When Prince unceremonious announced he was disbanding The Revolution in October of 1986, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman were sad but not surprised. The two had noted multiple times since that the writing was relatively on the wall at that point. Mounting tensions and artistic frustrations between everyone, coupled with Prince's desire for direct control meant something would inevitably have to give.
With the forthcoming Dream Factory completed, their dismissal led Prince to rework and remove all of their contributions, culminating in his 1987 opus, Sign "☮" the Times. However, that wouldn't mean that Wendy and Lisa would just disappear as forgotten backing musicians. Instead, they took it as an opportunity to sign with Columbia Records, performing as a duo.
Though they would write the majority of the tracks that would become their self-titled 1987 debut, Revolution alum, Bobby Z. would be called upon and contribute to five of the songs. However, he would not perform on the album itself. Instead, for this, they would turn mostly to family, including Lisa's father, Gary, who provided conga, and brother David who performed percussion. From the Melvoin camp was sisters Susannah, and Cole (Ynda) who provided backing vocals, and brother Jonathan on drums. Other musicians included Tom Scott (of L.A. Express), and Carla Azar (of Autolux).
Wendy And Lisa, the album, would peak on the Billboard 200, and with it come their only Billboard Hot 100 single, Waterfall, which landed at number fifty-six. As part of the promotion, the two filmed and released three music videos; Waterfall, Honeymoon Express, and Sideshow.
Album
Things sound very much like Prince B-sides. There's no doubt that the duo influenced and inspired the artist, so it's unsurprising to hear the similarities. It's these tracks that initially intrigued on the first half of the album. However, for me, the ultimate standout was Everything But You. I think this one definitely should have been a single.
Regrettably, the album as a whole is just okay, and actually kind of boring at times. While I don't want to say it's because the two can't stand on their own, the very obvious elephant in the room is that you can feel Prince's fingertips on the album, despite him not being involved at all with it. You keep waiting for him to take over the microphone, and at times you wish he would. But that never happens.
Candidly, the singles, and subsequent music videos that the two released aren't all that amazing. They're kind of just throw away pop songs. Forgettable ones at that. Ultimately, I guess I just expected more, or perhaps more accurately stated, better. Instead, what I got was a relatively dismissible album.
I am hoping that their 1989 released Fruit At The Bottom fairs better. However, considering it performed worse on the Billboard, and produced no hit singles, I'm not holding my breath.
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