If Tracks Are Good, Let's Get 2 Pollin - PRINCE TRACKS POLL RESULTS

I was one of I'm sure millions of teenage Purple Rain fans who listened to a friend's copy of ATWIAD and was disappointed: That kind of break in momentum is hard to come back from. And you can't underestimate the shifts in taste toward hip hop that left Prince looking out of touch even as he was making brilliant music: Steve Perry broke down the racial and sexual politics of it well at the time, but it was more than that--Prince was just not at the center of musical innovation by '88, though I remember buying The Black Album and Nation of Millions at the same time.

Batman and Around the World in a Day both went double platinum, by the way. What's strange to me is that Sign 'O' the Times "only" went platinum, despite spawning three top 10 hits and having massive critical approval. Probably just a case of too much product in a relatively short period of time, or maybe a higher price tag as it was a double album. From ATWIAD through what I'll call Love Symbol in 1992, though, his only real flops were Lovesexy and Graffiti Bridge, though each spawned a top 10 single. I don't think the real dropoff occurred until the mid-90s - Prince sold a lot of records after Purple Rain, but those sales were spread out over a bunch of minor hit albums rather than a small handful of blockbusters.

+ it's a double album, so it's sort of like it didn't even go platinum at all

Pretty sure it was certified before the RIAA started counting double albums twice. So it sold (or shipped) at least a million copies. Just checked the RIAA website, actually - yup, it actually went platinum a few months after it was released in 1987.

Sales often measure buyers' reactions to the previous album: I can't imagine Lovesexy being released as a single track on CD endeared him to anyone.

Actually, Lovesexy came after SOTT, in 1988. The follow-up to Lovesexy was Batman, his biggest seller in years.

Not sure how many actually bought Lovesexy on CD, as opposed to vinyl c. '88.

I know SOTT didn't follow Lovesexy, and I'm theorizing off the cuff more generally about sales--I guess Batman might prove that idea wrong, but it's a cumulative thing, inevitably not very provable. Either way, Batman never struck me as a Prince revival.

And you're right about the CD thing, to me it just registered as one more pointless barrier to Prince love.

Batman and Around the World in a Day both went double platinum, by the way. What's strange to me is that Sign 'O' the Times "only" went platinum, despite spawning three top 10 hits and having massive critical approval

I read in a Billboard published late '87 or early '88 which praised SOTT for being a "sleeper hit" because it remained on the charts longer than ATWIAD and Parade and boasted three top ten singles. I thought, "Wow! How things have changed since 1984."

I get the sense that, in comparison to Madonna or Michael or Bruce, Prince was just too eccentric for a lot of people, and that might be a big part of the reason he's sold fewer records than his superstar peers (of course Michael was eccentric, but in a distinctly pop, pan-humanist sort of way). Since I was born in late '82 and barely aware of his importance until about 1994, I can't really verify this firsthand - but I know that as a kid Madonna and MJ were on my cultural radar long before Prince, and I would be surprised if my experience was entirely atypical.

What's more, Prince cultivates the rarefied air of a vanguard artist, whereas Michael and Madonna (almost) always shot for the pop universal, even when they courted controversy/scorn/ridicule. Prince has certainly continued to make something out of his own mystique, but after Purple Rain he never made such a conscious effort to build or maintain his celebrity, excepting the Musicology comeback in 2004.

after Purple Rain he never made such a conscious effort to build or maintain his celebrity

what about D&P?

That was an obvious pop move, but was it accompanied by a media blitz approaching those for, say, Like a Prayer or Dangerous? That's not a rhetorical question, by the way - my only exposure to Prince at the time was Batman, whereas Madonna and Michael were already pretty familiar by 1991.

i dont think we are likely to ever see a media blitz that approaches purple rain, but thats because it was a self-contained one. i mean dangerous and like a prayer didnt have $80 million grossing films promoting them so

LAP did boast a Pepsi commercial tie-in which was one of the canniest moves of her career.

and yeah obv other film soundtracks have done exceedingly well but they arent as completely tied to the product as purple rain (eh i mean maybe the bodyguard but not in the same way) xpost

i don't think we can think about batman as just another album in the arc of prince's career -- it was an integral part of a massive marketing juggernaut. i bought it because it was a "batman" album, not because it was a prince album -- and i imagine many others did the same. so the sales of that album are sort of anomalous in terms of prince's post-PR career.

to change the subject somewhat, one thing i find really weird and kind of sad is that because of the unusual distribution prince arranges for his new records these days (he makes/packages an album, then contracts with a major to distribute it, making no long-term deals) and because of paisley park's general flakiness, some of prince's most popular recent albums are already out of print. that doesn't mean you can't buy them for $0.50 on amazon or whatever, but they aren't going to be in the targets and best buys of this world. more than ever i guess prince--even more than most artists--seems to view albums as teasers for his renumerative tours.

LAP did boast a Pepsi commercial tie-in which was one of the canniest moves of her career.

Groan.

Aside from (very) current major releases and proven catalogue sellers (which for Prince includes only Purple Rain, maybe 1999, and a couple best-ofs), the Targets and Best Buys of this world don't stock a lot of CDs by anybody, so the fact that Prince's new releases are disappearing from their shelves is really no great loss. Anybody who cares already knows what to do.

