“Most Popular Prince Songs: The Popular Vote’s Power Rankings (This is Not a ‘Dolby’s’ List)”

April 23, 2017April 23, 2017 by Mike Beal

I mean, is there a reason why I keep having to hear fu**ing “Purple Rain” everywhere? Ok, I’ll give it this. It made for a FABULOUS New Yorker cover. Not a good New Yorker cover, not a great New Yorker cover, a FABULOUS New Yorker cover. But as ever, it is a great, great time to separate music from aesthetics, something the public doesn’t always have a great time doing, hence the popularity of Britney Spears.
Just yesterday I saw the second smart-a** joker mashing up “All Star” by Smash Mouth in some bizarre way, trying to be funny (likely typifying a certain fear before the precipice reality of actually genuinely LIKING the song, of course). If you ask me, this is sort of what “Purple Rain” is. At least, it used to be. I used to hear the funniest sh** on the bus out in Colorado. One time this homeless dude traveling with his buddy was like “I’m bi and he’s gay, we are down for some sh**!” And then this other time this drunk dude started singing “Purple Rain,” and his buddy started cracking up. But I mean that’s what it is: it’s overly dramatic. Not that Prince wasn’t usually over-dramatic. He got away with it by way of overwhelming originality. But “Purple Rain” definitely isn’t his most ORIGINAL song — I mean think about it, when Prince first burst on to the scene, what was the trademark he provided to the industry? Was it ballads? He** no, it was that fast urban pop with the frenetic guitar strums, the meanness, the personality, and also the grim depictions of street life in the Midwest a la “Sign o’ the Times,” et. al. But do we want to hear him SAD? Why do we always have to hear him SAD, when “Diamonds and Pearls” is so brilliant and glorious, when “When Doves Cry” is so rhythmic and defiant (and yeah a bit sad, sorry I kinda botched that one). Anyway, let’s see what the public thinks.
Addenda: Don’t worry, the SADNESS factor will not play into this. And it is a sad occasion. Who are we kidding. But there was this one Vibe article that was like the streaming of Prince songs multiplied by some gaudy number after his death: but on that occasion would obviously be laden an exorbitant amount of sadness, including songs like “Purple Rain” (Purple Rain… fist in the air…)
..
Prince Song Power Rankings:
1 “When Doves Cry” [198]
2 “Purple Rain” [124]
3 “I Wanna Be Your Lover” [122]
4 “Little Red Corvette” [121]
5 “Kiss” [120]
6 “1999” [107]
7 “Let’s Go Crazy” [87]
8 “I Would Die 4 U” [77]
“Pop Life” [77]
10 “Raspberry Beret” [66]
11 “Alphabet St.” [65]
“U Got the Look” [65]
13 “Adore” [62]
14 “If I Was Your Girlfriend” [60]
15 “7” [55]
16 “Sign o’ the Times” [52]
17 “Delirious” [51]
18 “Do Me, Baby” [50]
19 “Controversy” [44]
20 “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” [43]
21 “Joy in Repetition” [42]
22 “A Love Bizarre” [40]
“America” [40]
“Baby I’m a Star” [40]
“Diamonds and Pearls” [40]
“Get on the Boat” [40]
“Girl Meets Boy” [40]
“Girls & Boys” [40]
“Housequake” [40]
“Leader of the Band” [40]
“Paisley Park” [40]
“Play in the Sunshine” [40]
“Rockstar” [40]
“Te Amo Corazon” [40]
“The Glamorous Life” [40]
“The Word” [40]
“Venus de Milo” [40]
“17 Days” [40]
39 “When You Were Mine” [36]
40 “Cream” [29]
41 “Batman” [25]
“Graffiti Bridge” [25]
“Lovesexy” [25]
“Partyup” [25]
“Sister” [25]
“Soft and Wet” [25]
“The Sacrifice of Victor” [25]
48 “Darling Nikki” [24]
49 “The Beautiful Ones” [21]
“Way Back Home” [21]
51 “Batdance” [20]
52 “The Cross” [19]
53 “Scandalous” [18]
“Uptown” [18]
55 “Dirty Mind” [17]
“How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” [17]
57 “FUNKNROLL” [16]
“Partyman” [16]
“Black Muse” [16]
“Sometimes it Snows in April” [15]
61 D.M.S.R. [14]
“Trust” [14]
63 “FALLINLOVE2NIGHT” [13]
64 “International Lover” [12]
65 “Baltimore” [11]
“Starfish and Coffee” [11]
..
Youtube rankings:
1 “Purple Rain” [30 pts]
2 “Cream” [29 pts]
3 “When Doves Cry” [28 pts]
4 “Do Me, Baby” [27 pts]
5 “Kiss” [26 pts]
6 “I Would Die 4 U” [25 pts]
7 “Darling Nikki” [24 pts]
8 “I Wanna Be Your Lover” [23 pts]
9 “Controversy” [22 pts]
10 “Way Back Home” [21 pts]
11 “Let’s Go Crazy” [20 pts]
12 “The Cross” [19 pts]
13 “Uptown” [18 pts]
14 “Dirty Mind” [17 pts]
15 “FUNKNROLL” [16 pts]
16 “Black Muse” [15 pts]
17 “Trust” [14 pts]
18 “1999” [13 pts]
19 “Sign o’ the Times” [12 pts]
20 “Baltimore” [11 pts]
..
iTunes rankings:
1 “Little Red Corvette” [30 pts]
2 “1999” [29 pts]
3 “I Would Die 4 U” [28 pts]
4 “When Doves Cry” [27 pts]
5 “I Wanna Be Your Lover” [26 pts]
6 “U Got the Look” [25 pts]
7 “Adore” [24 pts]
8 “Do Me, Baby” [23 pts]
9 “Controversy” [22 pts]
10 “Delirious” [21 pts]
11 “Batdance” [20 pts]
12 “If I Was Your Girlfriend” [19 pts]
13 “Scandalous” [18 pts]
14 “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” [17 pts]
15 “Partyman” [16 pts]
16 “Sometimes it Snows in April” [15 pts]
17 “D.M.S.R.” [14 pts]
18 “FALLINLOVE2NIGHT” [13 pts]
19 “International Lover” [12 pts]
20 “Starfish and Coffee” [11 pts]
..
