Prince's Forty Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits

ugh

isn't this an amazing string of hits

40?

only listed the first twenty.

wow

Voted "I Would Die 4 U" only because when asked by someone today what my fave Prince song was I named it, but I would honestly count like half of this list among my fave songs of all time.

think maybe "alphabet st." at this point in my life? idk idk

Brad

we need you to rap

shake your body like a horny pony would!

Voted "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" just slightly over Purple Rain. I guess I like his rock-influenced epics, but if Erotic City were on the list, I'd vote for that.

never saw myself as a huge prince fan but when presented like this, it's impossible for me to choose

Pop Life but only cos I assume I Would Die 4 U'll do fine

impossible to choose. i wish there was a double vinyl comp of these songs (though maybe without 7 lol, which i like but always found a bit leaden).

'I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man', easily.

i would die 4 u

From a personal perspective, it's weird that some of these were such big hits. Like, I was familiar with all of the BIG hits growing up, but I don't think I ever heard 'Pop Life' or 'Alphabet Street' until I sought out the albums many years after the fact.

But anyway, impossible choice. I'm sure this'll be 'Batdance' by a nose.

I would Die 4 U wins for the bridge synth breakdown

I voted Alphabet Street but U Got The Look is on tv now and it sounds amazing.

I think my first contemporaneous appreciation of Prince's greatness was '7'. I always liked him in the '80s but I was too young and devoid of musical context to fully appreciate his genius until much later. I mean, at the time, I appreciated 'When Doves Cry' on pretty much the same level as tracks from my Fat Albert Rock n' Roll Disco album (which is actually a pretty dece album, tbf).

From a personal perspective, it's weird that some of these were such big hits. Like, I was familiar with all of the BIG hits growing up, but I don't think I ever heard 'Pop Life' or 'Alphabet Street' until I sought out the albums many years after the fact.

Yep. I never heard them on the radio, and the only SOTT hit I remember is "U Got the Look," which even now sounds comparatively underplayed compared to the rest.

Voted Raspberry Beret in the end but it could have been virtually any of them on a different day.

(Okay maybe not Batdance or Thieves In The Temple)

ashamed for having heard less than half of these

wat

I honestly don't know how that's even possible if you're currently an adult and aren't now and have never been amish.

i guess i've probably heard more but these are the only ones i can remember the tune of

1, "When Doves Cry," 1984, No. 1 (5)*
2, "Kiss," 1986, No. 1 (2)*
3, "Let's Go Crazy," 1984, No. 1 (2)*
6, "Raspberry Beret," 1985, No. 2*
8, "Purple Rain," 1984, No. 2*
11, "Little Red Corvette," 1983, No. 6
16, "I Would Die 4 U," 1985, No. 8*
20, "1999," 1983, No. 12

'1999' at the bottom of this list is the most baffling to me. I guess I'd chalk it up to that weird 'song in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV that didn't fare quite as well on the radio' effect I've noticed with a number of other culturally huge songs from that particular era.

Raspberry Beret has the perfect melody, so probably this. ATWIAD was the first P album I bought

:"1999" was released twice in its original run because before "Little Red Corvette" took off it had flopped.

"Thieves in the Temple" was the first Prince cassingle I bought.

In fairness Crut has heard all the really ubiquitous ones, most of the early 90s stuff doesn't get played too much.

Was let's pretend we're married in the full list of 40?

I'm feeling u got the look today so that. Last night, walking to the park to get a view of the Empire State Building and see if they had lit it purple, that wonderful descending harmonized guitar figure from its outro came gliding out the door of a bar and enchanted me.

The esb was not purple when I looked, but there were ample photos of it being so last night. I guess they only did it for a couple hours maybe? Idk.

xpost Yeah, it's entirely possible that I wouldn't have heard most of the NPG-era stuff if I hadn't been glued to MTV at the time.

probably nothing better in life than the extended mix of 'i would die 4 u'

Surprised.. I know all of those 20.

I really want to put together a companion poll for all of the singles he wrote or composed or produced for other people but I'm almost certain I'll omit something crucial.

19/01/1980 Prince I Wanna Be Your Lover 41

I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

Little Red Corvette

When Doves Cry. It's still almost unimaginable to me that such an unconventially arranged and executed song was a #1 hit, even though I was there and helped make it one. (Even weirder: It was bracketed at #1 by Duran Duran's "The Reflex" and Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters." I mean . . .)

and "Dancing in the Dark" at #2.

i just realized yesterday that "When You Were Mine" wasn't a single. criminal.

also, i really thought Get Off was a pretty big pop hit at the time but i guess moreso on the R&B charts.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaspberry Beret

Not a huge Prince fan but his hits stacked up together demonstrate a damned amazing career. Voted Purple Rain bc it's one of the few Prince songs I genuinely love and don't just appreciate.

Listening to Batdance right now for likely the first time since 1989. I didn't like it at the time, but it's really tickling my funnybone right now.

Per my comment earlier re: '1999' being released in an era when huge MTV success still didn't necessarily translate to huge sales for the respective single, I remembered a specific example of this: 'Hot For Teacher', which mindblowingly only got to 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. Also from 1984. I'm sure I rememeber encountering other examples of this phenomenon.

