Recorded 1982
Sunset Sound | Label Warner Bros. | |
B-side Original: "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
"D.M.S.R." (UK 12")
"Let's Pretend We're Married" (DEU 12")
"Uptown"
"Controversy"
"Dirty Mind"
"Sexuality" (AUS 12")
Re-release: "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
"D.M.S.R." Released September 24, 1982 (original)
November 3, 1998 (re-release) Format 7"
12"
CD single (re-release) Length 6:22 (album version)
3:36 (single version) | ||
"1999" is a song by American musician Prince, the title track from his 1982 record of the same name. The song is one of Prince's best-known, and a defining moment in his rise to superstar status.
Contents
The apocalyptic yet upbeat party anthem saw chart success in 1983 (particularly in Australia, where it peaked at number 2), but it did not make it into the Top 40 in the US or the UK on the first attempt. The song originally peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1982 but following the top 10 success of "Little Red Corvette", the song was re-released and peaked at number 12 in the US in July 1983, and at number 25 in the UK in January 1983 (reaching number 2 in the UK when re-released in January 1985, as part of a double A-side with "Little Red Corvette").
Rolling Stone ranked the song number 215 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 41, later moving up to number 27, making it the fourth separate time the song had entered the Hot 100 and the third different decade in which the song re-charted (as after its two 1980s entries, it made the chart again on January 16, 1999 at number 40). As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 727,363 copies in the United States.
Recording
The album version of the song starts with a slowed-down voice, reassuring the listener "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I only want you to have some fun." Prince shares lead vocals on the track with members of his band The Revolution, namely Dez Dickerson, Lisa Coleman and Jill Jones. Originally conceived to be a three-part harmony, it was later decided to separate out the voices that started each verse.
Reception
Some music critics have suggested Phil Collins' 1985 song "Sussudio" sounds very similar to "1999". Collins confirmed this claim, and remembers listening to "1999" frequently while he was on tour with Genesis.
Rolling Stone ranked the song number 215 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Re-release
In January 1985, "1999" was released as a 12" single in the US with "Little Red Corvette" as the B-side, and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"/"D.M.S.R." in the UK. The single peaked at number 2 in its second week of release.
The song was re-recorded at the end of 1998 with The New Power Generation, reusing portions of the original recording, and was released the following year as 1999: The New Master.
"1999" was re-released in the UK and the US in late 1998 to accompany the song's namesake year. It was released on 12" vinyl with the same track listing as the original 12" single: the album version, along with "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" and "D.M.S.R." A CD single was also issued with the same track listing, except the edit of "1999" was substituted for the album version. It was also re-released again towards the end of its namesake year. The original version re-charted within the Top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1998, becoming Prince's last top 40 until his 2016 death.
Music video
The video, directed by Bruce Gowers, was shot during the last week of rehearsals for the 1999 Tour. It depicts Prince and his band like acting on a live performance. Just in time to take his part after Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson, Prince appears on the stage from above, gliding down on a fireman's pole, wearing a glittery purple long coat.
Something went wrong with shooting Dez’s lead vocal line and that footage was actually re-shot by a local camera crew the afternoon prior to the first show of the 1999 Tour in Chattanooga on November 11, 1982.
Track listing
- "1999"
- "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
- "1999"
- "D.M.S.R."
- "1999"
- "Let's Pretend We're Married"
- "1999"
- "Uptown"
- "Controversy"
- "Dirty Mind"
- "Sexuality"
- "1999"
- "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
- "D.M.S.R."