U Send The Votes - Eye Do The Compiling - PRINCE TRACKS POLL VOTING!

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/pub/artikkel/5/53/533/533837/sx5e8c9b_1209365526.jpg

Okay so as the Beatles results are going to be done soon, i'm now opening up the vote for PRINCE.

So (almost) identical set-up to the last few and so here are the rules...

No need for nominations, just pick your favourite Prince AND side project tracks AND Prince tracks written for others. That's right - I thought it would be fun to expand this to everything Prince has written, so you can vote for stuff by The Time, Vanity 6, The Bangles etc.

If you vote for a song that's been recorded by Prince AND a separate act, put their name in brackets e.g. 'Nothing Compares 2 U' (Sinéad O'Connor) otherwise I will assume it is for the Princeversion.

Discography can be found here http://www.discogs.com/artist/Prince and you can sort that list to see stuff he's just Produced / Written.

Choose your top twenty tracks and they'll score as follows:
1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12.

Please send your ballot to: runoutgroove (AT) hotmail.com (except obviously without the spaces and using the @ symbol) by midnight gmt Tuesday July 26 (that's a week from today).

In the meantime, use this thread for bigging up tracks you want people to vote for and asking any questions... Not looking forward to finding Youtube vids for all the results on this one...

Yes, I thought I'd have probs finding The Beatle ones, but whoa!

predicting/hoping for massive placing for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJ0lxBhGDs

From discogs: Prince was once married to Mayte but their marriage was cancelled in 2000.

I've never seen a marriage referred to as "cancelled" before.

Sented my ballot.

That picture is so great.

Good call on Sometimes It Snows In April, it's always been my favourite ballad of his.

I'm hoping people vote for She's Always In My Hair. He has some seriously amazing B-sides, this one is easily my favourite.

Fuck so hard...funny going back to some of these songs they were a soundtrack to my teens...a top 10 would of been easier in some respects cos so many tracks jockeying for a place...

Ps are we allowing unreleased tracks...

jeeze, i'm trying to find that tour diary/blog by the guy who did lights for rick james when prince was opening for him... lots of HILARIOUS stories about prince if i could just find the damn link! anyone know what i'm talking about/where to find it? i can't remember lighting dude's name so google just isn't working for me...

lol @ opening pic + thread title well-done

yes unreleased is fine!

will definitely find this one much harder than beatles to cut down to 20

First ballot in already, very nice.

I'm very interested in this one -- totally unqualified to vote, looking forward to the results.

vote anyway, the singles will need help what with everyone connoisseur trying to vote random b-sides and The Black Album

there is such a vast amount of material to cover and so much of it fantastic that yep i think the results will be really interesting especially for the slightly lesser initiated fans

Hm, "Windows cannot find runoutgroove..." etc. - what's that about? Is there a hyphen or dot or something needed in there?

nope...that's it, not sure why it wouldnt be working

i voted for the hits and the b-sides, seemed to work.

Somebody recommend some songs he wrote for others. Apart from "nothing compares 2 u" which is the only significant one I can think of.

Manic Monday, for the Bangles

he wrote or at least co-wrote a lot of the Time stuff. '777-9311', 'Cool', etc.

also sheila's hits, 'glamorous life' and 'a love bizarre'.

Spotify showing up in the nick of time for this one -- handy!

never 4get

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

and just about all of the music for this too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nt5t3sL-kE

might be pushing it a bit far but he "inspired" + played synth on this which also rules:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJ-i23OiJU

Stop what you're doing and watch this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efkS7NUFPDI

....then vote for it.

Would consider filling my entire ballot with Sheila E tracks if there were enough.

MY SUGAR WALLS

today I was visiting with an old friend who got me into Prince years and years ago, and he went "which Prince albums do you not have?" -- he's been ripping and selling/giving away a lot of his CDs, so he gave me a whole stack of Prince: For You, Around The World In A Day, Lovesexy, Grafitti Bridge, Diamonds & Pearls, Come, The Gold Experience, and Emancipation. gonna enjoy poring over these while i work on my ballot for the Prince tracks poll.

― bro, die (some dude), Sunday, July 10, 2011 8:14 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

posted this on another prince thread last week -- kinda bummed that there's no way i'm going to work my way through all these records before the voting deadline, but it's cool to put together my ballot at a moment when i'm feeling really excited about Prince music

i'd love to vote in this but i haven't heard a single song post-Diamond and Pearls and that's too much to stomach in one shot

Except Come, which I have for some reason, and like alot

surely you don't need to hear everything to vote, and surely lots of people will be voting for nothing later than Diamonds & Pearls

alright, some dude, you convinced me! thks

excellent, i figure the more participation the more interesting this will be

eye voted

am genuinely curious what your ballot looks like!

check yr inbox

i was thinking of abstaining, as i'm only familiar with controversy-lovesexy really, and i don't want to turn this into "princes biggest singles" which is what my ballot looked like when i started to put it together.

ps. so i guess no one else has read those rick james tour diaries, ie. "rick james vs. prince"?

eh there might be enough fanatics around here voting for deep cuts and b-sides that a few ballots full of hits could balance things out

i've mostly just been familiar with the hits and the bigger albums, and am really enjoying the chance to listen to all the unreleased stuff. i just downloaded The Work cds, they are amazing

want to rep for this as it's clearly the highlight of the first few albums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20FQYU6lrII

and this because it was so amazing live a few weeks ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4C9qR9wJVw

I won't be voting as I only have the 3-CD hits comp, Purple Rain and some crappy recent thing he's done. But will be looking to the countdown.