"I Melt With You," the Fixx, it's a long list

When Doves Cry. It's still almost unimaginable to me that such an unconventially arranged and executed song was a #1 hit, even though I was there and helped make it one. (Even weirder: It was bracketed at #1 by Duran Duran's "The Reflex" and Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters." I mean . . .)

― T.L.O.P.son (Phil D.), Friday, April 22, 2016 10:58 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well it's also a song where like every single line is a killer hook, and so is the instrumental break.

Purple Rain is also a pretty unconventional hit imo -- an R&B tinged soft metal power ballad with jazzy chords, and that rushed, holy-rolling vocal on the verse.

1984 was a fantastic year for great songs that were also hits.

Yeah either 83 or 84 is my all time fave top 40 year it's hard to choose between those two

I've been listening to my '84 Billboard playlist today, and it really is kind of amazing. So much of it still sounds like the future.

even second and third stringers like Steve Perry and Dan Hartman sounded jazzed.

well it *was* morning in America

For me it's partly the collective palette that reigned at the time - new wave influence fully saturated, analog polysynths in effect with the dx7 still just a new player in the cast, policey guitar compression and chorusing - combined with the old fashioned songcrafty writing values that still prevailed. Idk things changed in a big big way around 85 and it's about more than just busy beats and the dx7...

That was not very coherent

the fall-off between '84 and '85 is still kinda staggering. i managed to put together a decent 100-ish song playlist of '85 jams, but it was filled with artist double-dipping and stuff that woulda been clearly second-string (or even third-string) a year before. it's like all of music needed a pause for breath.

oh, and "raspberry beret." (shout-out to the extended single mix.)

I'm still shocked no artist had ever thought to put finger cymbals against a Linn drum before.

Right? Those fucking finger cymbals kind of make that LP for me

i discovered the song "when you were mine" today via the frank ocean post. that's the one i've been addicted to today.

Matos has some great paragraphs about that song in his sign o the times book.

Don't sleep on the cyndi version which rules

Indeed. Got into that version first myself.

"raspberry beret" prob in my top 5 singles of all time. having a hard time listening to it, or any prince, today. i heard "purple rain" in the car right after hearing the news and kinda lost it. but i'm voting for "pop life" which is lovely and special and never quite gets as much love as it deserves.

The break in "Pop Life" after the second chorus is all time (the best way I can describe it is 'swirly'

going u got the look

Wow, "1999" was only his twentieth biggest hit....

How do people feel about the 12" inch versions, generally? I love them, especially Pop Life.

always loved Prince's twelve inches

They are amazing

Glad to hear it. Other faves are AnotherLoverHoleInYourHead, Let's Work, Little Red Corvette (in which he does a hilarious spoken verse in a German psychiatrist voice), Mountains, and I Would Die 4 U

Like "Erotic City." Which was a B-side, right, of a Purple Rain track, I think, can't remember which.
(Xp)

Like "Erotic City." Which was a B-side, right, of a Purple Rain track, I think, can't remember which.
(Xp)

Fuck it, there's just too many... yes, Erotic City, b-side of Let's Go Crazy, which also has a great 12" version. But the main one I forgot, the greatest Prince song you don't know you know and love, 17 Days

17 days is in my top 10 prince but its extended 12" mix is sadly a forgery edited together by a fan

"Kiss" and "Mountains" singles vital for the appearance of "Love or Money" and "Alexa de Paris", although the latter is also on the "Lesotho" Cd single

17 days is in my top 10 prince but its extended 12" mix is sadly a forgery edited together by a fan

Really! Wow. I guess the song is better known from that awful Hits/B-Sides comp so it's not really a hidden gem anymore. Oh well, I think I like the extended 17 Days just the same

Er, "Letitgo"

I like it too whether or not prince edited it. I've never been able to find a good sounding download of it though.

wait, why is the hits/b-sides comp awful?

"She's Always in My Hair" was the b-side to ..."Paisley Park?" That was a single? Anyway, "Hair" is incredible.

Ok I read yesterday that Glam Slam didn't even make the Billboard 100, that seems off. Good chance it'd have gotten my vote if it was here.

Also until I groaned when its name appeared I had no idea how little I liked Thieves in the Temple. 7's kinda similar but approx 50x better/sillier imo.

I honestly don't know how that's even possible if you're currently an adult and aren't now and have never been amish.

I think most everything on here that's 1988 and after I first heard when I got the 3-CD best-of in college in the 90s. Definitely very clearly remember hearing "7" and being like "wow who knew the guy from my childhood is still making great records?"

