"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Purple Rain. It is the opening track on both the album and the film Purple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" was one of Prince's most popular songs, and was a staple for concert performances, often segueing into other hits. When released as a single, the song became Prince's second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[4] and Hot Dance Club Play charts,[5] as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. The B-side was the lyrically controversial "Erotic City". In the UK, the song was released as a double A-side with "Take Me with U".
Common to much of Prince's writing, the song is thought to be exhortation to follow Christian ethics, with the "De-elevator" of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil.[6] The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the film Purple Rain. It contains a longer instrumental section in the middle that includes a chugging guitar riff, an atonal piano solo and some muddled samples of the spoken word intro. This version was originally going to be used on the album but when "Take Me With U" was added to the track list, it was edited down to its current length.
Cash Box called the song "one of the finest fusions of jump rock and synth pump."[7]
Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 39 and rose to number 25 by the week of May 14, 2016. As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 964,403 digital copies in the United States.[8]
In 2013, British rock band The Darkness performed the song at the 44th Annual Rock Music Awards.
The song was also notable for opening with a funeral-like organ solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing called life."[9] The introduction's words are overlapped with each other on the single version. The song climaxes with a distinctive drum machine pattern and then features a heavy guitar outro leads, electronic drums, bass and whirring synthesizers and a climatic drum outro. The song's percussion was programmed with a Linn LM-1 drum machine, an instrument frequently used in many of Prince's songs. The song is also known for its two guitar solos both performed by Prince.[9]
In 2007, Stephanie Lenz, a writer and editor from Gallitzin, Pennsylvania made a home video of her 13-month-old son dancing to "Let's Go Crazy" and posted a 29-second video on the video-sharing site YouTube. Four months after the video was originally uploaded, Universal Music Group, which owned the copyrights to the song, ordered YouTube to remove the video enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Lenz notified YouTube immediately that her video was within the scope of fair use, and demanded that it be restored. YouTube complied after six weeks—not two weeks, as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act—to see whether Universal planned to sue Lenz for infringement. Lenz then sued Universal Music in California for her legal costs, claiming the music company had acted in bad faith by ordering removal of a video that represented fair use of the song.[31]
Later in August 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel, of San Jose, California, ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. In 2015 the court affirmed the holding that Universal was required to consider fair use before sending its initial takedown request.
^Elliott, Paul (May 30, 2016). "The Top 20 Greatest Funk Rock Songs". TeamRock. Team Rock Limited. from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
^The original single release credits the authors of the song as Prince and The Revolution, but the song's authorship is registered with ASCAP as solely by Prince.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 471.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 208.
^Woodworth, G.M.; University of California, Los Angeles (2008). "Just Another One of God's Gifts": Prince, African-American Masculinity, and the Sonic Legacy of the Eighties. University of California, Los Angeles. p. 268. ISBN9781109120745. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
^"Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 4, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
^ ab"Hip Hop Single Sales: Prince, Desiigner & Drake". HipHopDX. April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^ abAriza, Sergio. "The 10 Best Prince Solos". Guitars Exchange. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
^Tudahl, Duane (2018). Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Expanded Edition). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN9781538116432.
^Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN9781784728816.
