Kiss (Prince song)

"Kiss"

US 7" single
Single by Prince and The Revolution
from the album Parade
B-side "♥ or $"
Released February 5, 1986[1]
Format 7" single
12" single
Recorded Studio C at Sunset Sound;
April 28, 1985
Genre Funk, pop, post-disco, minimal
Length Album: 3:38
7" single: 3:46
12" single: 7:16
Label Paisley Park
Writer(s) Prince
Producer(s) Prince
Certification Gold (RIAA) - (May 5, 1986)
Prince and The Revolution singles chronology
"America"
(1985)		 "Kiss"
(1986)		 "Mountains"
(1986)
Prince (UK) chronology
"Pop Life"
(1985)		 "Kiss"
(1986)		 "Mountains"
(1986)

"Kiss" is a 1986 single by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Parade.

The song ranked number 464 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[2] NME ranked the song number 4 in their list of The 150 Greatest Singles of All Time. The same magazine voted "Kiss" the best single of the year 1986.[3] Exactly thirty years to the week after the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, Prince died.

Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28 and also reached number two on the French Singles Chart. As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 1,330,336 copies in the United States.[4]

Version history, development and release

"Kiss" started as a short acoustic demo, about a minute in length, consisting of a single 12-bar blues verse. Prince gave the song to the funk band Mazarati for their debut album. Mazarati and producer David Z drastically reworked the song, giving it its stripped-down minimalist sound. When Mazarati delivered the song to Prince, he was amazed at their work and decided to take back the song for himself. He replaced their lead vocal, added the guitar break in the chorus and edited the song to its present form. Mazarati were credited for their backing vocals, which Prince left intact. Prince added the song at the last minute to Parade.

Despite Warner Bros. not wanting to release it as a single, "Kiss" became Prince's third number-one U.S. hit following 1984's highly successful "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy". It was also a big hit across the Atlantic, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song won Prince another Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and was nominated for Best Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song.[5] The song became a staple at Prince's concerts and was usually sung partially by the audience.

The 12" single of the song is an extension of the album track. The extended section is based on the funky guitar line and contains much fuller instrumentation than the main track, including bass guitar, organ and horns. New lyrics are present from Prince, along with Jill Jones, that end with a humorous dialogue between a wife and her husband watching Prince on television. The B-side of "Kiss" was "♥ or $" ("Love or Money"), sung in a processed, higher-pitched vocal, which Prince would later use for his Camille material. The song relates to the theme in Under the Cherry Moon, and a bit of the song was heard in the film, as was a bit of the extended version of "Kiss". The extended "Kiss" was included on 2006's Ultimate; "♥ or $" was recently re-released as a digital B-side on iTunes.

Music video

The music video is directed by Rebecca Blake. In the plot of the video, Prince appears in a half shirt and leather jacket and then all shirtless and performs dance choreography in a hall. He is accompanied by the veiled dancer Monique Manning wearing black lingerie and aviator sunglasses while Revolution member Wendy Melvoin sits playing guitar.

Personnel

Track listings

7" single

  1. "Kiss" – 3:46
  2. "♥ or $" – 3:57

12" single

  1. "Kiss" (extended version) – 7:16
  2. "♥ or $" (extended version) – 6:50

CD single

  1. "Kiss" (extended version) – 7:16
  2. "Girls & Boys" – 5:30
  3. "Under the Cherry Moon" – 2:57

Charts

Chart (1986–87) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 8
Australian Singles Chart 2
Canadian Singles Chart 4
Dutch Top 40 2
French Singles Chart 29
German Singles Chart 4
Irish Singles Chart 11
New Zealand Singles Chart 2
Norwegian Singles Chart 10
Swedish Singles Chart 16
Swiss Singles Chart [6] 3
UK Singles Chart 6
US Billboard Hot 100 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1
Preceded by
"Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
April 19, 1986 – April 26, 1986 		Succeeded by
"Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer
Preceded by
"What Have You Done for Me Lately" by Janet Jackson		 Billboard Hot R&B Singles & Tracks number-one single
March 22, 1986 		Succeeded by
"I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" by Stephanie Mills
Preceded by
"I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz		 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
April 12, 1986 – April 19, 1986 		Succeeded by
"Whenever You Need Somebody" by O'Chi Brown

Art of Noise feat. Tom Jones version

"Kiss"
Single by Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones
from the album The Best of The Art of Noise
B-side "E.F.L."
Released October 28, 1988
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded 1987
Genre Synthpop, funk
Length 3:30
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Prince
Producer(s) Anne Dudley, J. J. Jeczalik
Art of Noise chronology
"Dragnet (The '88 Mix)"
(1988)		 "Kiss"
(1988)		 "Paranoimia '89"
(1989)
Tom Jones chronology
"I Was Born to Be Me"
(1987)[7]		 "Kiss"
(1988)		 "Move Closer"
(1987)

In 1988, British synthpop group Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring British singer Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the US dance chart[8] and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country. The guitar and horns break in the middle of this cover musically references the themes to Dragnet and Peter Gunn (two songs the Art of Noise covered with much commercial success) as well as their own breakthrough hit, "Close (to the Edit)" and "Paranoimia", their 1986 collaboration with Max Headroom. This cover was later included as part of an episode of the series Listed on MuchMoreMusic, which was on the Top 20 cover songs. It can also be heard during the main title sequence of the movie My Stepmother Is an Alien. Tom Jones later recorded a version of the song for his 2003 Reloaded: Greatest Hits album.

Track listings

7" single

  1. "Kiss" – 3:30
  2. "E.F.L." (The Art of Noise) – 5:15

12" single

  1. "Kiss" (The Battery Mix) – 8:17
  2. "Kiss" (7" version) – 3:30
  3. "E.F.L." – 5:15

CD single

  1. "Kiss" (7" version) – 3:30
  2. "E.F.L." (The Art of Noise) – 5:15
  3. "Kiss" (The Battery Mix) – 8:17

Charts

Chart (1988–89) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[9] 8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] 4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 5
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 16
Ireland (IRMA) 8
Italy (FIMI)[13] 25
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 8
Spain (AFYVE)[17] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 11
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 5
US Billboard Hot 100 31
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 18
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 14
Preceded by
"Angel of Harlem" by U2		 New Zealand Singles Chart
February 24, 1989 – March 2, 1989 		Succeeded by
"She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals

Other cover versions/appearances in media

"Kiss"
Single by Age of Chance
Released 1986 (1986)
Writer(s) Prince

* An early cover of the song was released in 1986 by Age of Chance. The single was accompanied by a video which received some airplay on MTV in the United States, and reached #50 on the pop charts in the United Kingdom in early 1987.

Notes

  1. ↑ Uptown, 2004, p. 66
  2. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/5
  3. ↑ "Albums Of The Year And End Of Year Critic Lists, 1986". NME. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Hip Hop Single Sales: Prince, Desiigner & Drake". HipHopDX. April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-p/prince_main.htm
  6. ↑ hitparade.ch
  7. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Tom Jones discography
  8. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 24.
  9. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  10. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  12. ↑ "Musicline.de – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  13. ↑ Italian peak
  14. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
  15. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss". Top 40 Singles.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss". VG-lista.
  17. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  18. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss". Singles Top 100.
  19. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Art Of Noise feat. Tom Jones – Kiss". Swiss Singles Chart.

External links

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