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oh disappointed Scandalous didn't peak any more votes :/
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I didnt vote for it but I did buy two CD copies of the extended Scandalous Sex Suite in Florida in 1990, with the intention to sell one of them as a rarity in unopened mint condition. As usual I never got round to it, and it's prob worth less now than I could have got at the time :lol:

 

Remind me to talk about that sitcom I started writing taking the piss out of a local council Parks Department (where I worked) that I never finished in the 90's. And then, of course, somebody used my idea 20 years later. Serves me right for being basically lethargic at following through great ideas....! :lol:

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58th

 

Guitar

 

Pts 9 – Severin (9)

 

Artist – Prince

 

Released – 2007

 

Album – Planet Earth

 

UK Chart Peak - #81

 

 

 

Guitar was the lead single from the album Planet Earth. The album was the latest in a series of unusual release strategies Prince would employ in the years following his break from Warner Brothers. This time the album would be released in the UK as a free covermount with The Mail on Sunday and yes, it is the one and only time I’ve bought a copy of that paper (only the made it passed the bin on the garage forecourt). This move earned the wrath of UK music stores who resorted to selling the paper as well. The Mail sold loads of papers and Prince’s subsequent 21 show residency at the O2 delighted fans and earned him $18.8 million, so I guess Prince came out smiling the most.

 

Rolling Stone listed the song at #39 on its list of the best songs of 2007. Musically the song leans in to Prince’s Rockier side and has the a near identical melody to his previous single, Girls & Boys.

Edited by Severin

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=56th

 

Letitgo

 

Points 10 – (Popchartfreak 10)

 

Artist – Prince

 

Released - 1994

 

Album – Come

 

UK Chart Peak - #30

 

 

 

One of Prince’s final releases on Warners was the album Come, essentially a collection of unreleased tracks pulled together to fulfill his contractual obligations. However, the single Letitgo, was composed specifically for the album and is a mid-tempo R&B/Funk track with prince’s lyrics directly criticising the record label for not allowing him to release his own music as soon as it was complete.

 

Despite the obvious lack of attention to detail in the creation of the album Prince, even running on half the effort, was still more accomplished as a songwriter than most and this single became a minor hit for him in both the US and UK.

oh disappointed Scandalous didn't peak any more votes :/

I did try to like it as I wanted to like all the ones people had chosen to add... but it didn't grow on me, sadly.

 

 

In retrospect I wish I'd selected either Willing & Able or 3 Chains O' Gold as my wildcard, the latter in particular is quite epic and I could imagine a fair few may have liked it

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=56th

 

Betcha By Golly Wow!

 

Points 10 – Chartjack2 (9) Bjork (1)

 

Artist – LoveSymbol

 

Released – 1996

 

Album - Emancipation

 

UK Chart Peak - #11

 

 

 

Prince had spent years unhappily wedded to his contract with Warner Brothers and one of the many bones of contention that drew his ire was the labels refusal to allow him to release cover versions on his albums. Consequently, the moment he was free of them he made his first release this cover of The Stylistics ‘70s Philadelphia Soul classic. It would chart sufficiently well enough is the US (airplay only) and UK to suggest he, rather than the label, had a point.

 

This was the one of many releases the came out after he’d refused to be credited with his birth name, instead going by an unpronounceable symbol. Whilst he was often referred to as ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’, ‘The Artist’, ‘TAFKAP’ or sometimes Tora Tora the officially recognized name for this, O(+> is LoveSymbol.

Edited by Severin

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55th

 

Dance4Me

 

Points 11 –Jimwatts (11)

 

Artist – Prince

 

Released – 2009

 

Album – MPLSound

 

UK Chart Peak – DNC

 

 

 

The only single from his 2009 album MPLSound, initially received a download release in France that August with the same format being available in the US a month later. Three years later it had its only physical release on CD in Switzerland.

 

The song is another typical Prince lusts after hot girl, but this time juxtaposed against his latter-day religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. All delivered in 809s style production and his distinctive ‘Camille’ pitch-shifted vocals.

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=52nd

 

Peach

 

Points 12 - Severin (12)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released – 1993

 

Album – Standalone single

 

UK Chart peak - #14

 

 

 

This 1993 non-album single was Prince’s first UK single to not feature a credit for the New Power Generation since 1991 and was recorded at Olympic Studios , London sometime in June 1992. Prince was backed up by NPG members Sonny T and Michael B on bass and drums respectively. Prince’s future wife Mayte Garcia also performs the backing vocals alongside an uncredited Kim Basinger who provided the repeated gasp, taken from a sample .

 

Whilst the subject of the song has been attributed to a number of Prince’s ex-lovers – variously Kim Basinger, Carmen Electra, Anna Garcia – and even Kylie Minogue, (who he dedicated it to at one show) it is generally assumed that Mayte is the girl in question.

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=52nd

 

Cinnamon Girl

 

Points 12 - Chartjack2 (8) JulianT (4)

 

Artist – Prince

 

Released – 2004

 

Album – Musicology

 

UK Chart Peak - #43

 

 

 

Taken from the album Musicology the single was a ‘70s Psychedelic Rock style track that was used to promote the album in Europe. Its biggest success was a #29 in Italy.

 

With 9/11 still relatively recent and the resulting social tensions in the news everyday, the song was hindered by a striking and controversial video that would receive minimal airplay anywhere. It depicted the racial and religious bullying of a young muslim schoolgirl who goes on to fantasize about becoming a suicide bomber near the videos climax.