Ach, I'm going to vote anyway. Even giving the great singles a legup over the not-so-great will be useful.

Here's a comprehensive list of Prince compositions for other artists:
http://www.neosoul.com/music/purplejams.html

Dilemma - love Te Amo Corazon, love Fury, but most of all I love the Te Amo Corazon/Fury medley he did at the Brits (released as the b-side of Fury). Do I give these one vote, two or three?

Bit the bullet and sent my ballot in. Heartbreaking omissions (so many good 12'' mixes!) - was tempted to put our very own Sven & Friends' "When Humps Cry", ha. Paging stevem?

Unadventurous ballot submitted - hoping the conoisseurs step up to neutralise it now.

Narrowed down to 20. Now arranging the order. (Wanted to toss a bone to at least a couple more recent tracks, but the latest I got was 1995.)

the most recent one i had on mine was 'black sweat'

Ballot submitted! I'll rep for a good amount of 90's Prince, but I ended up with only one track post-87. I think it's pretty clear that his peak era, both artistically and commercially, was 80-87 (if you're being generous you might add a year or two on either end), though he made loads of great music in the decade that followed even amid obvious missteps and uncharacteristically ham-handed attempts to stay current. I could certainly find room for a handful of 90s tracks if we were submitting a top 30 or top 40.

My own ballot breakdown

Pre-80 material: 2
80-87 material: 15
88-present material: 3
Prince recordings: 17
Non-Prince recordings: 3

this thread sent me down lots of prince tributaries yesterday, like uh wendy and lisa's Out interview and jesse johnson's solo work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9gddM7CQog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozq3zQ7N0E0

Wanted to toss a bone to at least a couple more recent tracks, but the latest I got was 1995.

― Johnny Fever

Exactly the same for me. There's a few later songs that would probably make my top 40 like Black Sweat, Chelsea Rodgers, A Million Days and Fury but a track from The Gold Experience will be the latest song in my 20 and that's going to be quite low down.

Good to see the love for Sheila E but I always loved the Jill Jones album even more, especially this track Violet Blue.

http://youtu.be/SJKHmt0WGss

That is a great track...love "Baby you're a trip" as well...well ballot in...talk about Sophie's Choice!!Every Prince Track till '88 feels like one of my children...feel terrible not picking em but the (purple) dye has been cast...well this is there...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxRRt8HJdro

and this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBrXfrAQdN8

Sorry just discovered this on you tube...magnifico...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sXqGKJzfd4

will definitely be giving high vote to Uptown

Uptown was one of my last cuts.

Doesn't everyone love "Head"? (Quotation marks/capitalization optional)

I'm finding it really hard to pick songs from Dirty Mind, it's one of my top 5 albums of all time but apart from When You Were Mine I like all the other songs pretty equally. It's one of those records that works so well as a whole it's hard to pick individual tracks.

i think i went for 'partyup' over 'uptown'. 'head' was way up there though.

man, do people not like "when you were mine"? that might be my favorite of his 'rock' tunes, love the scrappy production too.

It's one of those records that works so well as a whole it's hard to pick individual tracks.

I agree, for me this is also true of Parade.

Ballot sent!

"Dirty Mind" is a near-perfect record - probably Prince's most consistent album. And the "scrappy production" (it was essentially just a commercially released demo) means it really hasn't dated. And yes, I voted for "When You Were Mine."

Doesn't everyone love "Head"? (Quotation marks/capitalization optional)

― thewufs, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 4:20 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

def on my ballot.

seriously considering something of a contrarian/comedy ballot here given the depth of the catalog here

and I actually do have every single officially released thing of his through Musicology

I finally fell in love with Controversy a few weeks ago after filing it away for years as Dirty Mind II as if (a) this were a terrible thing (b) this were correct. It's weirder, slower, and faster.

?! Controversy is great. Title track alone! I kinda like it more than Dirty Mind, tbh

who will vote for "E-male" with me

or "Chloreen Bacon Skin"

prefer "My Computer."

so far I have "The Human Body" on mine

can't decide which track off of N.E.W.S. to vote for

one of you bitches best include "Chelsea Rodgers."

who's going to put some 94 East on their ballot

^^^I have that record

so ME

aw fuck, i guess i'll do this.

has this been posted yet:
http://www.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_1964/prince/songs

11 ballots in so far, 93 different tracks so far

damn, he just needs to write a song whose title starts with "q" and he'll have the whole alphabet

I voted

Jughead at #1

man, do people not like "when you were mine"? that might be my favorite of his 'rock' tunes, love the scrappy production too.

― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan)

When I said apart from When You Were Mine I meant that is the obvious highlight of the album for me, didn't really make that clear. It will be very high in my list but it might be the only song from that album as much as I love the rest.

That list Shakey posted is missing many many songs - though they're mainly unreleased.

Especially this beauty

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

Jughead at #1

― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, July 20, 2011 4:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Joke ballot or serious?

I can't vote until the last moment. Too many things to settle.

yesterday i misread the OP as saying our ballots could have 40 songs. 20 is so low! he's got like 15 obvious perfect singles!

