OldFriends4Sale said:

lrn36 said:

I would think it was reciprocal. Prince probably exposed Wendy and Lisa to a lot of funk and soul music. Wendy said Prince was her biggest influence on guitar. Maybe Prince felt he got as much as he could out of their creative relationship and it was time to end it. If the Revolution stayed on, eventually the music would have gotten stale and tired. It could be everything was getting too comfortable creatively and Prince needed to shake it up. I always respected him for taking different directions even if the results weren't always successful.

Even Prince said in 1985 they were just touching on the creativity, when we look at the unreleased catalogue of music from 1984-1986 there is no way they were close to stale. I'm talking about the whole creative energy of that whole group, the Sheila E & band, the Revolution (extended) the stuff that came with the Time, the Family, Mazarati

(just because Wendy & Lisa were not 'black') doesn't mean they weren't exposed to funk and soul music. Wendy said the first time she heard Prince was when she and Susannah went to some dance club back in the early 80s and she heard Soft n Wet. Of course they all probably shared various different artist/musicians with each other.

But the relationship shifted because of the personal level. (emotional) Prince has talked about it in a 1990 interview.

Well, it was almost 30 years ago. Prince made the call and everyone has moved on. Prince was creative before, with, and after the Revolution.

Would you prefer that Prince kept the Revolution together for his whole career? You don't think that members especially Wendy and Lisa would have eventually left on their own. It was a small window in their lives. Sometimes its better to keep it short and sweet.

lrn36 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Even Prince said in 1985 they were just touching on the creativity, when we look at the unreleased catalogue of music from 1984-1986 there is no way they were close to stale. I'm talking about the whole creative energy of that whole group, the Sheila E & band, the Revolution (extended) the stuff that came with the Time, the Family, Mazarati

(just because Wendy & Lisa were not 'black') doesn't mean they weren't exposed to funk and soul music. Wendy said the first time she heard Prince was when she and Susannah went to some dance club back in the early 80s and she heard Soft n Wet. Of course they all probably shared various different artist/musicians with each other.

But the relationship shifted because of the personal level. (emotional) Prince has talked about it in a 1990 interview.

Well, it was almost 30 years ago. Prince made the call and everyone has moved on. Prince was creative before, with, and after the Revolution.

Would you prefer that Prince kept the Revolution together for his whole career? You don't think that members especially Wendy and Lisa would have eventually left on their own. It was a small window in their lives. Sometimes its better to keep it short and sweet.

I would have liked to see the transition into the 1990s with the whole camp first

They had too much music created during the 1986 period alone,

So it seems most people at the time did not care that the Revolution disbanded. But as some posters here have pointed out, perhaps the internet has made it a bigger thing in some fans' minds in hindsight. Perhaps they really love that era pre-1988 or so, and don't like his direction since then, and fallaciously attribute this to the "genius" of the Revolution versus the "terrible" people he had around him since then. The internet allows all that venting and bonding with like-minded people, intensifying this belief. Internet also allows the p.o.v. of W&L and other ex-associates to spread, because traditional media wouldn't find them significant enough to give them a voice. But they can say whatever they want and however often via internet. And we really don't get Prince's p.o.v. because he doesn't broadcast everything about his life, especially personal things between people, which I find commendable.

I also have been miffed by the glorified place that the Revolution, and W&L and Jesse Johnson, etc. are given here (I mean, Jesse Johnson, really? wtf?). Oh, they introduced him to different kinds of music, like jazz, and electronic music, and classical; oh, they wrote his biggest hits; oh, she was his one true love... etc. etc. It's so weird. I mean, just the "different music" claim - what is "different music"? He was a black youth in a white area, so he grew up exposed to a wide variety of music. His parents were jazz musicians. You know that Prince listens to fado music. The guy has listened to and does listen to everything, he's an insatiable music freak. You mean he suddenly opened his mind to listening to "new" things when W&L urged him to?

