''1-800-NEW-FUNK'' is a compilation album by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince and run by Trevor Guy. "NPG" is short for New Power Generation. It was founded to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Though the 1994 c ...

, meant to showcase artists signed to the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. It was released on July 20, 1994. The title of the album was also a

toll-free phone number A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefi ...

in North America for customers to purchase Prince-related merchandise. Some tracks are from albums that actually saw release either through Prince's previous label,

Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. ...

or through NPG Records, while others appear only on this compilation. There were two German releases to this CD; the first release was issued with the reference NPG 6051-2 and is missing artwork from the Steeles album in the liner notes. The second release, reference 0060512NPG, includes an image of the Steeles album cover artwork.

Track listing

Singles

* The Nona Gaye/Prince track "

Love Sign "Love Sign" is a song by American musician Prince, from the '' 1-800-NEW-FUNK'' compilation album released by his independent record label NPG Records in 1994. "Love Sign" was the most successful song released from the album, and it is a duet ...

" was released to radio in June 1994. * Margie Cox's "Standing at the Altar" was also released as a single.

Reviews

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' said that as a showcase of Prince's label,

, the album "amounts to unintentional evidence of why the company failed." They rated the album "C+". ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', describing the record as a "stop-gap compilation of Princely offshoots", cited Nona Gaye's contributions as being "of primary interest", saying she "displays a slinky sensitivity without the overt sensuality of her father or her producer".Andy Gill
"Albums: He-Who-Once-Was-Prince and Proteges, 1-800-New-Funk"
''

'', July 28, 1994 .

References

{{Authority control 1994 compilation albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) NPG Records compilation albums Record label compilation albums