- Music
- 10 Oct 19
Prince’s album 1999 will be re-released in an expanded version with never-before-heard tracks from his song vault.
Considered one of the most iconic and influential double albums in rock history, Prince’s 1999 was released at a major turning point in the artist’s career. After years of being relegated to the R&B charts, he experienced his first true crossover moment with the mega-hits 'Little Red Corvette', '1999', and 'Delirious', shattering barriers with his revolutionary blend of rock, funk, R&B and new wave pop, and making history by being one of the first black artists to have their videos in heavy rotation on MTV.
“I didn’t want to do a double album, but I just kept writing..." said Prince in November 1982. "I always compare songwriting to a girl walking in the door. You don’t know what she’s going to look like, but all of a sudden she’s there.”
The songs included on 1999 were just a small sampling of the work that was pouring out of Prince in the prolific period from 1981 to 1982. In addition to his own material, he was also working up tracks that he would give to his protégés Vanity 6 and The Time, and recording dozens of songs that would be stored for possible later use, archiving them in his growing vault of unreleased material.
On 29 November, The Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Records, will reissue 1999 via all physical, digital, and streaming partners, with the timeless album remastered for the very first time. The release will also include 35 previously-unreleased tracks from Prince’s legendary vault that showcase the creative flow Prince had tapped into during this era.
The reissue suite will be available as the Super Deluxe Edition (5CD+DVD / 10LP+DVD / audio-only download and streaming); the Deluxe Edition (2CD / 4LP 180g vinyl / download and streaming); and the Remastered album (1CD / 2LP 180g Purple Vinyl / download and streaming).
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The 1999 Super Deluxe Edition represents the deepest dive to date into Prince’s vault and includes a total of 65 audio tracks across five CDs and ten 180g vinyl records. It will provide fans with all the audio material that Prince officially released in and around 1982, as well as 23 previously unissued studio tracks recorded between November 1981 and January 1983, and a complete live audio performance of the 1999 tour recorded at the late show (the second of two that day) in Detroit, Michigan on 30 November 1982.
The Super Deluxe Edition set also features Prince’s previously unseen handwritten lyrics for several songs from the era, including the hit 'Little Red Corvette', plus images of the analog tape reels from the vault and rare photography from Prince’s early ‘80s photographer, Allen Beaulieu. The Super Deluxe Edition is completed with brand-new liner notes by longtime Rolling Stone critic David Fricke, revered Guns N’ Roses bassist and author Duff McKagan, Minneapolis historian and radio host Andrea Swensson, and Prince scholar Duane Tudahl.
In addition, both CD and vinyl sets also boast a brand-new DVD containing another complete, previously unreleased concert from the 1999 tour, recorded in multi-cam live at the Houston Summit on December 29, 1982.
Fricke notes, “A landmark collection of vision, craft, and urgency – an unprecedented immersion in the frenetic momentum and private working world of Prince in 1981 and 1982, en route to the profound breakthrough of his fifth studio album, 1999.”
The 1999 Super Deluxe Edition shines a forensic light on the creative output of this truly unique musician, songwriter, producer, and performer at a pivotal point in his career and demonstrates why his unsurpassed body of work continues to generate so much love and passion around the world.
1999 Track Listings
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1999 CD1 / LP 1&2: Remastered Album
1 1999
2 Little Red Corvette
3 Delirious
4 Let's Pretend We're Married
5 D.M.S.R.
6 Automatic
7 Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)
8 Free
9 Lady Cab Driver
10 All The Critics Love U In New York
11 International Lover
1999 CD2 / LP 3&4: Promo Mixes & B-Sides
1 1999 (7" stereo edit)
2 1999 (7" mono promo-only edit)
3 Free (promo-only edit)
4 How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore ("1999" b-side)
5 Little Red Corvette (7" edit)
6 All The Critics Love U In New York (7” edit)
7 Lady Cab Driver (7" edit)
8 Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix promo-only edit)
9 Little Red Corvette (Special Dance Mix)
10 Delirious (7" edit)
11 Horny Toad ("Delirious" b-side)
12 Automatic (7" edit)
13 Automatic (video version)
14 Let's Pretend We're Married (7" edit)
15 Let's Pretend We're Married (7" mono promo-only edit)
16 Irresistible Bitch ("Let's Pretend We're Married" b-side)
17 Let's Pretend We're Married (video version)
18 D.M.S.R. (edit)
1999 CD3 / LP 5&6: Vault, Part 1
1 Feel U Up
2 Irresistible Bitch
3 Money Don't Grow On Trees
4 Vagina
5 Rearrange
6 Bold Generation
7 Colleen
8 International Lover (Take 1, live in studio)
9 Turn It Up
10 You're All I Want
11 Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (Original Version)
12 If It'll Make U Happy
13 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? (Take 2, live in studio)
All tracks previously unreleased
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1999 CD4 / LP 7&8: Vault, Part 2
1 Possessed (1982 version)
2 Delirious (full length)
3 Purple Music
4 Yah, You Know
5 Moonbeam Levels**
6 No Call U
7 Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got
8 Do Yourself A Favor
9 Don't Let Him Fool Ya
10 Teacher, Teacher
11 Lady Cab Driver / I Wanna Be Your Lover / Head / Little Red Corvette (tour demo)
All tracks previously unreleased except **, released on the 2016 compilation, 4Ever
1999 CD5 / LP 9&10: Live In Detroit – November 30, 1982 (midnight show)
1 Controversy
2 Let's Work
3 Little Red Corvette
4 Do Me, Baby
5 Head
6 Uptown
7 Interlude
8 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
9 Automatic
10 International Lover
11 1999
12 D.M.S.R.
All tracks previously unreleased
1999 DVD: Live In Houston – December 29, 1982*
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1 Controversy
2 Let's Work
3 Do Me, Baby
4 D.M.S.R.
5 Interlude – piano improvisation (contains elements of "With You")
6 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
7 Lady Cab Driver
8 Automatic
9 International Lover
10 1999
11 Head (contains elements of "Sexuality")
All tracks previously unreleased
* N.B. video content is exclusive to the physical DVD and will not appear on digital download or streaming versions of the Super Deluxe Edition set.