I see all the threads in the Associated Artists forum, and I check it out out of curiosity and honestly the stuff they've done post-Prince is really .. not .. good (except the last O7 album was enjoyable, and AA's stuff is at least half written by Prince -yes, you know it's true- and is quite good, he's often given very strong songs to cute chicks to record instead of recording them himself).

Anyway, glad there's finally some voices here balancing out the Revolution worship.

I was happy when it disbanded because I didn't like Parade and I thought W&L were diluting his talent. So I was glad and of course SOTT was incredible and proved it was a good thing.

I never cared that much about Prince's band. I liked them but Prince is why Prince was great so when the band members got in the way, was glad to see them go.

FunkiestOne said:

I was happy when it disbanded because I didn't like Parade and I thought W&L were diluting his talent. So I was glad and of course SOTT was incredible and proved it was a good thing.

I never cared that much about Prince's band. I liked them but Prince is why Prince was great so when the band members got in the way, was glad to see them go.

It's funny that people will say W&L in a sense made Prince go the direction of ATWIAD & Parade, but will also say Prince is the one who is in charge and made most of the music. I just don't get how both of those can be. If Parade was the result of W&L so was Dream Factory (which the style of SOTT comes from )

artist76 said:

So it seems most people at the time did not care that the Revolution disbanded. But as some posters here have pointed out, perhaps the internet has made it a bigger thing in some fans' minds in hindsight. Perhaps they really love that era pre-1988 or so, and don't like his direction since then, and fallaciously attribute this to the "genius" of the Revolution versus the "terrible" people he had around him since then. The internet allows all that venting and bonding with like-minded people, intensifying this belief. Internet also allows the p.o.v. of W&L and other ex-associates to spread, because traditional media wouldn't find them significant enough to give them a voice. But they can say whatever they want and however often via internet. And we really don't get Prince's p.o.v. because he doesn't broadcast everything about his life, especially personal things between people, which I find commendable.

I also have been miffed by the glorified place that the Revolution, and W&L and Jesse Johnson, etc. are given here (I mean, Jesse Johnson, really? wtf?). Oh, they introduced him to different kinds of music, like jazz, and electronic music, and classical; oh, they wrote his biggest hits; oh, she was his one true love... etc. etc. It's so weird. I mean, just the "different music" claim - what is "different music"? He was a black youth in a white area, so he grew up exposed to a wide variety of music. His parents were jazz musicians. You know that Prince listens to fado music. The guy has listened to and does listen to everything, he's an insatiable music freak. You mean he suddenly opened his mind to listening to "new" things when W&L urged him to?

I see all the threads in the Associated Artists forum, and I check it out out of curiosity and honestly the stuff they've done post-Prince is really .. not .. good (except the last O7 album was enjoyable, and AA's stuff is at least half written by Prince -yes, you know it's true- and is quite good, he's often given very strong songs to cute chicks to record instead of recording them himself).

Anyway, glad there's finally some voices here balancing out the Revolution worship.

I think she did what credits said she did and Prince did what credits said he did. Andy is a songwriter in her own right, she already was before she met Prince. When it comes to credits LEGALLY given to others (i.e. copyrighted as such at ASCAP) we know Sheila didn't write anything but one track on Romance 1600 because witnesses told it to Per Nielsen. I don't believe Carmen Electra wrote a single line of her raps because of the situation with Good Judy Girlfriend and the fact that she never was a songwriter before or since. I am doubtful about the facts that that members of the NPG had any real songwriting unput in Gold Nigga and Exodus and it seems Uptown/Nielsen's research corroborates my opinion because they're not credited as songwriters on Princevault. Tamar has reportedly said that the credits Prince gave her were a "gift" so I can believe that. And I'm very skeptical about Bria's writing credits, notably because of the Kept Woman situation (though In Your Bed sounds a lot like the stuff on her album, therefore indicating she may have contributed to some of her songs' melodies and lyrics because there's a pattern here and it ain't Prince's). But when it comes to Andy I see no reason whatsoever to doubt her songwriting credits. If you have one that's based on any FACTS please let us know. If it's only a matter of opinion then let's go and say that Prince wrote every song on every album ever released on Paisley Park records while we're at it

OldFriends4Sale said:

lrn36 said:

Well, it was almost 30 years ago. Prince made the call and everyone has moved on. Prince was creative before, with, and after the Revolution.

