Prince RIP

New Prince ballot poll otm, but maybe we let the first couple rarities things come out officially first so some shit like moonbeam levels has a fair shake at placement? Idk

fave prince song is still "electric intercourse" -- will be interesting to see if there are other versions of that one (I only know of two).

40 ballots was a v high turnout for the Prince tracks poll, I don't think much would change tbh. These results don't look that crazy to me.

50. Private Joy (from Controversy, 1981) - 103 points, 4 votes
49. Hot Thing (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 108 points, 5 votes
48. 7 (from Love Symbol, 1992) - 108 points, 6 votes
47. Let's Pretend We're Married (from 1999, 1993) - 113 points, 5 votes
46. Cream (from Diamonds And Pearls, 1991) - 113 points, 6 votes
45. The Cross (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 123 points, 6 votes
44. Black Sweat (from 3121, 2006) - 128 points, 7 votes
43. Money Don't Matter 2 Night (from Diamonds And Pearls, 1992) - 130 points, 7 votes
42. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (from The Gold Experience, 1995) - 133 points, 7 votes
41. Gett Off (from Diamonds And Pearls, 1992) - 138 points, 7 votes
40. Condition Of The Heart (from Around The World In A Day, 1985) - 141 points, 5 votes
39. Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O Connor, 1990) - 142 points, 6 votes
38. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? (from Prince, 1979) - 146 points, 5 votes
37. Starfish And Coffee (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 147 points, 7 votes
36. The Glamorous Life (Shiela E, 1984) - 154 points, 7 votes
35. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (B-Side to 1999, 1982) - 155 points, 6 votes
34. Sexy MF (from Love Symbol, 1992) - 158 points, 7 votes
33. She's Always In My Hair (B-side to Paisley Park, 1985) - 170 points, 7 votes
32. Head (from Dirty Mind, 1980) - 175 points, 7 votes
31. Strange Relationship (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 184 points, 8 votes
30. 17 Days (the rain will come down, then U will have 2 choose. If U believe, look 2 the dawn and U shall never lose.) (B-side to When Doves Cry. 1984) - 185 points, 8 votes
29. I Feel For You (Chaka Khan, 1984) - 194 points, 8 votes
28. Purple Rain (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 201 points, 8 votes
27. Lady Cab Driver (from 1999, 1982) - 217 points, 10 votes
26. Take Me With U (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 231 points, 10 votes
25. Adore (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 237 points, 9 votes, 2 first place
24. Something In The Water (Does Not Computer) (from 1999, 1982) - 251 points, 10 votes
23. Uptown (from Dirty Mind, 1980) - 260 points, 12 votes
22. Mountains (from Parade, 1986) - 274 point, 12 votes
21. Let's Go Crazy (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 274 points, 13 votes
20. Sometimes It Snows In April (from Parade, 1986) - 288 points, 12 votes, 2 first place
19. Sign O' The Times (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 292 points, 12 points, 2 first place
18. Dirty Mind (from Dirty Mind, 1980) - 299 points, 13 votes, 1 first place
17. If I Was Your Girlfriend (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 309 points, 13 votes
16. I Would Die 4 U (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 317 points, 12 votes, 1 first place
15. 1999 (from 1999, 1982) - 321 points, 15 votes
14. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 324 points, 14 votes, 1 first place
13. Alphabet St. (from Lovesexy, 1988) - 327 points, 14 votes
12. Pop Life (from Around The World In A Day, 1985) - 354 points, 15 votes
11. U Got The Look (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 360 points, 14 votes, 1 first place
10. The Beautiful Ones (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 390 points, 14 votes, 4 first place
9. Controversy (from Controversy, 1981) - 443 points, 20 votes, 1 first place
8. Erotic City (b-side to Let's Go Crazy, 1984) - 484 points, 18 votes, 3 first place
7. Raspberry Beret (from Around The World In A Day, 1985) - 485 points, 21 votes, 1 first place
6. I Wanna Be Your Lover (from Prince, 1979) - 493 points, 20 votes, 3 first place
5. Kiss (from Parade, 1986) - 520 points, 23 votes
4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 527 points, 22 votes, 2 first place
3. Little Red Corvette (from 1999, 1982) - 537 points, 20 votes, 2 first place
2. When Doves Cry (from Purple Rain, 1984) - 567 points, 22 votes, 2 first place
1. When U Were Mine (from Dirty Mind, 1980) - 597 points, 23 votes, 2 first place

