Princes breakthrough into the mainstream will get a new reassessment this year when 1999, the blockbuster 1982 album that contained the hits 1999 and Little Red Corvette, comes out as a souped-up, remastered reissue on November 29th. The massive super-deluxe edition of the reissue contains five CDs and a DVD (or 10 LPs and a DVD) with 35 previously unreleased audio tracks and a full concert film that was previously unofficially circulated. The singers estate is also issuing pared-down versions of the reissue, including a two-CD (or four-LP) Deluxe Edition and a single-CD (or two-LP) basic edition.
In addition to featuring all of the music Prince put out in 1982, the super deluxe edition contains material he recorded between November 1981 and January 1983. Theres also a live album that features a late-night concert Prince performed (after an earlier show that same day) in Detroit on November 30th, 1982, and the concert film features footage from a gig at the Houston Summit on December 29th, 1982.
The accompanying book features Princes handwritten lyrics for Little Red Corvette and other songs from that period, as well as rare photos by Allen Beaulieu and images of the analog reels the Purple One recorded on. The Super Deluxe edition also contains liner notes by Rolling Stones David Fricke, Guns N Roses bassist Duff McKagan, radio host Andrea Swensson, and Prince scholar Duane Tudahl.
The reissue comes on the heels of Originals, an album featuring Princes versions of songs that other artists ended up recording, like the Bangles Manic Monday. He once told me that if you ever want to write a hit song, just act as if youre writing for five-year-olds, singer Jill Jones, who is featured on the song 1999, said in a Rolling Stone article about Originals. I asked him if he really could write hits if he wanted to, and he said, Yeah, I just get bored with that.'
1999 Super Deluxe Edition Track List
CD One / LPs One and Two: Remastered Album
1. 1999
2. Little Red Corvette
3. Delirious
4. Lets Pretend Were 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
CD Two / LPs Three and Four: 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 Dont 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. Lets Pretend Were Married (7 edit)
15. Lets Pretend Were Married (7 mono promo-only edit)
16. Irresistible Bitch (Lets Pretend Were Married b-side)
17. Lets Pretend Were Married (video version)
18. D.M.S.R. (edit)
CD Three / LPs Five and Six: Vault, Part 1
1. Feel U Up
2. Irresistible Bitch
3. Money Dont 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. Youre All I Want
11. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (Original Version)
12. If Itll Make U Happy
13. How Come U Dont Call Me Anymore? (Take 2, live in studio)
All tracks previously unreleased
CD Four / LPs Seven and Eight: 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. Cant Stop This Feeling I Got
8. Do Yourself a Favor
9. Dont 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
CD Five / LPs Nine and Ten: Live in Detroit November 30, 1982. (midnight show)
1. Controversy
2. Lets Work
3. Little Red Corvette
4. Do Me, Baby
5. Head
6. Uptown
7. Interlude
8. How Come U Dont Call Me Anymore?
9. Automatic
10. International Lover
11. 1999
12. D.M.S.R.
All tracks previously unreleased
DVD: Live In Houston December 29, 1982 *
1. Controversy
2 Lets Work
3. Do Me, Baby
4. D.M.S.R.
5. Interlude piano improvisation (contains elements of With You)
6. How Come U Dont Call Me Anymore?
7. Lady Cab Driver
8. Automatic
9. International Lover
10. 1999
11. Head (contains elements of Sexuality)
All tracks previously unreleased
* The video content is exclusive to the physical DVD and will not appear on digital download or streaming versions of the Super Deluxe Edition set.