Wiki
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Release Date
27 October 1982
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Length
65 tracks
1999 (Super) Deluxe Edition is an elaborated remastered re-issue of Prince’s fifth full-length studio album 1999 and the eighth posthumous album release overall.
In the 2CD version Deluxe Edition, the remastered original album is augmented with a disc with 18 b-sides, extended versions and edits from the 1999 era.
The more elaborate Super Deluxe Edition has third and fourth disc with 24 previously unreleased songs from the 1999 era, a CD with the Late show of 1 December 1982 in Detroit, Michigan from the 1999 Tour as well as a DVD release of the concert on 29 December 1982, Houston, Texas.
Sessions and compiling
See 1999 for details on recording of the eleven original tracks.
Prince’s estate started to work on 1999 Deluxe Edition in 2017, following the release of Purple Rain Deluxe, although Piano & A Microphone 1983 and Originals were released in the meantime (in 2018 and 2019 respectively). The original album was remastered by Bernie Grundman, who also did the mastering of the initial release in 1982. Grundman also worked on the second disc, Promo mixes and B-Sides Remastered which contains all the edited versions, remixes and B-sides that were officially released on singles to promote the album between 1982 and 1983. The edited version of D.M.S.R comes from the Risky Business soundtrack.
The third and fourth volume, Vault Tracks I and Vault Tracks II contains 12 previously unreleased songs (Money Don’t Grow On Trees, Vagina, Rearrange, Colleen, Turn It Up, You’re All I Want, If It’ll Make U Happy, Purple Music, Yah, You Know, No Call U, Don’t Let Him Fool Ya and Teacher, Teacher) and 11 previously unreleased versions (alternate or initial takes) of songs recorded between November 1981 and Summer 1982, during sessions for the original 1999 album (Feel U Up, Irresistible Bitch, Bold Generation, International Lover, Something In The Water (Does Not Compute), How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore, Possessed, Delirious, Moonbeam Levels, Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got and Do Yourself A Favor). Some of these songs were never considered for that record however, and many of them were reworked over the years, considered for other projects or offered to other artists. Additionally, the Vault Tracks II contains a solo 'Tour Demo' medley of Lady Cab Driver / I Wanna Be Your Lover / Head / Little Red Corvette recorded by Prince between the two legs of the 1999 Tour in 1983. Prince’s Estate archivist, Michael Howe, wanted to include the initial version of Baby I’m A Star recorded in December 1981, but this specific recording was not found. Lust U Always and the original 1982 version of Extraloveable were left off this release because of their risqué lyrics.
The songs of the Vault Tracks discs are sequenced chronologically with accompanying notes by Duane Tudahl. Sixteen tracks were mixed by Niko Bolas in 2019 specifically for this release as some of the original mixes made by Prince or one of his engineer at that time were found only on cassettes. Bolas duplicated as closely as possible those mixes by working with the master tapes. Bold Generation was sourced from a cassette to be included on this release as the original master tape was so damaged that it become unusable.
With the exception of drums played by Morris Day on 2 tracks (Bold Generation and International Lover (Take 1) ), guitar parts and backing vocals provided by Dez Dickerson on If It’ll Make U Happy, all of the songs and versions that make up the Vault Tracks discs are solo recordings by Prince. This material was recorded at his Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota and the Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California. Vault Tracks I and Vault Tracks II contains the initial versions or alternate takes of songs that were re-recorded or edited for the 1999 album:
International Lover (Take 1) : This version was recorded live with Morris Day on drums and Prince on piano. Prince re-recorded the song solely shortly thereafter.
Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (Original Version) was recorded in April 1982 by Prince at his home studio. The album version released in 1982 was a re-recording made a few weeks later at the Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California.
Delirious is the full version that was edited down for the original album.
Two alternate recordings of songs that were released as b-sides between 1982 and 1983 are included: How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore (Take 2) and Irresistible Bitch. A third song, Feel U Up, recorded around the same time as (Irresistible Bitch (and mixed together), was re-recorded from scratch in 1986 and released as the b-side of Partyman in 1989, eight years after its initial tracking.
Turn It Up, If It’ll Make U Happy, Moonbeam Levels were or may have been considered for the original 1999 album in 1982 but were discarded. This version of Moonbeam Levels is slightly longer than the one included on the 4Ever posthumous compilation released in 2016. The 1982 version Possessed is entirely different from the version that appeared on Purple Rain Deluxe. You’re All I Want bears similarities with two other songs written and released around that time (namely Delirious and Horny Toad). This song and Money Don’t Grow On Trees were planned for The Hookers album, which was left unfinished. You’re All I Want was later offered to Eric Leeds for a new Madhouse album (later called 26 and was listed (as U’re All Eye Want) as one of 22 tracks Prince: A Celebration attendees could vote on for inclusion in the Crystal Ball Volume II release but nothing came of it. Vagina was long thought to have been also recorded for possible use on The Hookers album, but its lyrics do not support this idea. Lead vocal overdubs were recorded by Vanity for No Call U but the song was not included on the Vanity 6 album.
The music and arrangement of Rearrange are very similar to the later recorded Lady Cab Driver but it is not known if it was recorded for 1999 or another project. The lyrics of Rearrange are thematically linked to Bold Generation. Like Feel U Up, Bold Generation was reworked and released eight years after its creation as New Power Generation on the Graffiti Bridge album. Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got was also reworked by Prince for inclusion on Graffiti Bridge after being re-recorded in 1986 and offered to Three O’Clock for their Paisley Park Records album Vermillion along with a revamped version of Teacher, Teacher. The latter was also listed on a configuration of the unreleased Prince and the Revolution album Dream Factory in 1986.
Purple Music, Colleen, Yah, You Know and Don’t Let Him Fool Ya were not recorded for a specific project at that time or known to have been offered later to another artist or group. Do Yourself A Favor is a cover of a song by Pepé Willie (If You See Me) that Prince first recorded with 94 East in 1976. The song was still unreleased in 1982 and according to Pepé Willie, Prince did not have a copy of the song re-recorded it from memory. Jesse Johnson released a version, clearly inspired by Prince’s 1982 take, also titled Do Yourself A Favor (and misses Prince’s own lyrical contribution to the track, a humorous spoken section in his "Jamie Starr" voice), on his album Shockadelica. Oddly, the credits on both Shockadelica and 1999 Deluxe are shared by Pepé Willie and Jesse Johnson, and Prince’s lyrical contribution are not acknowledged on the latter. The original version of If You See Me was released 10 years after Prince’s solo version.
The last track of Vault Tracks II, the 'Tour Demo' medley of Lady Cab Driver / I Wanna Be Your Lover / Head / Little Red Corvette was played live only once on 1 February 1983 at Lakeland, Florida.
Promotion
The Prince Estate and The Current radio-station have produced a four-part podcast series, presented by Minneapolis Music journalist Andrea Swensson titled “Prince: The Story of 1999”. In this audio-documentary Dez Dickerson, Bobby Z., Matt Fink, Peggy McCreary and Estate archivist Duane Tudahl among others share stories about the making-of the album.
Charts
The re-issue debuted at position 45 on The Billboard 200 and 20 on The Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums.
Certifications
Certification for this Deluxe edition will be noted as if it were a new release and not linked to the certification of 1999.
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