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“Kiss” by Prince

Released 1986

“Kiss” by Prince appears on 28 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1986 and 2026. It was first released in 1986. Its best result is #34 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1989). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #182 alternative song of 1986 and #2,684 alternative song of all time.

28countdowns
12stations
#34best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1986–2026years charted

Watch

Prince and the Revolution - Kiss (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Prince). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Kiss" was the lead single from Parade, the 1986 album by Prince and the Revolution, and it's about as skinny as a funk record gets. Released on Paisley Park that February, it strips everything to the bone: a dry, twitching drum machine, a scratch of acoustic guitar, a few synth stabs and acres of empty space for Prince's voice to slink around in. David Z. built the arrangement and played much of that skeleton, with Prince adding electric guitar and Bruce DeShazer and Marr Starr on backing vocals. Prince produced it with the Revolution.

The nerve paid off. It went to number one around the world and held the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, NME named it the best single of 1986, and Rolling Stone later placed it among the greatest songs of all time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 93 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 34 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1989) 100
1990 39 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1990) 100
1992 288 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1999 1680 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1680 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1680 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 320 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2001 1135 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 1672 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 1658 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1658 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1658 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2009 360 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2012 180 WYEP WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown 500
2018 43 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 180 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 180 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2020 1317 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 55 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 99 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2023 165 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 946 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 218 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 713 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2025 157 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 236 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 148 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →
  1. 1PanicThe Smiths
  2. 2AskThe Smiths
  3. 3Bigmouth Strikes AgainThe Smiths
  4. 4SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
  5. 5Wild Wild LifeTalking Heads
  6. 6Don't Get Me WrongThe Pretenders

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