Spotify rankings:
1 “Purple Rain” [30 pts]
2 “Kiss” [29 pts]
3 “When Doves Cry” [28 pts]
4 “Let’s Go Crazy” [27 pts]
5 “Raspberry Beret” [26 pts]
6 “1999” [25 pts]
7 “I Would Die 4 U” [24 pts]
8 “I Wanna Be Your Lover” [23 pts]
9 “Little Red Corvette” [22 pts]
10 “The Beautiful Ones” [21 pts]
..
Off-album references in Rolling Stone reviews, 1979-1991
“I Wanna Be Your Lover” [25 pts]
“Sister” [25 pts]
“Partyup” [25 pts]
“Little Red Corvette” [25 pts]
“I Wanna Be Your Lover” [25 pts]
“Lovesexy” [25 pts]
“Batman” [25 pts]
“Graffiti Bridge” [25 pts]
“Purple Rain” [25 pts]
“Kiss” [25 pts]
“7” [25 pts]
“Soft and Wet” [25 pts]
“Alphabet St.” [25 pts]
“The Sacrifice of Victor” [25 pts]
..
Shouted out as a favorite by one of my friends:
“7” [30 pts]
“When Doves Cry” [30 pts]
..
Mentioned in black magazines:
“Sign o’ the Times” {featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Play in the Sunshine”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Paisley Park”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Venus de Milo”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Te Amo Corazon”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Leader of the Band”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“The Word”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Get on the Boat”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“The Glamorous Life”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Girls & Boys”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“17 Days” {featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Alphabet St.”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Raspberry Beret”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Girl Meets Boy”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Rockstar”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“When Doves Cry”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Housequake”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Let’s Work”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“U Got the Look”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“A Love Bizarre”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Diamonds and Pearls”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Pop Life”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“America”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Baby I’m a Star”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Let’s Go Crazy” {featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“Delirious”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
“1999”{featured in the Prince tribute show in Minneapolis, as reported by Vibe} [40 pts]
..
Top 10 Prince Songs (as featured in The Urban Daily):
1 “When Doves Cry” [45 pts]
2 “Little Red Corvette” [44 pts]
3 “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” [43 pts]
4 “Joy in Repetition” [42 pts]
5 “If I Was Your Girlfriend” [41 pts]
6 “Kiss” [40 pts]
7 “Purple Rain” [39 pts]
8 “Adore” [38 pts]
9 “Pop Life” [37 pts]
10 “When You Were Mine” [36 pts]
..
Alphabetized Index w/ Point Totals:
“Adore” 24/38 = 62
“A Love Bizarre” 40
“Alphabet St.” 25/40 = 65
“America” 40
“Baby I’m a Star” 40
“Baltimore” 11
“Batdance” 20
“Batman” 25
“Black Muse” 15
“Controversy” 22/22 = 44
“Cream” 29
“Darling Nikki” 24
“Delirious” 21/40 = 51
“Diamonds and Pearls” 40
“Dirty Mind” 17
“D.M.S.R.” 14
“Do Me, Baby” 27/23 = 50
“FALLINLOVE2NIGHT” 13
“FUNKNROLL” 16
“Get on the Boat” 40
“Girl Meets Boy” 40
“Girls & Boys” 40
“Graffiti Bridge” 25
“Housequake” 40
“How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” 17
“If I Was Your Girlfriend” 19/41 = 60
“International Lover” 12
“I Wanna Be Your Lover” 23/26/23/25/25 = 122
“I Would Die 4 U” 25/28/24 = 77
“Joy in Repetition” 42
“Kiss” 26/29/25/40 = 120
“Leader of the Band” 40
“Let’s Go Crazy” 20/27/40 = 87
“Little Red Corvette” 30/22/25/44 = 121
“Lovesexy” 25
“Paisley Park” 40
“Partyman” 16
“Partyup” 25
“Play in the Sunshine” 40
“Pop Life” 40/37 = 77
“Purple Rain” 30/30/25/39 = 124
“Raspberry Beret” 26/40 = 66
“Rockstar” 40
“Scandalous” 18
“Sign o’ the Times” 12/40 = 52
“Sister” 25
“Soft and Wet” 25
“Sometimes it Snows in April” 15
“Starfish and Coffee” 11
“Te Amo Corazon” 40
“The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” 43
“The Beautiful Ones” 21
“The Cross” 19
“The Glamorous Life” 40
“The Sacrifice of Victor” 25
“The Word” 40
“Trust” 14
“U Got the Look” 25/40 = 65
“Uptown” 18
“Venus de Milo” 40
“Way Back Home” 21
“When Doves Cry” 28/27/28/30/40/45 = 198
“When You Were Mine” 36
“7” 25/30 = 55
“17 Days” 40
“1999” 13/29/25/40 = 107