It sounds like Prince could have handled it better and was a bit of a dick, but, really, I don't think he was THAT unreasonable for handling it like he did. It all seems like very, very typical "band shit" (egos, frustration with roles, frustration with treatment vs. another band member, disagreement with direction of the music, etc.), especially with a band who are there solely to back a specific artist. I still think it would have been great if the Revolution could have stayed together, stayed on good terms, and put out another album (or two) before Prince went in a different direction without them. But, realistically, how long would you expect the group to last and still be putting out great material? Prince was rightfully gonna pull the plug eventually.

I find the whole thing fascinating. As someone who LOVES W&L's solo stuff, would I have ever been blessed with that music if they would have been in the Revolution for 2-4 more years?

And, even if the breakup was messy, they left their mark. Love all of the Revolution albums.

[Edited 6/6/16 14:50pm]

[Edited 6/6/16 22:04pm]

it's the way most relationships go. how many ex-friends, girlfriends/boyfriends have you had? the breakup is never pretty and often love turns to hate. we don't know exactly what happened we weren't there, but the outcome and feelings are commonplace. People can't get along. I think Prince said as much at his last concert.

keenly said:

SoulAlive said:

yeah,BrownMark was pissed when he left.He claimed that he only received royalties for the Purple Rain album,even though the two albums that came after were billed as 'Prince and the Revolution' albums.He also mentioned that he had been in the band for years,but then Wendy joins the band in 1983 and Prince makes her an "instant star".It's clear that by late 1986,there was some serious drama and hurt feelings going on with these people.

In Prince's defense...it had to have been difficult to manage so many different personalities and egos,while dealing with his own new level of superstardom.

Prince was a tyrant.

No,I wouldn't call him a "tyrant" as I said,it's not easy to manage so many different personalities.Everyone having different opinions,some people wanting more exposure,some people not liking changes,etc....and in addition to this,he was dealing with his protege bands (The Family,Mazarati,Sheila E.) and his own new level of superstardom.I'm sure it wasn't easy.

i used to think he was a tyrant when i was a sweet, wet behind the ears kid. but after having been out in the world and tried to get somewhere, it's almost my belief that you have to be demanding. It's not my personality and makes me feel bad so I just play alone, but every single fucking time I've tried to involve other people, it turns into a major headache. Now, Prince, as he went along, probably had to do that less and less because people knew who he was. you rarely hear those kinds of stories from people like Maceo and people who worked with him later, number one because they were seasoned pros and they knew what to bring and number two, they knew Prince was the boss, there weren't any control issues.

also, let me say, anytime i've involved other people, they always want to take completely over, it's the way americans are socialized, more, more more, and that attitude makes it very difficult for people to work together.

PeteSilas said:

keenly said:

Prince was a tyrant.

You really need to get a life.

rookparade said:

PeteSilas said:

it's the way most relationships go. how many ex-friends, girlfriends/boyfriends have you had? the breakup is never pretty and often love turns to hate. we don't know exactly what happened we weren't there, but the outcome and feelings are commonplace. People can't get along. I think Prince said as much at his last concert.

All bands break up eventually. Maybe Dream Factory could have come out, maybe one more after that, but it was bound to happen. Among prominent acts, only the Stones and U2 have avoided breakups. The Stones would take entire decades off, and Bono probably realized that he wasn't talented enough to go it alone and no one else would put up with him, so he may as well stay with his high school friends. Was just wondering what actually happened here as accounts vary. Thanks everyone. [Edited 6/6/16 16:28pm] [Edited 6/6/16 16:29pm]

I still think if the flow of the Parade-Dream Factory era continued that he might have been able to traverse the early 90s a bit better

I think there's a lot to be said for Prince's mindset at that point. From all i've read W&L wanted to take the Parade style of music further but Prince was starting to feel the flack and pressure about leaving the R'n'B audience behind, he wanted to move towards the black album and a, well, blacker sound in general.

The rest of the Revolution seemed happy enough to follow whatever Prince's lead was musically but W&L had more compositional and thematical ideas they wanted to explore/express. Add all the personal stuff and i'd say firing them seemed like the best option from his perspective.

