Jump to content

Featured Replies

  • Author

=22nd

 

If I Was Your Girlfriend

 

Points 74 - Jimwatts (22) King Rollo (15) Popchartfreak (14) HausofKubrick (13) JulianT (8) Chartjack2 (2)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released - 1987

 

Album – Sign O' The Times

 

UK Chart Peak - #20

 

 

Another song with six voters and this time it's the second single from his 1987 album Sign O The Times.

Originally recorded for the Camille album it naturally features that persona's vocal stylings.

Supposedly about his jealousy over the close relationship between his then fiancee Susannah Melvoin and her twin sister (and his guitarist) Wendy.

 

The single was a Top 20 in the UK but less successful back home.

  • Replies 148
  • Views 4.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Author

=21st

 

I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

 

Points 78 - Bjork (22) HausofKubrick (20) Jimwatts (14) Popchartfreak (18) dandy* (10) Severin (4)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released - 1987

 

Album – Sign O' The Times

 

UK Chart Peak - #29

 

 

Stalling just outside our Top 20 is this, the final single from Sign O' The Times, collecting scores from six voters once more. A surprisingly moral Prince tells a woman who's on the rebound that he would be unable to provide the companionship she misses, suggesting she 'wouldn't be satisfied with a one night stand' and he could only provide that and nothing else.

The song was originally written back in the '70s but re-recorded and updated to complete the album in 1987.

The video version is taken from the concert film of the album.

  • Author

A quick recap of the scores so far -

 

I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man 78

If I Was Your Girlfriend 74

Cream 72

Thunder 72

I Wish U Heaven 70

Batdance 67

Sometimes it Snows in April 66

Paisley Park 61

Controversy 61

Starfish and Coffee 57

My Name is Prince 51

Fallinlove2nite 45

New Power Generation 42

I Wanna Be Your Lover 40

Delirious 32

Glam Slam 31

Mountains 29

Girls & Boys 29

Dirty Mind 26

Sexy MF 26

Why You Wanna treat Me So Bad? 25

Come On 25

The Arms of Orion 24

Pop Life 19

Black Sweat 17

Partyman 16

Get Wild 16

Pretzelbodylogic 15

The Morning Papers 15

The Holy River 13

Dinner With Delores 13

A Case of U 12

Peach 12

Cinnamon Girl 12

Dance4Me 11

Letitgo 10

Betcha By Golly Wow 10

Guitar 9

Musicology 7

Rock N Roll Love Affair 7

Anotherloverholeinyohead 6

Scandalous 6

Soft And Wet 1

I Hate U 0

The Truth 0

The Greatest Romance Ever Sold 0

The Work Pt. 1 0

Supercute 0

Fury 0

Breakfast Can Wait 0

 

Controversy is FAR too low :(

 

It's by far my favourite of his early singles, that drive to the rhythm and the chorus is really infectious after a few plays

 

 

 

The two Diamonds & Pearls tracks are brilliant as well, in fact most of that album is pretty special. Thunder got booted up my ranking on my revised list as it's just such an epic album opener

  • Author

This means as we enter the Top 20 we have the following to be revealed -

 

13 from the 1980s

7 from 1990s

 

1 Wildcard entry

7 songs that received votes from all contributors

 

9 by Prince as a solo artist

7 by Prince and the Revolution

4 by Prince and the New Power Generation

 

5 from Purple Rain

3 from Sign O' the Times

3 from Diamond and Pearls

2 from 1999

2 from The Gold Experience

1 from Around the World in a Day

1 from Parade

1 from Lovesexy

1 from LoveSymbol

1 from Graffiti Bridge

 

18 UK Top 40 singles

13 UK Top 10 singles

1 UK #1

 

 

 

These are your top 20 songs (in alphabetical order) to be revealed -

 

Alphabet St.

Diamonds and Pearls

Gett Off

Gold

I Would Die 4 U

Kiss

Let's Go Crazy

Little Red Corvette

Money Don't Matter 2 Nite

Take Me With U

The Cross

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

Thieves in the Temple

Purple Rain

Raspberry Beret

Sign o' the Times

U Got the Look

When Doves Cry

7

1999

 

ohhh poor I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, big fav of mine from sign o'the times

also surprised Cream is gone, was thinking top 20 for sure

It was all going brilliantly until 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' dropped out before the top 20 - Prince imagining himself as his lover's (platonic) friend is one of many highlights of the Sign O' The Times album. Admittedly it's the only of his albums I actually own, but it's no surprise that my 3 highest losses so far have come from it. Having said that, so is my wildcard, which I'm delighted is still in!

 

Elsewhere, with 'Batdance' gone (I'm not that keen on it either, but I had a space at 30th and it felt wrong to leave out one of his biggest UK hits - I did think it might be higher though), I've now lost all of my bottom 11 except one, which I thought would do quite well, whereas there are just 3 left that I didn't vote for - one could be top 10 perhaps, but on the whole that's a pretty great selection remaining.