Way to much to choose from. I dig 90s Prince, and even so, I'm not sure if I'll have much, if anything, post-Diamonds and Pearls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiNIBVBj2-s

Also, what the hell was this and why is it so maybe-awesome?

i'm still in my prince-discovering phase & am looking forward to the results of this poll

great 90s singles i would consider for my vote... Get Off, Cream, Diamonds And Pearls, Money Don't Matter 2 Night, Sexy MF, My Name Is Prince, 7, Peach, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, Gold, Betcha By Golly Wow

all great

I'd add Pink Cashmere and The Holy River.

Post 2000, I need to dig out U Make My Sun Shine (with Angie Stone), and I'm also very fond of Black Sweat and Chelsea Rodgers.

My pre-voting Prince B-sides binge has hit a roadblock in the form of Horny Toad.

great 90s singles i would consider for my vote... Get Off, Cream, Diamonds And Pearls, Money Don't Matter 2 Night, Sexy MF, My Name Is Prince, 7, Peach, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, Gold, Betcha By Golly Wow

all great

― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Thursday, July 21, 2011 4:06 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

you didn't even mention "Thieves In The Temple" or "Morning Papers"!

"The Morning Papers" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Diamonds and Pearls"

Naive in every way

click click bang bang!

+ there were several great tracks on that triple album he did (weren't there?) but i can't be bothered to dig through it, especially since i doesn't seem to be in the current incarnation of my itunes library

sexy mf has rocked every house party i've ever played at (since it came out anyway). people love that song!

oops, i meant tick tick bang bang apparently

Way to much to choose from. I dig 90s Prince, and even so, I'm not sure if I'll have much, if anything, post-Diamonds and Pearls.

prince stans, please feel free to vote for lots of late-era prince! inquiring minds want to know...

i own probably more prince than any other single artist and have since college; this may provide a good impetus to re-investigate.

Wait, only 20 slots? Shut up, already! Damn.

holy hell how did I forget about "Tick Tick Bang" and "Gett Off"

also: "Round and Round" and "Release It"

DAP is his worst nineties album after the failed '99 sellout.

argh and "Lemon Crush" and "Cinnamon Girl" and "Lady Cab Driver" and "The Beautiful Ones" and "Condition of the Heart" and "New Power Generation" and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" and "Erotic City" and "Papa" and "Irresistable Bitch" and "Pope" and "4 the Tears In Your Eyes" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

Plea to everyone voting "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" to specify the Parade'd out "We Are the World" version, not the dreary "The B-Sides" live version.

oh god and "Another Lonely Christmas"

I need to rethink my entire ballot

black sweat btw

i think the only reasonable way to do this is to pick out the best songs from each album and then put all that shit in a crucible and see what melts down
wish me good luck with that

this is some weekend to-do shit right here

"Black Sweat" is already on my ballot!

Anybody care if I use this thread to make my notes in as I relisten?

actually: Forks listens to the complete Prince Discography

Missed my ballot (#21-40):

21) Starfish and Coffee
22) I Feel for You (Prince and Chaka Khan versions)
23) I Hate U
24) Musicology
25) Bob George
26) Alphabet St.
27) Thieves in the Temple
28) Private Joy
29) One Kiss at a Time
30) Sexy MF
31) Get it Up (The Time)
32) Gold
33) Baby I'm a Star
34) 17 Days
35) The Love We Make
36) Cool (The Time)
37) Diamonds and Pearls
38) Sex in the Summer
39) The Belle of St. Mark (Sheila E.)
40) The Walk (The Time)

Does the original Dream Factory version of Train belong on my list or am I crazy?

Those drums!

"I Feel For You" will not be missing my ballot, and I'm def opting for the Chaka version.

Chakachakakhan chakakhan

I heard the Prince version first, oddly enough, so I probably give undue weight to it.

Does the original Dream Factory version of Train belong on my list or am I crazy?

oh man. and "Teacher Teacher"!

Man, I haven't even dipped into the unreleased stuff. These outtakes will be a treat.

I think P-Funk merits one of these tracks polls. Tho I'm wondering: are enough people familiar with broad swaths of their catalogue? (I'd probably include Parliament, Funkadelic, the P-Funk All-Stars, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, and the Horny Horns at least).

tried and failed to assemble a ballot. i only know the hits and that's still way too many to boil down to a top 20. will follow the results with interest tho.

eh just make a list and chop it off at 20, overthinking leads to paralysis

Yeah, I'm not going to be able to come up with a well-informed ballot, but I'm gonna vote anyway. Everybody on the planet should vote.

it wasn't as hard to come up with a top 20 as it was to order it, so all I did was just drop the song titles into a list and reorder them through a long arduous period.

Sent! 1 from the 70s, 11 from the 80s, 6 from the 90s, and 2 from this century.

think P-Funk merits one of these tracks polls. Tho I'm wondering: are enough people familiar with broad swaths of their catalogue? (I'd probably include Parliament, Funkadelic, the P-Funk All-Stars, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, and the Horny Horns at least).

I brought this up on the poll thread. nobody seemed interested.

Do it anyway. I could barely contribute, but I'd love to see the results.

eh I've already volunteered for the "Producers" poll not eager to take on another one, particularly if there's little no interest. besides we all know the top 2 would just Maggot Brain and Atomic Dog.

I'll take "Last Dance" or "Double Oh Oh."

One Nation Under A Groove surely?

Sir Nose D'voidofunk for mr...I'm up for it

The Nomi Malone fan in me's probably gonna have to include "319" on my ballot.

I voted for "I Wish U Heaven", feel like I might be the only vote. Put it pretty high too :/

btw I actually felt like parental guilt when I had to leave songs from Purple Rain or 1999 off the list :/

Yeah, my stripped to the bone ballot right now stands at 32 songs. This is gonna get bloody.