I kinda like Peach, should have given it some points

Isn't it from the Hits?

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=52nd

 

A Case of U

 

Points 12 - dandy* (9) Popchartfreak (3)

 

Artist - Prince

 

Released – 2002

 

Album – One Night Alone...

 

UK Chart Peak - DNC

 

 

 

This 2002 album was released as part of a box set with the companion live album and only made available through Prince’s NPG Music Club until finally receiving a release through Tidal in 2020.

 

This track is a cover of the Joni Mitchell song, alleged to be about either Leonard Cohen or Graham Nash. Joni Mitchell has a special thanks in the liner notes.

Ahhhh a Case Of U! Glad someone else voted for it ^_^ It took me a while to like it tbh, being so used to the Joni Mitchell original but then I read about how much she liked his version so I persevered and I too really began to enjoy it, although I still think the outro is a little out of place. It's a fantastic song though and good taste from him to cover it.
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I kinda like Peach, should have given it some points

Isn't it from the Hits?

Yeah, it is on The Hits but because it's just a compilation as opposed to an album proper, I discounted it from inclusion.

Prince was his own worst enemy when it came to his career in the 90's - record labels have to make money to continue to release and promote acts, and each of those costs money. Chucking out a single or album will-nilly is great for the streaming/digital age but wasn't practical if it wasn't going to be successful. You also have to work to keep your fans on side, and alienating them is a risky move - once gone chances are they won't come back. I know I gave up on him after all the name-changing, 'slave' business, and drop in quality. One great album is better than 2 OK albums - just bung out the extra tracks as fan-bonus B sides, CD tracks etc.
covering A case of you and skipping the first verse which has the best lyrics of the song is a (bad) choice :o
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=50th

 

The Holy River

 

Points 13 - Chartjack 2 (11) Jimwatts (2)

 

Artist – LoveSymbol

 

Released – 1997

 

Album – Emancipation

 

UK Chart Peak - #19

 

 

 

The second UK single to be taken from his post Warners album, Emancipation. A slow tempo Pop Rock ballad that builds to a classic Prince style guitar crescendo. The song’s subject is Prince’s wife Mayte Garcia and concerns his marriage to her, comparing it to a spiritual journey.

 

It would become the final Prince song to reach the UK Top 20 in his lifetime.

  • Author

=50th

 

Dinner With Delores

 

Points 13 - dandy* (4) Jimwatts (4) Chartjack2 (3) Bjork (2)

 

Artist - LoveSymbol

 

Released – 1995

 

Album – Chaos and Disorder

 

UK Chart Peak - #36

 

 

And here we have the first song to pick up scores from more than two voters.

 

 

The only single released from his final Warners album Chaos and Disorder. Ostensibly rush released to extricate him from his Warners contract and said to be written in haste, in truth much of the material from the album dates from the sessions for The Gold Experience, although it leans more int a Pop Rock territory than the that album. Whilst not a significant commercial success the album did receive generally positive reviews.

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=48th

 

Pretzelbodylogic

 

Points 15 - Severin (15)

 

Artist – Prince with 3rdeyegirl

 

Released – 2014

 

Album – Plectrumelectrum

 

UK Chart Peak - #90

 

 

Taken from the only album to officially feature his backing band 3rdeyegirl, an all female trio comprised of guitarist Donna Grantis, bassist Ida Kristine Nielsen and drummer Hannah Welton whose style on this record has been described a blend of Garage Rock and Funk. They performed with him as his backing group until his death in 2016.

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=48th

 

The Morning Papers

 

Points 15 - dandy* (6) JulianT (5) King Rollo (4)

 

Artist – Prince and the New Power Generation

 

Released – 1993

 

Album – LoveSymbol

 

UK Chart Peak - #52

 

 

The fourth and final single from the album LoveSymbol was perhaps a case of one too many as it broke his run of UK Top 40 hits, which stood at 23 in a row until this point. Despite this the delicate sounding piano led Pop Rock ballad received good reviews and showcased his ability to switch between genres at ease and that perhaps none were beyond his talent.

 

The album was a conceptual piece and this song is part of the section that details the protagonist (Prince) falling in love with an Egyptian princess (Mayte) whose father has just been murdered by seven assassins.

 

It is the first song in this countdown to be credited as Prince and the New Power Generation, although the band did appear on several previous tracks without official credit.

  • Author

=46th

 

Get Wild

 

Points 16 - Severin (16)

 

Artist – The New Power Generation

 

Released – 1995

 

Album – Exodus

 

UK Chart Peak - #19

 

 

During the ‘90s Prince released two albums officially credited with the New Power Generation (The NPG) as his backing band, although the members appeared on many more than that. As well as these he also featured as a member of the NPG under the name of Tora Tora, which translate from the Japanese as Tiger Tiger. This phrase has been used in many variations in Japan as a war cry of sorts and may have informed Prince’s decision to adopt the moniker given his ongoing fight with Warner Brothers at this time.

 

Tora Tora had a distinct personality separate from Prince or LoveSymbol, seen as his combative side. As opposed to his other personality Camille, TT’s vocals were downpitched and his face was always covered by a veil, even if it was always clearly him it was never admitted. This was the only UK hit to feature this personality, reaching #19 in 1995 and garnering several UK TV performances including Top of the Pops.

 

There also exists an unreleased version which is likely a demo and with only Prince's vocal on the track.

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