  • Author
I was so pleased when you picked that as your wildcard. Would have been my choice too
Great to see Starfish and Coffee so high, should have been a single that one and I fondly recall the Muppet performance,I Wish U Heaven another big fave and too low here, it's dreamy and gorgeous, love the psychedelic vibes in the video. The rest of this batch are more or less where I would hope to see them, though I never really got Controversy as an old reissued hit and I'm surprised Cream topped the US chart!
  • Author

20th

 

The Cross

 

Points 84 - Jimwatts (28) King Rollo (21) Severin (14) JulianT (9) HausofKubrick (9) dandy* (3)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released - 1987

 

Album – Sign O' The Times

 

UK Chart Peak - DNC

 

 

The final wildcard comes in at 20th and it's one of the absolute standout tracks from what is most often acclaimed as his best album - Sign O' the Times.

The song is Prince's ode to Jesus and was one of the songs created originally for the Crystal Ball album. It was retained as the album was pared back to a double rather than triple disc set.

When Prince converted to becoming a Jehovah's Witness he changed both the lyrics and the title. Now named The Christ because JW's do not believe that Christ died on a two beamed cross but a single stake. This re-titling was controversial among fans.

Edited by Severin

  • Author

19th

 

7

 

Points 95 - Chartjack 2 (26) JulianT (18) HausofKubrick (16) dandy* (16) Bjork (7) Severin (6) Popchartfreak (6)

 

Artist - Prince and the New Power Generation

 

Released - 1992

 

Album – LoveSymbol

 

UK Chart Peak - #27

 

 

The first song to receive points from seven voters is this, the 3rd single from the LoveSymbol album.

 

The 7 of the title refers to the seven assassins from the Three Chains of Gold film but intentionally refers to several other interpretations - the seven deadly sins, the sevennames of God and the seven Archons who built the universe. Meanwhile, the lyrics hint at Eastern mysticism and reincarnation.

Musically the song harks back to his Psychedelic Pop of Around the World in a Day but fused with the New Power Generations Funk/Hip Hop stylings.

  • Author

18th

 

Gett Off

 

Points 97 - Chartjack 2 (7) JulianT (18) dandy* (28) Bjork (17) Severin (21) Popchartfreak (5) Jimwatts (19)

 

Artist - Prince and the New Power Generation

 

Released - 1991

 

Album – Diamonds and Pearls

 

UK Chart Peak - #4

 

 

The lead off single from the album Diamonds and Pearls is probably the most explicit of all his hits and even now it can raise a few eyebrows to think this receive lots of mainstream airplay on radio and tv. It is another Prince track that pays homage to James Brown.

 

The song was born from Prince playing around with a remix of Glam Slam and some of the words from Love Machine off the Graffiti Bridge album. It also borrowed some musical passages from the track Get Off.

This new song was then titled Gett Off and became an exclusive single release to clubs. it was so well received that a proper release was granted and then it was added to the album in place of Horny Pony.

The track also became the template for both Blue Light and Get Wild.

 

The video version is notably different to the other releases.

I absolutely love Gett Off. At the time it was released I was far too prudish and sheltered to be able to listen to it, I used to skip it on the album because I knew my parents would freak if they heard the lyrics :lol: But the production was always a winner for me, love the flute line in particular and the James Brown breakdown part - and now that I'm a little less sheltered I can even enjoy the lyrics :D
Get Off should be much higher!!
  • Author

=16th

 

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

 

Points 98 - Bjork (26) King Rollo (24) dandy* (19) Severin (19) HausofKubrick (10)

 

Artist - Prince and the New Power Generation

 

Released - 1992

 

Album – Diamonds and Pearls

 

UK Chart Peak - #19

 

 

The 4th single from Diamonds and Pearls is widely regarded as one of the album's highlights and among Prince's best work from the '90s.

A song with a straight, unaffected vocal from Prince, that concerns itself with matters of poverty and social injustice. It was accompanied by a Spike Lee directed video that was considered overly political and not airplay friendly. Subsequently a second video was released that focused on band shots but the delay likely held the song back somewhat.

  • Author

=16th

 

Thieves in the Temple

 

Points 98 - JulianT (26) Popchartfreak (25) dandy* (23) HausofKubrick (11) Bjork (9) Chartjack2 (4)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released - 1990

 

Album – Graffiti Bridge

 

UK Chart Peak - #7

 

 

The 1st single from the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack is another that is considered among the best of his '90s output.

Lyrically the song deals with themes of spirituality that are ever present in his work but musically is where the song shines. The syncopated drum patterns and steady build of the various musical layers help elevate the song.

The extended 12" mix is also well worth checking out.

Edited by Severin

I voted for everything in the top 15 then, excellent.

 

'The Cross' as high as 20th is fantastic, one of his most moving songs as the music builds to a rock-infused climax. 'Gett Off' is definitely a 90s highlight for him.

Money don't matter is among his very very best, deserved top 10!

If I Was Your Girlfriend and I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man are both top 20 worthy.

 

Also what a brilliant start to the top 20 with The Cross and 7 :wub:

 

Love the production on Thieves in the Temple!!

Create an account or sign in to comment

Recently Browsing 0

  • No registered users viewing this page.