Crystal Ball (1998)
Whether it’s the AOL sample on My Computer or the squealing-modem synths on Emale, referencing technology in the mid-nineties is a sure way to make a track date quickly. On paper, Interactive, a song released in 1994 as a CD-ROM game, always looked likely to age prematurely but luckily the music bears as little relevance to the software as it does to the Cyclops scene in Glam Slam Ulysses, where it also features. Yes, there’s video game bleeps and it birthed the NPG Operator segues found in The Gold Experience but the interacting that Prince wants to do in the lyrics is not exactly point and click. He’s more concerned with It than IT. “Baby, baby, baby, let’s do it” he begs and I don’t think he’s talking about the falling in love that birds, bees and educated fleas do. What really future proofs this rocker though is the guitar-shredding during the last 50 seconds. Prince’s timeless solo makes Interactive sound like Endorphinmachine’s baby brother and grants immunity from the ravishes of Moore’s Law.
