"Kiss" is a song by American musician Prince. It was released by the Paisley Park label as the first single from Prince and the Revolution's eighth studio album, Parade, on February 5, 1986. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for two weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA in 1986 for selling 1,000,000 copies.

The song was ranked number 85 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021, number 464 in 2010, and number 461 in 2004. NME listed it as number 4 on their list of The 150 Greatest Singles of All Time and named it the best single of 1986.

After Prince passed away in April 2016, the song returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 28 and reached number 23 the following week. It also reached number 2 on the French Singles Chart. As of April 30, 2016, the song had sold 1.33 million digital copies in the United States.

Other artists, such as Age of Chance and Art of Noise, released their own versions of the song, which were well-received by critics and achieved chart success.

Development, production and release

The song "Kiss" began as a rough acoustic demo with a verse and chorus written by Prince. He shared this demo with the funk group Mazarati, who had initially approached him to contribute a song for their debut album. Mazarati worked on the track with producer David Z at Sunset Sound Studio 2, while Prince was simultaneously recording in the adjacent Studio 3. David Z remembered one band member playing a piano part inspired by Bo Diddley’s song "Say Man." In a Sound On Sound article, he described programming the song’s beat on a LinnDrum drum machine, but in a Mixonline article, he mentioned the Linn 9000. However, the drum sounds more similar to the LM-1, Prince’s preferred drum machine. Prince ultimately completed the song, keeping David Z’s funky rhythm and background vocal arrangements by Mazarati members Bruce DeShazer and Marvin Gunn. He removed the bass line and added the signature guitar and falsetto vocal. For the "ah-wah-ah" backing vocals, David Z used a vocal sample from Brenda Lee’s 1959/1960 hit "Sweet Nothin’s," a single from her self-titled album. To replace the missing bass, the kick drum was processed through an AMS RMX-16 reverb on the non-linear setting. The background "keyboard chop" was created by running an acoustic guitar (played by David Z) through a Kepex noise gate triggered by the hi-hat track on the multitrack tape, though this effect was hard to replicate live. The final version, which was minimal in arrangement, was difficult to sell to Warner Bros. but was released at Prince’s request and added to the Parade album.

Despite Warner Bros.’ reluctance, "Kiss" became Prince’s third number-one hit in the U.S., following "When Doves Cry" and "Let’s Go Crazy" from 1984. It also reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song earned Prince a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Best R&B Song. It became a fan favorite at Prince’s concerts, often sung partially by the audience.

The 12-inch single version expanded on the album track, featuring a funky guitar line and fuller instrumentation, including bass guitar, organ, and horns. New lyrics by Prince and Jill Jones, ending with a humorous dialogue between a wife and husband watching Prince on television, were added. The B-side, "♥ or $" ("Love or Money"), featured a processed, higher-pitched vocal later used in Prince’s Camille material. The song tied to themes in Under the Cherry Moon, with parts of it appearing in the film and the extended version of "Kiss." The extended "Kiss" was included on the 2006 compilation Ultimate; "♥ or $" was later released as a digital B-side on iTunes.

Revolution bassist Brownmark claimed to have co-written the song with Prince, possibly contributing the second verse since the first verse was from Prince’s original demo. Despite being promised a songwriting credit, Brownmark never received official recognition or royalties.

The song is written in the key of A major and has a tempo of 112 beats per minute in common time.

Critical reception

Robert Hilburn from the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The song mixes a modern version of a classic James Brown guitar-style funk melody with clever lyrics that show Prince being more humble in his confident and bold attitude. The lyrics say, 'You don't have to be rich to be my girl' and 'You don't have to be cool to rule my world.' Even the playful teasing includes humor, such as when he tells a potential partner, 'Act your age, not your shoe size.'"

Music video

The music video for "Kiss" was filmed on February 13, 1986, at Laird International Studios in Culver City, California. Rebecca Blake directed the video. Prince wears a half-shirt and leather jacket, then performs dance choreography while shirtless in a hall. He is dressed in strip-off pants. Monique Mannen, a veiled dancer, appears wearing black lingerie and sunglasses. Revolution member Wendy Melvoin is seated and plays guitar during the video.

Legacy

"Kiss" is often seen as one of Prince's best songs. In 2016, Paste magazine placed the song in second place on their list of the 50 greatest Prince songs. In 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song third on their list of the 10 greatest Prince songs.

In 2022, the song was included in a list called "The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs," where it was listed at number 28. Mark Beaumont wrote that with this song, "Prince claimed his place as a top artist during a time when Hip-Hop Wars were happening."

The "Kiss" music video was parodied by the Australian band The Go-Betweens in their video for the song "Head Full of Steam." Robert Forster wore a shirt that showed his midriff, similar to Prince's style, and Grant McLennan played guitar while wearing clothes typically worn by women, similar to how Prince's musicians did.

