SPYZFAN1 said:

Since it was brought up, I've always tried to figure out who was the "well known rock star" that P was riding around with......."All he did was play me his music"...I wonder if it was Miles or George Clinton? (Rolling Stone 1985 Neal Karlen interview).

Couldn't be Miles, he isn't a rock star, and Prince never met him until December 1985 briefly. I believe the next time after that was at a dinner party in March 1987 @ Prince's house

TLM: Can you describe the first time they met?

Alan Leeds: To my knowledge, it was at Los Angeles airport and according to my diaries it was December 7 1985. I was with Prince and we had been in San Francisco and were flying back to LA. We got off the plane and were walking to baggage airside and towards where Prince's driver was waiting. And as we were walking through baggage claim I spotted Miles Davis and I poked Prince in the ribs and pointed. I introduced myself and it ended up with Prince getting into Miles's car, which was parked a little in front of his. I didn't get in with him and they sat and chatted for twenty minutes or so and swapped phone numbers.

Prior to this, Miles had signed with Warner Bros and I'm sure there had been some conversation with Warner executives about the possibility of him doing something with Miles. We knew Miles had aspirations beyond the jazz category, and so it was a no-brainer to think 'We've got Miles and Prince under one roof, let's get them together.'

Hard to image it being George either. I don't think he would be described as a well known rock star at that time either.

I'll have to scan through my 1984/85 stuff to see who it could be...

That would be cool O.F.....because even reading it back then, I just couldn't visualize P crusing in the passenger's seat listening to someone else's work.

[img:$uid]http://i67.tinypic.com/m97ebq.jpg[/img:$uid]

movie was unwatchable. Parade was a masterpiece, especially Mountains

Days like this always make me go back and listen to this :

https://www.mixcloud.com/XFM/25-4-parade-april/

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

jdcxc said:

dodger said:

jdcxc said:

Mountains is my least favorite song on the brilliant album. #1. Anotherloverholenyohead #2. New Position #3. Kiss #4. Under the Cherry Moon #5. Do U Lie? #6. Sometimes it Snows in April #7. Girls and Boys #8. Life Can Be So Nice

Same for me, Mountains and Life Can Be So Nice are my least favourites. I see Mountains get a lot of love on here but it just does nothing for me.

The extended version of "Mountains" is arguably 's top extended remix..

Love Mountains and Life can be so Nice.

Adorecream said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

oooohh boy

It is a good question, because a lot of Parade was a Prince one man job. The first four ytracks were all recorded in one go at Sunset sound in April 1985, Kiss was modified from the Mazarati version and really Lisa provided some piano parts with Wendy contributing a few guitar lines, most of Parade was Prince. Yes W and L added effects and pieces and bought the music to life on stage with Prince, but only the Venus De Milo and Alexa de Paris have much W and L input. If anything there is a lot more Wendynlisa on the Dream Factory and Crystal Ball. (Not so much SOTT, as Prince removed a lot of W/L material off the finished mixes like Strange Relationship).

.

As much as I love WendynLisa, Parade to me is a PRINCE album and he extended it to the Revolution as a courtesy. Even Kiss started life as a Prince track. There are plenty of horn lines which are Eric and Matt though and of course the Clare Fischer scoring through it and the music on UTCM.

Nonsense. The inner sleeve posted by OldFriends4Sale clearly shows that it's the only Prince album that ever got so many external collaborators, and I don't mean just the orchestra players.

I took 3 Davids and one Susan to record and mix it alone!

The Linn is almost invisible, we have accordion, acoustic guitars, clarinets solos, and finally a horn section instead of synth stabs. Not a single distorded guitar sound.

"Though" and "of course" show your own contradictions. And you also forgot Sheila E.
And the Melvoin and Coleman brothers.

It's the most collaborative Prince project ever.
And boy was he under the influence of Wendy and Lisa, Joni and Kate Bush.
Not to mention the European clichés in general (elegance, culture, jazz...).

It would be fair to say that it's not only european, it's french,
like no other pop album from an artist this stature.

