Retro Spins: Wendy & Lisa - Fruit At The Bottom

 

Today I'm jumping into the second studio album from Wendy & Lisa, following their unceremonious dismissal from The Revolution. Admittedly, their self-titled 1987 debut (as featured in yesterday's Retro Spin) wasn't as impactful as I had hoped, and this left me a little unexcited about playing through their 1989 follow-up, Fruit At The Bottom.

While it would land on the Billboard 200, peaking at number one hundred and seven, and despite having two singles released, Are You My Baby, and Lolly Lolly neither would chart in the USA. They did, however, fair better in the UK where they peaked at seventy, and sixty-four, respectively.

Three music videos were also produced to support the album. These included the two aforementioned singles, as well as Satisfaction. Which is a perfect segue into today's Retro Spin.

Though there are no credits, and Google denies it left and right, I swear that's Prince singing backing vocals on Satisfaction. I would bet money on it. Despite this, the album credits swear his only involvement was with remixing Lolly Lolly.

Overall, what ultimately hurts Fruit At The Bottom is the same thing that hindered their debut. It just doesn't have anything going for it that makes it a must hear album. The hits are decent, but forgettable, and beyond that, there's nothing that makes you say, "Let me hear that again!"

It's actually quite a downer. I was really hoping that playing through their two 80's due contributions would have led to a slew of unheard gems. Instead, it just left me wishing there was still a Prince And The Revolution. With that said, if I had to pick a standout track, I suppose that would be Someday I, or Satisfaction. I'm not really sold on either of these and I doubt I'll ever come back to them.

Failing to be a commercial success, Columbia Records dropped Wendy and Lisa from their label. Undeterred, they promptly signed with Virgin Records, who was already distributing their music in Europe.

Following the release of 1992's Erotic, the two disappeared from the pop rock scene, and instead focused on other projects, such as music for films and television. It wouldn't be until 1998 that they self-released their fourth studio album, Girl Bros. A decade later, their fifth self-released album, White Flags Of Winter Chimneys (2008) was released.

Though they tried multiple times, the two could never coordinate schedules with Prince to reunite The Revolution. However, the two did appear occasionally, but typically not together with him, such as when Wendy made an appearance with him in 2004 on the Tavis Smiley Show to perform Reflection. They are both also credits on his 2007 album, Planet Earth. But if you want a truly amazing sight, you have to check out the 2006 Brit Awards, where he performed multiple songs alongside Wendy, Lisa, and Sheil E., including Purple Rain, and Let's Go Crazy.

As for Wendy and Lisa, the remain active, but not really releasing any new music. They did reunite themselves with The Revolution, but unfortunately, this was in honor of Prince following his death in 2016. These days, I mainly see them on camera simply talking about the past alongside other members of Prince's once great backing band.

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