The music world was still in the throes of Purple Rain ecstasy when Prince released Around the World in a Day in April 1985. Making a hard left turn away from the arena-sized riffs that populate the soundtrack to Purple Rain, fans and critics alike were left on their heels trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
RELATED: April 1985: Prince Shocks with the New on "Around the World in a Day"
Prince made things a little easier on May 15, 1985, with the release of the album's first single, "Raspberry Beret." The relatively innocent tune condensed ATWIAD's swirling, psychedelic sound into an easy-to-digest pop gem. Originally written in 1982, Prince reworked the tune with band the Revolution for the record.
The song was a hit, sailing up the Hot 100 to peak at #2 for the week of July 20, 1985. The song that blocked it from #1: Duran Duran's James Bond theme, "A View to a Kill."
The music video for "Raspberry Beret" arrived with a customarily odd moment from Prince, as it feature the artist having a coughing fit during the opening sequence. "I just did it to be sick, to do something no one else would do," he told Rolling Stone in 1985.
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