1999 [Reissue]

Warner Bros. Records

Two thousand zero zero.

On 28 December 1998 Warner Brothers’ re-released the original track 1999 to mark the arrival of the year 1999 and capitalise on the turning of the Millennium celebrations. 1999 was also reissued along with two other tracks: How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore (the 1982 B-side to the track) and D.M.S.R. (likewise from the original album).

In response to the release, Prince recorded 1999: The New Master and released that under his own NPG Records label on 2 February 1999, as a counter to the Warner Brothers reissue. Because Warner Brothers owned the master recording of the track, Prince was only able to put out his independent release by adding new content and completely recording the song. However, the Warner Brothers release fared better in the charts, reaching number 10 in the US. In comparison, Prince’s re-working peaked at 150. Continuing this logic to completely rerecord every album in the effort to take back the ownership of his material, he would only complete the rerecording of For You – his first album.