Prince, Janet, and Streaming Delusions: 3 Hot Takes
Another newsletter that might make you made
If you enjoy this newsletter, consider ordering a copy of my debut book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. It’s a data-driven history of popular music covering 1958 to 2025. Today, I have three hot takes for you. Enjoy!
Prince, Janet, and Streaming Delusions: 3 Hot Takes
By Chris Dalla Riva
As I noted a few months ago, I have many musical opinions that are too short to turn into whole newsletters. So, today I decided to take three of those small opinions and package them together to inspire some debate. To keep things concise, I decided to limit myself to 300-ish words per hot take.
Some of Prince’s most famous songs sound dated because of one thing
Unless you’ve avoided the radio for the last 45 years, you are probably familiar with the musical work of Prince Rogers Nelson. Undoubtedly one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, some of Prince’s most beloved works wear their age more than his contemporaries. The reason for this is one thing: the LM-1 Drum Computer.
Invented by musician and technologist Roger Linn, the LM-1—sometimes referred to by the name of its successor, the LinnDrum—is heard all over the hits of the 1980s. And there’s a strong case that nobody loved the thing more than Prince. “Little Red Corvette.” “When Doves Cry.” “Let’s Go Crazy.” “I Would Die 4 U.” “Raspberry Beret.” “Kiss.” They’ve all got Roger Linn’s drum machine.
Part of the reason that Prince loved this drum machine was that he liked how it sounded. But another reason was that he liked to work fast. Here’s how his long-time engineer Susan Rogers described Prince’s working style:
[H]e liked to work by himself because it was quicker than getting everyone together and setting up everyone and giving everyone instructions and having to wait for people. It was faster for him to program the drum machine, play the bass part, play the keys, play the guitar parts and not have to give directives to a roomful of people. He was working at a furious pace in those days, and the one thing he absolutely could not stand was anything that would slow down his progress.
Whereas other artists would tinker with recordings for months—maybe replacing a drum machine on a demo with a live drummer—Prince’s mind was bursting with so many ideas that he wanted to get onto the next thing. Because of that, some of his recordings sound less fully formed than his contemporaries.
