Prince “1999” released 40 years ago today, October 27th, 1982. Considered one of the greatest albums of all-time, 1999 catapulted Prince into the mass popular culture consciousness, where he remains even after his premature death in 2016. His first record with his band the Revolution went to #9 in the US and reentered the charts after Prince’s death in 2016, hitting #7. Funky, soulful, ridiculously sexy and danceable, 1999 spawned massive singles still played regularly 40 years later. The title track “1999” charted multiple times: first at #44 in the US (#1 on the Dance chart) in ’82, then #12 in ’83 with its re-release; in 1999 it went to #40 and then in 2016 to #27. “Little Red Corvette” made it to #6 in the US in early ’83 and then re-charted in 2016 on both the R&B and Hot Rock charts (#11 and #4 respectively). The manic “Delirious” went to #8. The ultra-dirty (and highly edited for radio: the album version has the lyric “I wanna fuck you…look here, Marsha, I’m not saying this just to be nasty. I sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth”) “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” Prince’s final single from 1999 released in the US, only made it to #52. The synth-funk track “Automatic” was just released internationally which is too bad because it’s amazing. The rest of the 2-disk album is just as sexy and spectacular. “D.M.S.R.” (Dance, Music, Sex, Romance) is infectiously and hypnotically funky, as is “Lady Cab Driver.” And “International Lover,” while not a single, did earn Prince his first Grammy nomination in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category.