Prince's Best #2 U.S. and UK Single

Oooh, I'll take part in this 'un. Prince novice. I've heard Sign o' the Times once and that's all she wrote.

Batdance was a U.S. #1 wasn't it? Not that I'd vote for it in this company.

"Batdance" sounds fabulous these days. He took this collage of samples, shred guitar loops, and movie quotes to #1?!

I'd rank em:

Little Red Corvette
Raspberry Beret
U Got the Look
1999
Purple Rain
Batdance

The Batman album has richer material than "Batdance."

I never wanna hear "1999" again tbh

I never need to hear the single version again. The album version is still exhilarating.

The 12" mix of 'Batdance' just seemed like the greatest thing ever to me in Summer '89

Little Red Corvette
Purple Rain
Raspberry Beret

would-be impossible choice but the enormity of Purple Rain just clinches it

don't want to overthink: it's little red corvette

Due to being wrong I have likely listened to Batdance more times than the other five put together - did Prince ever say himself that it was a homage to Todd Terry, as I have seen written in passing before?

UK record it reminds me most of is Meat Beat Manifesto's "Cutman" - dunno if this was my own observation or if I've knicked it off someone else (if so sorry). It's the way it keeps restarting with new tempos and beats.

Raspberry Beret barely over Little Red Corvette. The way his singing casually weaves on and off the beat is one of my favorite things in all of music.

Are there modern-day Prince fans that disdain "Raspberry Beret" as a compromise with rockism (or Wendy/Lisa) or is it just seen as another twist in an unpredictable career?

Wow this is impossible? Leaning toward "U Got the Look."

raspberry beret 12" mix vs 1999 album version is a real fight:

raspberry beret 12" mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vXJcdTX_CA

Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret and U Got The Look definitely didn’t hit #2 on release in the UK

Raspberry Beret only peaked at #25

Are there modern-day Prince fans that disdain "Raspberry Beret" as a compromise with rockism (or Wendy/Lisa) or is it just seen as another twist in an unpredictable career?

― Halfway there but for you

What on earth

Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret and U Got The Look definitely didn’t hit #2 on release in the UK

Raspberry Beret only peaked at #25

― Master of Treacle,

Did you see the thread title?

What on earth

Is it unlikely that some fans (though they might have accepted Prince's moves into power pop and hard rock) could have considered "Raspberry Beret" a step too far towards 60s rock, Rolling Stone appeal and rockist standards?

It was Prince's turn to record his Beatles album.

the Beatles thing is a redass herring, raspberry beret does not really sound that different from like 1999. wouldn’t these theoretical ppl have been more disturbed by the heavy rock of lets go crazy the album before??

huh Batdance sounds a million times better to me now than it did in 1989 or whenever

the Beatles thing is a redass herring

Interesting that I don't think I've ever seen Around the World in a Day mentioned in the context of Forever Changes.

wouldn’t these theoretical ppl have been more disturbed by the heavy rock of lets go crazy the album before??

Maybe they were! But heavier rock had been one of Prince's tools ever since "Bambi". Supposedly his record sales dropped 50% from Prince to Dirty Mind, so there was a precedent of losing some of his audience through stylistic left turns.

RB now and forever

Yah good point xp

Guess I'm surprised "U Got the Look" had that much airplay. But also surprised "Sign o the Times" peaked at #3 when it felt at the time like the album just disappeared. Only went platinum, but then same for Parade (according to wikipedia...is that right?).

Did “I would die 4 u” reach #1?

Is it unlikely that some fans (though they might have accepted Prince's moves into power pop and hard rock) could have considered "Raspberry Beret" a step too far towards 60s rock, Rolling Stone appeal and rockist standards?

i wasn't there but i think it's incredibly unlikely that anyone rejected around the world in the day because they found its fairly vague psych-pop influence to be 'rockist' and a concerted attempt to appeal to rolling stone (who had already been reviewing prince albums favourably)

At first Prince wanted no single, but he bowed to record label panic and released "Raspberry Beret" a couple months after the album's release.

for me it's u got the look > purple rain > batdance

I love all of these but I voted "Raspberry Beret" because I don't hear it as much in the wild as "1999," "Little Red Corvette" or "Purple Rain," and it always makes me happy when I do.

Interesting! I hear "Raspberry Beret" in the wild several times a month. It's "U Got the Look" I never hear.

