favorite song friday: "kiss" vs. "kiss"

For Mario.

A photo of a very young Prince started a discussion on Facebook which led to my needing to post once of my favorite Prince songs, "Kiss."

As much as I love Prince's rendition of his 1986 song, I also have a great deal of affection for the Art of Noise/Tom Jones cover, which was released two years later. I'll never forget when Jones played a live summer concert in the early '90s in Sheepshead Bay. My mom (who was visiting me in Brooklyn at the time), my friend Mary, and I headed down to see the show, which was of course, wonderful. We were a bit too far away from the stage to throw any underwear, but a great time was had by all.


Art Of Noise Featuring Tom Jones - Kiss

You don't have to be rich to be my girl
You don't have to be cool to rule my world
Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your kiss

According to Wikipedia, Prince gave away "Kiss," and then later, when he realized its potential, grabbed it back:

"Kiss" started as a short acoustic demo, about a minute in length, with one verse and the chorus. 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.

It's one of his five number one hits ("When Doves Cry" 1984, "Kiss" 1986, "Let's Go Crazy" 1984, "Batdance" 1989, and "Cream" 1991) and also won him a Grammy.

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