End of the world parties!  Purple skies!  Lions in pockets?!  It’s Prince’s career-changing ‘1999’ and it’s being released as a multi-disc super-deluxe box set this November!

Before Prince’s tragic and untimely death, the very idea of any of his albums being reissued with bonus tracks seemed unlikely to say the least.  Following his passing, the Paisley Park estate released a 3CD/DVD edition of ‘Purple Rain’ – supposedly given the green light by the man himself – much to the delight of fans.

From then on, there has been much speculation about other classic Prince discs getting similar treatment.  In the past couple of years, we’ve been given access to two discs of demos and re-issues of albums from Prince’s “slave contract” period – with a reissue of ‘Emancipation’ hitting the UK store shelves in September 2019.

Any new Prince product is welcome, but reissues of ‘Chaos & Disorder’, ‘Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic’ and ‘Emancipation’ were never really priority from a fan perspective.  We all wondered if ‘Purple Rain’ would open the floodgates for a multi-disc ‘Lovesexy’ with old VHS only material surfacing on a long overdue DVD, or whether ‘The Undertaker’s audio would finally see the light of day, having been cancelled back in the 90s.  The possibilities seemed almost endless…and certainly too much to take in.

This week has finally brought some fantastic news, in that Prince’s career-changing ‘1999’ album is to be the next reissue and it’ll be loaded with previously unheard and rare material.

Prince scored a couple of disco hits in the US near the beginning of his career and albums like ‘Dirty Mind’ and ‘Controversy’ became cult favourites with their blend of funk, synth pop and sexual lewdness.  ‘1999’ scored massive hits in the title track and ‘Little Red Corvette’, and became home to early fan favourites like ‘Delirious’ and the saucy ‘Let’s Pretend We’re Married’, very much paving the way for Prince’s near infallible reign from 1984-1992 and his string of chart topping albums.

Released on November 29th, the super deluxe box set of ‘1999’ will feature 35 unreleased tracks sourced from demos and outtakes, giving a much fuller picture of the sessions that created the original 2LP release.

One of the newly unearthed tracks, ‘Vagina’, is possibly the ultimate Prince rarity.  Originally written for his protege Vanity and her group Vanity 6, the track was deemed to explicit for release back in the early 80s.  Engineer David Z. Rivkin allegedly described the track as obscene, which says something considering the lyrics and material included on the final ‘1999’ album.

Perhaps the best news for fans is the inclusion of a wealth of period live material.  Two of the discs in the larger box set version will feature TWO full length gig from 1982: the complete audio from Masonic Temple Theater, November 1982 and a full video of Prince and his band at The Summit, Houston, TX in December.

For those who can’t stretch to the full 5CD/DVD box – or a 10LP equivalent containing all audio selections from CDs 1-5, a scaled down 2CD set containing the original album paired with a disc’s worth of demos and outtakes will also be available.   There will also be an obligatory purple vinyl reissue.

Full track listings can be seen below.

1999 Super Deluxe Edition Tracklist

CD1/LP1&2 (Original Album with 2019 Remaster)

• 1999

 

• Little Red Corvette

 

• Delirious

 

• Let’s Pretend We’re Married

 

• D.M.S.R.

 

• Automatic

 

• Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)

 

• Free

 

• Lady Cab Driver

 

• All The Critics Love U In New York

 

• International Lover

CD2/LP3&4 (Promo Mixes and B-sides, 2019 Remaster)

1999 (7″ Stereo Edit)
1999 (7″ Mono Promo-Only Edit)
Free (Promo Only Edit)
How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore
Little Red Corvette (7″ Edit)
All The Critics Love U In New York (7″ Edit)
Lady Cab Driver (7″ Edit)
Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix Promo Only Edit)
Little Red Corvette (Special Dance Mix)
Delirious (7″ Edit)
Horny Toad
Automatic (7″ Edit)
Automatic (Video Version)
Let’s Pretend We’re Married (7″ Edit)
Let’s Pretend We’re Married (7″ Mono Promo Only Edit)
Irresistible Bitch
Let’s Pretend We’re Married (Video Version)
D.M.S.R. (Edit)

CD3/LP5&6 (Vault Tracks Pt 1, recorded between November 1981 and April 1982)

Feel U Up
Irresistible Bitch
Money Don’t Grow On Trees
Vagina
Rearrange
Bold Generation
Colleen
International Lover (Take 1) [Live In Studio]
Turn It Up
You’re All I Want
Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)
If It’ll Make U Happy
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? (Take 2)

CD4/LP7&8 (Vault Tracks Pt 2, recorded between April 1982 and January 1983)

Possessed (1982 Version)
Delirious (Full Length)
Purple Music
Yah, You Know
Moonbeam Levels (2019 Remaster)
No Call U
Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got
Do Yourself A Favor
Don’t Let Him Fool Ya
Teacher, Teacher
Lady Cab Driver / I Wanna Be Your Lover / Little Red Corvette (Tour Demo)

CD5/LP9&10 (Live In Detroit at Masonic Temple Theater, Masonic Hall (Late Show) – November 30, 1982, Previously Unreleased)

Controversy
Let’s Work
Little Red Corvette
Do Me, Baby
Head
Uptown
Lisa’s Keyboard Interlude
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?
Automatic
International Lover
1999
D.M.S.R.

DVD (Live at The Summit, Houston, TX, – December 29, 1982, Previously Unreleased)

Controversy
Let’s Work
Do Me, Baby
D.M.S.R.
Keyboard Interlude
Piano Improvisation
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?
Lady Cab Driver
Automatic
International Lover
1999
Head