'' is
Prince 's fifth
Album , released
October 27 ,
1982 . It became his first Top 10 album on the
Billboard 200 . The album was originally released on
Vinyl as a double set (Prince's first) and opens with the classic title track. A single vinyl edition was also pressed in some countries;
Brazil also sold each of the vinyls in the double set seperately as ''1999'' and ''1999 - II''.
{Link without Title}
Not for the last time, Prince is concerned about the possibility of
Armageddon and
Nuclear attack and urges his listeners to "party like it´s 1999". The song reached number 12 on the
Billboard Hot 100 (later making number 2 on the
UK charts, with "
Little Red Corvette " as the double
A-side ). "Little Red Corvette" was the song that propelled Prince towards stardom in the
USA . With the
Music Video , he became one of the first
Black artists to be played on the new music video channel
MTV . The song peaked at number 6 stateside. Whilst "Little Red Corvette" is a foray into the world of
White radio–friendly
Rock And Roll , the rest of the album is dominated by
Funk and
Synthesizer dance tracks. The 3rd US
Single "
Delirious " is a lightweight
Pop Music number which still managed top 10 status in the USA. "Let´s Pretend We're Married" is a tight, funk track with typically smutty lyrics.
Side 3 starts with "Automatic" is almost 10 minutes of synthesizers, with bawdy
Bondage imagery in the lyrics, as well as the unreleased music video (which was considered too hot for
MTV back in 1983 due to its
S&M imagery with a scene that depicted Prince being tied up and whipped by
Lisa Coleman and
Jill Jones ). "Free" is a delicate
Piano Ballad expressing patriotism, while "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) is an ode to a harsh lover that dabbles in the new
Computer Age . "Lady Cab Driver" and "All the Critics Love U in New York" are both experiments with synths and
Sound Effect s, while delivering sex-soaked lyrics. (The latter was rumored to be an attack on the critics who gave ''
Controversy '' a harsh review.) The final track, "International Lover" is a seductive ballad in the tradition of ''
Controversy '''s "
Do Me, Baby ".
This album secured Prince a place in the public psyche and within two years, following massively successful tours and a selection of hit singles, Prince was, arguably, the biggest musical star on the planet next to
Michael Jackson . In
2003 the
TV Network VH1 named ''1999'' the 49th greatest album of all time.
- no.4 R&B-chart
- no.9 pop-chart
(all tracks written by Prince)
#"
1999 " – 6:15
#"
Little Red Corvette " – 4:58
#"
Delirious " – 3:56
#"
Let's Pretend We're Married " – 7:21
#"D.M.S.R." – 8:17
#"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
#"
1999 " – 6:15
#"
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
- " 1999 " (#12 US, #4 US R&B #25 UK)
#"1999"
#How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
#"All the Critics Love U In New York"
- " Delirious " (#8 US, #18 US R&B)
#"Delirious"
#"Horny Toad"
#"Irresistible Bitch"
- "Irresistible Bitch" is not featured on the album, but received significant airplay as the B-side to " Let's Pretend We're Married " to have it listed as a double-sided hit in Billboard .
- " Little Red Corvette " was Prince's first Top 10 on the Hot 100 .
- " 1999 " was originally the first single released from the album and it peaked at #44. After the Top 10 success of " Little Red Corvette ", it was re-released and hit #12.
- ''1999'' was originally released as a double Vinyl album. When the Compact Disc was a new product on the market and many albums were bring transferred to this new media, technological limitations of CD players did not allow playing discs longer than approximately 70-74 minutes. Thus, in early CD pressings of ''1999'', the track "D.M.S.R." was omitted.
- The song " 1999 " was originally to be sung entirely in three part harmony between Prince, guitarist Dez Dickerson and Lisa Coleman . While mixing the track, Prince split up the vocal parts and decided it sounded better with each line of the lyrics sung by a different individual.
- The ''1999'' album cover makes the first reference to Prince's band, The Revolution . Shown within the letter "I" in "Prince" (which is the numeral "1", whereas the "1" in "1999" is the letter "I" — a letter/number switching Prince would do again on the lyric sheet to '' Around The World In A Day '') the words ''and the Revolution'' appear, written backwards; though when held to a mirror, the cover reads "the and Revolution".
- The cover also features elements from the 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".
''1999''
lyrics