Yeah I don't hear that as much either, but I also rank it a bit below Raspberry Beret. (And I never hear Batdance anywhere lol, that song has been totally memory-holed.)

Did you see the thread title?

Honestly I must be missing something, still don’t get it

Crazy how ridiculous “Batmania” was in 1989. The DVD dedicates a whole bonus feature to it, where everyone is buying any random crap with Batman stamped on it. Prince’s “Batdance” record is kind of an artifact in that way.

I hear Raspberry Beret as much as Purple Rain.

Honestly I must be missing something, still don’t get it

― Master of Treacle

These singles peaked at #2 and #3 in the U.S. and UK.

rolling stone (who had already been reviewing prince albums favourably)

In fact, the more ambitious he got, the more disappointed they were:

Prince appeared to be poised on the verge of some Great Statement -- some grand new synthesis of black and white musical forms, of sexual redefinition and spiritual devotion. He seemed, in short, to be about to put it all together. But in the wake of Purple Rain, he has drifted...Now comes Sign o' the Times, and the Great Statement remains unmade.

what a load of bullshit, as if he owed them anything

I saw this awesome purple and black Jeep going south down I-75 today. Windows were tinted and the cover on the usual exterior mounted spare tire had a cover with a silhouette rainbow picture of Prince in shadow.

The license said REIGN23.

If I recall, Michigan plates.

Cool vehicle.

Crazy how ridiculous “Batmania” was in 1989.

"Batdance" is the only record by Prince that I've physically owned -- bought as a teenager excited for the movie.

The film of the decade! and rightly so!

boy, we've got a live one here!

That whole bit that ends with "did i say an hour? my face is red. I stand corrected" is truly top tier pop lyric writing. Straight up magic.
U Got the Look (Long Look) on repeat.

Crazy how ridiculous “Batmania” was in 1989. The DVD dedicates a whole bonus feature to it, where everyone is buying any random crap with Batman stamped on it. Prince’s “Batdance” record is kind of an artifact in that way.

― birdistheword, Thursday, August 21, 2025 10:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I did not buy the Batman soundtrack, because I did not like Prince at the time. But I coveted the edition that came in a little metal can with the Batman logo on it, because it looked so cool. Just checked on Discogs and there are plenty for sale at reasonable prices!

Purple Rain - the song no one can cover

I did not buy the Batman soundtrack, because I did not like Prince at the time. But I coveted the edition that came in a little metal can with the Batman logo on it, because it looked so cool. Just checked on Discogs and there are plenty for sale at reasonable prices!

I suggest you either avoid an "unsealed" copy or, if you have a sealed one and it looks fine, open it asap. Someone left me an unsealed copy but over time I noticed the plastic eventually adhered to the can even though it had become dry and brittle. I couldn't remove it completely, just tear off plastic flakes, and even when I twisted the can open to get to the CD, the plastic merely broke off around the edge of the rim and otherwise stayed adhered to the can. Anyway, looks kind of gross which defeated the appeal of having a sleek-looking "Batcan."

The Batman soundtrack is a terrifically weird collection of his murmuring "Dorothy Parker"-sequel tracks and nig things like "Electric Chair." He never did anything like opener "The Future." Recommended.

"Electric Chair" is never outside of my Top 5 Prince tracks.

I do like "Electric Chair" and maybe some of the pop fizz of "Trust", but I just dug out the soundtrack album and, sheesh. It's how I remembered, a bunch of offcuts and scraps with taped-on dialog, and a few limp sex jams with no heat or energy. "Batdance" might have made a good B-side in the Sign era ... actually I was going to compare it to "Shockadelica" but that song is head and shoulders better.
I'm glad P got paid, and it was a fun tie-in with the movie mania, but this isn't even in the second tier of Prince releases.

This is Little Red Corvette but voted Purple Rain because the former will win!?!

The Batman soundtrack is a terrifically weird collection of his murmuring "Dorothy Parker"-sequel tracks and nig things like "Electric Chair." He never did anything like opener "The Future." Recommended.

Well that is an unfortunate typo

Wisely rejected 1988 Duran Duran LP title

That whole bit that ends with "did i say an hour? my face is red. I stand corrected" is truly top tier pop lyric writing. Straight up magic.

otm

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Crazy that next Spring will be 10 years since he passed. I'm flipping a coin between the two 1999 singles, which has been my favorite PRINCE album for a while now.

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

Not a bad point spread.