"When You Were Mine" is a song written and released by Prince on his 1980 album, Dirty Mind.[6] Though not released as a single, the song received a promotional 12" release (which included "Gotta Broken Heart Again" and "Uptown"). "When You Were Mine" was later the B-side for Prince's "Controversy" single in 1981.
A live recording was included on his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live! The original studio version was also included on The Hits/The B-Sides in 1993. Prince said he was inspired to write the rock song while listening to John Lennon. The track includes a Farfisa-inspired organ sound played on an Oberheim OB-X.
In 1983, Mitch Ryder released a version of the song on the John Mellencamp-produced album Never Kick a Sleeping Dog. The song peaked at number 87 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week ending July 30, 1983, the highest charting position of any recording of this song in the U.S., according to the book, Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Ryder's version was also featured in the soundtrack of the film Hot Dog…The Movie (1983).
Cyndi Lauper's mid-tempo ballad cover version of "When You Were Mine" is also synthesizer-based for her 1983 debut album, She's So Unusual.[6] She performed the single at the 1985 American Music Awards. It was released exclusively as a promotional single in the United States and received a commercial release in Canada and Japan.
The single debuted on the RPM Top 100 singles chart dated April 27, 1985 at number 91.[12] It peaked at number 62 in its sixth week on the chart.[13] The single spent a total of nine weeks on the chart.[14]
^When You Were Mine (Media notes). Cyndi Lauper. Japan: Portrait. 1985. 07・5P-345.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^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. 170.