It's a real shame but sure what can you do.

jaawwnn said:

I think there's a lot to be said for Prince's mindset at that point. From all i've read W&L wanted to take the Parade style of music further but Prince was starting to feel the flack and pressure about leaving the R'n'B audience behind, he wanted to move towards the black album and a, well, blacker sound in general.

The rest of the Revolution seemed happy enough to follow whatever Prince's lead was musically but W&L had more compositional and thematical ideas they wanted to explore/express. Add all the personal stuff and i'd say firing them seemed like the best option from his perspective.

It's a real shame but sure what can you do.

The Dream Factory Music aka the SOTT music was the direction they were going. The style and compositions were the next step of Parade. A lot of the music was created during the 1985/86 years.
I don't think anything about SOTT or Lovesexy or even the Black album a technically geared toward a black audience or sound. It was all still very much Prince music.

Prince should have known putting a photo of him naked on the cover of Lovesexy would definately not pull a 'blacker' audience.

People are going to like what they like. I general if you don't watch it they have you doing what they want controlling your artistic expression, and you loose yourself.

He did let them go for more emotional reason(his love affair (s) as far as Susannah were concerned were open. And they were contributing a lot but not getting the credit for it.

The best of what was was why that 1982-1986 period is such a golden period in Prince history. Foundational. But I would say some of the tension probably also helped it be a such a great period.

OldFriends4Sale said:

The Dream Factory Music aka the SOTT music was the direction they were going. The style and compositions were the next step of Parade. A lot of the music was created during the 1985/86 years.

I don't think anything about SOTT or Lovesexy or even the Black album a technically geared toward a black audience or sound. It was all still very much Prince music.

Well you're kinda of saying the same thing. A lot of the Dream Factory stuff was cut out and changed when the Revolution were split. I think the biggest tell is how the vibe of Strange Relationship was changed dramatically when W&L were mixed down in it. His stuff is always gonna be his take on whatever music he's doing but I always get the impression based on the outtakes from that period that what he was changing and leaving out is fairly indicative.

Other things, like how big ballads like Adore are missing from Parade and ATWIAD, as are more heavy funk tracks (Girls & Boys is a whole world away from Hot Thing) but reappear when they're gone, I also see as a sign. Yeah, they worked on Computer Blue and the Dance Electric, but not since 1984.

Ultimately, imho it's Power Fantastic vs. Adore in terms of direction. Both are good, both are Prince, but they're very different.

Prince should have known putting a photo of him naked on the cover of Lovesexy would definately not pull a 'blacker' audience.

The Lovesexy cover might have been a midjudgement by P, I think he assumed people would see it as a reverential, religious image, similar to how Lovesexy is his version of 'gospel' but people just saw it as a weird naked rockstar.

People are going to like what they like. I general if you don't watch it they have you doing what they want controlling your artistic expression, and you loose yourself.

He did let them go for more emotional reason(his love affair (s) as far as Susannah were concerned were open. And they were contributing a lot but not getting the credit for it.

The best of what was was why that 1982-1986 period is such a golden period in Prince history. Foundational. But I would say some of the tension probably also helped it be a such a great period.

Sure, no argument with any of this.

jaawwnn said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

The Dream Factory Music aka the SOTT music was the direction they were going. The style and compositions were the next step of Parade. A lot of the music was created during the 1985/86 years.

I don't think anything about SOTT or Lovesexy or even the Black album a technically geared toward a black audience or sound. It was all still very much Prince music.

Well you're kinda of saying the same thing. A lot of the Dream Factory stuff was cut out and changed when the Revolution were split. I think the biggest tell is how the vibe of Strange Relationship was changed dramatically when W&L were mixed down in it. His stuff is always gonna be his take on whatever music he's doing but I always get the impression based on the outtakes from that period that what he was changing and leaving out is fairly indicative.

Other things, like how big ballads like Adore are missing from Parade and ATWIAD, as are more heavy funk tracks (Girls & Boys is a whole world away from Hot Thing) but reappear when they're gone, I also see as a sign. Yeah, they worked on Computer Blue and the Dance Electric, but not since 1984.

Ultimately, imho it's Power Fantastic vs. Adore in terms of direction. Both are good, both are Prince, but they're very different.

