While the oh so charitable [read hypocritical] associated artists gathered for the meal ticket reunion at the weekend no doubt in anticipation of the royalties from a potential P.Rain re-release it turns out that little girl Wendy is holding out the old olive branch. Pah, Prince should take it and beat the lot of them around the head with it!!. I would dread Prince going back to the old sound to re tread old ground. Its clear that he is searching for something new and i for one welcome that and no doubt he will achieve it. But to go back to W&L or indeed the Revolution surely would only serve to line their pockets and get 1 last big pay day.
In respect of Sheila Es charity by the way i do think it is a wonderful cause, what I find slightly nauseating is the hypocricy. If there weren't a big P. Rain anniversary pending I wonder how many would've turned up?.

backwArds , fool that i am!.

He worked with tons of people after they left the fold, what makes working with W&L again so bad?

You're deadwrong.

I wouldn't care if it lines Wendy & Lisa's pockets, if they can get him writing crazy, colourful, adventurous songs again. Anything but this musical coma he's been stagnating in for awhile.

It's not a coincidence that most long term fans think of his glory years as the mid-eighties.You know who was with him then, and he was never the same afterwards.

Perhabs you should consider that the past is the past and will never come again. That doesn't exclude a possible reunion with certain revolution members, but it could be seen as a bit more realistical view on how artists carreers evolve and what it takes to try and bring back old glory. It usually doesn't work, because it isn't as the new.

Abrazo said:

I wouldn't want a full on revolution reunion, i agree the past is the past, however his songwriting and ideas have gone backwards in my view.

Shit, just listen to 'All My Dreams' and 'Crystal Ball' and tell me the Prince of today could remotely come up with something to touch those gems, and i'll tell you not a chance.

I'm not saying it was down purely to W&L, but they sure inspired the hell out of him.

this year i've had the great pleasure to discover Bowies back catalogue , so far 8 CDs and counting and have started to read up on his career. The similarity between him and Prince in terms of commercial rise and fall is staggering. What seems to set Bowie one step ahead is that he has gone back to work with people from the past and new people but over the last 2 cds managed to come up with something fresh, creative and commercial. Bowie has used the collaboration throughout his career to varying degrees but in a lot of cases to great effect. Princes ego , IMHO, on what i've seen over the years wont allow that to happen. We all know that Princes issue is one of editing, quality control and seemingly being too focussed on funk. I really believe W&L would only help him make a P.Rain 2 or Parade 2 type cd which for the 80s was great but for now is not. Go and listen to Splash, it sounds so dated.
In truth all i want is for Prince to deliver a 10 track cd of totally focussed, inspired SONGS. The days of quantity over quality should be long gone. Just to show people that he's still got it.

Marrk said:

Whatever, I really don't know what inspired him, but I am sure it wasn't just Wendy and Lisa. Point remains that the past is the past, they have gone their separate ways and nobody knows when and if they will cross again. You can go and demand for it, but I doubt they are listening to that.

But, maybe the past will be relived next year during a hypothetical Purple Rain anniversary. Who knows...

Further, I agree that much of his and theirs eighties work is of a very high quality, BUT... that is also the past.

Further, Prince is still a master and has fellow master musicians working with him. With a little luck health and happiness he may have a comeback. An unexpected comeback. Who knows...

If you can't integrate the past with your present - you have no future. It's called emotional maturity, Prince.

no. it'd be unnecessary.

I disagree that W&L's involvement in the Family Jamm was disingenuous, and if they stand to earn any $$$ from a Purple Rain reissue, it's definitely well-deserved - that said, I am inclined to agree that Prince working with W&L again would run a high risk of being regressive in the same way that I'm kind of flinching at the murmurs of a Pixies reunion - the collaboration was perfect at a certain place and time, and to try to rekindle something now could be terribly beside the point. However, if there IS a series of Prince reissues on the horizon, I think it would be a good idea to bring W&L and the rest of the Revolution on board (and that includes Dez, Andre, and Gayle) to assist in the polishing-up of the old classics, even if it's just in the form of liner note remembrances.

I agree that a Revolution re-union is unnecessary. However, a collaborative effort with W&L and Dr, Fink would be interesting. They have all evolved and grown artistically, and I for one am intrigued as to how the result would sound. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't sound like the Parade era Revolution.

