Prince (August 9, 1994) – "Letitgo" b/w "Solo" Single : US 7"

Letitgo was the first single issued from Prince’s 15th full-length album Come. It appeared one week before the album (on the same day as both the Blankman soundtrack featuring Super Hero and the Super Hero single, both credited to the New Power Generation featuring The Steeles). The single was released worldwide. The B-side Solo was also taken from the album. A maxi-single followed later with several remixes of Letitgo; none were created by Prince or anyone working for him.

Notably, the Original Album Version on the maxi-single fades out completely rather than overlapping with Orgasm as it does on the album. In the UK and Europe the CD single additionally included Alexa De Paris (Extended Version), previously unavailable on CD, and Pope. The single reached number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart and number 10 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles Chart.

The cover photograph, like that of the album Come, was taken by Terry Gydesen and came from the book The Sacrifice Of Victor (published the same year), which documented the 1993 Act II tour; the image used for Letitgo was the same one that appeared on the book’s cover.

The single (and the album that followed) were credited to “Prince,” which caused some confusion because he had publicly changed his name to the unpronounceable symbol a year earlier and had achieved worldwide success with The Most Beautiful Girl In The World under the new name.

The official explanation was that the tracks on this album had been recorded before the name change, yet Letitgo was in fact recorded in March 1994, more than eight months after the change.

For reasons unknown the maxi-single contains two remixes with slightly different names and durations (Caviar Radio Edit and Cavi ’Street Edit) that are identical.

Those Caviar remixes were created by Q.D. III, son of producer Quincy Jones. The Sherm Stick Edit and the (-) Sherm Stick Edit both rely on looped uncredited samples of The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker and Grand Funk Railroad’s Nothing Is The Same (from their 1970 album Closer To Home), which run throughout the track.

COUNTRY VARIANTS

Artist: Prince

Title: Letitgo

Label: Warner Bros.

Country: 

US Catalogue: 7-18074 / 5439-18074-2 / WPDR-3006 / PRO-CD-7000

Date: August 9, 1994 Format: 7" / CD Promo

Tracklist (7"): 

A — Letitgo (Edit) (4:15)

B — Solo (3:48)

Tracklist (CD Promo): 

1 — Letitgo (Edit) (4:15)

2 — Solo (3:48)

Tracklist (CD Promo): 

1 — Letitgo (Edit) (4:15)

2 — Letitgo (Original Album Version) (5:33)

RELEASE HISTORY

Released 9 August 1994 in the US as a 2-track single. A maxi-single containing multiple remixes followed later. UK/European CD singles also included Alexa De Paris (Extended Version) and Pope.

CHARTS & CERTIFICATIONS

US Billboard Hot 100: Peak 31 US Billboard Hot R&B Singles: Peak 10

PRODUCTION

Label: Warner Bros. Catalogue numbers:

• US: 7-18074 • US: 5439-18074-2 • JAP: WPDR-3006 • US: PRO-CD-7000

Notes: Cover photograph by Terry Gydesen, taken from the book The Sacrifice Of Victor.

SOURCES Discogs, 45 World, Wikipedia. BBC Official Charts Prince Vault, Sleeveographia2 All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.

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