^Egelko, Bob (August 21, 2008). "Woman can sue over YouTube clip de-posting". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
December 18, 2023
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This article is about the Prince song For the 1951 film see Let s Go Crazy film For the Clash song see Sandinista Let s Go Crazy is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution from the album Purple Rain It is the opening track on both the album and the film Purple Rain Let s Go Crazy was one of Prince s most popular songs and was a staple for concert performances often segueing into other hits When released as a single the song became Prince s second number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the two component charts the Hot R amp B Hip Hop Songs 4 and Hot Dance Club Play charts 5 as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit The B side was the lyrically controversial Erotic City In the UK the song was released as a double A side with Take Me with U Let s Go Crazy US 7 singleSingle by Prince and The Revolutionfrom the album Purple RainB side Erotic City Take Me with U UK ReleasedJuly 18 1984 1 RecordedAugust 7 1983StudioThe Warehouse St Louis ParkGenreHard rock funk rock 2 Length3 50 7 video version 4 39 album version 7 35 12 movie version LabelWarner Bros Songwriter s Prince 3 Producer s Prince and the RevolutionPrince singles chronology When Doves Cry 1984 Let s Go Crazy 1984 Purple Rain 1984 Purple Rain singles chronology When Doves Cry 1984 Let s Go Crazy 1984 Sex Shooter 1984 Music videoLet s Go Crazy on YouTubeCommon to much of Prince s writing the song is thought to be exhortation to follow Christian ethics with the De elevator of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil 6 The extended Special Dance Mix of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the film Purple Rain It contains a longer instrumental section in the middle that includes a chugging guitar riff an atonal piano solo and some muddled samples of the spoken word intro This version was originally going to be used on the album but when Take Me With U was added to the track list it was edited down to its current length Cash Box called the song one of the finest fusions of jump rock and synth pump 7 Following Prince s death the song re charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 39 and rose to number 25 by the week of May 14 2016 As of April 30 2016 it has sold 964 403 digital copies in the United States 8 In 2013 British rock band The Darkness performed the song at the 44th Annual Rock Music Awards Contents 1 Musical style 2 Track listing 3 Personnel 4 Charts 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 Certifications and sales 6 Lenz v Universal 7 See also 8 ReferencesMusical style editThe song was also notable for opening with a funeral like organ solo with Prince giving the eulogy for this thing called life 9 The introduction s words are overlapped with each other on the single version The song climaxes with a distinctive drum machine pattern and then features a heavy guitar outro leads electronic drums bass and whirring synthesizers and a climatic drum outro The song s percussion was programmed with a Linn LM 1 drum machine an instrument frequently used in many of Prince s songs The song is also known for its two guitar solos both performed by Prince 9 Track listing edit7 Warner Bros 7 29216 US Let s Go Crazy edit 3 46 Erotic City edit 3 537 Warner Bros W2000 UK Let s Go Crazy edit 3 46 Take Me with U 3 5112 Warner Bros 0 20246 US Let s Go Crazy Special Dance Mix 7 35 Erotic City make love not war Erotic City come alive 7 2412 Warner Bros W2000T UK Let s Go Crazy Special Dance Mix 7 35 Take Me with U 3 51 Erotic City make love not war Erotic City come alive 7 24Personnel editCredits are sourced from Duane Tudahl Benoit Clerc Guitarcloud and Mix 10 11 12 13 Prince lead and backing vocals electric lead guitar Linn LM 1 Wendy Melvoin electric rhythm guitar backing vocals Lisa Coleman Oberheim OB SX backing vocals Matt Fink Oberheim OB Xa backing vocals Brown Mark bass guitar backing vocals Bobby Z Linn LM 1 Simmons SDS V Pearl SY 1 Syncussion cymbalsCharts editWeekly charts edit 1984 1985 weekly chart performance for Let s Go Crazy Chart 1984 1985 PeakpositionAustralia Kent Music Report 14 10Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 15 11Canadian Singles Chart 16 2France SNEP 17 50Netherlands Dutch Top 40 18 18Netherlands Single Top 100 19 11New Zealand Recorded Music NZ 20 13UK Singles OCC 21 7US Billboard Hot 100 22 1US Dance Club Songs Billboard 23 1US Hot Black Singles Billboard 24 1US Mainstream Rock Billboard 25 192016 weekly chart performance for Let s Go Crazy Chart 2016 PeakpositionUS Hot Rock amp Alternative Songs Billboard 26 5 Year end charts edit 1984 weekly chart performance for Let s Go Crazy Chart 1984 PositionUS Top Pop Singles Billboard 27 212016 year end chart performance for Let s Go Crazy Chart 2016 PositionUS Hot Rock