The Lovesexy cover might have been a midjudgement by P, I think he assumed people would see it as a reverential, religious image, similar to how Lovesexy is his version of 'gospel' but people just saw it as a weird naked rockstar.

People are going to like what they like. I general if you don't watch it they have you doing what they want controlling your artistic expression, and you loose yourself.

He did let them go for more emotional reason(his love affair (s) as far as Susannah were concerned were open. And they were contributing a lot but not getting the credit for it.

The best of what was was why that 1982-1986 period is such a golden period in Prince history. Foundational. But I would say some of the tension probably also helped it be a such a great period.

Sure, no argument with any of this.

u r right. He did react to the criticism. that he wasn't funky. which he shouldn't have listened to.

By 1985/86 Prince musically was so far from specific musical catagories, that people who didn't get it nevr would.

Whatever happened, I was thrilled when SOTT came out. I was glad when that period was over, and SOTT was released. Everything up to 1999 was fire, then a jump to SOTT. In between there were some B sides, a song (maybe two) on an album, then on to SOTT. Never got heavily into ATWIAT at that time, barely listened to Purple Rain outside of The Beautiful Ones, and wasn't into Parade. I had them on cassette, lost them, never replaced the music until 2012. My favorite was the 1999, Triple Threat era.

Thank you - I have really enjoyed this thread.

-

I agree that it seems that it was probably the last time that Prince was really challenged by other musicians and wasn't totally in control of the output...W&L were simply to musically and emotionally forceful, which both pushed Prince and also reminded him of the total control he preferred

-

As an aside, one of the only other musicians who didnt seem to care for Prince's bs was Miko...arguably his best funky rhythm guitarist

-

I cannot understand how anyone can say "Parade" is not a funky album..."New Position, I Wonder U, Kiss, Anotherloverholeinyouhead" are all funky as f**k - albeit in a "non-traditional" Prince way

-

Excellent read!

MadamGoodnightTwo said:

Whatever happened, I was thrilled when SOTT came out. I was glad when that period was over, and SOTT was released. Everything up to 1999 was fire, then a jump to SOTT. In between there were some B sides, a song (maybe two) on an album, then on to SOTT. Never got heavily into ATWIAT at that time, barely listened to Purple Rain outside of The Beautiful Ones, and wasn't into Parade. I had them on cassette, lost them, never replaced the music until 2012. My favorite was the 1999, Triple Threat era.

the 1980-1986 period is the foundational Prince years. Everything else after that is buildt on it.
The GOLDEN years then add SOTT and Lovesexy without the previous could not have been.
SOTT could not have been without the Revolution PR ATWIAD PARADE DREAM FACTORY

sadly there will never be another Prince album officially that we can/will compare to any album

[Edited 8/31/16 19:19pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

MadamGoodnightTwo said:

Whatever happened, I was thrilled when SOTT came out. I was glad when that period was over, and SOTT was released. Everything up to 1999 was fire, then a jump to SOTT. In between there were some B sides, a song (maybe two) on an album, then on to SOTT. Never got heavily into ATWIAT at that time, barely listened to Purple Rain outside of The Beautiful Ones, and wasn't into Parade. I had them on cassette, lost them, never replaced the music until 2012. My favorite was the 1999, Triple Threat era.

the 1980-1986 period is the foundational Prince years. Everything else after that is buildt on it.
The GOLDEN years then add SOTT and Lovesexy without the previous could not have been.
SOTT couldn't have been with the Revolution PR ATWIAD PARADE DREAM FACTORY

sadly there will never be another Prince album officially that we can/will compare to any album

The people who took the journey from the BEGINNING, who did not hop on the Prince train with Purple Rain, have other ideas about it. You know, when Andre' and Gayle were still around. Some of my favorite Prince songs are songs where Lisa nor Wendy have anything to do with them. Period. They were before or after their time.

Were you a fan prior to Purple Rain? It was a process. Years in the making. A movement. I was there. Were you? The fans I knew and still know wanted a 1999 part 2 sound. That didn't happen. They got Purple Rain, ATWIAD, and Parade. I can speak on it, because I was there, I lived through it, experienced the shift. I would not group all that music together, because there was a definite shift, and change in sound.