God damn it! Get over the Purple Rain re-issue bullshit. Warner Brothers has NO such plans for a re-issue or any big celebration of the anniversary of a property that is in such a legal tangle that it would take years to sort out.

I repeat; there will be no 20th anniversary crap centered around Purple Rain. I have spoken to Warner Brothers in Burbank and they have confirmed this. If they had such a plan, it would have to be on their schedule by the end of this quarter and it isn't.

And I know the next response is "well didn't Universal buy the rights...?" NO. Universal administers Prince's publishing NOT the recordings. Deal with that.

javed said:

Please.

What, I guess you think that if Wendy and Lisa showed up he'd pull out the Synclaviers and scream "Horns!". Or break out the Linn? Get with it. Both parties have moved on from that era. He made beautiful music with Wendy & Lisa. There's no reason to believe it couldn't happen again. Or that it would happen again. But certainly the idea that they'd plunge themselves into the old "Minneapolis Sound" is about as ridiculous a notion as any I've heard.

You mention Bowie in a later post. You should very well know then that reuniting with Carlos Alomar later in Bowie's career didn't hurt him none.

Bowie's been working with Tony Visconti and Mike Garson, two of his VERY old-skool '70s-era collaborators, and the results have been great. Of course, Bowie has a different ethic re: working relationships with his musicians and collaborators than Prince, doesn't he?

The biggest hypocrite in all this is Prince, who couldn't set aside one night to show that he really is reconciled with the people in his past. He offered W&L an olive branch on Emancipation and then turned ugly on them after converting to his new religion. He's the one who needs to pull his head out of his ass and realize the missed opportunity at connecting with those who helped build his life.

javed said:

You're as wrong as you are stupid.

Jestyr said:

you all sure are an angry bunch

He has worked with other people once they have flown the coop, why not W&L?

Candy Dulfer
Ronda Smith
Eric Leeds
Morris Day & The Time
Rosie Gaines

javed said:

I don't know whether to or
You just love conspiracies don't you?

1. The Revolution has been trying to reunite since 2000, the familly jamm gave them that chance. So I guess Wendy's been licking her lips since 2000, huh?

2.The family jamm united ALL(well not all, but most) of prince's "circle" from the 80s. Madhouse, The Familly, and Sheila's Romance 1600 band were there, they had absolutely no involvement in "Purple Rain". So what's their MO for being there, oh smart one?

3.If anything happnes with PR, the revolution should be benifited. They played on and contributed to the movie and album. you'd want your piece of the pie too.

4.If anyone is thinking about this as much as you suggest, then your dear prince is too.

5.EVERYONE wanted to take place in the Family Jamm. They made no money.
No one's being a hypocrite. Wendy, Lisa, and whoever else is involved in your big conspiracy theory never spoke out against reuniting. Sheila had been wanting to see these people for quite some time, wayyy before 2004.

6.If anyone has ever been a hypocrite(for whatever, not just exclusive to this) it's been Prince. Don't make him out no angel.

7.You win the award for the most stupid and idioctic post of the year.


Not trying to kiss The Revolution's tushes, just bringing some logic and reality to the table.

But go ahead, play along in your little conspiracy filled world, I'm sure no one has thought about this quite as much as you have.

This'll be my first and last post in this thread, I'm taking a cue from Supernova's signature.

javed said:

He did..with TRC



he does

[offtopic]rd...i'm still waitin on yo family jamm report![/offtopic]

marcdeondotcom said:

The Wild Bunch-->>The Brady Bunch-->>The Angry Bunch

how wrong can a post get?

Jestyr said:

Collaberative efforts wouldn't be static at all. They've all musically matured.

I don't know that some full-fledged longterm reunion is called for, but I'd love to hear at least a few new joint efforts.

javed said:

umm i think that time has past. many moons since the 80's

Lammastide said:

agree... maybe wendy and lisa can score his new movie (with his own songs in it).

wow, i now truly feel like Bart!!!, life would be boring if emotions weren't stirred every now and again. Thing is I stand by what I say, we all got differing opinions on this subject and I think its one of those topics that defines the type of fan that Prince has i.e. the 'we miss the 80's, things aren't what they used to be ' brigade and the 'that was then this is now' brigade. I am firmly in the latter camp and have faith that sooner or later he will deliver. I think thats one thing most of us agree on.
Peace.