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1999 is a Prince video released for broadcast and to promote the single.
The 1999 video was shot at the Minneapolis Armory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the last week of rehearsals for the 1999 Tour together with videos for Automatic and Let’s Pretend We’re Married. All of them were directed by Bruce Gowers, who also directed Controversy and Sexuality the previous year.
The 1999 video was broadcast sporadically on MTV starting 16 December 1982. This channel was reluctant to regularly play videos of black artists. The initial release of the 1999 only got to 44 on the Pop Chart, showing Prince’s continued difficulty to cross the racial barriers. It was not until March 1983, with the Little Red Corvette that Prince was played regularly on this channel after an editorial change. To capitalise on his new crossover appeal, the 1999 single was re-serviced to US radio stations in April. It also helped the video to gain more airplay and the single entered the Pop Chart for the second time, this time climbing to number 12.
The video was included on The Hits Collection in 1993.
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