No matter how many caps you use, we will not agree on this one. Just agree to disagree, and move on. You can quote me to eternity, my opinion will never change. I don't feel sentimental towards that time period (the three albums after 1999). No apologies. It was not golden to me, except for a few singles and B sides. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999 SMOKED that period in my book (PR, ATWIAD, Parade). Even Prince with Sexy Dancer.

Have a nice Prince Day though.

[Edited 6/7/16 22:42pm]

I think it's a perfectly legit take on it all. I'd totally disagree personally but I can see your position and it makes sense. I'm surprised you didn't really like anything off Purple Rain though; Let's Go Crazy and Computer Blue sound to me what I would guess 1999 part 2 would sound like (heavier grooves, more guitar), like the Dance Electric style album that some people like to pretend might have existed in 1983. I'd be curious as to what kind of progression you would have preferred?

OldFriends4Sale said:

1990 Interview

There is still some residue of emotional pain. "What if everybody around me split?" he asks. "Then I'd be left with only me, and I'd have to fend for me. That's why I have to protect me."

Wow read the interview, thanks for that. Fascinating and very sad. Sounds like Susannah may have been his soul mate, if he had one.

Don't you wish we would have heard Wally? If we knew Susan Rogers, maybe she could re-create that song as a tribute. She seems like a person of integrity, so she wouldn't do it publicly -- she'd probably feel that violates his privacy. But to lose something she said was his best... very sad.

"Miko...arguably his best funkiest rhythm guitarist"...........Yup! I've been listening to the "Parade" era boots and he is killing it on guitar.

allmusicfan123 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

1990 Interview

There is still some residue of emotional pain. "What if everybody around me split?" he asks. "Then I'd be left with only me, and I'd have to fend for me. That's why I have to protect me."

Wow read the interview, thanks for that. Fascinating and very sad. Sounds like Susannah may have been his soul mate, if he had one.

Don't you wish we would have heard Wally? If we knew Susan Rogers, maybe she could re-create that song as a tribute. She seems like a person of integrity, so she wouldn't do it publicly -- she'd probably feel that violates his privacy. But to lose something she said was his best... very sad.

Never know, if it is there, it might be released.

rookparade said:

For the longtime orgers: what's the prevailing sentiment on Wendy and Lisa's departure? I've seen several accountings of this, one of the most common that they were fired as Prince wanted to go in another direction, and the other that they quit due to feeling their contributions weren't taken seriously anymore. Just curious. Obviously it was 30 years ago and everyone moved on, but just wondering what actually took place. Thanks.

I met Wendy & Lisa at Largo in LA, around August 2006. I happened to mention to Wendy, that I had not been in the same room with her, nor seen her perform since the Hit-N-Run show in Denver, July 3, 1986. That date, magically struck a chord in her memory and she began to tell this story, about the "fight" that triggered the downfall of their relationship. Keep in mind, I didn't ask for this information, but she felt compelled to share it with me, even though we had just met.

It started in Sheridan WY, around July 1st of 1986. Wendy said that she happened to be walking through the lobby of the hotel where they were staying, holding a bottle of beer. Prince saw this and became upset, reminding her that while she is under his employ, that she is not to be seen or (God forbid) photographed, doing things he was "against." Wendy has always struck me as a person that does not take other people's $h!‡ very lightly. She stood up for herself, explaining that no one had seen her and she was in a private moment, but that didn't matter. By the time they played in Denver, on July 3, her and Prince were not on speaking terms and it went downhill from there.

This was all she told me. I'm sure there were many other reasons or incidents that led up to them not speaking to each other, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as previously mentioned, Wendy & Lisa tried to quit the Parade Tour about this time, but were convinced to stay until the end in September.

I cannot indulge the source of this information, but people seem to think that Susannah left the Prince camp in 1986. They actually broke up for good and she left the camp 5 years later in 1991. So if Sheila E. was actually ever "engaged to Prince" during the Lovesexy tour, and didn't see other women around Prince, he was two timing them both and somehow keeping them from running into each other. But I have a really hard time with this "new" story about Prince proposing to Sheila. I don't believe it happened. It's too bad Prince never had or took the opportunity to respond Sheila's proposal story. I'd have loved to hear his side.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

rookparade said:

For the longtime orgers: what's the prevailing sentiment on Wendy and Lisa's departure? I've seen several accountings of this, one of the most common that they were fired as Prince wanted to go in another direction, and the other that they quit due to feeling their contributions weren't taken seriously anymore. Just curious. Obviously it was 30 years ago and everyone moved on, but just wondering what actually took place. Thanks.

