PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET (12" VINYL) 20355-0

The 12" single for "Raspberry Beret" includes extended versions of both songs on the record.  Both extended versions are listed as "(New Mix)" on the labels.

The commercial single hosts a paisley motif on the front side and a strange cloudy sky on the second side.  Both sides have the Paisley Park logo and that's also on the cover sleeve.

Once again, you have a close-up pic of one of the characters from the cover album artwork.  The official sku number is 0 7599-20355-0.  Prince is the author of  both tracks and they are very similar in appearance to their smaller 7" counterparts.

The record plays at a speed of 45 RPM.  With the exception of the promo single, I know of no variations to this 12" single release.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET
01. Raspberry Beret (New Mix) 07:25 (Prince)
02. She's Always In My Hair (New Mix) 06:48 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET (7" VINYL) 7-28972 PROMO

The promotional 7" vinyl of "Raspberry Beret" has the single version of the song repeating on both sides.  

Unlike the commercial single, the promo label uses the generic Warner Bros. label with the wording printed over the top.  The Warner Bros. logo appears on the right side of the label in full color and then repeats as a watermark across the face of the label.  

The words, "Promotion Not For Sale" appear above the color Warner logo and the Paisley Park logo is on the left side just below the time listing.

This promo single was issued in the commercial sleeve and in a generic Warner Bros. Records sleeve.

Prince is the author of the track and the record shares the same serial number as the commercial single.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET
01. Raspberry Beret 03:31 (Prince)
02. Raspberry Beret 03:31 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET (7" VINYL) 7-28972

This is the commercial 7" vinyl single for "Raspberry Beret", the 1st official single from "Around The World In A Day".  

As with the subsequent singles from this album, the cover artwork features a close up of a character from the original album jacket.  The label on the inside is a colorful paisley motif while the b-side label is a blue sky with some clouds.  Both labels show the Paisley Park label as does the jacket.

Prince is listed as the composer of both songs.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - RASPBERRY BERET
01. Raspberry Beret 03:31 (Prince)
02. She's Always In My Hair 03:27 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE (12" VINYL) 0-20357

This is the 12" single for "Pop Life".  Unlike the 12" single for "America", "Pop Life" actually lists titles for the alternate versions of the songs.  The song appearing on side 1 is "Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix)" while side 2 is "Hello (Fresh Dance Mix)".  Both are basically extended versions of the songs.

The covers and labels are almost identical to the 7" single.  The Paisley Park logo appears on both sides of the record label and also on the sleeve.

I should also mention, most 12" singles during this time period are recorded at 45 RPM.  Prince is the composer of both tracks and this is the commercially released single in the US.

The sku is 0 7599-20357-0.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE
01. Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix) 06:16 (Prince)
02. Hello (Fresh Dance Mix) 06:38 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE (7" VINYL) GWB 0529

Here's another release in the Back To Back Hits series.  This time, the A-side is "Pop Life" and the B-side is "America".  Both songs are taken from "Around The World In A Day" and come in a generic sleeve.

I've discussed this series in the past so I won't spend a lot of time going over it here.  The serial number appears below the Paisley Park logo on the label and includes a -A or -B at the end to distinguish the which song is the actual title track.

Prince is listed as sole author on "Pop Life" while the Revolution are given song writing credits on "America".  Both versions of the songs are the single versions.

You'll be able to tell if the 7" is part of this series by the GWB before the 4 number sequence.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE
01. Pop Life 03:42 (Prince)
02. America 03:40 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink, Mark Brown, Bobby Rivkin)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE (7" VINYL) 7-28998 PROMO

Like most singles on Paisley Park, the 7" single for "Pop Life" also has a promotional version.  The earlier Paisley Park singles released promotional records in the same sleeves as the commercial versions.

I've explained promotional singles in a previous entry, so I won't get into it here.  The single version of the song repeats on both sides and the words "Promotion Not For Sale" appear under the track time.

It shares the same serial number with the commercial release.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE
01. Pop Life 03:42 (Prince)
02. Pop Life 03:42 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE (7" VINYL) 7-28998

"Pop Life" was the 2nd North American single to be released from "Around The World In A Day".  Like the other singles from the album, the cover artwork is taken from the main album and features up close portraits of some of the characters on the album cover.

The Paisley Park logo appears on the cover and on the labels of the actual record.  Both tracks are Prince compositions.

The official sku for the record is 0 7599-28998-0, however the sku doesn't show up anywhere on the label or the cover.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - POP LIFE

01. Pop Life 03:42 (Prince)

02. Hello 03:24 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PAISLEY PARK (7" VINYL) 929 052-7

This is a tricky one.  "Paisley Park" was released officially as a single in Europe but as far as I can tell, not in the United States.  However, I have found a number of archive websites that claim it did have an American release.  In both 7" and 12".  

