Alphabet St.

"Alphabet St." is a song from American musician Prince's tenth album, Lovesexy (1988). It was the first single from that album and the album's only top 10 single, reaching the top 10 in both the UK and US. Initially written as an acoustic blues song, the song's final version includes a rap by Cat Glover and is full of samples. "Alphabet St." generally echoes themes from the rest of Lovesexy.

"Alphabet St."
UK 7-inch single
Single by Prince
from the album Lovesexy
B-side	"Alphabet St. (This is not music, this is a trip)"
Released	April 1988
Recorded	December 30, 1987
Studio	Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota, US
Genre	Funk[1] funk rock[2]
Length	2:25 (7-inch and video edit) 5:39 (12-inch and album version)
Label	Paisley Park
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince
Prince singles chronology
"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (1987) "Alphabet St." (1988) "Glam Slam" (1988)

The B-side is a remix of "Alphabet St." called "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")". The title and other phrases are repeated at the beginning of the song, but essentially it is an instrumental with a few minor changes. "Alphabet St." was the first Prince single released as a CD, albeit only in the UK and Japan. A promo CD was issued in the US.

Critical reception

In his review of the song, Paul Clements from Melody Maker felt that "as a lighthearted bubblegum pastiche, it fairly shimmers. There's some judiciously spare scratch guitar, the usual assortment of percolating percussion, and a magnificent tumbling drum lick." He also noted its "almost shocking austerity", and concluded, "Hopefully, a ticklish harbinger of a long, deliciously hot summer."^[3] Sean O'Hagan from NME wrote, "'Alphabet St' is, naturally, a record of rare brilliance. It unleashes its outre funk ideology over one of those patented Prince guitar riffs—a clipped, chunky groove that slips into the cerebral space once occupied by the subliminal 'Kiss' coda. From then on, the boy has it easy. 'Alphabet St' is meatier and a lot less meandering than much of the Madhouse future funk of 'Black', stating its case with a hip-shaking sass that is one of the maverick ruler's stock signatures."^[4]

Music video

Directed by Patrick R. Epstein and produced on very short notice on March 20, 1988^[5] by filmmaker Michael R. Barnard, the music video for "Alphabet St." shows Prince walking and driving through an environment made out of letters. The video contains hidden messages. The first one appears after the end of the first verse ("She'll want me from my head to my feet"), where there is a split second image with the hidden message "Don't buy The Black Album, I'm sorry." The second image says B "heaven is so beautiful"; the third image is D "4 the light dance"; the fourth image is G "funk guitar"; the fifth image is H (heroin) "is 4 punks"; the sixth image, when Prince is in the Thunderbird, says "if U don't mind".

Track listings

• 7-inch single

A. "Alphabet St." (edit) – 2:25

B. "Alphabet St." (cont.) – 3:14

• 12-inch and CD single

1. "Alphabet St." (album version) – 5:38
2. "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")" – 7:48

• CD promo^[6]

1. "Alphabet St." (edit) – 2:25
2. "Alphabet St." (LP version) – 5:38
3. "Alphabet St." (extended version) – 5:40
4. "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")" [Listed as "Alphabet St."] – 7:48

Personnel

Credits sourced from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud^[7][8]

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, Roland D-50, synthesizers, bass guitar, Linn LM-1, Dynacord ADD-One, cuíca, handclaps
• Sheila E. – drums, handclaps
• Eric Leeds – saxophone
• Atlanta Bliss – trumpet
• Cat Glover – rap, backing vocals
• Boni Boyer – backing vocals
• Ingrid Chavez – spoken voice

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Alphabet St." Chart (1988) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[9] 20 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 9 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 14 Denmark (IFPI)[12] 2 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[13] 8 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 2 France (SNEP)[15] 47 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 10)[16] 9 Ireland (IRMA)[17] 3 Italy (Musica e Dischi)[18] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 3 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[22] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 5 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[25] 9 US Billboard Hot 100[26] 8 US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[27] 7 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[28] 3 US Cash Box Top 100[29] 9 West Germany (GfK)[30] 18

Year-end charts 1988 year-end chart performance for "Alphabet St." Chart (1988) Position Belgium (Ultratop)[31] 72 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[32] 46 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[33] 36 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[34] 22 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[35] 60

Cover versions

• Scottish noise pop band The Jesus and Mary Chain covered this song which appears on their 1994 single "Come On".
• Sufjan Stevens provides a cover on his second Christmas collection Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10.
• Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon covered this song on their 2020 album Noon.

Sampling

• Nine Inch Nails sampled "Alphabet St." for the song "Ringfinger" from their 1989 album Pretty Hate Machine.
• Part of the rap section was used in the 1990 Ween song "L.M.L.Y.P.". Prince's "No!" scream intro also replaces the word "shit" on the radio edit of their 1993 song "Push th' Little Daisies".
• 1990s hip-hop group Arrested Development sampled a word from "Alphabet St." for their breakout song "Tennessee" in 1992. The group were sued for their unauthorized use of the word "Tennessee" and had to pay Prince $100,000.^[36]
• In 1992, Czech singer Lucie Bílá sampled the beat and guitar riff for her song "Láska je láska" which became the most successful hit of the year in Czech Republic.