Wiki
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Release Date
14 September 1993
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Length
55 tracks
The Hits / The B-Sides is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive 3-disc set consisting of many of his hit singles and fan favorites.
In 1993, Prince wanted to release Goldnigga, the debut album by his band The New Power Generation but Warner Bros. refused and instead decided to finally release the greatest hits collection it had wanted to release two years earlier when Prince instead got Diamonds and Pearls released.
Disc one and two were released separately, under the titles The Hits 1 and The Hits 2 respectively, but the B-Sides disc could only be obtained by purchasing the full set. Most of the songs (A-sides and B-sides) on The Hits/The B-Sides are represented in their edited single form. This was necessary due to time constraints, and the nature of a greatest hits collection; exceptions to this were "Alphabet St.", "7", "Little Red Corvette", "Sexy MF", and "Purple Rain". This compilation marks the first time the single version of "Kiss" was made available on CD. The third disc of B-sides also featured the 7" edits, with the exceptions of "200 Balloons", "17 Days", "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)", "Horny Toad", "Irresistible Bitch", "I Love U in Me", "God", and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" which were all original full-length recordings from the original singles.
Among the previously unreleased material was the rare live version of "4 the Tears in Your Eyes", only previously released in a 1985 TV broadcast for the Live Aid concerts. Also included was a live version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", recorded live January 27, 1992, at Paisley Park with The New Power Generation. The other four new tracks were outtakes. The oldest track was "Power Fantastic", a moody ballad once considered for the Dream Factory project of 1986. Another ballad, "Pink Cashmere", was broadcast before some of the Lovesexy World Tour shows, dating it back to 1988 originally for his abandoned Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic project. "Peach" and "Pope" were more recent, and both were played live during some 1993 after shows. "Pope" was actually in the short-lived musical ballet Glam Slam Ulysses, which also spawned several songs later released on Come and The Gold Experience. Live jams of "Peach" often extended into the title track of Chaos and Disorder.
While Prince had very little interest in the project, he insisted that his longtime manager Alan Leeds write the liner notes instead of Rolling Stone journalist Neal Karlen. According to Prince biographer Per Nilsen, the record company paid Prince to not get involved with the making of this compilation.
Originally written by @slynke on 22 April 2016 at 6:54am
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