David Z, Longtime Prince Associate and Key Architect of ‘the Minneapolis Sound,’ Dies at 78
David “Z” Rivkin, the Grammy-winning producer and musician who helmed Prince’s early demo tapes and engineered several of his albums, helped create Lipps...
Key points
- David “Z” Rivkin, the Grammy-winning producer and musician who helmed Prince’s early demo tapes and engineered several of his albums, helped create Lipps Inc.’s 1980 smash “Funky Town,” and later worked with such artists like Fine Young Cannibals, the Jets and Jonny Lang, has died, his brother Bobby “Z” Rivkin (longtime drummer for Prince & the Revolution) confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
- Popular on Variety Rivkin won two Grammys for producing Etta James and a nomination for co-producing Fine Young Cannibals’ 1989 smash “She Drives Me Crazy.” As a producer, engineer, songwriter and guitarist, Rivkin was an active and veteran member of the Minneapolis scene that spawned Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and other future members of the Revolution and the Time, among many others.
- “David was the secret ingredient on many, many musical projects,” Owen Husney, Rivkin’s former bandmate and Prince’s first manager, told the Star Tribune.
- Husney recalled introducing an 18-year-old Prince to Rivkin in 1976 and played his demos.
What happened
David “Z” Rivkin, the Grammy-winning producer and musician who helmed Prince’s early demo tapes and engineered several of his albums, helped create Lipps Inc.’s 1980 smash “Funky Town,” and later worked with such artists like Fine Young Cannibals, the Jets and Jonny Lang, has died, his brother Bobby “Z” Rivkin (longtime drummer for Prince & the Revolution) confirmed to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Popular on Variety Rivkin won two Grammys for producing Etta James and a nomination for co-producing Fine Young Cannibals’ 1989 smash “She Drives Me Crazy.” As a producer, engineer, songwriter and guitarist, Rivkin was an active and veteran member of the Minneapolis scene that spawned Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and other future members of the Revolution and the Time, among many others. “David was the secret ingredient on many, many musical projects,” Owen Husney, Rivkin’s former bandmate and Prince’s first manager, told the Star Tribune. Husney recalled introducing an 18-year-old Prince to Rivkin in 1976 and played his demos. After Rivkin made some suggestions, Husney recalled, “Prince turned to me and said: ‘Let’s go. Rivkin worked on multiple Prince projects over the years,...
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