Why did Prince disband the Revolution? Prince continued to work with Matt Fink, did he nurture any of the other relationships from the Revolution or did he just cut them off?

Averett said:

It actually happened rather suddenly. The whole group was talking and partying and cruising in the back of their stretch limo, when Matt Fink asked for a piece of gum. Prince was more than happy to oblige, and he gave him the pack. Then Prince looked out the window for a bit while everyone else continued to chat. Eventually the pack of gum was handed back to him, and he craved a piece himself, but when he looked down, it was empty! Unable to determine who was the person inconsiderate enough to take the last piece of gum when it wasn't his/her pack, Prince, furious, stopped the limo and kicked out all the revolution members onto the road.

Except for Fink, of course, who ate the first piece and was therefore innocent of the crime.

Averett said:

The Revolution was disintegrating anyway. Wendy and Lisa had already left the band, unofficially, and were begged (not by Prince, but by other band members) to come back and finish the tour. Brown Mark had become increasingly upset with his role in the band and the fact that he was getting barely enough money to survive. He was planning on leaving (and was offered by other stars to play bass in their bands). Bobby Z was replaced simply because Sheila E was the better drummer and Prince had been jamming with her and members of her touring band at the time for a while (even recording The Flesh's album, which consisted of Prince, Sheila, Eric Leeds, and Levi Seacer... Eric and Levi being members of Sheila's band along with Boni Boyer who joined the band later on).

By the end of the tour, it was clear that the band simply wasn't working. Dream Factory had already been shelved a month or two prior (the last configuration being compiled in late July, I believe) and the girls were ready to go.

Honestly, Prince was simply unhappy period. He and Susannah were falling apart. UTCM was a failure at the box office. Parade wasn't a hit, aside from Kiss being #1 and the album being multi-platinum. And the band was not happy as a whole.

savoirfaire said:

I remember that day -- they were dropped off in front of my house, and with nothing more than a motorcycle, I drove each one back to town, one at a time, except for Wendy & Lisa who insisted on squeezing together on the bike. It was a shame what Prince did, but I really can't blame him because for me it was a very memorable day!

Snap said:

I really can't blame Prince either, because I know how frustrating it is for people to eat all of my gum. I am always forming brilliant and legendary groups of talented people to follow me around wherever I go and worship my genius, and I always think about this incident. That's why to this day I never go anywhere with less than two packs of gum.

Thank ya!!!

Spinlight said:

I heard that the demise of the revolution was primarily down to the fact that Prince was unhappy at not being ivited to make the Ghostbusters soundtrack... He was devilishly devious in those days presuming himself to be the unique authority on the paranormal.

Once the Revolution provided irreputable proof of the non existence of the spirit world, Prince cast them aside. One by one he banished them from his ritualistic idealism and embarked on a crusade to write a hit song for Ghostbusters. He planned to pen the truth about the Revolution's repultion at the evolution of the superficial.

Of course it never panned out the way he wanted. Although he did get to do Batman a few years later. However, the line "who ya gonna call? BATMAN!" didnt quite work and thus ended up in the vault.
[Edited 10/12/04 5:29am]

just to add...he did bring back some after the disbanding...Fink and Leeds for sure...for Lovesexy. Not sure about Brown Mark. I think everyone but W&L.

I find it shocking regarding the payout thing. It's hard to me to conceive that while he was getting paid...others were not. He's changed that thinking now...but I wonder what he was thinking at the time. He barely paid anyone. Maybe he thought that since they just backed him up, they should be paid a lot less.

I can tell you this... Karma bitch-slapped back him when he ended up not getting paid for his work.

Here it is:

Prince was in love with/engaged to Wendy's TWIN sister. Then, they had a falling out /break up. Oops, it's hard to be in a band with your former fiance's TWIN sister, and her best friend. So basically, a failed relationship took out Wendy and Lisa. Poof! No more Revolution.

skywalker said:

I thought it was the other way around that the disbanding caused strain on the relationship.

Jon said:

Here's some weird Billboard chart-karma for ya..."When Doves Cry" was booted out of the number one spot by Ray Parker, Jr.'s "Ghostbusters." Five years later, Bobby Brown's hit from Ghostbusters II, "On Our Own," was kept at no. 2 by...duh, duh, DUH!..."Batdance."

renfield said:

dayum, how freaky is that?

I thought the ultimate newbie question was "is prince gay?"

True dat! I don't feel so bad about asking about the band anymore

mynameisnotsusan said:

savoirfaire said:

You guys just cracked me the fuck up. So, uh... is all that stuff true? I'm writing a tell-all book about Prince, based on org innuendo and sarcasm.

There was a definate shift in the control of the band after Purple Rain.
Bobby Z., who co-wrote most of the songs, and co-produced some of the tracks on all the abulms between 1999 and Parade, wasn't given credit for any of it.

The nail in the coffin was when bobby recorded the French Seduction monologue in the track "Girls N Boys" from parade only to have Prince replace it with a female actor. Bobby Z. managed to get Wendy and Lisa on his side, both girls still bitter about losing out to Sheila E. for a starring role in Crush Groove, and the rest is history.