It’s hard to believe, but Prince’s blockbuster album Purple Rain is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. To honor this occasion Jim and Greg conduct a Classic Album Dissection. They talk to former Revolution members Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman about their relationship with Prince and the making of the album.

http://www.soundopinions....notes.html

I'll give this a listen. Thanks for posting!

That was terrific. Thank you for posting!

gonna listen now

Now you all are interested in Sound Opinions.. lol

2freaky4church1 said:

What's wrong with sound opinions? I love American Public Radio.

Minny is not just cornfields.

2freaky4church1 said:

Who pissed in your cornflakes?

I've actually never heard of the show before. But it was an interesting segment/interview.

Great interview, and well-edited.

Thank you for that!

fun interview

great stuff

I don't eat cornflakes..lol kiss

Sounds like Wendy and Lisa taking credit again. Enlightening.

Too bad his best work came before and after them.

just a great piece... Very good listen

thx

gogol said:

yes they overstate their importance, but maybe it's good to have a big ego in that business. Prince sure has one too.

gogol said:

Examples?

Just wanting to get some perspective on your position, there.

I thought it was cool they mentioned my other long-time fav, Peter Gabriel. Always wished P and PG did something together.

gogol said:

I felt that the interviewer tried to pry them to admit credit. and they really only did for computer blue which the ARE credited for anyway.

eyewishuheaven said:

Examples? You ARE a Prince fan aren't you? You should know his work.

I love Wendy and Lisa. They do come across as taking a substantive amount of credit for Purple Rain, but I actually believe them, in a sense.

I've heard them interviewed numerous times about Purple Rain and they've explained that their "influence" is in the form of (1) chord and arrangment ideas, (2) exposing Prince to new and different music (for him), (3) being people who gave feedback to Prince's ideas.

They've never come across as saying that they wrote the bulk of Purple Rain or that Purple Rain couldn't exist in any form without them.

I don't know why some Prince fans get so upset about the idea of "Prince the isolated genuius" actually being "helped" by someone else. No one is questioning his genius. He made great music before and after the Revolution. But, he also happened to make great music with the Revolution.

The fact that the segment was very W&L focused is the fault of the producers who chose to fill up over half of the segment with the W&L interview, and the fault of the interviewers who chose to ask pointed questions about them and their feelings and their influence, etc.,

It was find to see this old video!
I've seen THE film about 10 times when I was 16'.
And so many other times during my all life

gogol said:

Why the hostility? We're talking about your opinion here, not mine. I'm trying to understand it.

Perhaps it's not worth the bother.

gogol said:

I don't understand people like you who say they are Prince fans then say 'his best work came before and after them... when Lisa Coleman came to Uptown before the Dirty Mind album(which is better than For U & Prince) Lisa Coleman has been involved in the albums from Dirty Mind - Dream Factory as well as protege albums

and if you consider Sign o the Times his best work after them, you need to reconsider, considering SOTT is mostly made up of Dream Factory material and songs recorded/written/inspired by/with Revolution/Sheila E/Family members
as well as the Black Album Lovesexy

Yeah COME is his best work after that period?

eyewishuheaven said:

It's not worth it, these people have an unfounded blind respect to Prince history, Prince at his 1st Ave 7.7.07 show calls Wendy his best friend, but these so called fans seem to hate Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman, not even knowing how to seperate the 2 as far as there time with Prince connection and relationship

Wendy M & Lisa C are not the Revolution
99% of the band called the Revolution were performing with Prince during the Prince album tour
[Edited 7/29/09 6:21am]

coltrane3 said:

I am not ignorant of thier contributions. But, their explanations of their input often takes on the tone of "if it wasn't for us." They put the guy onto some new music and movies, which undoubtedly influenced him. Great. It they hadn't done it, someone else would have influenced him some other way. Prince was already pretty "out there" before he even met those girls.I think Dirty Mind and 1999 were the best times of pure Prince. He was untamed and reckless and his talents were on full display. Now, 99.9% of that was him. For a whole lot of folks, that was the best of Prince. He changed into something else after that. A lot of us liked the changes, but there is a large segment of the underground that thinks he sold out and compromised.

And don't get me wrong, I like Wendy and Lisa. Because of them being in his life, the guy made some great songs and albums. The problem is he was going to make great songs and album, no matter what, just as a result of sheer talent, inspiration and imagination. He might have gone funkier, angrier, dirtier. We may have never heard the fabled "color" they brought to his sound. He could have hired someone in the band who brought something different and just as good. Who knows? Plus, I tend to heavily doubt thier note-by-note contributions. I think the dude was just inspired by the friendship and geniune affection they had for each other and it came across in the music.

I think the best thing about them was that they were great and absolutely fearless critics of his work. Now, if you wanna give them credit for that...cool. But, I know damn well they weren't in the studio as much as that guy working on those songs. A chord here and there isn't a collaboration to me. It's a contribution.

People really shouldn't be allowed to fade out 'When Doves Cry'

thanks 4 posting even though jim & greg sound like they might be wearing beige shirts & brown ties, defo with glasses & maybe slightly balding..but all's good cuz they feel the purple groove
i feel that wen & lisa come across like they simply love 2 reminice & relive the fantastic memories of their youth..like we all do, except theirs are exceptional.
at their stage in life 2 look back & realise the impact purple rain had & how 25yrs later people are still in awe, that's a massive achievement..i don't feel they're trying 2 discredit p in any way, but rightly proud of their influences & contribution
they clearly developed a close bond with p & girls being all sentimental protective & shit probably still love him like a brother, except it's not recipricated.
i'd like 2 have seen his face when wendy advised him about the cheesy porn music & loved the story about her molesting his armpits & chest hair..priceless memories.

Listening now...

This is great. The interviewers are doing a really good job and I'm loving the W&L stories.

Thanks for posting this!

Hope you all listened to the whole show, when they played the Mekons. Prince could learn a lot.

Prince has great music after the gals, great music before, great music with, but we all have to admit his worse period of music is 2000-2009. He needs someone that can pull his nipplehair..lol

2freaky4church1 said:

I don't admit it!
I really appreciate what he does right now.
3121 is a great album for me.
I've been listening to Planet Earth while driving, all the afternoon.

and what about LotusFlow3r?
don't U like it?