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1999 - album by Prince, Warner Bros. Records (1982)

1999 Prince • Warner Bros. Records • 1982
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1999

Warner Bros. Records

album

Selling five million copies worldwide, 1999 was the album that propelled Prince to international stardom in 1982, his cross-over album to the white audience – getting also the band to adopt the New Romantic look, complete with his trademark purple trench coat. Prince’s 1999 rebrand was a look made for TV and with the launch of MTV on 1 August 1981 it was the ideal moment to break into the mainstream, and yet then the channel was uninterested in promoting black music. This changed on 16 December 1982 when the title track and lead single 1999 was added to MTV’s small list of songs given heavy rotation. The single Little Red Corvette joined that list on 28 February 1983, followed by Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean on 10 March – the first black artists aired in rotation on the channel. Little Red Corvette secured Prince his long awaited breakout hit and became his first single to reach the Billboard top 10. During the 1984 award season 1999 gathered nominations from the AMAs for R&B Artist and R&B Album, and the Grammys for Best Vocal Performance both for album and track (International Lover) – scoring Prince his first nominations for major awards, albeit unsuccessful.

It took me four albums to get on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Work on 1999 began in the spring of 1982 and continued throughout that summer in long and solitary recording sessions in his home studio at 9401 Kiowa Trail. Although Prince wrote all the songs, he co-credited the LP to his backing band The Revolution, displayed in reverse lettering on the album’s cover – the first occasion his touring band was named as a group. Yet Prince’s band feature in only two tracks on the album; in the title track, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson is joined by Dirty Mind Tour backing vocalist Jill Jones, each singing the entire track. Prince later mixed the tracking, having Coleman and Jones take the opening line and Dickerson the next, with Prince’s vocals leading the remainder. In Little Red Corvette it is Dickerson playing the iconic guitar solo, widely ranked one of the greatest solos of all time. The song drew its inspiration from Coleman’s pink and white 1964 Mercury Marauder car Prince helped her buy in 1980 and chauffeur him to many a show.

With a professional setup installed in his home studio, the 1999 sessions delivered Prince’s most prolific output to date, so much output he needed side projects for his overspill, creating The Time and Vanity 6, who joined Prince on the album’s supporting tour, duly named Triple Threat Tour. 1981 was the year Prince acquired the hugely expensive Linn LM-1 drum machine – the first commercial grade 8-bit drum sampler. Manufactured the previous year by a guitarist named Roger Linn, only 525 LM-1’s were produced when replaced by the cheaper LM-2 in 1982. The key improvement the Linn held over other drum machines of the time is that its sound samples comprised recordings of real instruments and hand claps. The Linn fired Prince’s imagination and inspired him to create so much material over these sessions the project resulted in his first double LP. He reprogrammed the Linn to create a electronic orientated dance record that sounded decades ahead of its time, 1999 became instantly influential and changed the course of 80s pop. 1999 secured Prince his crossover and breakout album and to this day remains a firm fan favourite and iconic album. Following the routine began with his previous album Controversy, after the main recording sessions were complete final mixing took place at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood. Prince would not match this volume of output again until 1986 when producing Sign O’ The Times, his second double album.

It’s time for a new direction it’s time for jazz to die. Fourth day of November we need a purple high

When 1999 was released on vinyl on 27 October 1982 the first five tracks comprised the first disc, with the remaining six configured into the second. WEA, the international arm of Warner Bros, opposed a double LP, however, deeming it too much product for his potential audience and so when released in the UK on 7 March 1983, 1999 was pared down to a seven-track single LP with D.M.S.R., All The Critics Love U In New York and International Lover omitted. This was rectified in the album’s rerelease on 9 November 1984 as the original double LP. When later pressed to CD in 1985, D.M.S.R. remained absent due to the space constraint of early manufacturing technology. The track instead became available on the 1999 maxi-single, and International Lover likewise as a B-side in the UK issue of Little Red Corvette. D.M.S.R. was reinstated in the reprint of the CD format of the album.