Would you prefer that Prince kept the Revolution together for his whole career? You don't think that members especially Wendy and Lisa would have eventually left on their own. It was a small window in their lives. Sometimes its better to keep it short and sweet.

I would have liked to see the transition into the 1990s with the whole camp first

They had too much music created during the 1986 period alone,

Yeah, at least that. Personally, what I dislike about Prince was his inconsistency, and that he clashed with his band members and proteges. There is nothing wrong with change, but it just seems to me the timing was off.

...and just this year, I was wondering who in the world is 3rd eye girl

Beautifulstarr123 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I would have liked to see the transition into the 1990s with the whole camp first

They had too much music created during the 1986 period alone,

Yeah, at least that. Personally, what I dislike about Prince was his inconsistency, and that he clashed with his band members and proteges. There is nothing wrong with change, but it just seems to me the timing was off.

...and just this year, I was wondering who in the world is 3rd eye girl

I think the difference with the 1980-1989 camp and those after, is that a LOT of the people had a more intimate/personal relationship with Prince, these are people who also were there overall before the 'Purple Rain' many before he was a major star

The fall out with Sheila E even the disagreement of the direction of the next album, and why moving her out of drumming so soon...

OldFriends4Sale said:

lrn36 said:

Well, it was almost 30 years ago. Prince made the call and everyone has moved on. Prince was creative before, with, and after the Revolution.

Would you prefer that Prince kept the Revolution together for his whole career? You don't think that members especially Wendy and Lisa would have eventually left on their own. It was a small window in their lives. Sometimes its better to keep it short and sweet.

I would have liked to see the transition into the 1990s with the whole camp first

They had too much music created during the 1986 period alone,

If Prince kept the Revolution together that long, what makes you think it would have turned out great? A lot of those songs written in that period would have been rewritten and rerecorded with an updated sound. Take a listen to the massive difference between the original Tick Tick Bang and the one released on Graffiti Bridge. All those outtakes you love more than likely wouldn't have sounded the same on any album released. Wendy and Lisa either would have went with the flow or bowed out.

The problem wasn't with Prince or the Revolution. By the late 80s and early 90s, music had changed drastically. Hip Hop, alternative rock, and house dominated the charts. Prince was struggling to maintain his relevance and career in this new landscape. I don't think holding on to his older bands or associates would have changed that.

lrn36 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I would have liked to see the transition into the 1990s with the whole camp first

They had too much music created during the 1986 period alone,

If Prince kept the Revolution together that long, what makes you think it would have turned out great? A lot of those songs written in that period would have been rewritten and rerecorded with an updated sound. Take a listen to the massive difference between the original Tick Tick Bang and the one released on Graffiti Bridge. All those outtakes you love more than likely wouldn't have sounded the same on any album released. Wendy and Lisa either would have went with the flow or bowed out.

The problem wasn't with Prince or the Revolution. By the late 80s and early 90s, music had changed drastically. Hip Hop, alternative rock, and house dominated the charts. Prince was struggling to maintain his relevance and career in this new landscape. I don't think holding on to his older bands or associates would have changed that.

I didn't say It would or would, I just said I would have liked to see what a transition into the 1990s with the whole scene the Revolution / Sheila E (maybe even Mazarati) would have been like.

.

I didn't say that all the songs would have been used. I said that during that 1986 period, with the most extensive amount of music, I could easily see them doing about 3-4 more albums easily. You said he got all he could out of them. I disagree. especially since most of the best songs on GB came from the 1986 period.

.

I wonder what the change would be like, would Prince have felt the need to try to 'keep up with the scene' which is where I think he sorta lost some of himself. After that crew of people left Prince became secluded into himself.