"Venus de Milo" is a statue found in The Louvre, the accordion as the ultimate cliché, the rap from Girls & Boys, the steps of Versailles, a piano as the lead instrument, and the elegance of it all.

Parade is like a perfect work of Haute Couture. This is pop music bringing back the Beatles risk-taking, and the big fat orchestra back in the studio. That was a great deal during the Reagan Years, and has remained so. Every little detail on the record spells out craft, subtleness and beauty.

It's a fucking big musical statement. Having a number one with a song that sounds dryer than Sex Machine, in an era where snares sounded like garage doors being slammed, and reverbs drowned everything and lasted for seconds, that's a true achievement.

Like I said in an infamous post, MJ may have gotten the biggest commercial cross-over with Thriller, but Parade's artistic cross-over is a musical legacy way more important than Toto playing some Rod Temperton shit with Mike dropping his signature mouth and breath noises all over.

Parade's influence changed the pop landscape for ever.

"Not a single distorted guitar sound"...."The Linn is almost invisibile"...."He was under the influence of Wendy and Lisa, Joni and Kate Bush"....."Beatles risk-taking and the big fat orchestra".."a piano as a lead instrument".."horn section instead of synth stabs"............................THIS 100%!!!!!! ...."Parade" sounded so different compared to what was being played on R&B radio in 1986...I even thought back then that the R&B groups were recycling the "1999/P.R" sound (drum machines/overblown synths/chorusy-distorted electric guitar solos/reverb synth bass)...The "Parade" record went in the opposite direction and (to me) that's why it stood out....bonatoc hit the nail on the head.

"Not a distored guitar sound"... Let me rephrase.

As Prince himself revealed during the 3121 era, the bizarro synth sound of Anotherloverholenyohead is not actually played on a synth, but a guitar.

It's the City Cousin of the Shortberry Strawcake guitar sound, and comes out probably of the Roland G-707 (the MIDI guitar Wendy sported during the Hit'n'Run Tour: it can be seen in the "Girls & Boys" video or, of course, the Detroit ’86 show).

It definitely sounds like a monophonic synth sound triggered by a guitar, going through a phaser/chorus of some kind to make it sound like a guitar. Probably another David Z. production trick.
C'est brilliant.

And don't start me on the Anotherloverholenyohead drum pattern, its mixing, the Clare Fischer's Hallucinations Strings bridge and the way it resolves into the chorus, the vocal intertwinings during the whole second verse, Prince's vocal performance.


Parade is one of the best pop albums in history, not only in Prince's career.

It kind of bogs me to think that he never sounded/looked so happy in the studio, on stage, as when he was opening to a maximum of people giving their contribution, and, most of all, when he listened to them, and was willing to incorporate any valid musical idea into his works, not matter the origin.

In terms of album cohesion, Sign 'O' The Times is an odd compilation (and is in fact a compilation and not the intended album) when compared to Parade. Lovesexy tried to fix that, and maybe went over the top with too much visual provocation for its own sake.


Prince is a concept album artist. Since 1980®.
This is true: the only bad albums from Prince are the ones where there's no concept, or the concept is too Koo-koo.


I'm gonna have myself the Greatest Sequence That's Ever Been Unreleased, the original one, starting with "There's Others Here With Us", "Old Friends 4 Sale" seguing into "All My Dreams", "Heaven", "Teacher Teacher" and "In A Large Room With No Light".

—...and for those who love him the most, we're gonna sing a Happy Biiiiirthdaaaaay.... Ready?

Wendy Melvoin, Guitarist
June 7th 1986, Detroit U.S.A., Earth, Milky Way.

[Edited 4/3/16 11:12am]

bonatoc said:

paulludvig said:

They problem with all of this is that we don't actually know who did what. And to your statement that this is a French album. It was a soundtrack to a movie set in France... I stand by my statement that Parade is first and foremost a synthesis of Prince's minimalism and Fischer's lush orchestration. The other Players are of lesser importance. [Edited 4/3/16 12:54pm]

They problem with all of this is that we don't actually know who did what.
Well, a lot of live studio takes. That tells you something. The whole album is almost live takes or jams.
I know the guys does overdubs, but come on.
Who plays the drums on LCBSN?

