Songoftheday 3/27/14 - I was working part time in a five-and-dime my boss was Mr. McGee, he told me several times that he didn't like my kind 'cause I was a bit too leisurely...

Prince & The Revolution - "Raspberry Beret"
from the album Around The World In A Day (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day is by Prince, who's first foray into films in 1984, Purple Rain, had rocketed the musician to A-list status, with five top-40 hits including two American #1 in "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy". The following year, he released a followup record, Around The World In A Day, which veered more psychedelic and pop-inflected than his previous work. Released in April, it wasn't until May that he released a single from the project, "Raspberry Beret", although billed to the Revolution, in fact just has Wendy and Lisa on backing vocals with Prince playing all the instruments..

"Raspberry Beret" became Prince's lucky seventh top-ten pop hit in the U.S. in July of 1985, while reaching the top-5 on both the R&B (#3) and dance (#4) charts in Billboard magazine. It even nicked the rock radio chart at #40 as well. Internationally the single was big Down Under, climbing to #13 in Australia and #2 in New Zealand, while stopping at #8 in Canada and down at #25 in the UK.

The song remains notable for really striking the difference in his music after the success of Purple Rain. 

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


In 1990, the Hindu Love Gods, a "supergroup" of Warren Zevon and three of the four members of R.E.M., landed at #23 on the Modern Rock chart with a cover of the song...

Up tomorrow: Be quiet, already.