So I've kinda narrowed down the possibility.  I suspect the record was released in a limited fashion in the US, but the version sold here were manufactured in Europe.  My reasoning behind this is the label of this single.  As you can see, it's clearly made in the EU but it says for the US.  Usually, when there's a foreign printing of one of these it says something like "made for the U.S. and the world outside of the U.S."  That indicates the release is meant for international markets.  And that there's an American version for sale commercially in the states.  The wording on this item is different and unusual.  

Considering that other items during this period were being printed internationally, it's not hard to believe this one could have been as well.  And then sold as a limited item in select markets within the U.S.

Anyway, even if it was never released as a single in the United States; this is an item I'd probably still include because of that.

Of all Paisley Park items, this is the one with the most paisleys on it.  Prince is the author of both tunes.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PAISLEY PARK

01. Paisley Park 04:41 (Prince)

02. She's Always In My Hair 03:27 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA (12" VINYL) 20389-0

The 12" version of "America" is radically different from the 7".  There's nothing to distinguish the tracks from the 7" or album versions, but "America" is extended almost 22 minutes.  "Girl" is likewise treated to an extended version.

The cover is the same as the 7".  There's nothing much to say about this release other than it's the official record sold commercially for the single in the US.

The sku is 0 7599-20389-0.  

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA

01. America 21:46 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink, Mark Brown, Bobby Rivkin)

02. Girl 07:36 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA (7" VINYL) 7-28999 PROMO

There are two versions of the 7" single of "America".  One is the commercially sold version and the second is the promotional version.  For those of you who aren't familiar with promotional items, they are usually printed and sent to radio stations and record stores.  Places where people who can influence sales will listen and hopefully promote the music further.

Because it's free, they are traditionally low end when it comes to content.  However, some artists make the promotional material more exciting and collectible with different covers and exclusive content.  Warner Bros. and Paisley Park were not so generous in '85.  As you can see from the photos in this post, the promotional 7" has the single version of 'America' and the track repeats on both sides.

Another difference is the inclusion of the words, "Promotion Not For Sale" on the label.  These items were never intended for commercial sale.

'America' is considered a group effort by Prince and the Revolution.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA

01. America 03:40 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink, Mark Brown, Bobby Rivkin)

02. America 03:40 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink, Mark Brown, Bobby Rivkin)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA (7" VINYL) 7-28999

"America" was released October 02, 1985.  It's a single from "Around The World In A Day" and the song is listed as a collaboration between Prince and his band, the Revolution.  I can't remember who actually gets a writing credit on the track, but I can't check the Library Of Congress online catalog because they're offline due to the government shut down.  It's the fourth and final single from the album.

Like the other singles, the cover is taken from the album cover.  It's a blown up portion of the album.  It focuses on one of the people portrayed in the artwork.  The single was released on vinyl only.  There are two official releases.  The 7" and the 12".  My research has shown there are possibly two variations of the 7" cover, but I haven't been able to verify this yet.

The full catalog number is 0 7599-28999-0.  The single includes a b-side...  The song, "Girl".  This is the second song written by Prince given this title.  The first is a song recorded by The Time from their original album.  The songs are dramatically different but both are slow numbers.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AMERICA

01. America 03:40 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Mark Brown, Matt Fink, Bobby Rivkin)

02. Girl 03:57 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PURPLE RAIN (7" VINYL) GWB 0528

This release is the first of a series of releases known as "Back to Back Hits".  I'm sure this wasn't the first in the series, but it's the first appearing on the Paisley Park logo.

This release features 'Purple Rain' and 'Raspberry Beret'.  'Purple Rain' is taken from the "Purple Rain" motion picture soundtrack and 'Raspberry Beret' is from the "Around The World In A Day" album.  Both songs were top 40 hits.

This was only released on 7" vinyl as far as I know.  I'm not even sure these records were released to the general public for commercial sales or if they were promotional items.

Prince is the author of both songs.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PURPLE RAIN

01. Purple Rain 04:02 (Prince)

02. Raspberry Beret 03:31 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - KISS (7" VINYL) 7-28751 - ALTERNATE COVER

Yesterday we looked at the 7" vinyl single for "Kiss".  The commercially sold record.  Today we look at the alternate cover version of the same release.  The serial number and the labeling are identical on both versions.  The front cover is also the same.

The difference between the two is the back cover.  On this version, the Paisley Park logo is actually printed on the back sleeve in the bottom right hand corner.  You can see the logo in black to the right of the Venus De Milo statue.

As far as I can tell, that is the only difference between the two covers.  There may be other reasons for the difference.  Such as different print editions of the same single.  But I don't know enough about record pressing to make that distinction.

What I do know is they're different and that's enough to make it worth having both as far as I'm concerned.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - KISS

01. Kiss 03:46 (Prince)

02. b Or $ 03:57 (Prince)