Songoftheday 6/18/19 - 4teen years and tears I've longed to sing my song, but a horse couldn't drag your ass to put me on...
from the album Come (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 7
Today's song of the day is from Prince, who in 1993 was fighting so badly with his record company, Warner Brothers, that he would change his name to a hieroglyphic-like symbol and demand to be referred to as "the Artist formerly known as Prince". He somehow got allowed to shop out a single to independent label Bellmark, and the result, "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World", became his biggest hit in years and what would be his final "new" top ten hit in the spring of 1994. Trying to run out his contract, Prince insisted on releasing yet another album of new material that same year. The result, Come, supposedly had previously-shelved material (hence the subtitle 1958-1993), although the lead single was a new recording for the project. "Letitgo", a midtempo jazzy number written by the artist, was a veiled jab at Warner Brothers prodding them to release him from his so-called "slavery" (as he notoriously wrote on his face), while also boasting that they will regret not granting him his wishes and keeping him on...
"Letitgo" brought Prince back into the pop top-40 in September of 1994. The song did much better on urban radio, climbing to #10 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine. Internationally, the single peaked at #7 in Norway, and reached the top-40 in the Netherlands (#14), Canada (#20), Switzerland (#21), Australia (#22), New Zealand (#24), Belgium (#28), Austria (#29), and the UK (#30). A second single from Come, "Space", only managed to climb to #71 on the American R&B chart, while slipping in at #91 in Australia. He would then release another album, The Gold Experience, with "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" on it, and promote that one more.
Up tomorrow: This female newcomer has only one purpose.
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