The other Players are of lesser importance.
Not on an album that relies so heavily on arrangements and production.

Synthesis of Prince's minimalism?
CTP, Life Can Be So Nice, Venus De Milon Mountains, Do U Lie and Anotherloverholenyohead are not exactly examples of minimalism.

If you refer to Kiss, it's essentially David Z. we have to thank for, given what the original version was.
Moreover, Parade without Wendy, Susannah, Sheila and Lisa on the background vocals?

You're saying that Parade could have been played by the NPG?

And yes, it has France all over the place. Starting with the crowd at the intro of "I Wonder U".
The movie is just imagery for the album, not the other way around, despite Skipper's intentions.

These two reviews are perfect:

Pop Matters:
http://www.popmatters.com...r-parade/

Uproxx:
http://uproxx.com/music/p...niversary/

bonatoc said:

paulludvig said:

bonatoc said:

"Not a distored guitar sound"... Let me rephrase.

As Prince himself revealed during the 3121 era, the bizarro synth sound of Anotherloverholenyohead is not actually played on a synth, but a guitar.

It's the City Cousin of the Shortberry Strawcake guitar sound, and comes out probably of the Roland G-707 (the MIDI guitar Wendy sported during the Hit'n'Run Tour: it can be seen in the "Girls & Boys" video or, of course, the Detroit ’86 show).

It definitely sounds like a monophonic synth sound triggered by a guitar, going through a phaser/chorus of some kind to make it sound like a guitar. Probably another David Z. production trick.
C'est brilliant.

And don't start me on the Anotherloverholenyohead drum pattern, its mixing, the Clare Fischer's Hallucinations Strings bridge and the way it resolves into the chorus, the vocal intertwinings during the whole second verse, Prince's vocal performance.


Parade is one of the best pop albums in history, not only in Prince's career.

It kind of bogs me to think that he never sounded/looked so happy in the studio, on stage, as when he was opening to a maximum of people giving their contribution, and, most of all, when he listened to them, and was willing to incorporate any valid musical idea into his works, not matter the origin.

In terms of album cohesion, Sign 'O' The Times is an odd compilation (and is in fact a compilation and not the intended album) when compared to Parade. Lovesexy tried to fix that, and maybe went over the top with too much visual provocation for its own sake.


Prince is a concept album artist. Since 1980®.
This is true: the only bad albums from Prince are the ones where there's no concept, or the concept is too Koo-koo.


I'm gonna have myself the Greatest Sequence That's Ever Been Unreleased, the original one, starting with "There's Others Here With Us", "Old Friends 4 Sale" seguing into "All My Dreams", "Heaven", "Teacher Teacher" and "In A Large Room With No Light".

[Edited 4/3/16 11:12am]

They problem with all of this is that we don't actually know who did what. And to your statement that this is a French album. It was a soundtrack to a movie set in France... I stand by my statement that Parade is first and foremost a synthesis of Prince's minimalism and Fischer's lush orchestration. The other Players are of lesser importance. [Edited 4/3/16 12:54pm]

U should just stop lol

You don't like Wendy & Lisa and don't think Pince collaborated with anyone back then.

He never even met with Clare Fischer. And he was connected to him via Susannah Melvoin and Wendy, a friend of the family.

OldFriends4Sale said:

paulludvig said:

bonatoc said: They problem with all of this is that we don't actually know who did what. And to your statement that this is a French album. It was a soundtrack to a movie set in France... I stand by my statement that Parade is first and foremost a synthesis of Prince's minimalism and Fischer's lush orchestration. The other Players are of lesser importance. [Edited 4/3/16 12:54pm]

U should just stop lol

You don't like Wendy & Lisa and don't think Pince collaborated with anyone back then.

He never even met with Clare Fischer. And he was connected to him via Susannah Melvoin and Wendy, a friend of the family.

I do think he collaborated, but not as much as some people think.

paulludvig said:

bonatoc said:

They problem with all of this is that we don't actually know who did what.
Well, a lot of live studio takes. That tells you something. The whole album is almost live takes or jams.
I know the guys does overdubs, but come on.
Who plays the drums on LCBSN?