33. Added "Computer Blue" back in.

I think we all need to understand Prince is possibly the most amazing person who has ever existed. Or at least top 5.

Possible challops coming: I don't have much time for Purple Rain these days. I never cared for "Baby I'm a Star" or "Computer Blue" all that much, and I don't play the singles anymore.

Just put "The Beautiful Ones" on your ballot and we're cool.

yes, that and "Take Me With U" are the ones I still got time for.

Kinda wish I'd voted for 'She's always in my hair' now...oh well no regrets eh...

If "The Beautiful Ones" isn't top 10 headz are gonna roll

it's sitting next another song vying for 20th place on my ballot shrieking "DO YOU WANT HIM OR DO YOU WANT ME!?!?!????"

Is the other song shrieking back?

it's a Prince song, so yeah

C'mon, you can't top that scream in "The Beautiful Ones." No one else has, either.

just dance close and slow

^^ one of at least 2 songs from the self-titled album on my ballot

I'm reckoning how much I love "Bambi."

really amidst all the talk of what later songs are best i'd like to say how underrated those first 2 pre-Dirty Mind albums from the '70s are -- obviously a lot of what Prince does best blossomed in the '80s, but it's really pretty amazing how much of his talent and aesthetics arrived fully formed on those records. if he'd just made them and then disappeared, he'd still be a damn impressive footnote.

like obviously he has some albums with a sustained mood or that feel like a world unto themselves, but it's incredible to me the way he was mixing styles from the jump and pretty much every album has ballads next to dance tracks next to rock epics and so on.

I'm glad that I am free
free to change my mind

pop life!

A very different voting experience from the Beatles poll, which I did much more from memories and accrued personal resonances. This one has thrown up many more big surprises; the impact of a lot of the big hits has faded, and I've been repeatedly thrilled by forgotten album tracks, B-sides and lesser singles. A very rewarding experience. DAMN, he's good.

Prolly shoulda listened more b4 I voted. "Starfish and Coffee" def would have made it. And I forgot to include "DMSR". I put together a 90's/00's Prince playlist (all post-1993, when The Hits/The B-Sides was released) for my ipod and it's suprisingly great. Caveat: nothing from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Chaos and Disorder, or Planet Earth, all of which I own but filed away as mediocre a while ago. Will have to relisten for buried gems at some point. Also, I don't own/haven't heard 20Ten or many of his internet albums.

1) Musicology
2) The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Album version)
3) LoveSign (Shock G's Remix) (Still haven't heard the original)
4) Betcha By Golly Wow!
5) Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance
6) One Kiss at a Time
7) Black Sweat
8) Fury
9) $
10) I Hate U
11) Letitgo
12) PFUnk (internet single)
13) Sex in the Summer
14) Freaks on This Side
15) The Work, Pt. 1
16) The Love We Make
17) Gold

Dan did you really vote for this song? I mean, I did too, but I assume for different reasons lol

(U don't understand, I ain't scared of u mutha fuckas) [Kick it!]

(Stir it like coffee)
The Pope
(Stir it like muthafuckin' coffee)
The Pope
(The hell)
This is the Pope

Oh, your car got mags that be dippy dippy dope
But the whole damn nation got the same
Honey only flock 2 the bee that's the Pope
Not the President with government lame

Put me on a slow movin' parlimentary hackin' bandwagon
U could put me little ass in the grave
Everytime u want it I'll be live, bring a date
I mean computer when its over press save

So u can be the President (U can be the President) [Kick it]
I'd rather be the Pope (Rather be the Pope)
(I'd rather be... so happy)
Yeah u can be the side effect (U can be the side effect)
I'd rather be the dope (Rather be the dope)
(I ain't scared of u mutha fuckers) [Kick it]

Call your girl named Sally and u figure u were chill (Chill)
Then u find out I'm the reason Sally's on the Pill (Pill)
What am I supposed to do when the President can't get nothing passed
Find an alley, find an alley
Undress Sally right in front of your ass
(Well she helped me once again)

I say u can be the President (U can be the President) [Kick it]
I'd rather be the Pope (Rather be the Pope)
(I'd rather be... so help me)
Yeah u can be the side effect (U can be the side effect)
I'd rather be the dope (Rather be the dope)
(Fuck that)
The Pope
(Oh no motherfucker, not today)

Pope
U can be the President (Rather be the Pope)
So help me

Who's the funky drummer with the crooked little sticks (Sticks)
He might have better luck if he was drummin' with his dick (Dick?)
If u don't play the piccolo, why u wanna lick?
(Ch-check) Now check the drum solo and tell me not to kick it

(Seek and destroy. It'll fuck u up)

I love the taste of unpredictable licks

A loop is a loop is a loop
A loop is a loop is a loop [Fuck that]
A loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop

Your car got mags that be dippy dippy dope
But the whole damn nation got the same
Honey only flock 2 the bee that's the Pope
Not the President with government lame

Put me on a slow movin' parlimentary hackin' bandwagon
U could put me little ass in the grave
Everytime u want it I'll be live, bring a date
I mean computer when its over press save

(So) So u can be the president (U can be the President) [Kick it]
I'd rather be the pope (Rather be the Pope)
(I wanna be... so happy)
U can be the side effect (U can be the side effect)
I'd rather be the dope (U, u, u) [U can be the dope]
The Pope

U can be the President (Fuck that)
Rather be the Pope
Baby, so help me please

Press Save
I Love u
Peace
(U don't understand)

I forgot how good a few of the songs, other than 'pop life' or 'raspberry beret' are off of Around The World In A Day

Dan did you really vote for this song?