Way too much '90s Prince

8 out of 50 is "way too much"?

whatever

wait actually it's only 7 - Let's Pretend We're Married is mis-tagged

Those are good results

I missed the voting on that poll that's probably the only reason I advocated a new one lol

no poll reruns, ever

please

yeah I agree

'When You Were Mine' is a great song, there's absolutely no doubt about that. His best ever song, though!?!

are you saying you will not accept the results of this poll

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/110/166/004.gif

No, what I'm saying is that since Prince passed away (yes, I'm still trying to get my head around it too) there'll have been existing fans binge listening to his back catalogue, some people may have filled in holes in their knowledge and others may have taken advantage of the fact that his music is easier to access than it was, so possible new converts. Plus, the fact that some members weren't around when the poll was ran the first time.

*submits all-'90s ballot*

missed the original poll too, would love a rerun but i understand if not possible

tyler and forks i sent u an email regarding the above matter.

sleeve & vg i don't think i have you guys' personal addresses but feel free to mail me through the robot

i thought it was a pretty interesting poll, which i prefer to standard listings of "canon" hits. a mishmash of his super poppy stuff like "little red corvette" and '80s b-sides and deep album cuts. so for "1999" there's no sign of "delirious", "d.m.s.r.", or "automatic", but we do get "lady cab driver" and "how come u don't call me anymore". which is... idiosyncratic.

but i voted for "batdance" as my #1 so i'm not about to complain about idiosyncratic results.

So Mayte has a book coming out? Maybe it was already mentioned upthread.

thanks Jon!

Jon I messaged you on FB

thanks for telling me, since I only check it once a month or so!

I hit a local shop for a Halloween sale this afternoon, and noticed they had some sealed New Old Stock vinyl copies of SoT (with the big yellow heart sticker with bar code & album info) for $27, which would be a steal but for the impending remaster.

hoooly shit the newly released "Moonbeam Levels" (1999-era) is incredible

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/heard-prince-song-moonbeam-levels-released-43715143

moonbeam levels is the best.

Watching the listeners stiffly nod their heads in that news clip feels like being trapped in a long, long elevator ride with strangers.

yeah i dipped out & just listened to the bootleg version, it was weird to watch

Not even sure that would make the cut on an 80min b-sides comp for me. It was ok. Maybe repeat listens will help.

wut

Sounds more Around the World...-era than 1999 to me, which is probably why its not doing much for me.

https://twitter.com/DavidJuurlink/status/801398265065435136

Sorry, just think "Moonbeam Levels" is ok. Better than many tracks, but not incredible.

Do Yourself a Favor is the true gem of that era

No "Wally," no credibility

did we ever have a 'vault/unreleased/bootleg tracks' poll?

don't think so, we should

i think me and donald trump have the same favorite vault/unreleased/bootleg prince song. big tall wall y'all.

guys this is amazing

Prince’s Closest Friends Share Their Best Prince Stories

AMAZING

Springs: After the show—it was maybe like 10, 11— everybody was leaving, and Prince grabs me and says, "Hey, let's go bike riding." He had four bikes—two white cruisers and two dark blue or black mountain bikes. So I got on a cruiser, he got on a mountain bike, and we rode past everybody with our Afros, and everybody's like, "Oh my God! Prince!" He lives in a kinda rural area. We rode down Audubon Road, then there's a park right across the street and there's a path so we rode down there a little bit.

Washington: First, when you go on the bike rides, you're like, "Wow! I went on a bike ride with Prince down to Lake Minnetonka!" It's fun. And you think you're special. Then I stayed there long enough that I'm like, "Oh—this is his thing." This is what he does. He has the movie theater where you go to watch a movie—he'll buy out the theater. He has his routine with all these young girls who come in: movies, bike ride, possibly a jam session. That sounds about right.