In all, 1999 produced four commercially released singles, all of them configured into disc one, side A of the main album. Despite the song’s later stature, the title track 1999 dropping as the lead one month ahead of the LP was only a minor hit on its debut. The single 1999 was backed with How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore an outtake from the Sunset Sound sessions of April 1982. Picked up by just fifty radio stations across the US, 1999 debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at number 81 on 30 October 1982. After MTV picked it up that December the track was played on heavy rotation by 150 stations and climbed to 44. Its UK counterpart followed in January 1983 ahead of the album release that March and peaked at more respectable 25.

1999 album’s big hitter Little Red Corvette was its second single and exploded Prince’s popularity. Issued on 9 February 1983 Little Red Corvette entered the Hot 100 on the 22nd at number 66. Continual exposure on MTV saw his arena concert run, 1999 Tour, extended through to April off the strength of the song’s breakout success, and Little Red Corvette rose to number 6 on 21 May 1983, scoring Prince his first US top 10 hit in the coveted Hot 100. This brought 1999 back to the singles chart on 23 July and improved its debut peak of 44 to rise to number 12. Two more singles were issued following Prince’s hugely successful promotional tour. Delirious dropped that August and was another top 10 US hit, showing that almost a year since the album’s release there was no sign of it losing momentum. Delirious was backed with another outtake the comical Horny Toad. Let’s Pretend We’re Married came out in November as the album’s fourth and final single. The B-side was yet another outtake Irresistible Bitch, a track dating from 1981 but reworked late in the album sessions in September 1983 and became a club favourite, helping the single reach number 52 in the US. Automatic was a 7″ limited only to Australia and did not chart.

Although the LP itself reached number 9 in the US, sales remained strong and steady and 1999 was certified Gold by RIAA on 11 January 1983 and upgraded to Platinum on 17 May. Its certification was raised to double and then to triple Platinum on 22 October 1984 and 22 July 1985 due to the success resulting from Prince’s Purple Rain movie soundtrack and tour, and finally four times Platinum on 24 March in the year 1999 – of course. Sales of 1999 gradually amassed 7 million units globally. 1999 eventually earned deserved universal acclaim despite initially drawing criticism the double album and its six tracks running beyond six minutes allowed Prince too much space for self-indulgence – the reasoning behind WEA’s decision to pare down the original pressing to a single disc. Prince, however, was creating music for the club scene and his new brand of electro-funk was on point for the time. Rolling Stone since listed 1999 163rd in their top 500 albums of all time.

In the UK where MTV would not be available until 1987, Little Red Corvette was another comparative slow burner and was pushed three times as a single; first on 3 April 1983 peaking at 54, it was reissued that 4 November to re-enter the chart at a worsened 66. The track was given a third try on 11 January 1985 this time as a double A-side with 1999, propelled amid the explosion of Prince’s popularity in the wake of Purple Rain the single smashed into the UK top-10 to peak at number 2 on 20 January – held off from the top spot by Foreigner’s I Want To Know What Love Is. Globally, sales of Little Red Corvette achieved 1.72 million units, slightly outdone by 1999 with 1.76 million certified sales recorded. The 1999 LP retailed 300,000 units in the UK where eventually it peaked at number 30 on 10 February 1985 having debuted in the official chart on 8 September 1984. In the US its original peak of 9 was improved on 7 May 2016 to number 7 following Prince’s death that April, similarly in the UK climbing two places from its 1982 peak to number 28.

Creatively there has been nothing like 1999 produced before or since, it is a visionary record without parallel. Without it Prince could not have attained the traction and the considerable success he met with subsequent releases. And so it can be argued 1999 is the most important record in Prince’s career. Musically far ahead of its time, 1999 sounds futuristic even today, and testament of the standing it enjoys among fans and critics alike. 1999 achieved its deserved recognition when inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2008 in the first year of the album’s eligibility. Its cultural significance cannot be understated.