I met Wendy & Lisa at Largo in LA, around August 2006. I happened to mention to Wendy, that I had not been in the same room with her, nor seen her perform since the Hit-N-Run show in Denver, July 3, 1986. That date, magically struck a chord in her memory and she began to tell this story, about the "fight" that triggered the downfall of their relationship. Keep in mind, I didn't ask for this information, but she felt compelled to share it with me, even though we had just met.

It started in Sheridan WY, around July 1st of 1986. Wendy said that she happened to be walking through the lobby of the hotel where they were staying, holding a bottle of beer. Prince saw this and became upset, reminding her that while she is under his employ, that she is not to be seen or (God forbid) photographed, doing things he was "against." Wendy has always struck me as a person that does not take other people's $h!‡ very lightly. She stood up for herself, explaining that no one had seen her and she was in a private moment, but that didn't matter. By the time they played in Denver, on July 3, her and Prince were not on speaking terms and it went downhill from there.

This was all she told me. I'm sure there were many other reasons or incidents that led up to them not speaking to each other, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as previously mentioned, Wendy & Lisa tried to quit the Parade Tour about this time, but were convinced to stay until the end in September.

I cannot indulge the source of this information, but people seem to think that Susannah left the Prince camp in 1986. They actually broke up for good and she left the camp 5 years later in 1991. So if Sheila E. was actually ever "engaged to Prince" during the Lovesexy tour, and didn't see other women around Prince, he was two timing them both and somehow keeping them from running into each other. But I have a really hard time with this "new" story about Prince proposing to Sheila. I don't believe it happened. It's too bad Prince never had or took the opportunity to respond Sheila's proposal story. I'd have loved to hear his side.

The story of the bear is common news. It's talked about in Possessed:the Rise & Fall of Prince too.But I believe it happened later during the Parade tour.

Susannah left Prince later 86 early 87. She was performing with Lisa Wendy & their band after that. She was dating other people then.

SUSANNAH MELVOIN

Melvoin became Prince's first serious relationship, with the two eventually getting engaged in 1985.

She was a talented singer and songwriter in her own right, and after the two split she went on to work with singers including Madonna and dated John Cusack - just as Prince went on to date Madonna.

The Wendy and Lisa band circa 1989/1990 had a great look.

Prince was probably dating them all at the same time, wouldn't be surprised if he did propose to Sheila E. while still dating Anna Fantastic or whoever.

i have a very hard time believing the SM was around PP until 91'. None of the other people from GB and D&P eras have ever mentioned her, casually or otherwise. robin power,carmen, mayte none of the girlfriends mention her either. alan leeds mentions in the steve parke book, that he and prince had an argument over carmen's project, "but what could i do she was his girlfriend at the time." also, she was very publicly with other people in the early 90s. anything is possible.

just my 2cents

jaawwnn said:

I think there's a lot to be said for Prince's mindset at that point. From all i've read W&L wanted to take the Parade style of music further but Prince was starting to feel the flack and pressure about leaving the R'n'B audience behind, he wanted to move towards the black album and a, well, blacker sound in general.

The rest of the Revolution seemed happy enough to follow whatever Prince's lead was musically but W&L had more compositional and thematical ideas they wanted to explore/express. Add all the personal stuff and i'd say firing them seemed like the best option from his perspective.

It's a real shame but sure what can you do.

I am so sick and tired of people making it seem like Black people weren't feeling Prince or that Prince was "moving away" from his Black audience.

First off, MOST Black people loved Prince during that time period, PERIOD. Urban or "black" music stations played the hell out of a lot of songs that perhaps the mainstream didn't play. The Beautiful Ones was a staple on the "quiet storm" format. Urban stations played Pop Life on repeat ALL THE TIME and Kiss.

