As faithful Prince fans await more detail about this summer's long-anticipated Purple Rain reissue, a group of Prince vinyl titles will arrive in stores for Record Store Day, a year and a day after his passing.

Seven singles from The Artist's near-unstoppable run of hits in the '80s will be represented. Six are "RSD-First" titles, to be made available to general retail in the future, while one highly-collectible picture disc from Prince's early chart run is coming back just for the 10th annual event on Saturday, April 22.

Exclusive to the RSD list is a re-pressing of a "Little Red Corvette"/"1999" picture disc released in 1983 (Warner Bros. 0-90129). As "Little Red Corvette" sped to the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 (reaching No. 6), it was pressed on 7" picture vinyl along with the preceding single, the title track to 1982's double-album 1999. Featuring an image of the band that would soon crystallize into The Revolution on the hit side and a salacious Prince solo image on the other, this RSD release (limited to 5000 copies) is poised to go "much too fast"!

The remaining 12" singles, each capped at 3000 "RSD-First" copies, include:

• "Pop Life" b/w "Hello" (Paisley Park 0-20357, 1985): the second single to Prince and The Revolution's neo-psychedelic Around the World in a Day, this Top 10 hit and its B-side "Hello" took a few pointed jabs at fame and celebrity--but with these extended versions (including a U.S.-only remix of "Pop Life" by Sheila E.), you can still dance to 'em.
• "Sign 'O' The Times" b/w "La, La, La, He, He, Hee" (Paisley Park 0-20648, 1987): the introspective first single to Prince's acclaimed double album of the same name was a Top 5 hit and featured a playful B-side (used here in its "Highly Explosive" 12" version).
• "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" b/w "Hot Thing" (Paisley Park 0-20728, 1987): Sign "O" The Times' fourth single was a killer power-pop cut with a mean guitar solo that became yet another Top 10 hit for His Royal Badness. It's backed with three versions of Sign album cut "Hot Thing": an edit, an extended remix and a rare dub.
• "I Wish U Heaven" b/w "Scarlet Pussy" (Paisley Park 0-21074, 1988): the third single from Lovesexy may have missed the U.S. charts, but this 12" is a can't lose, with a killer three-part extension of the spiritually-minded A-side and the raunchy full version of "Scarlet Pussy" (credited to Prince's alter-ego, Camille).
• "Batdance" b/w "200 Balloons" (Warner Bros. 0-21257, 1989): facing label pressure to come up with a hit after the soft commercial impact of Lovesexy, Prince crafted what may be Billboard's craziest chart-topper of all time: a sample-heavy, largely-instrumental mission statement for Tim Burton's blockbuster adaptation of the popular DC Comics superhero Batman. This 12" single features two mixes of the track ("The Batmix" and "The Vicki Vale Mix") and the essential non-LP track "200 Balloons," unused in the final film but the clear source of the "Batdance" musical DNA.
• "Partyman" b/w "Feel U Up" (Warner Bros. 0-21370, 1989): the second single from the Batman soundtrack (and most prominent in the film) underscores The Joker (Jack Nicholson)'s unhinged mayhem throughout a Gotham City art gallery. A Top 20 hit, this 12" single features three "Partyman" mixes ("The Purple Party Mix," the "Partyman Music Mix" and a video mix) plus the non-LP jam "Feel U Up."

Which of these titles are you most excited to get? More RSD round-up is coming this week, so don't miss it!