I haven't voted yet, I was just listing songs I like

Ballot sent. Not making my usual mistake of deliberating so long I miss the deadline.

ballot sent. holy purple perplexity batman, it was hard leaving so many songs off.

look, the Pope is fucking great
i don't think i can do this actually

I even dig "Jughead", personally. Underneath all the silly rapping is a great "Atomic Dog" rip.

I listened to ATWIAD last night for the fiftieth time and still think it's a misfire apart from the two okay singles and "Tambourine."

it's a mess of a record

you say that because you have not accepted paisley into your heart

the singles are great, Paisley Park is pretty good. America is an entertaining retread of Baby I'm a Star with worse lyrics, unfortunately.

the ballads are interminable

i'm on about my sixth listen to for you and surprised how well it holds up for a first album
about a quarter good, half not so good, a quarter great

"Condition of the Heart" is fantastic, you madman

I know what he was attempting with that...generous opening, but it just meanders. I'm pretty sure there's a great, brief piano version he's performed sometime.

btw if anyone should be accused of making funny faces just like Clara Bow, study the thread photo.

wait, you've listened to for you six times in the last day and a half, forks?

well almost seven now.
this is just how i like to digest music: on repeat.

dig on this: here's the first commercially recorded song on the first album prince releases and it's of a piece with what he will continue to create for the next thirty-three years. has any artist in any field emerged so outrageously fully formed and capable?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z01KbIvQsAw
seriously, people are gonna be studying dude's discog 200 years from now if the alligator people/mayan calendar/global burnanating doesn't get us first.

Taking a Vanity 6 break. Recently found a proper quality version of the album. It's amazing how much fuller/better it sounds now that I have the full weight of the bass. Nasty Girl is such a jam.

has any artist in any field emerged so outrageously fully formed and capable?

sure

has any artist in any field emerged so outrageously fully formed and capable?

oh come on there's a bunch, just in popular music alone. not to say he's not amazing and oddly compelling but really now

double post there sorry

can you name someone whose very first professional work not only stands the test of time thirty plus years late BUT is absolutely of a piece with their entire career so effortlessly? im pei? picasso? miles? not really?

per what i was saying upthread though, what i think is interesting about early Prince is that his plurality was in place from the beginning -- it's not like The Beatles having an easily identifiable signature sound at first and then quickly expanding, every Prince album was a multi-genre fusion from day 1.

xpost

like LOTS of people have great first albums (better than For You, admittedly) but usually they're in a pretty narrow/specific sound that they later branch out from. Prince was never a boilerplate R&B/disco artist.

yeah, what he said.

can you name someone whose very first professional work not only stands the test of time thirty plus years late BUT is absolutely of a piece with their entire career so effortlessly? im pei? picasso? miles? not really?

the Ramones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc

Phil Spector

was gonna say Wu-Tang but RZA and GZA have those shitty Tommy Boy singles or whatever

Sly Stone lol

Lou Reed/Velvets

I mean come on now

see above comments regarding diversity and density of spectrum

I would almost give you sly but he didn't continue making music for thirty years

it was pretty amazing how the first Ramones album eerily predicted what the 10th Ramones album would sound like

you're narrowing the criteria such that nobody but Prince will qualify. 30 years (most artists don't make it 30 years), "diversity" (why is this priveleged or important?), very first pro work, etc. Like yeah if you set up that many immovable goal posts you may as well add "under 5 feet" while you're at it.

Zeppelin is plenty diverse right out the gate (I guess it wasn't Jimmy's first pro work tho?) Sly too, but he only had 20 years oh noes. Lou/Velvets also really diverse imho. Spector, CCR, Sabbath, Ramones all pretty narrow but I think that's unfair as all were ALSO unique and highly original synthesists.

30 years also means I can't count people who have come out after 1982 but also arrived fully formed and highly versatile and are still going strong (say, Ghostface)

not narrowing, just articulating and specifying since you're still so dense that you think the point is to just list artists with good first albums

the point is that prince is a singular artist so OF COURSE the criteria is narrow!

lol my point isn't about first albums

Talking Heads/David Byrne sprang out pretty fully formed, diverse, capable, he's still going. all the roots of his career are in that first record.

xp

"how many artists came out of the gate breathing oxygen?" <--- the question Shakey is looking to answer

look you're right, there is no one like Prince. There are plenty of artists whose first professional work encapsulates and foreshadows an original, diverse career. which was what the original post I was responding to was about.

*pisses on some Prince records*

talking heads '77 is pretty narrow compared to the spectrum TH covered later on. there's a difference between spanning a diverse palette and merely suggesting it.

can you name someone whose very first professional work not only stands the test of time thirty plus years late BUT is absolutely of a piece with their entire career so effortlessly? im pei? picasso? miles? not really?

Don't want to get this thread too far afield, but -- Zappa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7V1bi5pISU

Run Home Slow main title theme, 1962 (FZ was 21 when he wrote this film score)

Zappa's definitely in the right ballpark

Bryan Ferry

I'm glad E-Male got another vote...

