![[ australian top 10 Prince collectables ]](images/albums.gif)
While not achieving the mega-success of stars like
Madonna and Michael Jackson, The Artist has built
up quite a large fan base in Australia. Over the
years WEA along with Mushroom/Liberation,
Shock Records and EMI have issued some
interesting Prince/![[ the artist ]](images/symbol.gif){kind=small} items, both promotional
and commercial, that have kept his loyal fans
searching record shops and fairs.
These are currently the Top 10 Australian Prince/
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1. "Lovesexy":
Due to its controversial sleeve artwork and
religious themes, 1988's "Lovesexy" was always
going to be a hard album to market in Australia. To
their credit, WEA Australia came up with a unique
idea to create extra publicity from the media. They
sent out promo copies of the LP to media groups
shrinkwrapped with a pair of black hot pants.
'Lovesexy' was printed in white on the front of the
hot pants and they were to act as an invitation to the
launch party for the LP. To get into this exclusive
party you had to present the hot pants at the door.
You would have to imagine that most of the hot
pants that were presented on the night would now
be destroyed, but a few copies of the promo LP,
still shrinkwrapped with the hot pants, have
survived and these sell for ridiculous prices.
2. "Gett Off" promo 7" single, with a plain white label and black print. It came without a picture sleeve. This is the only Australian promotional vinyl known to exist. |
3. With the "1999" single
becoming a huge success in Australia, reaching
No.2, WEA issued a special 12" Maxi Single
which featured the full album version of "1999" as
well as the album version of "Let's Pretend We're
Married". This 12" was issued in a unique picture
sleeve that used the same photo as the single LP but
with a blue tint over the top of the picture. These are
now very hard to find and can sell for anything up
to AUS$175.
4. A special promo version of the "Graffiti Bridge" LP was manufactured, and like the Japanese promo, it came wrapped in light blue cloth with the album title embroidered in yellow. Apparently only 100 of these were made.
5. Shock Records won the rights to
distribute "Exodus" in Australia. The most
interesting item to be manufactured by Shock was the
advance promo CD of "Exodus". Only about 200 of
these were pressed and sent to radio and media groups.
Some came in a photocopied sleeve of the standard
"Exodus" CD picture with 'promotional use only'
written on the spine. These are very rare, often selling
for over AUS$100 (US$80). |
6. The fourth single from the "1999" album was "Delirious" b/w "Horny Toad". This is worth collecting as it was issued in a foldout poster/calendar picture sleeve, but it is identical to the American release.
7. Prince brought his "Diamonds And Pearls" tour to Australia in April 1992, and to commemorate the occasion WEA issued a promo-only "Four Track Sampler" cassingle. This featured four of Prince's big hits from his back catalogue: "1999", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss" and "Cream" and was sent to the media and nightclubs to be given away for extra promotion. These have become very hard to find.
8. WEA Australia issued several singles between 1980 and 1984, the period when Prince was yet to become a major international star, and most of these are now very collectable. 1980 saw the first Prince 7" released, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" b/w "My Love Is Forever". Although it did not contain any music that wasn't already on the "Prince" LP and it came without a picture sleeve, this release is now highly prized as it sold poorly and only rarely appears at local record fairs. |
9. With the success of the first single "Controversy", WEA Australia released a second single "Sexuality" b/w "I Wanna Be Your Lover". Although not issued in a picture sleeve, Australia was the only country to put "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the B-side of "Sexuality". This, together with the fact that the single only reached No. 88 on the charts, makes it not only collectable but quite rare.
10. The third single off "1999", "Automatic" b/w "Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)", was a release totally unique to Australia. Unfortunately no picture sleeve was produced, but nevertheless this release remains one of the most sought after of all Australian releases.
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