Tracks
1. When Doves Cry
2. Pop Life
3. Soft And Wet
4. I Feel For You
5. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
6. When You Were Mine
7. Uptown
8. Let's Go Crazy
9. 1999
1999.
10. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
11. Nothing Compares 2 U
12. Adore
13. Pink Cashmere
14. Alphabet Street
15. Sign 'o' The Times
16. Thieves In The Temple
17. Diamonds And Pearls
18. 7
7.
19. Controversy
20. Dirty Mind
21. I Wanna Be Your Lover
22. Head
23. Do Me, Baby
24. Delirious
25. Little Red Corvette
26. I Would Die For You
27. Rasberry Beret
28. If I Was Your Girlfriend
29. Kiss
30. Peach
31. U Got The Look
32. Sexy Mf
33. Gett Off
34. Cream
35. Pope
36. Purple Rain
37. Hello
38. 200 Balloons
39. Escape
40. Gotta Stop (Messin' About)
41. Horny Toad
42. Feel You Up
43. Girl
44. I Love U In Me
45. Erotic City
46. Shockadelica
47. Irresistable Bitch
48. Scarlet Pussy
49. LA LA LA He He Hee
50. She's Always In My Hair
51. 17 Days
52. How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore
53. Another Lonely Christmas
54. God
55. 4 The Tears In Your Eyes
56. Power Fantastic
Performer Notes
- Personnel: Prince (vocals, various instruments); Boni Boyer (vocals, Hammond organ); Sheila E. (vocals, percussion); Eric Leeds (vocals, flute, brass); Sheena Easton, Camille, Cat (vocals); Dez Dickerson, Jimmy Johnson, Miko (guitar, vocals); Atlanta Bliss (trumpets, brass).
- The Revolution: Wendy Melvoin (guitar, violin, vocals); Lisa Coleman (keyboards, violin, vocals); Matt Fink (keyboards, synthesizers, vocals); Brown Mark (bass, vocals); Bobby Z. (percussion).
- The New Power Generation includes: Mayte (vocals); Rosie Gaines (vocals, organ, programming); Tony M. (rap, background vocals); Levi Seacer Jr. (guitar, bass, background vocals).
- Producers: The Revolution, The New Power Generation, Prince.
- Compilation producer: Gregg Geller.
- Engineers include: David Leonard, Susan Rogers, Prince.
- Includes liner notes by Alan Leeds.
- THE HITS/THE B-SIDES contains 56 tracks on 3 CDs spanning Prince's 15-years as a performer. It also includes a 22-page booklet with photographs by Herb Ritts, plus extensive liner notes and track annotations about previously unreleased material, live recordings and B-sides.
- Composer: Prince.
- Personnel: Dez Dickerson, Miko, Wendy Melvoin (vocals, guitar); Rosie Gaines (vocals, organ, sampler, background vocals); Dr. Fink , Lisa Coleman (vocals, keyboards); Sheila E. (vocals, drums, percussion); Bonnie Boyer, Sheena Easton, Camille , Mayte , Brownmark (vocals); Tony M. (rap vocals, background vocals); Eric Leeds (flute); Atlanta Bliss (trumpet); Tommy Barbarella (keyboards, sampler); Michael B. (drums); Damon Dickson, Kirk Johnson (percussion, background vocals); Bobby Z (percussion); Mazarati, Sonny T., Levi Seacer, Jr. (background vocals).
- Liner Note Author: Alan Leeds.
- Recording information: Alpha Studios, Burbank, CA (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); Madha (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); Paisley park (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); Record Plant, Sausalito, CA (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); Sunset sound (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); UpTown (??/??/1976-01/27/1992); Warehouse (??/??/1976-01/27/1992).
- The prospect of collecting all the hits and B-sides by one of the most talented, prolific, and successful pop stars of the '80s and '90s onto a mere three discs seems laughable at first. Nevertheless, this stupendous, well-sequenced set provides a thoroughly representative overview of his Prince-ness's oeuvre and a genuine sense of the range and impact of his brilliance. The number of great songs on the 56-item track list boggles the mind. From his early synth-pop ("Dirty Mind," "Controversy"), through the golden middle-period of the Revolution ("1999," "Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry," "Raspberry Beret," "Kiss," "U Got The Look"), and on to such New Power Generation hits as "Gett Off" and "Sexy M.F.," Prince's innovative, accessible, and utterly singular musical vision is undeniable.
- The box is made doubly indispensable by the inclusion of previously unreleased material, live recordings, and B-sides (which fill the third disc). Unsurprisingly, much of this material finds Prince at his experimental best. Many of these songs-"Pink Cashmere," "200 Balloons," "Erotic City," and his version of his own "Nothing Compares 2 U" (made enormously popular by Sinead O'Connor)-should have been hit singles in their own right. This set is an absolute necessity for fans, newcomers, and everyone else.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (Oct./93, p.114) - 4.5 Stars - Excellent Plus - "...[THE HITS/B-SIDES] is a dizzying sprawl...his label just might get it's money's worth--even if [Prince] keeps his word and never makes a studio album..."
Spin (12/93, p.126) - "...with absolutely no bad songs [on THE HITS], it's hard to fuss...those who've found their interest in Prince flagging [will] feel as if God's granted them an extra classic Prince album..."
Spin (p.140) - "[A]s dance rock goes, no one's riffage grooved harder back in the day."
Entertainment Weekly (9/17/93, p.86) - "...unlike so many boxed sets, these anthologies aren't weighed down with significance--they're simply a blast to hear and even revelatory..." - Rating: A-
Q (11/93, p.148) - 5 Stars - Indispensible - "...it's not just the high and mighty width of [THE HITS] that startles: the sustained quality here is remarkable..."
Melody Maker (9/18/93, p.41) - "...The Best Of Prince is, by demonstrable logic, The Greatest Record Ever Made...there just ain't enough..."
Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #8 in the Village Voice's list of the 10 Best Reissues Of 1993.
NME (Magazine) (9/18/93, p.34) - (7) - Very Good - "...HITS go right to the core of the matter...the sophisticated programming of HITS puts a whole new spin on the Prince thing..."