1999

In honor of tomorrow being New Year's Eve, today's Retro Friday features Prince (or the artist formerly KNOWN as Prince), and the song 1999.

Prince Rogers Nelson, born on June 7, 1958, most often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of the instruments on his recordings. In addition, Prince has been a "talent promoter" for the careers of such artists as Sheila E., Carmen Electra, The Time and Vanity 6, and his songs have been recorded by these artists and others (including Chaka Khan, The Bangles, Sinéad O'Connor, and even Kim Basinger). Taken from History of Rock and Roll, Thomas Larsen, page 243.

Prince has a wide vocal range and is popularly known for his flamboyant stage presence and costumes. His releases have sold over 80 million copies worldwide.

Prince joined the band Grand Central while he was attending Minneapolis's Central High School. He played piano and guitar for the band which performed at clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. Grand Central later changed its name to Champagne and started playing original music influenced by Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Miles Davis, Parliament-Funkadelic, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Todd Rundgren.

Oh, and as a contestant in the "Biggest Fan of the Big East Contest" (please vote for me) I have to tell you that Prince also played basketball in High School!

Prince's musical beginnings came in the mid-1970's, but my favorite all time Prince song, 1999, was released on the 1982 double album, also called 1999, which sold over three million copies. The title track was a protest against nuclear proliferation and became his first top ten hit in countries outside the U.S. Prince's "Little Red Corvette" was one of the first two videos by a black artist played in heavy rotation on MTV, right along side Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". The song "Delirious" also placed in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1999 is the fifth studio album by Prince, released on October 27, 1982. It was his first top ten album on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States (topping at number 9) and became the fifth best-selling album of 1983. 1999 was Prince's breakthrough album, but his next album Purple Rain would become his most successful.

According to the Rolling Stone Album Guide, "1999 may be Prince's most influential album: Its synth-and-drum machine-heavy arrangements codified the Minneapolis sound that loomed over mid-'80s R&B and pop, not to mention the next two decades' worth of electro, house, and techno."

And to think back then we thought that 1999 would NEVER come ... and now we're looking at 2012. Wow.

Okay ... and for your listening pleasure ... Prince's 1999!



Cheers! & Happy New Year!!