I was 10 when the album 1999 came out, so when the Revolution disbanded I was still only about 14-15? Didn't matter much then, except for that I was excited for the new Wendy & Lisa album. I remembered a LOT of their material sounded like Prince (or vice-versa?) in their first few albums.

.

We'll never know how much of a back catalog they all created, or whether certain songs (like children) were divvied up in the "divorce". I can easily see Prince singing Waterfall or This Is The Life.

Like THIS: with Sometimes It Snows In April playing in the background.

But I was happy to see The Lovesexy Band & The original New Power Generation later on. But even in 2013, I'm still disappointed that we will never see a true Prince & The Revolution reunion in our lifetime.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Yeah, at least that. Personally, what I dislike about Prince was his inconsistency, and that he clashed with his band members and proteges. There is nothing wrong with change, but it just seems to me the timing was off.

...and just this year, I was wondering who in the world is 3rd eye girl

I think the difference with the 1980-1989 camp and those after, is that a LOT of the people had a more intimate/personal relationship with Prince, these are people who also were there overall before the 'Purple Rain' many before he was a major star

The fall out with Sheila E even the disagreement of the direction of the next album, and why moving her out of drumming so soon...

Wait a minute! Hold up!!!! Prince and Shelia E used to have fallouts? Please OldFriend, say it ain't so!

And proof please.

FunkiestOne said:

Vannormal said:

FunkiestOne said:

I was happy when it disbanded because I didn't like Parade and I thought W&L were diluting his talent. So I was glad and of course SOTT was incredible and proved it was a good thing.

I never cared that much about Prince's band. I liked them but Prince is why Prince was great so when the band members got in the way, was glad to see them go.

Sorry but what you state here... this sounds pretty much contradictory. Sign O The Times has The Revolution input and spirit all over it. [Edited 11/3/13 1:56am]

Where?

databank said:

artist76 said:

So it seems most people at the time did not care that the Revolution disbanded. But as some posters here have pointed out, perhaps the internet has made it a bigger thing in some fans' minds in hindsight. Perhaps they really love that era pre-1988 or so, and don't like his direction since then, and fallaciously attribute this to the "genius" of the Revolution versus the "terrible" people he had around him since then. The internet allows all that venting and bonding with like-minded people, intensifying this belief. Internet also allows the p.o.v. of W&L and other ex-associates to spread, because traditional media wouldn't find them significant enough to give them a voice. But they can say whatever they want and however often via internet. And we really don't get Prince's p.o.v. because he doesn't broadcast everything about his life, especially personal things between people, which I find commendable.

I also have been miffed by the glorified place that the Revolution, and W&L and Jesse Johnson, etc. are given here (I mean, Jesse Johnson, really? wtf?). Oh, they introduced him to different kinds of music, like jazz, and electronic music, and classical; oh, they wrote his biggest hits; oh, she was his one true love... etc. etc. It's so weird. I mean, just the "different music" claim - what is "different music"? He was a black youth in a white area, so he grew up exposed to a wide variety of music. His parents were jazz musicians. You know that Prince listens to fado music. The guy has listened to and does listen to everything, he's an insatiable music freak. You mean he suddenly opened his mind to listening to "new" things when W&L urged him to?

I see all the threads in the Associated Artists forum, and I check it out out of curiosity and honestly the stuff they've done post-Prince is really .. not .. good (except the last O7 album was enjoyable, and AA's stuff is at least half written by Prince -yes, you know it's true- and is quite good, he's often given very strong songs to cute chicks to record instead of recording them himself).

Anyway, glad there's finally some voices here balancing out the Revolution worship.

