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Musicheads Essential Album: Prince, '1999'

Warner Bros. released Prince's album '1999' on October 27, 1982.
Warner Bros. released Prince's album '1999' on October 27, 1982.Warner Bros.
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by Jill Riley

April 08, 2021

Click above to hear an audio version of this review, with musical selections. Audio produced by Derrick Stevens.

In 1982, Prince released the critically acclaimed double album 1999, and it made him a superstar.

It's a sexy, synthy, drum-machine-filled, funky Minneapolis Sound experience. Grab the vinyl, drop the needle on side one, and you get all the hits in a row: one of Prince's best known songs, "1999"; the MTV video hit "Little Red Corvette"; and the double-entendre-filled "Delirious."

1999 is a top music album essential, a hugely influential album of the 1980s.