1999 (ALBUM)

'''1999''' is Prince's fifth album, released October 27, 1982. It was his first top ten album on the Billboard 200 charts in the US (peaking at number 9)and becoming the fifth best-selling album of 1983.
In 2003 the TV network VH1 placed ''1999'' forty-ninth in its list of the greatest albums of all time.
Originally released on vinyl as a double LP (the first of a number of double sets from Prince), it was cut to a single vinyl edition in some countries with Brazil opting to issue it as two separate vinyl albums, ''1999'' and ''1999 II''.^[1]
The original compact disc version of the album was also cut, omitting "D.M.S.R.".
The album's opening title track was also the its first single which initially peaked at 44 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later re-released, hitting number 12 on Billboard once interest in the album had caught fire with the release of its second single, "Little Red Corvette", which peaked at Number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and heralded Prince's rise to superstardom. The music video for the song was significant in itself as one of the first videos by a black artist to receive 'heavy rotation' airplay on the newly launched music video channel MTV. The two tracks were later combined as a double A-side single in the UK, peaking at number 2.
A third single "Delirious" still managed top ten status in the US but a fourth, "Let’s Pretend We're Married" got no further that number 52, with its smutty lyric, not for the first or last time, impeding daytime radio airplay.
Whilst "Little Red Corvette" helped Prince cross over to the wider (white) rock audience, the rest of the album retains the elements of previous albums and is dominated by funk and synthesizer dance tracks.
The album is, however, notable amongst Prince's catalogue for its wide variety of imagery and themes besides the sexual themes which had already become something of a trademark on previous albums.
"Automatic" running at almost ten minutes, starts side 3 of the album with a cocktail of synthesizers and bawdy bondage-inspired lyrical imagery which, transplanted to the music video for the track (with a scene that depicted Prince being tied up and whipped by band-members Lisa Coleman and Jill Jones), was, in 1983, considered too hot for MTV.
"Free" is a delicate piano ballad expressing patriotism, while "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)", an ode to a harsh lover, is the centrepiece of a preoccupation with Computer Age themes which will continue into future albums. This 'computer' theme is also reflected in the album's richly experimental instrumentation with Prince fully embracing the gadgetry and sounds of electronica on tracks like "Lady Cab Driver" and "All the Critics Love U in New York" which widen his use of synthesisers and effects with a new signature drum sound (the Linn drum-machine) together with a growing confidence on lead guitar.
The album's critical and commercial success secured Prince a place in the public psyche and marked the beginning of two years of intense activity which, via massively successful tours, hit singles and a Hollywood movie, would make Prince arguably the biggest musical star on the planet next to Michael Jackson. ^[2]
The album's cover features elements from the front cover of Prince's previous album, ''Controversy''; namely the eyes and the "Rude Boy" pin in the "1999", the jacket studs in the "R" and the smile in the "P". The "I" in Prince also contains the words "and the Revolution" written backwards, both acknowledging his backing band and foreshadowing the next four years of his career.

Contents

Album credits

Track listing

Double vinyl / CD

Single vinyl

References

External links

Album credits

★ "1999" (Co-lead vocal: Lisa, J.J. and Dez)

★ "Little Red Corvette" (Guitar Solos: Dez. Co-lead vocal: Lisa and Dez)

★ "Delirious" (Background vocal: Lisa)

★ "D.M.S.R." (Background singing and handclaps by: Lisa, Jamie, Carol, Peggy, Brown Mark, Poochie & The Count)

★ "Automatic" (Background vocals: Lisa & J.J.)

★ "Free" (Background voices: Lisa, J.J., Vanity & Wendy)

★ "Lady Cab Driver" (Lady Cab Driver: J.J.)

★ All remaining music and lyrics written by Prince

Track listing

Double vinyl / CD

#"1999" – 6:22
#"Little Red Corvette" – 4:58
#"Delirious" – 3:56
#"Let's Pretend We're Married" – 7:21
#"D.M.S.R." – 8:17 ''(omitted from original CD due to time contraints)''
#"Automatic" – 9:28
#"Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)" – 4:02
#"Free" – 5:08
#"Lady Cab Driver" – 8:19
#"All the Critics Love U in New York" – 5:59
#"International Lover" – 6:37

Single vinyl

#"1999" – 6:22
#"Little Red Corvette" – 4:58
#"Delirious" – 3:56
#"Free" – 5:08
#"Let's Pretend We're Married" – 7:21
#"Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)" – 4:02
#"Lady Cab Driver" – 8:19
On cassette tape, "Free" was placed after "D.M.S.R." to end the first side, balancing out the lengths of both sides of the cassette.
==Singles and Hot 100 Chart Placings==


★ "1999" (#12 U.S., #4 R&B, #25 UK)
#"1999"
# "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" – 3:51 ''(B-side of "1999")''




★ "Little Red Corvette" (#6 U.S., #15 R&B)
#"Little Red Corvette"
#"All the Critics Love U In New York"




★ "Delirious" (#8 U.S., #18 R&B)
#"Delirious"
#"Horny Toad"




★ "Let's Pretend We're Married" (#52 U.S., #55 R&B)
#"Let's Pretend We're Married"
#"Irresistible Bitch"




★ "Automatic" (AUS)
#"Automatic"
#"Something In the Water (Does Not Compute)"

References

1. http://sleevographia2.free.fr/Disques/05a00BRA21.htm
2. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6599091/163_1999

External links

''1999'' lyrics