Dot com

I will accept zappa as a good answer to that q btw

been going through the assortment of recently acquired Prince albums i mentioned upthread and wow, Come is right up my alley, really shaping up to be my favorite post-SOTT album. would like to represent that somehow on my ballot, is there any consensus favorite(s) from that album that i should consider voting for?

posts very much out of character

why

I think the title track from Come is a good choice that most favor, tho any of the first three tracks really!

yeah was thinking the title track, i didn't know how long it was so i was like o_O when it kept going

lol yea, I suspect an 11 minute opening track is why that album initially didn't get its due. Nevermind the fact that it's an incredible 11 minute song! (and a solid album to boot)

i'm kind of feeling this one right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6zduBiRZw8

apparently the entire track is prince, except for the lead vocals -- which follow prince's guide vocals (i swear you can hear prince, too).

obv female backing vocals not prince either...

also prince has the most identifiable drum sound ever

also this one is amusing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsMrCz_N8AQ

need those ballots in by the end of tomorrow folks

need those ballots in by the end of tomorrow folks

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410FQH2C4JL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

oh man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2CKCstA8nQ

y'know, finally hearing "Dolphin" after years of DJP making fun of it, i actually kind of like it! wish Prince did more in that kind of glitzy juiced up power pop mode.

have you heard "Gold"?

yeah, listened to The Gold Experience for the first time today. wasn't that into it.

"Endorphinmachine" should do the trick then.

oh yeah that's the one non-single from that album i've known for years, big big favorite

ballot sent

ballot sent

Days ago. Didnt want to overthink myself out of some obv candidates just out of familiarity.

As usual I threw a bunch of stuff together and said god bless you.

gotta remember to do this---had hoped to relisten to the oeuvre but it ain't happening this week

you know for someone who's meant to be such a self centered and arrogant dick, Prince has to be one of the most generous live performers i've seen - he is totally into making the crowd get into it and gives a ridiculous amount of energy.

http://www.iupui.edu/~blacksu/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/i-voted.gif

I hope "The Morning Papers" made a few ballots.

love the guitae and the vibe and michael bland is sick but eh i dunno, it's not that great. it totally has that weird prince uplifting/melancholy thing going on

my list is totally boring considering prince is my all time no 1 best favourite music ever

Prince is an artist whose mainstream work captures almost everything I love about him; his rarities and B-sides are bonuses that add to an already-complete picture IMO. I could have turned in a ballot of all singles and been fine with it. (Of course, lol, I didn't do that, but I'm just saying.)

Think I was probably about one-third singles, one-third album tracks and one-third B-sides/rarities/Vanity 6.

anyone else vote for 'i love u in me'? that song is so striking and i never hear anyone talk about it.

I had 10 singles, 9 album tracks and 1 B-side

I hope "The Morning Papers" made a few ballots.― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:43 AM

Made mine

ok I voted off the top of my head, pretty single- & "prime period"-heavy. I'm looking forward to a thorough relisten in light of this poll (those homemade deluxe editions---wow!)

Would entertain marriage offers if contributers voted for the following:

The Morning Papers
Joy in Repetition
Pink Cashmere
Tambourine
Bambi
Blue Light
17 Days

woulda voted "Tambourine" if we'd had 30 spots

I voted "Tambourine" but you will have to ask my wife if she'll share

Oh dear...voted '17 Days' 'Bambi' and 'Tambourine'...I don't mind but I'll only break your heart...

Sorry, Alf. Only "Joy in Repetition" made my list.

I didn't say I needed all these songs! You voted for my fave of the lot, by the way, so you move to the head of the line.

Artist's interpretation of our nuptials:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D1ZZyTOG7tQ/Samf0XrFYgI/AAAAAAAAEnA/OQeqMbPI24U/s400/Who%27s+Afraid+of+Virginia+Woolf+Richard+Burton+Elizabeth+Taylor.jpg

Closer to this:

http://www.coulouris.net/gc_archive/stills/CitizenKane-2-pp.JPG

That hall is booked solid thru '13.

fuck, forgot abt this and just got in a quickly thrown together list which i am sure i will kick myself over tomorrow, or in an hour, def in my top 5 all time favorite artists but could not even start thinking abt all the live bootlegs, unreleased material i have sitting at home

was surprised at the amt of stuff i ended up putting on from Sign O Times which i do adore but when cutting down to 20 would have thot it would have pruned it ven more than happened

alfred, like how instead of you proposing marriage you will entertain proposals, but at least one of yours made it into my top 5

ha – consider this a sequel to the "Gay Marriage to Alfred" thread. Also:

Sign O Times which i do adore

HO HO

33 ballots in so far - 3 hours 2 go if you want 2 get one in

1 hour to cut 13 tracks from my list. sigh.

voting for "The Morning Papers" and "Tambourine" and maybe "17 Days," but Alfred knows i'd be a terrible manwife for him.

funny thing: i've heard "The Morning Papers" exactly three times in my life: once in a friend's car ten years ago, a couple years ago on VH1 Classic, and just now watching the video online, and every time the song's made such a big imrpession on me that i'm totally voting for it.

hey good lookin', what's cookin'?

now I am afraid I am underrating the symbol album

is it cuz of the Kirstie Alley interludes

Love Symbol is his third best nineties album.

how would you rank them? my gut preference based on hearing a few for the first time this week is Come > Graffiti Bridge > Diamonds And Pearls > The Gold Experience > Emancipation

I'd say:

Come
The Gold Experience
Emancipation/Graffiti Bridge (tie)
Love Symbol
Diamonds and Pearls

(Chaos and Disorder goes right after Love Symbol)

I still haven't heard Come, which might destroy this list:

The Gold Experience
Emancipation
Love Symbol
Graffiti Bridge
Chaos and Disorder
the rest

Come is fucking bad-ass

The only songs I'd save from D&P: "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," "Cream," "Willing & Able," and "Walk Don't Walk."

lol forgot about The Black Album, Crystal Ball, The Vault and that perennial fave Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

for me D&P is all about "Gett Off" and "Cream"

did we ever poll Diamonds and Pearls? I'm curious to know how a "Cream" vs "Gett Off" match would look, and I wouldn't underestimate the other singles.