The other Players are of lesser importance.
Not on an album that relies so heavily on arrangements and production.

Synthesis of Prince's minimalism?
CTP, Life Can Be So Nice, Venus De Milon Mountains, Do U Lie and Anotherloverholenyohead are not exactly examples of minimalism.

If you refer to Kiss, it's essentially David Z. we have to thank for, given what the original version was.
Moreover, Parade without Wendy, Susannah, Sheila and Lisa on the background vocals?

You're saying that Parade could have been played by the NPG?

And yes, it has France all over the place. Starting with the crowd at the intro of "I Wonder U".
The movie is just imagery for the album, not the other way around, despite Skipper's intentions.

Where did you get the idea that the album is almost all live takes and jams? When talking about minimalism I refer to the first 4 songs on the album. The backing vocals are important,I agree. Prince showed he could replicate this sound with other singers on Planet Earth. And W&L struggled to get it right on rehearsals of Anotherloverholenyohead. [Edited 4/3/16 13:36pm]

Christophe Tracy's Parade is anything but minimal.

So what they stuggled during a rehearsal to get the part right on Anotheloverholenyouhead
Susannah didn't.

OldFriends4Sale said:

paulludvig said:

bonatoc said: Where did you get the idea that the album is almost all live takes and jams? When talking about minimalism I refer to the first 4 songs on the album. The backing vocals are important,I agree. Prince showed he could replicate this sound with other singers on Planet Earth. And W&L struggled to get it right on rehearsals of Anotherloverholenyohead. [Edited 4/3/16 13:36pm]

Christophe Tracy's Parade is anything but minimal.

So what they stuggled during a rehearsal to get the part right on Anotheloverholenyouhead
Susannah didn't.

The core of the song is.

She did if If she sings on the same rehearsal I'm talkning about.

bonatoc said:

Adorecream said:

It is a good question, because a lot of Parade was a Prince one man job. The first four ytracks were all recorded in one go at Sunset sound in April 1985, Kiss was modified from the Mazarati version and really Lisa provided some piano parts with Wendy contributing a few guitar lines, most of Parade was Prince. Yes W and L added effects and pieces and bought the music to life on stage with Prince, but only the Venus De Milo and Alexa de Paris have much W and L input. If anything there is a lot more Wendynlisa on the Dream Factory and Crystal Ball. (Not so much SOTT, as Prince removed a lot of W/L material off the finished mixes like Strange Relationship).

.

As much as I love WendynLisa, Parade to me is a PRINCE album and he extended it to the Revolution as a courtesy. Even Kiss started life as a Prince track. There are plenty of horn lines which are Eric and Matt though and of course the Clare Fischer scoring through it and the music on UTCM.

Nonsense. The inner sleeve posted by OldFriends4Sale clearly shows that it's the only Prince album that ever got so many external collaborators, and I don't mean just the orchestra players.

I took 3 Davids and one Susan to record and mix it alone!

The Linn is almost invisible, we have accordion, acoustic guitars, clarinets solos, and finally a horn section instead of synth stabs. Not a single distorded guitar sound.

"Though" and "of course" show your own contradictions. And you also forgot Sheila E.
And the Melvoin and Coleman brothers.

It's the most collaborative Prince project ever.
And boy was he under the influence of Wendy and Lisa, Joni and Kate Bush.
Not to mention the European clichés in general (elegance, culture, jazz...).

It would be fair to say that it's not only european, it's french,
like no other pop album from an artist this stature.

"Venus de Milo" is a statue found in The Louvre, the accordion as the ultimate cliché, the rap from Girls & Boys, the steps of Versailles, a piano as the lead instrument, and the elegance of it all.

Parade is like a perfect work of Haute Couture. This is pop music bringing back the Beatles risk-taking, and the big fat orchestra back in the studio. That was a great deal during the Reagan Years, and has remained so. Every little detail on the record spells out craft, subtleness and beauty.

It's a fucking big musical statement. Having a number one with a song that sounds dryer than Sex Machine, in an era where snares sounded like garage doors being slammed, and reverbs drowned everything and lasted for seconds, that's a true achievement.