Prince | 1999
Photography by Allen Beaulieu

Cover story

The album artwork of 1999 is part of a wider collage produced by Prince himself. Originally envisaged to include images of First Avenue, a hand drawn red Corvette car, sunburst, and other imagery. The final cover shows only the name Prince and the title of the album, which on close inspection reveals a number of interesting elements: The eyes in the first and third 9 are lifted from the cover of Prince’s previous album Controversy, as are the Rude Boy badge placed in the middle 9, and the studs from his trench coat that top R. Finally, “and The Revolution” is spelled in reverse in the lips set over the I in the artwork. It makes one of Prince’s most iconic covers.

The photos used for the LP’s inner dust sleeves as well as its singles are all shot by Allen Beaulieu in his studio, drawing inspiration from Ridley Scott’s 1982 dark sci-fi Blade Runner. The neon elements acquired for the photo shoot were subsequently incorporated into the stage set of the Triple Threat Tour. Beaulieu, who also shot the covers for Dirty Mind and Controversy, was not credited by Prince for his work on 1999 over fears others artists would book him. Beaulieu and Prince parted company as result. To introduce Prince to his UK fanbase, the LP’s single disc issue has Prince pictured on the front cover.

2019 Super Deluxe Edition

For Record Store Day 21 April 2018, the original single LP 1999 was reissued on vinyl for the first time in 35 years, available in a limited run of 13,000 copies worldwide. The reissuing of the full double album followed on 29 November 2019, which saw the iconic 1999 album remastered and repackaged as a five-disc Super Deluxe Edition boxset containing also 34 studio outtakes from the era, plus footage and soundboard recording from the supporting 1999 Tour. Released through Warner Records as 1999 Super Deluxe Edition the reissued original album re-entered the Billboard 200 and charted at number 45 on 14 December 2019. This beautifully designed collection occasions Prince’s first Super Deluxe package and was recognised with a Grammy nomination for Best Historical Album in 2020.

Performers

Vocals / all Instr
Prince
Guitar
Dez Dickerson Little Red Corvette

Data

Producer
Prince
Label
Warner Bros. Records
Distribution
Warner Bros. Records
Cover/Design
Prince
Released
43 years ago on 27 October 1982
Reissued
29 November 2019 as 1999 Super Deluxe Edition
Running Time
70:35
US Chart Peak
7
US R&B Peak
4
UK Chart Peak
28
Prince Album
#5
Orig. Formats

Tracklist

Double LP - 27 October 1982

  1. 1999 [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (6:22)
  2. Little Red Corvette [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (4:58)
  3. Delirious (3:56)
  4. Let's Pretend We're Married (7:20)
  5. D.M.S.R. (8:15) 1
  6. Automatic [feat. Jill Jones] (9:24)
  7. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (4:00)
  8. Free [feat. Vanity and Jill Jones] (5:08)
  9. Lady Cab Driver [feat. Jill Jones] (8:25)
  10. All The Critics Love U In New York (5:55)
  11. International Lover (6:35)
Running Time
70 min, 35 sec

Single LP - 7 March 1983

  1. 1999 [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (6:22)
  2. Little Red Corvette [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (4:58)
  3. Delirious (3:58)
  4. Free [feat. Vanity] (5:08)
  5. Let's Pretend We're Married (7:20)
  6. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (4:00)
  7. Lady Cab Driver (8:25)
Running Time
40 min, 09 sec

Released as a single

1 Omitted from original CD pressing.

Singles from 1999

1999, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1982)

1999

Warner Bros. Records

Released
24 September 1982
US Chart Peak
44
UK Chart Peak
Did not chart
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. 1999 [Edit] [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:36)
  2. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (3:50)
1999, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1982)

1999

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
18 October 1982
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
Did not chart
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. 1999 [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (6:22)
  2. Let's Pretend We're Married (7:20)
1999, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

1999

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
7 January 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
25
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. 1999 (6:22)
  2. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (3:50)
  3. D.M.S.R. (8:15)
Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

Released
9 February 1983
US Chart Peak
6
UK Chart Peak
No Release
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [Edit] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:08)
  2. All The Critics Love U In New York [Edit] (3:15)
Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

Released
4 April 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
54
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [Edit] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:08)
  2. Lady Cab Driver [Edit] (5:01)
Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
4 April 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
54
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (4:58)
  2. Automatic (9:24)
  3. International Lover (6:35)

Automatic and International Lover issued as B-sides due to their exclusion from the original single LP in UK.

Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
4 April 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
54
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [Dance Remix] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (8:22)
  2. Lady Cab Driver (8:25)
Delirious, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Delirious

Warner Bros. Records

Released
17 August 1983
US Chart Peak
8
UK Chart Peak
No Release
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Delirious [Edit] (2:38)
  2. Horny Toad (2:12)

Sleeve folds out to a calendar wall poster of the year 1982, with Prince's 7 June birthday highlighted.

Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

Released
4 November 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
66
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [Edit] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:08)
  2. Horny Toad (2:12)

Sleeve opens to form a poster sized calendar.

Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
4 November 1983
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
66
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Little Red Corvette [Full Length Version] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (4:58)
  2. Horny Toad (2:12)
  3. D.M.S.R. (8:15)

D.M.S.R. issued as B-side due to its exclusion from the original single LP in UK.

Let's Pretend We're Married, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Let's Pretend We're Married

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
16 November 1983
US Chart Peak
52
UK Chart Peak
No Release
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Let's Pretend We're Married (7:20)
  2. Irresistible Bitch [feat. Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin] (4:11)
Let's Pretend We're Married, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1983)

Let's Pretend We're Married

Warner Bros. Records

Released
23 November 1983
US Chart Peak
52
UK Chart Peak
No Release
Cover/Art
Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. Let's Pretend We're Married [Edit] (3:40)
  2. Irresistible Bitch [feat. Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin] (4:11)
1999 / Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1985)

1999 / Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

Released
11 January 1985
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
2
Cover/Art
Prince / Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. 1999 [Edit] [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:36)
  2. Little Red Corvette [Edit] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (3:08)

UK double A-side reissue.

1999 / Little Red Corvette, single from 1999, Warner Bros. Records (1985)

1999 / Little Red Corvette

Warner Bros. Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
11 January 1985
Distribution
WEA Records
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
2
Cover/Art
Prince / Allen Beaulieu
Format
  1. 1999 [Full Length Version] [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (6:22)
  2. Little Red Corvette [Full Length Version] [feat. Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (4:58)

UK double A-side reissue.

Supporting tour

1999 Triple Threat Tour

1999 Triple Threat Tour

1982/3

  • 87 shows from 11 November 1982 to 10 April 1983

1999 album review

Some albums cannot be played loud enough and 1999 is one of those. Indeed 1999 is considered the favourite of Prince fans and is the one that launched Prince into the music mainstream. Little Richard and Rick James was brushed aside amid the wake of 1999 and Prince armed with the Linn, he never looked back. Featuring juggernaut hits Little Red Corvette and of course the title track, the record foreshadows the domination Prince would exert on the next decade of music. The electro-rock Prince introduced with 1999 became so influential it shaped the landscape of 80s pop. 1999 is crowned fan favourite for D.M.S.R., Let’s Pretend Were Married, Something In The Water (Does Not Compute), Lady Cab Driver and the brilliant Automatic.

Thirty years ahead of its time thanks to the Linn Drum, 1999 is the all time party classic, and the go-to record come the turn of the Millennium. Because of its freshness and (still) futuristic sound, 1999 is will be spun in clubs for decades to come. There is no “out of time” for this party, as this is Prince at his very best and without it the follow up Purple Rain could never have been ready. Laden with grooves that find dancing an all-too a-u-t-o-matic reflex for listeners “You can dance if you want to” proves an invitation impossible to resist. Music would not be this exhilarating again.

1999 is rated 5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.

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