Everyone seems to rank Emancipation really highly! I should spend time with it. I like Love Symbol more than Gold Experience I think.

i unexpectedly grew to love the title track of D&P the last few years, after growing up with it as an emblem of how uninteresting i thought Prince was growing up before i learned to properly appreciate his genius

atrocious redundant sentence there but you get the idea

listened to D&P's title track yesterday and it's kind of ruined by Rosie Gaines and it's overly cluttered arrangement. emblematic of Prince losing his way in a new technological milieu

i've never heard come either

I know you people are going to laugh at me

but

holy shit at "Sometimes It Snows In April"

like, I've never really listened before

& now I have

For years Prince wrote R&B ballads slightly ahead or out of time; on D&P and Love Symbol it's like he wanted to imitate L.A Reid-Babyface and thus sounded of-its-time or behind the times. I'm not crazy about "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," but that's a better synthesis of his ideas and contempo-R&B.

I'm talking about "Diamonds and Pearls," "Insatiable," and the other period ballads.

my 2 cents:

Diamonds and Pearls - great singles aside, he's clearly starting to lose his way here. the new band is representative of him opting for chops over sonics and this is really the point where Prince starts to make records that actually SOUND bad.
Love Symbol Album - a couple of good songs (Sexy MF, Morning Papers, My Name is Prince kinda), sets the pattern for the 90s unfortunately, ie, some good song ideas buried under a lot of dreck and often marred by poor production choices.
The Black Album - this is great, but not really a 90s album.
Come - this is certainly the most consistent 90s album, which is weird considering its a bunch of leftovers. "Papa" is the standout, but "Pheremone" and "Letitgo" and some of the others are pretty good.
The Gold Experience - I remember Gold being okay as a heavy ballad/Purple Rain re-write but the rest is not that good. Most Beautiful Girl in the World (his biggest selling single ever iirc?) is terrible.
Chaos and Disorder - barely remember any of these
Emancipation - never made it through this whole thing. I'd given up by this point.
Crystal Ball / The Truth - actually has a lot of great shit on it, including the title track. but also not really a 90s album.
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale - this is barely an album. don't remember any of these.
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic - this actually has a couple good songs on it, including one of his better/funnier James Brown homages "Pretty Man".

Sometimes it Snows in April is one of his best ballads, maybe THE best. was fun to see him do it live way back when.

You still got work to do!

Think I have to cut the Sheila E selection. And maybe my Vanity 6 pick? The lower rungs of the list are tricky. A top 30 was surprisingly easy, but below the top 10 it's all muddled.

Shakey, you need to reacquaint yourself with Love Symbol and Emancipation.

I was planning to but I seem to have lent this stuff out from my collection and haven't been able to get em back yet

btw if you guys wanna see when Prince consensus remained in the Triassic period, check out this 1990 ranking of his best albums:

Graffiti Bridge (Paisley Park/Warner Bros., 1990)

Back on track, Prince delivers his most consistent, playful, and profound music yet, in a double album (from the soundtrack of his new film) that moves in a radiant arc from distress to redemption. A+

lol @ Tevin Campbell btw

Come - this is certainly the most consistent 90s album, which is weird considering its a bunch of leftovers. "Papa" is the standout, but "Pheremone" and "Letitgo" and some of the others are pretty good.

i remember when it came out reaction/promotion was very muted and Prince characterized it as a thrown together collection of older tracks, but from what i've read more recently it seems the songs were all recorded at the same time not long before release and Prince just downplayed it as a bunch of leftovers because he wanted to get the "Prince" albums on his contract out of the way and hype up The Gold Experience.

hey! "Round and Round" is one of my favorite Prince-donated songs.

yeah i hadn't heard that in ages (didn't even know Prince had anything to do with it back in the day) and it sounded really good in the context of Graffiti Bridge the other day

by contrast, as much as I love The Time, I skip their songs on GB.

"their" songs

I really love the Love Symbol album for the most part, still "like" Diamonds and Pearls though it isn't as strong.

by contrast, as much as I love The Time, I skip their songs on GB.

this goes for all the guests on GB for me (well except for Tevin who I don't actually like. but I'm a huge fan of the Time and Mavis and George Clinton).

this movie is so bad btw I recommend everyone watch it for the lolz

still the LOLsiest moment of Purple Rain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNv4Rae_FPo

"We Can Funk" and "Melody Cool" are okay.

praying there wasn't an outburst of LOL voting, cuz if Batdance hits #1....

"Sometimes It Snows In April" is the only song that can reliably make me cry.