Like I said in an infamous post, MJ may have gotten the biggest commercial cross-over with Thriller, but Parade's artistic cross-over is a musical legacy way more important than Toto playing some Rod Temperton shit with Mike dropping his signature mouth and breath noises all over.

Parade's influence changed the pop landscape for ever.

Love this post, you express your enthusiasm wonderfully.

I was listening 2 Joni Mitchell's from (Court & Spark) and you can hear Parade all over this track.

paulludvig said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

U should just stop lol

You don't like Wendy & Lisa and don't think Pince collaborated with anyone back then.

He never even met with Clare Fischer. And he was connected to him via Susannah Melvoin and Wendy, a friend of the family.

I do think he collaborated, but not as much as some people think.

Or is it that you don't want it to be as much as some people say?
I posted quotes from Susan Rogers, Dr Fink, I have from Eric & Allan Leeds and even Prince and you won't be satisfied. It was 1986, I don't know if you are going to get more to be satisfied.

Prince rented a studio in France and gave Wendy & Lisa the key to work on the Parade & Dream Factory music. Prince Revolution members etc continued to jam together, create music or just Prince etc

paulludvig said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Christophe Tracy's Parade is anything but minimal.

So what they stuggled during a rehearsal to get the part right on Anotheloverholenyouhead
Susannah didn't.

The core of the song is.

She did if If she sings on the same rehearsal I'm talkning about.

I mean Susannah didn't struggle @ that particular rehearsal.

bonatoc said:

I really like Parade, but I think I like it less than a lot of Prince aficionados.

.

For me, it's below Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, and Sign o' The Times. That's not to say it's not great.

.

I think the sonic pallette on Parade is just about the broadest of Prince's career and there's a lot of new stuff happening, which is fabulous. It's a really unique mixture of Euro and American-funk aesthetics -- two things which seemingly should not work together, but Prince makes them work (mostly).

.

I dunno, for me maybe the record is a little bit lacking in 'soul', and there are a few disposable compositions. Songs like 'New Position', 'I Wonder U', 'Life Can Be So Nice', and 'Do You Lie' aren't really to my taste as songs, regardless of their musical strengths and innovations.

.

Still a work of inspired genius, though.

My favorite Prince record is the Under the Cherry Moon soundtrack! I listened to the record for four years straight…just about everyday. I think musically it’s still superior to anything I’ve ever heard—from the vocals to the music. Sonically, I haven’t heard anything quite like it. I play the album from top to bottom. I consider it a mAsTeRpIeCe.

Jill Scott 2015

PHOTO FROM GETTY iMAGES

Thank God for Parade! It's undoubtedly my favorite Prince record - only wish it included the extended version of Alexis De Paris. Everything about this album (and the B-sides & extended versions) is perfect.

jdcxc said:

bonatoc said:

Nonsense. The inner sleeve posted by OldFriends4Sale clearly shows that it's the only Prince album that ever got so many external collaborators, and I don't mean just the orchestra players.

I took 3 Davids and one Susan to record and mix it alone!

The Linn is almost invisible, we have accordion, acoustic guitars, clarinets solos, and finally a horn section instead of synth stabs. Not a single distorded guitar sound.

"Though" and "of course" show your own contradictions. And you also forgot Sheila E.
And the Melvoin and Coleman brothers.

It's the most collaborative Prince project ever.
And boy was he under the influence of Wendy and Lisa, Joni and Kate Bush.
Not to mention the European clichés in general (elegance, culture, jazz...).

It would be fair to say that it's not only european, it's french,
like no other pop album from an artist this stature.

"Venus de Milo" is a statue found in The Louvre, the accordion as the ultimate cliché, the rap from Girls & Boys, the steps of Versailles, a piano as the lead instrument, and the elegance of it all.

Parade is like a perfect work of Haute Couture. This is pop music bringing back the Beatles risk-taking, and the big fat orchestra back in the studio. That was a great deal during the Reagan Years, and has remained so. Every little detail on the record spells out craft, subtleness and beauty.

It's a fucking big musical statement. Having a number one with a song that sounds dryer than Sex Machine, in an era where snares sounded like garage doors being slammed, and reverbs drowned everything and lasted for seconds, that's a true achievement.