And you can pretty much ask any Black fan if they are going to a concert and ask them what song they want to hear Prince do live and 98% of the time, they are going to say "Adore". Some may even say Pink Cashmere.

Mainstream media and radio and music didn't give two f**** about what the Black audience (and their money) was into during the 80's. They didn't care or pay attention to the fact that Black audiences were supporting Prince (or Micheal Jackson). Prince had crossover, was mainstream and was the biggest Pop or Rock star on the planet at that time.

Prince always wanted to continue to do R&B, Funk, Soul during that time. He just didn't want people to label him in a box. But he never wanted to leave that music behind.

RachB65 said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

I met Wendy & Lisa at Largo in LA, around August 2006. I happened to mention to Wendy, that I had not been in the same room with her, nor seen her perform since the Hit-N-Run show in Denver, July 3, 1986. That date, magically struck a chord in her memory and she began to tell this story, about the "fight" that triggered the downfall of their relationship. Keep in mind, I didn't ask for this information, but she felt compelled to share it with me, even though we had just met.

It started in Sheridan WY, around July 1st of 1986. Wendy said that she happened to be walking through the lobby of the hotel where they were staying, holding a bottle of beer. Prince saw this and became upset, reminding her that while she is under his employ, that she is not to be seen or (God forbid) photographed, doing things he was "against." Wendy has always struck me as a person that does not take other people's $h!‡ very lightly. She stood up for herself, explaining that no one had seen her and she was in a private moment, but that didn't matter. By the time they played in Denver, on July 3, her and Prince were not on speaking terms and it went downhill from there.

This was all she told me. I'm sure there were many other reasons or incidents that led up to them not speaking to each other, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as previously mentioned, Wendy & Lisa tried to quit the Parade Tour about this time, but were convinced to stay until the end in September.

I cannot indulge the source of this information, but people seem to think that Susannah left the Prince camp in 1986. They actually broke up for good and she left the camp 5 years later in 1991. So if Sheila E. was actually ever "engaged to Prince" during the Lovesexy tour, and didn't see other women around Prince, he was two timing them both and somehow keeping them from running into each other. But I have a really hard time with this "new" story about Prince proposing to Sheila. I don't believe it happened. It's too bad Prince never had or took the opportunity to respond Sheila's proposal story. I'd have loved to hear his side.

Ya gotta throw Kim Basinger in there, circa 1990, whom supposedley lived with him in Minneapolis for 6 months..That would b 3 timing..

And also Anna Garcia around the Lovesexy time. That's 4 timing.

Plus Susan/Vanity and then Susan/Susannah? Susan/Susannah/Shelia?

I always saw the timing off for when Prince was actually with any of these women!

MadamGoodnightTwo said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

the 1980-1986 period is the foundational Prince years. Everything else after that is buildt on it.
The GOLDEN years then add SOTT and Lovesexy without the previous could not have been.
SOTT couldn't have been with the Revolution PR ATWIAD PARADE DREAM FACTORY

sadly there will never be another Prince album officially that we can/will compare to any album

The people who took the journey from the BEGINNING, who did not hop on the Prince train with Purple Rain, have other ideas about it. You know, when Andre' and Gayle were still around. Some of my favorite Prince songs are songs where Lisa nor Wendy have anything to do with them. Period. They were before or after their time.

Were you a fan prior to Purple Rain? It was a process. Years in the making. A movement. I was there. Were you? The fans I knew and still know wanted a 1999 part 2 sound. That didn't happen. They got Purple Rain, ATWIAD, and Parade. I can speak on it, because I was there, I lived through it, experienced the shift. I would not group all that music together, because there was a definite shift, and change in sound.

No matter how many caps you use, we will not agree on this one. Just agree to disagree, and move on. You can quote me to eternity, my opinion will never change. I don't feel sentimental towards that time period (the three albums after 1999). No apologies. It was not golden to me, except for a few singles and B sides. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999 SMOKED that period in my book (PR, ATWIAD, Parade). Even Prince with Sexy Dancer.

Have a nice Prince Day though.

[Edited 6/7/16 22:42pm]

I agree with you. I mean if even want to go to the beginning, beginning, when it was Andre and Jimmy Jam and Prince and later on the high school days when Morris got throw in the mix. I mean these guys were Funk and R&B at the time and some Rock.