We have a thing called Caribou Coffee in Minnesota, which is like Starbucks. He'd go over there, and he didn't have any pockets. He didn't have a wallet or any credit cards. He just had cash he'd carry in his hand—like, a $100 bill. And whoever took his order, they'd have a good day, 'cause he'd buy his coffee drink and then just leave the whole hundred. He doesn't wait for any change because he doesn't have anywhere to put it.

<3 <3 <3

*Everything* about these stories. My current favorite:

Van Jones: He was very interested in the world. He wanted me to explain how the White House worked. He asked very detailed kind of foreign-policy questions. And then he'd ask, "Why doesn't Obama just outlaw birthdays?" (laughs) I'm, like, "What?" He said, "I was hoping that Obama, as soon as he was elected, would get up and announce there'd be no more Christmas presents and no more birthdays—we've got too much to do." I said, "Yeah, I don't know if that would go over too well."

amazing to read the other side of the infamous charlie murphy basketball/pancakes story

Davison: The backstory to that was—and this is the part Charlie doesn't tell—Eddie had wanted to play Prince his new album. So during that basketball game, Eddie's music was playing, via boom box, on a cassette. After that game, Prince goes over and he tosses the cassette out of the boom box, and he says, "Let me ask you a question: Do you see me stop my show to do comedy?"

Damaris Lewis (model, tour dancer): I tried playing Prince in Ping-Pong once. I told him he was the Serena of Ping-Pong and I would never be playing him again. He was literally a master of Ping-Pong.

Van Jones: At Paisley, the ping-pong table's right outside the studio. So it's kind of back and forth between recording, destroying somebody in Ping-Pong , go back to recording. Oh my God, it was embarrassing. To the point that he wouldn't even play me, he was just so disgusted with my inability to play. One time, he wouldn't even move—he'd stand in one spot, and his arms were not that long and I'm six feet two. Talking crap the whole time. He's like the worst trash-talker.

xp I was just going to post that. The idea of Prince clowning Eddie Murphy over his music career -- esp. given the Rick James connection and how much James hated Prince -- is beautiful.

Figures a JW would hate birthdays and Christmas

Hayes: Nobody was allowed to say "deadlines" around him. He hated that word. He said: "That's arbitrary and stupid. What happens when I go over the line? I'm dead?" Prince would always tell us "time is a trick." I remember one day I was late, and he was, "You're late, Morris!" and I said, "Well, you know, Prince, time is a trick…" It didn't work. He was, "How about I Jedi-mind-trick that check when you don't show up again?"

holy shit

Davison: We were on a flight from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, about a three-and-half-hour flight, and we'd been up pretty late the night before, but he wanted to go out to record. On the plane [he's] asking for pads and paper, and so I get him a notebook and pen and he starts writing, and he writes a poem, and he hands it to me. And I read it, and I go, "Well, you know, that's nice…sounds clever, good." I hand it back to him. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes later, he hands me another poem. I'm, like, "Oh yeah, that's just as good as the first." And I'm like, "Why does he keep handing me these poems?" This goes on for the whole flight, and we land, and he says, "Do you mind if we go to the studio?"—he was always cordial—and I'm like, you know, "You can do whatever you want to do." And he says, "Well, I'll just be there for a few hours and then we'll head to the house." And so we go to the studio. We were in there for three days, almost four days, straight. When he's finished, I go into the studio and I'm listening to the music. I asked him on the way home: "Did you have all that in your head? Not just the lyrics, not just the music, not just the melodies, but the arrangement, everything?" And he said, "Yeah, you know, I have to get it out when it's in there, or I can't sleep." He had written [the first two album sides of] Sign o' the Times. He had basically written an album in a three-and-a half-hour plane ride.

<3<3<3

I love all of this so much ... but still the regret that we had to lose him to get these stories

Freed: He wanted to sell a shirt for $1,000 that would get you into Paisley Park for free for life.

i think me and donald trump have the same favorite vault/unreleased/bootleg prince song. big tall wall y'all.

― fact checking cuz

you think he's not that into "donald trump (black version)"?

i love the stories about his sense of humor. dude was a funny motherfucker