pleased... etc etc.....!

I don't know if Prince is just trying to be unpredictable or if he is just trying to give the music industry the But this guy has been in the game too long and is too talented to not know what the people want to hear. There has got to be some thought process behind this. I wish I knew what it was.

SquirrelMeat said:

See this is the problem right here. I was with you right up until you listed those "classics". Except for SFSP and maybe 319, all of those tunes blow. And none of them are "classics"

.
[This message was edited Sat May 22 17:04:09 2004 by Universaluv]

Universaluv said:

Actually, I don't rate them as songs either, but they wuold have been commercial hits. Thats the issue. P should have given the record execs the choice. But in his usual stubborn way. He chose.

A record company backed release of "319" would have oit sold a P choice 10 to 1. By the very essence that the record company would be willing to promote it.

SquirrelMeat said:

Of course this is all likely based on assumptions since I doubt any of us really know how much involvement the record company may or may not have had. Remember at the time TGE was released Prince and WB weren't exactly getting along and it's doubtful they would've promoted strongly anything he put out.

That said, if I remember right, WB wasn't too keen on WDC being released as the first single off of PR.

.
[This message was edited Sat May 22 17:47:16 2004 by Universaluv]

SquirrelMeat said:

how many hit singles have u had? i think Prince has u beat 31-0

I think you may have a point , nothing compares 2 u is probably his biggest ever selling song , but he never released it and gave it away as a throwaway track to the family , he then re-claimed it once it became a hit , the same nearly happened to kiss , he gave this away to maserati but managed to reclaim it once they added some touches to it , he then realised it was a hit. The track that i always thought was a hit in the making but was never released was Good Love , this should have been a single , back in 88 this could have been a huge hit , instead it was released on an album track for the film Bright lights big city.

I've always felt that,in many cases,the wrong singles were released.For example...


*** Girls and Boys should have been the second single from 'Parade' instead of 'Mountains'.Don't get me wrong,I like "Mountains",it's just the other song sounds more like a "hit".

*** "If I Was Your Girlfriend" is a wonderful song that should have remained an album track,not a single.This song nearly killed the momentum of 'SOTT',but the album bounced back when stronger songs like "U Got The Look" and "ICNTTPOYM" were released.

***The title track to "Lovesexy" should have been a single,instead of "Glam Slam" .

***and,I agree with those fans who say that "Sleep Around" should have been the first single from 'Emancipation' (instead of the sappy Stylistics cover).

So!! How ya Gonna Sell an Album CORRECTLY or To it's Maximum Potential when the PUBLIC is Not HEARING THE BEST Tunes? Ya gotta put out what Sells Not What Ya Like.

Glad this thread exists because I'm losing sleep over Call My Name being the follow up to Musicology. It's like okay Prince, you've got the whole world excited and on their feet and dancing after how many years now? Cool, so let's now sing them a lullaby.

Cinnamon Girl, A Million Days, Life of the Party... keep 'em on their feet.

Imagine if The Beautiful Ones had been the follow up to When Doves Cry. Great song but PR would have surely lost steam if this had happened.

marcdeondotcom said:

-----
The only problem here it it was Prince that picked "When Doves Cry and "Gett Off". Sometimes he is right. Besides Call My Name will be a hugh RnB hit and realize a hit is still a hit even if it is just on the RnB chart.

It's a Good song but well let's see what happens. I woulda stayed POP.

DavidEye said:

I agree with all of that.

Since MBGITW the lead single choices have been terrible.

I wouldn't release a ballad as the first single (Rave, Emancipation, Gold, NPS), and probably not the second either (Musicology).

Hit and miss

Mazerati said:

And P would have had 61 hits if he had any business sense. thats his biggest downfall in chart "success".

Unfortunately, its not about artistic talent in the charts, its business, and in that arena, I do beat prince!

We all though that some crap singles top the charts, all due to record execs. thats their power, and P should have tapped it more.