When I first heard Parade I thought it was a fine song but it took on extra poignancy after my brother's death; he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while jogging shortly after a series of major setbacks in his Air Force career and there is still to this day lingering doubt as to whether he just didn't hear the truck because of his headphones or if he jumped in front of it intentionally.

i think after the main poll i might try and cull together a list of Prince's 50 funniest/most wtf songs for a quickie poll thread

unfortunate xpost after a poignant story, sorry

haha no apologies necessary, that was likely needed after I went all Debbie Downer on the thread

you can talk about "Dolphin" now if it helps

massive lol

I don't even hate that song as much as I used to (although "If I came back as a dolphin/Would you listen to me then?" is still one of the most unfortunate things ever committed to tape)

Of course I'd listen to him: blackened dolphin is tasty as hell.

the lyric sheet renders it even more dippy as "If [eye symbol] came back as a dolphin/Would U listen to me then?"

i have this scary image of Prince shapeshifting into a Dolphin in front of horrified kids at Sea World

ok, finally sent in my ballot, already feeling guilty about some of the songs i cut

have we had a thread on the prince feature films? are they universally horrible?

was kinda shocked that all are on dvd and in print. who's watching these movies now?

ILM.

Ballot sent. This is one of my fave "Parade" outtakes:"In All My Dreams"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MoLqeoN5ow

am i too late? I'll mail something totally off the top of my head if not.
will still listen to everything but got winehouse sidetracked

i think by the stated deadline you're a couple hours late but you should throw something together and send it in, i bet it'll be accepted

going for it. totally off the top of the dome. this should be interesting

This stuff was on the outside looking in:

Batdance
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
It
Anna Stesia
The Morning Papers
If I Was Ur Girlfriend
I Would Die 4 U
Computer Blue
And God Created Woman

oh god i forgot sex in the summer! with his unborn (tragically, never born) child's heartbeat doing the backbeat
so wrong in so many ways

also regretting that i missed adding violet the organ grinder

oh and pink cashmere! this is a losing game.

hmm okay eye'll accept those 6 late ballots. will start revealing countdown 2night

thank u 2... may u live 2 see Dawn...nice girl

Thought about all the obvious great songs I missed after I sent in my ballot. 20 just isn't enough. Should be more like "your Top 50"...

yeah, i could def do 50

^^^^
i realized this morning that i forgot Another Lonely Christmas and All My Dreams and no Vanity 6, not even If a Girl Answers or Vibrator or...sigh.

another lonely christmas was like my number 5

Drinking banana daquiris until I'm blind

^^^lol embarassed to say I quote this all the time tbh

have we had a thread on the prince feature films? are they universally horrible?

purple rain is a legit (cult) classic imo, still hugely watchable. under a cherry moon is odd and bad but with some great lolsy moments, and i couldn't make it through graffiti bridge.

I saw "Graffiti Bridge" in the theater

I was willing to engage with it as a story until I realized that all of the musical sequences had been excerpted as music videos, meaning the entirely lolsy and nonsensical "Thieves in the Temple" was going to appear verbatim at some point in the film. After that, I basically started treating it as an avant-garde MTV artist block with really odd sketch comedy interludes and it became much more enjoyable.

purple rain is a legit (cult) classic imo, still hugely watchable. under a cherry moon is odd and bad but with some great lolsy moments, and i couldn't make it through graffiti bridge.

I'll agree with this altho even Purple Rain is lolzy in its sloppy construction. Of course, it's redeemed by the amazing live/musical numbers. Graffiti Bridge is like watching outtakes from the Tim Burton Batman movie except with shittier music and lots of unfortunate cameos from otherwise classic musicians

RECKA STOW is all-time of course

"I basically started treating it as an avant-garde MTV artist block with really odd sketch comedy interludes and it became much more enjoyable."

this works well for 8 mile too btw

c'mon, guys: Purple Rain the movie is indefensible crap.

the plot to "8 Mile" is waaaaaaaay more coherent/plausible than "Graffiti Bridge", come on

also lol at Al trolling for bans

c'mon, guys: Purple Rain the movie is indefensible crap.

it's crap as a film - the plot/characters/construction make no sense. but it gets by on mood and the musical sequences

ha. it came on tv at a bar i was at recently, and even without sound there was a lot of power in just seeing prince doing prince-y things at the height of his charisma.

xp

that's what the videos are for!

8 Mile is a better movie all around, but Eminem is as shut-in and recalcitrant a camera object as Prince offstage.

I do give Prince propls for having the humility to include the scene in which Wendy and Lisa bitch like Geore Harrison about his reluctance to use their material.

I've always wondered about that

like, it's a very uncharacteristic moment for him and it also reflected reality probably rather closely afaict

I forgot whether the movie is competent enough to show that Prince actually did use their material: Wendy's opening guitar strum in "Purple Rain."

It absolutely does. In the big concert at the end he tells Wendy to start playing her song and she does an awesome "wait, really?" double-take before nodding to Lisa and starting the song; it's also a great narrative trick to explain why the rest of the band doesn't harmonize with him until the second repeat of the chorus, and why the song has a slow instrumental build that ends with that epic guitar jam while the rest of the band vamps on the main riff.

I'll agree with this altho even Purple Rain is lolzy in its sloppy construction. Of course, it's redeemed by the amazing live/musical numbers. Graffiti Bridge is like watching outtakes from the Tim Burton Batman movie except with shittier music and lots of unfortunate cameos from otherwise classic musicians

― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, July 27, 2011 2:15 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

not so sure Graffiti Bridge sdtk is worse music than the Batman sdtk

I love "Under The Cherry Moon". Greatest vanity project ever. Or at least one of the greatest.

(too bad Vanity wasn't in it)

okay i'm going to say now that i really like the Batman soundtrack. and that i own the batcan.