I think she did what credits said she did and Prince did what credits said he did. Andy is a songwriter in her own right, she already was before she met Prince. When it comes to credits LEGALLY given to others (i.e. copyrighted as such at ASCAP) we know Sheila didn't write anything but one track on Romance 1600 because witnesses told it to Per Nielsen. I don't believe Carmen Electra wrote a single line of her raps because of the situation with Good Judy Girlfriend and the fact that she never was a songwriter before or since. I am doubtful about the facts that that members of the NPG had any real songwriting unput in Gold Nigga and Exodus and it seems Uptown/Nielsen's research corroborates my opinion because they're not credited as songwriters on Princevault. Tamar has reportedly said that the credits Prince gave her were a "gift" so I can believe that. And I'm very skeptical about Bria's writing credits, notably because of the Kept Woman situation (though In Your Bed sounds a lot like the stuff on her album, therefore indicating she may have contributed to some of her songs' melodies and lyrics because there's a pattern here and it ain't Prince's). But when it comes to Andy I see no reason whatsoever to doubt her songwriting credits. If you have one that's based on any FACTS please let us know. If it's only a matter of opinion then let's go and say that Prince wrote every song on every album ever released on Paisley Park records while we're at it

I would suggest that while there are no FACTS that prove Prince wrote more than credited on Andy's album, there are also no FACTS that prove that he did not.

As you've pointed out, it is his M.O. to do such a thing...

paulludvig said:

Vannormal said:

FunkiestOne said: Sorry but what you state here... this sounds pretty much contradictory. Sign O The Times has The Revolution input and spirit all over it. [Edited 11/3/13 1:56am]

Where?

To my understanding, there was The Revolution's imput on the album, even though they have disbanded.

TonyVanDam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I think the difference with the 1980-1989 camp and those after, is that a LOT of the people had a more intimate/personal relationship with Prince, these are people who also were there overall before the 'Purple Rain' many before he was a major star

The fall out with Sheila E even the disagreement of the direction of the next album, and why moving her out of drumming so soon...

Wait a minute! Hold up!!!! Prince and Shelia E used to have fallouts? Please OldFriend, say it ain't so!

And proof please.

It wouldn't surprise me. Prince does not appear to be the easiest person to deal with.

databank said:

artist76 said:

So it seems most people at the time did not care that the Revolution disbanded. But as some posters here have pointed out, perhaps the internet has made it a bigger thing in some fans' minds in hindsight. Perhaps they really love that era pre-1988 or so, and don't like his direction since then, and fallaciously attribute this to the "genius" of the Revolution versus the "terrible" people he had around him since then. The internet allows all that venting and bonding with like-minded people, intensifying this belief. Internet also allows the p.o.v. of W&L and other ex-associates to spread, because traditional media wouldn't find them significant enough to give them a voice. But they can say whatever they want and however often via internet. And we really don't get Prince's p.o.v. because he doesn't broadcast everything about his life, especially personal things between people, which I find commendable.

I also have been miffed by the glorified place that the Revolution, and W&L and Jesse Johnson, etc. are given here (I mean, Jesse Johnson, really? wtf?). Oh, they introduced him to different kinds of music, like jazz, and electronic music, and classical; oh, they wrote his biggest hits; oh, she was his one true love... etc. etc. It's so weird. I mean, just the "different music" claim - what is "different music"? He was a black youth in a white area, so he grew up exposed to a wide variety of music. His parents were jazz musicians. You know that Prince listens to fado music. The guy has listened to and does listen to everything, he's an insatiable music freak. You mean he suddenly opened his mind to listening to "new" things when W&L urged him to?

I see all the threads in the Associated Artists forum, and I check it out out of curiosity and honestly the stuff they've done post-Prince is really .. not .. good (except the last O7 album was enjoyable, and AA's stuff is at least half written by Prince -yes, you know it's true- and is quite good, he's often given very strong songs to cute chicks to record instead of recording them himself).

Anyway, glad there's finally some voices here balancing out the Revolution worship.