Voted "Let's Go Crazy" because I still don't really understand how that song works. Could have voted "1999" for being the one I've truly cared about the longest, or "7" for being the one I have the strongest idiosyncratic relationship with.

die 4 u

"7" charted at #7. Nice!

was it a boy when you wanted a girl

Little Red Corvette. It was a perfect way to get the rock kids into Prince's world.

i don't feel like voting for "i would die 4 u" or "purple rain" or "kiss" or "little red corvette" so i think i'm gonna vote for "diamonds and pearls" or "7"

it is kind of impossible to choose among these, but "u got the look" is the last one i cried to so that

Extended version of u got the look is incredible. That rhythm guitar intro.

wait, why is the hits/b-sides comp awful?
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, April 22, 2016 10:24 PM

well, looking back now maybe I didn't realize what he included were 7" versions of album tracks, but I remember some of the songs being drastically cut down from their album versions. Anyway, it bugged me and I put it away, I'll try it again

single edits made sense for a hits comp, you don't need all 7 minutes of "Controversy" for something like that

It's also basically the only time any of his stuff has been remastered, that comp.

the only edits on that comp i take issue with are on the b-sides disc

That comp always felt invaluable to me for both containing the only remastered versions of several of these songs and as a go-to for road trips (back before iPods anyway). I guess I can see people taking issue with the edits chosen (I've heard the same argument taken up with The Immaculate Collection) but, in the case of the B-sides disc, this was the only reasonable means I had of hearing these songs for years, so...

yeah I guess it's easy enough to get the full versions bc there are always tons of prince singles at record stores

....for now

Stop the presses! My new jam is "Batdance."

I will hear no one dis that 1993 comp

'Purple Rain', barely, over 'Pop Life'.
God I love that keyboard track that lends 'Pop Life' an almost haunted feel.

Only problem with the compilation is the lack of Parade b-sides. And the lack of stuff like "Mountains" and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

well, looking back now maybe I didn't realize what he included were 7" versions of album tracks, but I remember some of the songs being drastically cut down from their album versions. Anyway, it bugged me and I put it away, I'll try it again

I like the 7-inch outro of "Kiss" just as much as having it run into "Anotherlover," and those were the versions I grew up on (owning the singles separately but not having a copy of Parade until 10+ years later).

However I suppose the "I Would Die 4 U" outro really needs "Baby I'm a Star."

the only edits on that comp i take issue with are on the b-sides disc

Which ones? afaik they're all the same versions that were the 7-inches (except for the We Are The World song).

"She's Always in My Hair" was the b-side to ..."Paisley Park?" That was a single? Anyway, "Hair" is incredible.

In my top 5 for sure, and it's on "Raspberry Beret."

shoulda used blockquotes whoops

truly bizarre that "mountains" is not on the 1993 comp…

Yeah I am kinda offended by that, I adore mountains and it warranted a video...

The strategy worked for me. I bought Parade because of the singles that weren't on Hits 1 & 2.

Forgot about "Delirious" - one of the best.

"Mountains" peaked at #23.

Mountains had a video! Prince directed it.

Xp

and it's marvelous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2x5vb9P8E

Yes I was saying, it was worth him doing a video so it's weird that he didn't include it in the 3cd

there is extra song at the end of that video.

Oh yeah also it says on wikipedia that Warner Brothers paid Prince to limit his involvement in Hits 1&2/B-Sides so exclusions were probably determined by some suits or whatever.

"Batdance" should be on every Prince greatest hits comp since it was a #1.

Xpost that is I think the 12" version of mountains or at least v similar to it

someone zip up the polled songs and post a link plz, thank you in advance

I was familiar with all of the BIG hits growing up, but I don't think I ever heard 'Pop Life' or 'Alphabet Street' until I sought out the albums many years after the fact.

Yep. I never heard them on the radio

"pop life" got a lot of airplay in the northeast, at least.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

YES! \o/

wau @ the "Pop Life" votes

Eye honestly thought 'When Doves Cry' was going 2 take this.

Today is the third straight day I woke up with 'Pop Life' in my head, it truly is mesmerizing.

well, everybody needs a thrill!

Pop Life really is such an eery song. that organ, and the verse about doing coke

Voted for I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, never expected it to win.

Too bad Delirious got no votes. Poor Delirious, such a slinky monster of a pop song.

What kind of "wau" is that, Alfred?

will there be a #21-40 version?

the kind of "wau" as big as my shoe size

will there be a #21-40 version?

― billstevejim,

sure!

I was the sole voter for "Thieves in the Temple", but I voted without having listened to it in years... And after relistening to the single I realized what I really was voting for was Junior Vasquez' "Thieves in the House Mix". The original is great too (particularly the 12" version with the crazy "who got the party who?" ending), but that remix is sublime. Many of his 90s tunes had pretty good house remixes... The William Orbit/Mark Moore remix of "The Future" is also better than original, it's the best single from the Batman soundtrack IMO.

If we did a "sick of" poll, I would hazard a guess that "The most beautiful girl" would probably win, I would be tempted to vote for "U got the look" possibly due to overexposure at the time.

probably would have voted Pop Life in this, but am sick of more than a few Prince mega hits. Listening to 1999, usually skip the first two songs, and listen to Purple Rain the least of any of the full lengths

"Thieves in the Temple" = first Prince cassingle I bought

Prince is so great he wrote the only song about being a star that doesn't suck. so I voted 'Pop Life'.

"Mountains" video has gone off the web because of youtube, but the associated Making of... is right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UopzMEHmUDQ