Songs Billboard 28 37Certifications and sales editCertifications and sales for Let s Go Crazy Region Certification Certified units salesUnited Kingdom BPI 29 Silver 200 000 United States RIAA 30 1984 sales Gold 1 000 000 United Statesdigital sales 964 403 8 Shipments figures based on certification alone Sales streaming figures based on certification alone Lenz v Universal editMain article Lenz v Universal Music Corp In 2007 Stephanie Lenz a writer and editor from Gallitzin Pennsylvania made a home video of her 13 month old son dancing to Let s Go Crazy and posted a 29 second video on the video sharing site YouTube Four months after the video was originally uploaded Universal Music Group which owned the copyrights to the song ordered YouTube to remove the video enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Lenz notified YouTube immediately that her video was within the scope of fair use and demanded that it be restored YouTube complied after six weeks not two weeks as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to see whether Universal planned to sue Lenz for infringement Lenz then sued Universal Music in California for her legal costs claiming the music company had acted in bad faith by ordering removal of a video that represented fair use of the song 31 Later in August 2008 U S District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose California ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected fair use of the copyrighted material In 2015 the court affirmed the holding that Universal was required to consider fair use before sending its initial takedown request See also editList of Billboard Hot 100 number one singles of 1984References editUptown The Vault The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince Nilsen Publishing 2004 ISBN 91 631 5482 X Uptown 2004 p 50 Elliott Paul May 30 2016 The Top 20 Greatest Funk Rock Songs TeamRock Team Rock Limited Archived from the original on June 2 2016 Retrieved January 31 2017 The original single release credits the authors of the song as Prince and The Revolution but the song s authorship is registered with ASCAP as solely by Prince Whitburn Joel 2004 Top R amp B Hip Hop Singles 1942 2004 Record Research p 471 Whitburn Joel 2004 Hot Dance Disco 1974 2003 Record Research p 208 Woodworth G M University of California Los Angeles 2008 Just Another One of God s Gifts Prince African American Masculinity and the Sonic Legacy of the Eighties University of California Los Angeles p 268 ISBN 9781109120745 Retrieved 2015 06 22 Reviews PDF Cash Box August 4 1984 p 7 Retrieved 2022 07 25 a b Hip Hop Single Sales Prince Desiigner amp Drake HipHopDX April 30 2016 Retrieved April 30 2016 a b Ariza Sergio The 10 Best Prince Solos Guitars Exchange Retrieved 4 July 2018 Tudahl Duane 2018 Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983 and 1984 Expanded Edition Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 9781538116432 Clerc Benoit October 2022 Prince All the Songs Octopus ISBN 9781784728816 Purple Rain guitarcloud org Retrieved 2023 04 10 Let s Go Crazy mixonline com Retrieved 2023 04 10 Kent David 1993 Australian Chart Book 1970 1992 St Ives NSW Australian Chart Book ISBN 0 646 11917 6 Prince And The Revolution Let s Go Crazy in Dutch Ultratop 50 Retrieved December 3 2017 Lwin Nanda Top 40 Hits The Essential Chart Guide 2000 Prince And The Revolution Let s Go Crazy in French Les classement single Retrieved December 3 2017 Nederlandse Top 40 week 10 1985 in Dutch Dutch Top 40 Retrieved May 26 2020 Prince And The Revolution Let s Go Crazy in Dutch Single Top 100 Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince And The Revolution Let s Go Crazy Top 40 Singles Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince amp The Revolution Artist Chart History Official Charts Company Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince Chart History Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince Chart History Dance Club Songs Billboard Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince Chart History Hot R amp B Hip Hop Songs Billboard Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince Chart History Mainstream Rock Billboard Retrieved December 3 2017 Prince Chart History Hot Rock amp Alternative Songs Billboard Retrieved May 26 2020 Talent Almanac 1985 Top Pop Singles Billboard Vol 96 no 51 December 22 1984 p TA 19 Hot Rock Songs Year End 2016 Billboard Retrieved May 26 2020 British single certifications Prince amp The Revolution Lets Go Crazy British Phonographic Industry Retrieved December 15 2023 American single certifications Prince Let s Go Crazy Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved May 31 2016 Egelko Bob August 21 2008 Woman can sue over YouTube clip de posting San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 2008 08 25 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Let 27s Go Crazy amp oldid 1190066962, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