Interesting enough, in the 80's while Prince was doing Parade/SOTT/Lovesexy; shoot Andre and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were 3 of the hottest Music Producers in the R&B and Pop world!

SPYZFAN1 said:

"Miko...arguably his best funkiest rhythm guitarist"...........Yup! I've been listening to the "Parade" era boots and he is killing it on guitar.

Yes.

When Prince orders, "Miko! Funk on top of the groove" He does it. He is one of the best funk players to me...

What he added to "When Doves Cry" ...Wow... He added something to nearly everything I've heard him play on..

I stopped listening to the actual release--after listening to the Tokyo version...

I'm just a funk fan...

[Edited 6/18/16 23:29pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

It started in Sheridan WY, around July 1st of 1986. Wendy said that she happened to be walking through the lobby of the hotel where they were staying, holding a bottle of beer. Prince saw this and became upset, reminding her that while she is under his employ, that she is not to be seen or (God forbid) photographed, doing things he was "against." Wendy has always struck me as a person that does not take other people's $h!‡ very lightly. She stood up for herself, explaining that no one had seen her and she was in a private moment, but that didn't matter. By the time they played in Denver, on July 3, her and Prince were not on speaking terms and it went downhill from there.
....
I cannot indulge the source of this information, but people seem to think that Susannah left the Prince camp in 1986. They actually broke up for good and she left the camp 5 years later in 1991. So if Sheila E. was actually ever "engaged to Prince" during the Lovesexy tour, and didn't see other women around Prince, he was two timing them both and somehow keeping them from running into each other. But I have a really hard time with this "new" story about Prince proposing to Sheila. I don't believe it happened. It's too bad Prince never had or took the opportunity to respond Sheila's proposal story. I'd have loved to hear his side.

The story of the bear is common news. It's talked about in Possessed:the Rise & Fall of Prince too.But I believe it happened later during the Parade tour.

Susannah left Prince later 86 early 87. She was performing with Lisa Wendy & their band after that. She was dating other people then.

SUSANNAH MELVOIN

Melvoin became Prince's first serious relationship, with the two eventually getting engaged in 1985.

She was a talented singer and songwriter in her own right, and after the two split she went on to work with singers including Madonna and dated John Cusack - just as Prince went on to date Madonna.

Yep, the poster might want to check his "source". She was with JC by late 80s.

And yeah, the beer story is common knowledge...although the versions change slightly depending on the writer. One version has Wendy saying that the local WY paper wrote that she was drinking a beer and chatting while chatting with Joni Mitchell at the bar (this is the version I believe). Other versions have her drinking in the lobby. In all versions he yelled at her for it and fined her like $500.

As far as I know, it has always been his policy that if you are in his band and you are out in public, you have to represent yourself accordingly - e.g. dress and act appropriately. Come to think of it...I've seen members of the NPG at shows in bars around town and I've actually never seen any of them with a drink in their hand.

simm0061 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

The story of the bear is common news. It's talked about in Possessed:the Rise & Fall of Prince too.But I believe it happened later during the Parade tour.

Susannah left Prince later 86 early 87. She was performing with Lisa Wendy & their band after that. She was dating other people then.

SUSANNAH MELVOIN

Melvoin became Prince's first serious relationship, with the two eventually getting engaged in 1985.

She was a talented singer and songwriter in her own right, and after the two split she went on to work with singers including Madonna and dated John Cusack - just as Prince went on to date Madonna.

Yep, the poster might want to check his "source". She was with JC by late 80s.

And yeah, the beer story is common knowledge...although the versions change slightly depending on the writer. One version has Wendy saying that the local WY paper wrote that she was drinking a beer and chatting while chatting with Joni Mitchell at the bar (this is the version I believe). Other versions have her drinking in the lobby. In all versions he yelled at her for it and fined her like $500.

As far as I know, it has always been his policy that if you are in his band and you are out in public, you have to represent yourself accordingly - e.g. dress and act appropriately. Come to think of it...I've seen members of the NPG at shows in bars around town and I've actually never seen any of them with a drink in their hand.

I was quite surprised to see alcohol on the tour rider for the Purple Rain tour, considering his stance on alcohol at the time.