Like I said in an infamous post, MJ may have gotten the biggest commercial cross-over with Thriller, but Parade's artistic cross-over is a musical legacy way more important than Toto playing some Rod Temperton shit with Mike dropping his signature mouth and breath noises all over.

Parade's influence changed the pop landscape for ever.

Very interesting thoughts. But the brilliant album was too European for American ears...it hasn't received the love in the states that it so richly deserved. Unbelievably, it was not even top 20 in the VV Pazz and Pop year end poll.

Isn't it interesting that in the USA in the 80s we were eating up all that Euro Pop?

Back then at that time, it was just too mature and beyond it's time for what people where hearing.

Now it is a classic that is highly respected as a work of art.

But the other thing is the presentation. Around the World in a Day & Parade were albums drastically different from what people expected from Prince. And he knew that. Prince would make millions of the Purple Rain era even if he did not tour the album. The Movie + the album alone generated to promotion and publicity.

ATWIAD should have had more live performances. I'm not even saying a full blown concert.

But he should have strategically had spotlight shows throught the year displaying that album and only mix in stuff that easily flowed with and supported it.
He could have had his core band + Jonathon & Susannah Melvoin, David Coleman, Eddie M., Novi Novog, Suzi Katayama, Jill Jone, Taj Sevelle, Sheila E

and have the Family open

Then the Parade era, Prince's egocentric UTCM film is what stopped the album from being heard. If the movie had a real director to paint the picture and the movie have band performances. Jill Jones should have been leading the Revolution @ Mary Sharons party on Mia Bocca, the Girls & Boys video should have been in place of the G&B scene, Wendy on lead guitar w/the Revolution for Alexa De Paris, Mountains should have had a full performance, maybe add Sheile E a Love Bizarre

If it is not broke don't fix it. Purple Rains foundation of musical performances, and people from Prince's camp everywhere from the MC and Taxi driver to of course the bands made that movie perfect.

‘It’s the clearest definition of creative freedom I have ever heard. I was 16 and went to see the film Under The Cherry Moon and fell in love. The soundtrack went from rock to computerized blues to jazz to pop and classical. I grew up listening to jazz and blues, to Ella Fitzgerald and Hendrix and, sure, I loved Bach and Mozart. But prince came along and amalgamated them all. The writing was so descriptive and colourful. I used to stay up and listen to the album over and over again on headphones. When everyone else was outside playing and running on a Saturday afternoon, I’d be locked in my bedroom or sat on my porch listening to the LP, and I’d be immediately transported away from all the problems in my neighbourhood to the French Riviera, where the film was set.

Prince uses so many different vocal tones and that was a real beginning for me. His voice would change to accommodate the story, the lyrics – something I choose to do with my music. Any poet, singer, writer wants to live in the moment of each and every song and this is the method by which to do it. He switches Anotherloverholenyohead to a song like Do U Lie (sings), ‘When I lie awake at night in my boudoir’ and automatically the sun comes out, the rays shine through the window, the room becomes light. The track Christopher Tracey’s Parade taught me a new sense of rhythm. Using a computer he created a different heart rhythm. You don’t listen to that song, you fall inside it and become it. He added car sounds – I mean, who did that in those days? And he sings like he never planned a thing, like they play the music and he’s not sure how it’s going to go he just opens his mouth and starts to sing. It doesn’t feel rehearsed but fresh, full of life.

It’s a classic album and lyrically an inspiration. He’s capable of being a very personal writer but he’s also very skilled. When you listen to the music the picture is always clear, the imagination is provoked – that’s the kind of writer I want to be. Like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, he makes forever music.

The instrumentation is wonderful. He had a computer create the sound but didn’t falsify it by pretending it’s another instrument. He chose to play a computer as itself! His guitar – how he would go from being rock and out there and strong and immediately change the sound to sensitive and loving and soft – that is brilliance. I don’t know if the music was a genuine reflection of a part of his life or a fictional creation, but quite honestly I don’t care because I feel it regardless. I feel blessed just listening to this record.’

By

Jill Scott