I think she did what credits said she did and Prince did what credits said he did. Andy is a songwriter in her own right, she already was before she met Prince. When it comes to credits LEGALLY given to others (i.e. copyrighted as such at ASCAP) we know Sheila didn't write anything but one track on Romance 1600 because witnesses told it to Per Nielsen. I don't believe Carmen Electra wrote a single line of her raps because of the situation with Good Judy Girlfriend and the fact that she never was a songwriter before or since. I am doubtful about the facts that that members of the NPG had any real songwriting unput in Gold Nigga and Exodus and it seems Uptown/Nielsen's research corroborates my opinion because they're not credited as songwriters on Princevault. Tamar has reportedly said that the credits Prince gave her were a "gift" so I can believe that. And I'm very skeptical about Bria's writing credits, notably because of the Kept Woman situation (though In Your Bed sounds a lot like the stuff on her album, therefore indicating she may have contributed to some of her songs' melodies and lyrics because there's a pattern here and it ain't Prince's). But when it comes to Andy I see no reason whatsoever to doubt her songwriting credits. If you have one that's based on any FACTS please let us know. If it's only a matter of opinion then let's go and say that Prince wrote every song on every album ever released on Paisley Park records while we're at it

..and hell, she can't even act, but that's a whole different topic

djThunderfunk said:

databank said:

I think she did what credits said she did and Prince did what credits said he did. Andy is a songwriter in her own right, she already was before she met Prince. When it comes to credits LEGALLY given to others (i.e. copyrighted as such at ASCAP) we know Sheila didn't write anything but one track on Romance 1600 because witnesses told it to Per Nielsen. I don't believe Carmen Electra wrote a single line of her raps because of the situation with Good Judy Girlfriend and the fact that she never was a songwriter before or since. I am doubtful about the facts that that members of the NPG had any real songwriting unput in Gold Nigga and Exodus and it seems Uptown/Nielsen's research corroborates my opinion because they're not credited as songwriters on Princevault. Tamar has reportedly said that the credits Prince gave her were a "gift" so I can believe that. And I'm very skeptical about Bria's writing credits, notably because of the Kept Woman situation (though In Your Bed sounds a lot like the stuff on her album, therefore indicating she may have contributed to some of her songs' melodies and lyrics because there's a pattern here and it ain't Prince's). But when it comes to Andy I see no reason whatsoever to doubt her songwriting credits. If you have one that's based on any FACTS please let us know. If it's only a matter of opinion then let's go and say that Prince wrote every song on every album ever released on Paisley Park records while we're at it

I would suggest that while there are no FACTS that prove Prince wrote more than credited on Andy's album, there are also no FACTS that prove that he did not.

As you've pointed out, it is his M.O. to do such a thing...

We can't work like that, u know we can't. Per Nielsen and Uptown didn't work like that. It ain't scientific

I didn't care for it at all.

It was the "Batman" era when it became obvious that the man's music was clearly not up to par anymore.

databank said:

djThunderfunk said:

I would suggest that while there are no FACTS that prove Prince wrote more than credited on Andy's album, there are also no FACTS that prove that he did not.

As you've pointed out, it is his M.O. to do such a thing...

We can't work like that, u know we can't. Per Nielsen and Uptown didn't work like that. It ain't scientific

Here's how I see it.

We don't know. We don't know if he did more than credited or if he did only what was credited.

We do know that MANY times throughout his career the credits have been inaccurate.

We do know that Andy is talented in her own right.

.

Therefore, it would seem that arguing that he did more than was credited or arguing that he did only what is credited is rather silly.

Based on what we do know, it is fair to believe either possibility but it's ridiculous to argue either possibility.

.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

djThunderfunk said:

databank said:

We can't work like that, u know we can't. Per Nielsen and Uptown didn't work like that. It ain't scientific

Here's how I see it.

We don't know. We don't know if he did more than credited or if he did only what was credited.

We do know that MANY times throughout his career the credits have been inaccurate.

We do know that Andy is talented in her own right.

.

Therefore, it would seem that arguing that he did more than was credited or arguing that he did only what is credited is rather silly.

Based on what we do know, it is fair to believe either possibility but it's ridiculous to argue either possibility.

.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

Nope, we don't know. But I suspect he was involved enough in how they turned out that he could have taken a writer's credit or a producer's credit. If he and Andy wanted him to have it.

Even if his work was more limited--if he's just acting as the primary musician on most of the tracks, as Princevault assumes--well, it's good work. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he was more involved in the writing... but I like the album either way.