Groan.

She films a commercial that she knows no one will air more than once, Pepsi breaks her contract, and gives her the severance. All in all, better drama than Purple Rain and Under the Cherry Moon.

I think the groan was a reference to the canniest...

Bingo.

http://www.gonemovies.com/www/Drama/Drama/AmadeusBonnoRosenberg2.jpg

here's the Deep Cuts cut of the poll, with anything that appeared on The Hits/The B-Sides and/or charted in the Top 40 removed:

50. Private Joy (from Controversy, 1981) - 103 points, 4 votes
49. Hot Thing (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 108 points, 5 votes
47. Let's Pretend We're Married (from 1999, 1993) - 113 points, 5 votes
45. The Cross (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 123 points, 6 votes
44. Black Sweat (from 3121, 2006) - 128 points, 7 votes
37. Starfish And Coffee (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 147 points, 7 votes
31. Strange Relationship (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 184 points, 8 votes
27. Lady Cab Driver (from 1999, 1982) - 217 points, 10 votes
24. Something In The Water (Does Not Computer) (from 1999, 1982) - 251 points, 10 votes
20. Sometimes It Snows In April (from Parade, 1986) - 288 points, 12 votes, 2 first place
14. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 324 points, 14 votes, 1 first place
10. The Beautiful Ones (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 390 points, 14 votes, 4 first place

Vas iz dees Mah-ree-aj of Fee-gah-ro?

Something In The Water (Does Not Computer) (from 1999, 1982) -

^^^ made my ballot

mine too!

don't not compute

such a great song

i think people are sleeping on that whole vanity 6 album, which is shitloads of fun.

the family album is really good too -- that one's even more obscure.

not sleeping. just hard to find space in top 20. nasty girl and if a girl answers (don't hang up) and make-up come the closest for me

yeah, i had "Nasty Girl" and a Time track on early drafts of my ballot, but eventually i just decided to go with all proper solo work just to make room for more favorites.

now that i've heard all of the '80s Prince albums it's definitely high on my agenda to go through the peak period side project albums.

there aren't really that many great ones. i have to admit i'm not a big fan of the madhouse LPs even though they are fun in small doses. the key ones i think are the vanity 6 LP, mazarati's "100 MPH," andre cymone's "A.C." LP (which is not all prince, but it's still quite good), sheena easton's "sugar walls," the family LP, the time LPs, and the sheila e. LPs (which are spotty IMO).

the family album is really good too -- that one's even more obscure.

― by another name (amateurist), Friday, August 5, 2011

eh, the singing is rather lame, even when you're hearing Prince's guide vocal.

I feel like "777-9311" is the real overlooked brilliancy here.

tbh I couldn't vote for his indentured work -- it's worth another poll.

the family album is really good too -- that one's even more obscure.

― by another name (amateurist), Friday, August 5, 2011

eh, the singing is rather lame, even when you're hearing Prince's guide vocal.

― livin in my own private Biden hole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, August 5, 2011 8:44 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah i guess so but i like the whole gestalt.

Prince is definitely one of those "got off the bus" artists.

It's not that he stopped making decent albums, it's more that after a while, you could conceivably have enough Prince that you need no more.

I remember getting that first newspaper freebie, and smiling at "My Guitar", but feeling that I still didn't vitally need more. Got (but never played) the later newspaper freebie.

Got off the bus at "Diamonds and Pearls", but did got the "get off" and "cream" extended eps.

Oh, is there a chance of having the 'full' list? I know I more than likely was the only voter for "violet the organ grinder" but hey.

I feel like "777-9311" is the real overlooked brilliancy here.

for sure, that definitely on my ballot

there seems to have been some kind of consensus at the time that Lovesexy was a major jump-the-shark moment...? I find this perplexing. Various ex-band members (Bobby Z, Wendy & Lisa, etc.) obviously had a stake in writing him off after they were fired so their comments should be taken with a grain of salt. otoh it was his least successful album since 1982, two of the three singles didn't even chart, and my memory is that critical reception was not all that positive (have a vague memory of Robert Hilburn's Time review). But in retrospect it seems very much a piece of his other peak 80s material - it seems like a logical progression from previous work, and the production/songwriting/performances are all consistently high. It's an album where the quality material outweighs the bad - it's subsequent albums where that split seems to tilt the other way imho.

off to listen to the symbol album & Diamonds and Pearls, both of which I don't remember liking at all outside of their singles.

should say Robert Hilburn's LA Times review there...

christ this rapping is terrible

Basically hate Lovesexy. Don't even like "Alphabet St" because it's on that album.

Lovesexy doesn't go anywhere at all. Apart from "Alphabet St," the jams are undistinguished.

The tracks sound like the most boring parts of "Play in the Sunshine" and "Housequake" pasted together with indifferent singing atop.

well I'm sure having the entire album as a single track didn't help distinguish the songs from one another. but I hear hooks even where there's minimal structure. could've used Bob George on it tho lol

but ugh three tracks in to the symbol album and already all this terrible rapping + sampling is just SO MUCH WORSE