I Wanna Be Your Lover

For the song by the Italian disco band, see La Bionda. For the song by the Spice Girls, see Wannabe.

Not to be confused with Wanna B Ur Lover, the "Weird Al" Yankovic song.

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" is a song by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 24, 1979, as the lead single from his second album, Prince.^[9] The song was Prince's first major hit single in the United States, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 26, 1980, holding the number 11 position for two weeks, and peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart for two weeks.^[10]

"I Wanna Be Your Lover"
U.S. 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Prince
from the album Prince
B-side	"My Love Is Forever"/"Sexy Dancer" (US) "Just as Long as We're Together"/"Sexy Dancer" (UK) "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" (GER)
Released	August 24, 1979[1]
Recorded	April–June 1979
Studio	Alpha Studios, Burbank, California
Genre	Disco[2] funk[3][4] pop[5] dance-pop[6] soul[7] post-disco[8]
Length	2:57 (7" Edit) 5:47 (12" Album Version)
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince
Prince singles chronology
"Just as Long as We're Together" (1978) "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (1979) "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" (1980)

Composition

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" was written after Warner Bros. requested a follow-up to Prince's debut album For You, which had underperformed commercially. In response, Prince recorded "I Wanna Be Your Lover." Musically, it is a funk song sung exclusively in falsetto, detailing Prince's love for a woman and how he would treat her better than the men she is with, and frustration that she thinks of him as "a child".

The single edit stops after 2:57, but the album version goes off on a jam of keyboards and synthesizers, including a Polymoog, played by Prince.

It was later revealed that the song concerned a crush Prince had at the time on pianist and singer Patrice Rushen.^[11]

Promotion

Prince promoted the song by lip-syncing it with his band on The Midnight Special and American Bandstand, where he gave host Dick Clark an awkward interview, answering his questions with one-word answers.^[12] Prince claimed to be 19 but was 21 at the time.^[13] Clark later said, "That was one of the most difficult interviews I've ever conducted, and I've done 10,000 musician interviews."^[14]

The song was also Prince's debut single released in the UK; it was not a hit, only reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and when Prince tried to promote it with shows in London, he was forced to cancel due to poor attendance.

The song additionally reached No. 2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and No. 2 in New Zealand.

Prince included a sample of this song in the opening of his 1992 hit single "My Name Is Prince".

Music video

There are two versions of the music video of the hit single. The main version has Prince in an unbuttoned leopard shirt and jeans singing alone in a black background with only a mic, notably with straight/wavy hair and a departure from his afro from a year before. Various shots show him playing the instruments by himself.

The other version, which has not aired and was not featured on The Hits Collection compilation shows Prince and his band members performing the song in a painted room. The video was pulled due to skimpy clothing and a sexually suggestive theme (Prince was clad in blue stockings and a tan shirt).

Track listings

7" single

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "My Love Is Forever" – 4:08

7" single (UK)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "Just as Long as We're Together" (edit) – 3:25

7" single (DEU)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" – 3:49

12" single (UK)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" – 5:47
• B. "Just as Long as We're Together" – 6:24

12" promo

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" – 5:57

Personnel

Information taken from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud.^[15][16]

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, clavinet, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, Oberheim 4-Voice, Polymoog, Minimoog, ARP String Ensemble, bass guitar, drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1979–1980)	Peak position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	3
UK Singles (OCC)[18]	41
US Billboard Hot 100[19]	11
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[20]	2
US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard)[21]	1

Chart (2016)	Peak position
France (SNEP)[22]	25

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)	Rank
US Billboard Hot 100[23]	95

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[24]	Gold	10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[26]	Gold	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1979 (U.S.)

References

1. "Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover".
2. "Prince Gets an Unlikely Disco Smash with 'I Wanna Be Your Lover': 365 Prince Songs in a Year".
3. "Prince > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
4. Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (July 17, 2000). "The Clinton Administration: Funk". Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-312-19821-3.
5. Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 13, 2022. ...a Hail Mary that not only put Prince on the pop map, but let him start redrawing it.
6. Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "Prince - "When Doves Cry". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 161.
7. Molanphy, Chris (October 30, 2017). "Le Petty Prince Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
8. "All 85 Prince singles, ranked 4 u from worst 2 best". Los Angeles Times. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
9. I Wanna Be Your Lover by Prince - Track Info | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-10-25
10. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 471.
11. "I Wanna Be Your Lover by Prince Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
12. Howard, Greg (2 February 2015). "This Performance By A 21-Year-Old Prince Proves He Was Never Not Sexy". Retrieved 2016-07-08.
13. Thorne, Matt. Prince, Faber and Faber Ltd, London, UK. October, 2012, ISBN 9780571273263
14. Bream, Jon. "Clark long remembered his tough interview with a quiet Prince," StarTribune, Minneapolis, MN, May 3, 2013. Retrieved on December 18, 2015.
15. Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
16. "Prince". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
17. "Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
19. "Prince Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
20. "Prince Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
21. "Prince Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
22. "Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
23. "1980 Talent in Action – Year End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 51. December 20, 1980. p. TIA-10. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
24. "New Zealand single certifications – Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
25. "British single certifications – Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
26. "American single certifications – Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover". Recording Industry Association of America.