Track listings

• 7-inch single
• "Kiss" – 3:46
• "♥ or $" – 3:57

• 12-inch single
• "Kiss" (extended version) – 7:16
• "♥ or $" (extended version) – 6:50

• CD single
• "Kiss" (extended version) – 7:16
• "Girls & Boys" – 5:30
• "Under the Cherry Moon" – 2:57

Personnel

Credits provided by Duane Tudahl, Benoît Clerc, and Guitarcloud

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar
• Bruce DeShazer (also known as Tony Christian) – backing vocals
• Marr Star – backing vocals
• David Z. – acoustic guitar, Yamaha DX7, Linn LM-1, Linn 9000

Age of Chance version

In November 1986, an industrial version of the song was released by the band Age of Chance. The band's bass player, Geoff Taylor, explained that they changed the original song by removing its sexual themes and adding heavy, physical elements.

The band learned the music by listening to it in clubs and used the magazine Smash Hits to help write the lyrics, though they made many changes to the original words.

Age of Chance first recorded the song in June 1986 for a radio show hosted by John Peel, even though the version by Prince was still popular in the UK at the time. The band was inspired by another group, the Fire Engines, who had covered a song by Heaven 17 for their own radio session while that song was still on the charts.

John Peel received many requests from listeners to play Age of Chance's version of "Kiss" again, and it reached number 2 on his list of favorite songs for 1986.

The single version of the song was recorded at Fon Studios in Sheffield and released in the UK by the Fon label in November 1986. Its success led to a deal with Virgin Records, which released the single worldwide.

The song was also accompanied by a music video that received some airtime on MTV in the United States.

The artwork for the single was created by The Designers Republic, a design group that became well-known for this project. The artwork came in four colors: white, pink, orange, and green.

In November 1986, the band recorded a remix called "Kisspower" with Alan Smyth from Fon Studios. This version used samples from the original Prince song, as well as music from Bruce Springsteen, Run–D.M.C., and other artists. Virgin Records wanted to release it, but it was not approved due to copyright issues. Instead, it was released as a limited run of 500 promotional copies. If it had been released, it would have been one of the first mainstream songs to use samples heavily, about six months before similar songs like "Pump Up the Volume" and "Say Kids What Time Is It?" were released. The music magazine Electronic Sound called "Kisspower" a "landmark" and a "cut'n'paste trailblazer."

When the single was first released, it was named "Single Of The Week" in the music magazine Sounds on November 15, 1986. The magazine described it as the first independent record by a white band that successfully combined the energy of hip hop and electronic music. It also praised the quality of the artwork.

In March 1987, music writer Greil Marcus called the single a "trash masterpiece … Instant party, with an edge of menace." Later, Simon Reynolds wrote in his book Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock that the single was "anti-anti-pop, a gesture against indie stasis."

The single was released in the following formats:
– 7-inch (Fon AGE-5) (Virgin VS-951)
– 12-inch (Fon AGE-T-5) (Virgin VS-951-12)
– 12-inch Jack-Knife Remixes (Fon AGE-L-5)
– 12-inch "Kisspower" (Fon AGE-X-5) (promo)

The single reached number 1 on the UK Indie Chart in late 1986. It appeared on the mainstream pop charts in the UK for 11 weeks, starting on December 6, 1986, and reached number 50 in early 1987.

In New Zealand, the single charted for four weeks and reached number 21.

In the United States, the single spent six weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, peaking at number 35 on May 23, 1987.

The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones version

In 1988, the British synth-pop group the Art of Noise released a cover of the song "Kiss," featuring Welsh singer Tom Jones on vocals. Tom Jones had included the song in his Vegas live performances. The band contacted him after watching him perform it on television.

The song became the band's most successful hit at that time. It reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart (higher than the original version in the UK), entered the top 10 in several other countries, and reached No. 18 on the US Dance chart. It also reached No. 1 in New Zealand and Spain.

The song switches between two different rhythms: a fast-paced 4/4 rock beat played only on the left audio channel, and a slower, quiet storm-inspired percussion section. The guitar and horns in the middle of the track reference musical themes from Dragnet and Peter Gunn (songs the Art of Noise previously covered with commercial success), as well as their own earlier hits, "Close (to the Edit)" and "Paranoimia," which they released in 1986 with Max Headroom. Tom Jones changed the lyric "Women, Not Girls rule my world" to "Women and Girls, rule my world."

This version was later included in an episode of the series Listed on MuchMoreMusic, which featured the top 20 cover songs. It also appears in the main title sequence of the film My Stepmother Is an Alien and in a scene from Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy.

Release formats:

• 7-inch single
• "Kiss" – 3:30
• "E.F.L." (the Art of Noise) – 5:15

• 12-inch single
• "Kiss" (the battery mix) – 8:17
• "Kiss" (7-inch version) – 3:30
• "E.F.L." – 5:15

• CD single
• "Kiss" (7-inch version) – 3:30
• "E.F.L." (the Art of Noise) – 5:15
• "Kiss" (the battery mix) – 8:17

Other versions

The song has been performed by over 60 artists, including pop artists such as Anna Kidd and Mikayla Ayres, soul artist Jeff Michel, and jazz artist Aleksandra Crossan.