OldFriends4Sale said:

lrn36 said:

If Prince kept the Revolution together that long, what makes you think it would have turned out great? A lot of those songs written in that period would have been rewritten and rerecorded with an updated sound. Take a listen to the massive difference between the original Tick Tick Bang and the one released on Graffiti Bridge. All those outtakes you love more than likely wouldn't have sounded the same on any album released. Wendy and Lisa either would have went with the flow or bowed out.

The problem wasn't with Prince or the Revolution. By the late 80s and early 90s, music had changed drastically. Hip Hop, alternative rock, and house dominated the charts. Prince was struggling to maintain his relevance and career in this new landscape. I don't think holding on to his older bands or associates would have changed that.

I didn't say It would or would, I just said I would have liked to see what a transition into the 1990s with the whole scene the Revolution / Sheila E (maybe even Mazarati) would have been like.

.

I didn't say that all the songs would have been used. I said that during that 1986 period, with the most extensive amount of music, I could easily see them doing about 3-4 more albums easily. You said he got all he could out of them. I disagree. especially since most of the best songs on GB came from the 1986 period.

.

I wonder what the change would be like, would Prince have felt the need to try to 'keep up with the scene' which is where I think he sorta lost some of himself. After that crew of people left Prince became secluded into himself.

I think Prince collaborated more with the NPG than he ever did with the Revolution. Whether that is a good or bad thing, is matter of opinion. I definitely wouldn't say Prince became secluded into himself after the Revolution.

The thing about the Revolution is that they just weren't that great live.

...

Wendy and Lisa probably added to Prince's songwriting in certain ways, but the band as a whole, at that time, were just playing synthetic, by the book, stiff and wrote for wrote the things that Prince just usually did with over-dubs and multi-tracking. So much of that live recorded material from back then sounds less like a real, organic band and more like sequenced pre-programed "trax", if that makes sense.

...

The 90's NPG, the ONA band and most certainly the Musicolgy group brought a lot more to the table live and more organically than the Revolution did. That may have had more to do with Prince allowing them to actually play than anythig related to their talent level, but I'll take Mike Bland, John Blackwell, Sheila E, Maceo Parker, Mike Scott and Renato over Bobby Z, Dr. Fink and the like any day.

herb4 said:

The thing about the Revolution is that they just weren't that great live.

...

Wendy and Lisa probably added to Prince's songwriting in certain ways, but the band as a whole, at that time, were just playing synthetic, by the book, stiff and wrote for wrote the things that Prince just usually did with over-dubs and multi-tracking. So much of that live recorded material from back then sounds less like a real, organic band and more like sequenced pre-programed "trax", if that makes sense.

...

The 90's NPG, the ONA band and most certainly the Musicolgy group brought a lot more to the table live and more organically than the Revolution did. That may have had more to do with Prince allowing them to actually play than anythig related to their talent level, but I'll take Mike Bland, John Blackwell, Sheila E, Maceo Parker, Mike Scott and Renato over Bobby Z, Dr. Fink and the like any day.

The 1999/PR shows not about the band, but about what sound Prince wanted.

But they definately sounded beautiful on many rehearsals like Feline(PR & Parade versions) Screams of Passion, Desire, Let's Go Crazy, Computer Blue ...

.

The Parade shows were way different, organic fresh wide use of instrumentations.

.

If you ever hear more of the 'impromptu' shows like 1st Avenue Dance Benefit 1983, 1st Avenue 3.8.1982 where he previewed ATCLUINY and the Time performed. There wasn't the programing and it was more freeflowing and organic. The band was definately good. But they still had to do it the way Prince wanted it.

I was eleven and devastated. The girl crush I had on Wendy was painful...I couldn't believe she and Lisa were ousted. Especially since, even at that age, I could feel how important the two of them were to his sound. Didn't really know about their musical influence on him (know now), but their backup vocals were so lush and specific and instrumental to his music. Forget PR...The Parade album? Can you imagine I Wonder U and New Position and Sometimes in Snows in April without them? I'm still hurt over it.