50 Prince Songs You Better Have…Or Else

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Posted May 27, 2016 by J Matthew Cobb in Features
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“777-9311”
(1982, #88 pop)
Writer: Prince, Morris Day
Producer: Morris Day, Prince (Jaime Starr)
from the album What Time Is It?

 

As a gift, Morris Day is accredited for writing the song, but Prince executed every single part on the unbreakable track. Sporting a monstrous double bass line and synth, an out-of-this-world concoction that Prince has claimed as being one of his most favorites, “777-9311” is Parliament/Funkadelic personified, if done right in the Eighties. It is mind-blowing funk taken to the next stratosphere, especially as Prince pulls off a Jimi Hendrix-possessed guitar solo during its final minutes. A bit of trivia: Those now-infamous digits were actually the personal number of The Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson.

“Little Red Corvette”
(1983; #6 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album 1999

 

Using a fancy sports car as a metaphor for a sexually-ambitious young girl wasn’t exactly a new occurrence in music. But Prince took the cue from “Mustang Sally” and updated things some by using the sleeker Chevrolet Corvette instead. Like “Mustang Sally,” Prince warns her to “slow down.” Prince, no stranger to boudoir love-making in this high-rise sexual stage of his career, acts like the grown-up in the room by suggesting she “find a love that’s gonna last.” The song proved to be a crowd pleaser, becoming the second hit single off of 1999. It hit number six pop, charting higher than the album’s hit title tracker. Thanks to the extra promotional push from Warner Bros, a music video of “Little Red Corvette” landed in MTV’s rotation. Historians note that it was one of the network’s earliest videos featuring a black artist.


“Raspberry Beret”
(1985, #2 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Around the World in a Day

 

Prince doing Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He nails Dylan’s nuisances and his style of storytelling poetry on the verses. There’s also an international flair attached to the mix, thanks to the use of strings and finger cymbals. The lead single off of Around the World In a Day, it remains one of Prince’s most remembered pop hits, shooting to number two pop in the summer of 1985. There’s a longer version of “Raspberry Beret” circulating around the Prince bins. Clocking at six-minutes long, the track landed on a 12” version and can be heard on the double-disc Ultimate compilation.


“I Wanna Be Your Lover”
(1979; #11 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Prince

 

“I Wanna Be Your Lover” stands up there with Rufus & Chaka Khan’s “Do You Love What You Feel” as being two of the finest funk-disco R&B jams of 1979. The big hit off of Prince’s self-titled 1979 LP can be described as half pop radio edit, half dancefloor instrumental teased with a barrage of keyboard and synth solos. Prince’s overt sexual nature is scaled down some on here, but the careful use of innuendo can still be located. “I wanna be the only one you come for,” he sings on the closing chorus. Inside Prince’s “dirty mind,” the word “come” could be spelled another way.


“Kiss”
(1986,#1 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Parade

 

Coming off the heels of the dismal reception of Around the World in a Day (especially compared to Purple Rain), Prince released Parade, an album that earned similar feedback. But “Kiss,” a number one hit, quickly shut all the haters up. It was a song that even Warner Bros. feared in releasing, especially since it bared a quasi-demo quality to it. Packaged with an effective music video aimed at the MTV crowd, “Kiss” proved to be one of Prince’s best flirty and infectiously pop tracks, sealing him with end-of-the-year accolades from a host of music critics.


 

“Adore”
(1987)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Sign o’ the Times

 

“Adore” is the mighty culmination of Sign ‘O the Times, and possibly the finest closing track of all Prince’s albums under “Purple Rain.” Stepped in gospel, blissful Stylistics gold and an earthly Aretha falsetto, this true example of a modern-day slow jam sways for six solid minutes. A shorter four-minute version made it on urban R&B radio, but feels like it was smitten by the label execs for being a quickie. The orgasmic album version concludes with angelic synths and a climax that feels like it was sent by God. Listen closely to Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake’s “Until the End of Time” and you can easily sense what influenced that ballad.


 

“I Would Die 4 U”
(1984, #8 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Purple Rain

 

Lyrically, Prince composes a fierce uptempo rock love anthem fit for a hymnal. “No need to worry, no need to cry/I’m your messiah and you’re the reason why,” Prince echoes at the tail end of the second verse. Splattered across this sweetheart love letter are opulent synths and a tireless drum programming. This perfect-for-radio three-minute odyssey transformed the once regulated R&B-funk barbarian into an overnight rock star.


 

“1999”
(1982; #12 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album 1999

 

By 2000, some may have looked at Prince’s “1999” has been a little dated. Apparently they didn’t study up on its high-conceptual, lyrical content. Apocalyptic gloom and doom, a scene cut from classic end-of-the-world prophecy, runs throughout its narrative (“But when I work up this mornin’ coulda sworn it was Judgement Day”). But remember, in the computer age, we all thought the world was coming to a halt based on fears of the Y2K bug. Prince forecasted the headline way before the media did (“They say two thousand zero zero party over, oops out of time…”). It didn’t happen, but Prince got away with pulling off one heck of a party before the freefall. He did so perfectly by incorporating Sly & the Family Stone multi-leads, mostly featuring the girls in The Revolution troupe (Dez Dickerson, Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman). “1999,” his first Top 20 single since 1979’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” is all about having that last party before the end. Might as well go out with a bang. What a party it was.


“When Doves Cry”
(1984; #1 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Purple Rain

 

Possibly Prince’s most recognized rock anthem, “When Doves Cry” opens up the soundtrack to Prince’s Purple Rain. And it deserves too. He fully embraces the use of the Linn LM-1 drum machine and rips through a set of electric guitar solos worthy of rock aficionado interest. The public ate it up, sending the sales into platinum territory and securing the top spot on the pop charts in the summer of 1984. Bruce Springsteen had finally met his match. The song kept “Dancing in the Dark” from reaching the number one spot on the Hot 100.


“Purple Rain”
(1984; #2 pop)
Writer: Prince
Producer: Prince
from the album Purple Rain

 

Several cuts heard on the Purple Rain motion picture soundtrack were ripped from the analog tapes of a charity concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the First Avenue nightclub. “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby, I’m a Star” were part of that list, but “Purple Rain,” the roaring eight-minute power ballad etched towards the very back of the album, remains the album’s apex. The song structure, inspired by Bob Seger arena-rock ballads like “Night Moves” and “Mainstreet,” is a different level of what most heard from Prince up to this point. With an emotional guitar solo powered by gospel influences and a sweeping sing-a-long vamp, “Purple Rain” reigns as one of the pivotal pieces in ‘80’s rock history. The single quickly was certified gold in December 1984, but missed the number one spot on the Hot 100 due to Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” You don’t need to ask anyone which song is far superior.

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About the Author

J Matthew Cobb

Managing editor of HiFi Magazine


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