Wendy & Lisa
The two muses of Prince who graduated to rock royalty in their own right.
According to Revolution drummer Bobby Z, Prince’s dream band was “a mixture of Fleetwood Mac and Sly & The Family Stone.” And in the early 1980s, when he brought in Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, they made his dream come true, delivering the mystique of Stevie Nicks, the songwriting depth of Christine McVie and the musical chops of Sister Rose and Cynthia Robinson. On stage and in the studio, the duo were not just extensions of Prince, but also creative foils who inspired him to the heights of his most fertile and commercially successful period, including classic albums Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day and Parade.
Both California girls, Wendy and Lisa came from music royalty parentage. Their dads were top LA session cats and members of the famed Wrecking Crew, who recorded with Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, John Lennon, Sonny & Cher and countless others. From them, the girls inherited their chameleonlike ability to provide the perfect parts for any song, regardless of groove or style.
“We were absolute musical equals in the sense that Prince respected us, and allowed us to contribute to the music without any interference,” Wendy told Mojo in 1997. “I think the secret to our working relationship was that we were very non-possessive about our ideas, as opposed to some other people that have worked with him. We didn’t hoard stuff, and were more than willing to give him what he needed. Men are very competitive, so if somebody came up with a melody line, they would want credit for it.”
The duo broadened Prince’s horizons by introducing him to modern classical composers such as Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams and Ravel (“Prince played Bolero all the time,” Wendy said). And those nouveau sounds found their way into several songs: the jabbing string section that threads itself through the driving riff of Take Me With U was arranged by Lisa and her brother David, who plays cello on the track, and the startling baroque keyboard climax to When Doves Cry was Lisa’s influence. “I think I influenced When Doves Cry to the extent that Prince was engaged in a healthy competition with us,” Lisa later said.
“He was always thinking: ‘How can I kick their ass?’”
The love affair came to an end in 1987. Although reasons are vague even now, it was undoubtedly Prince’s voracious need for change that split up the Revolution. At the time, Wendy told the LA Times:
“If Prince hadn’t decided to break up the band, we’d still be in it. It was our home. It was constant creativity, constant high. It was adventure.”
Wendy and Lisa’s adventure continued with three major-label releases together under their names. The first, self-titled, still holds up as a wonderfully fresh collection influenced by everything from Joni Mitchell to Weather Report. In the 90s they did session work for top artists including Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Pearl Jam and Madonna. In the new century, they’ve scored popular TV shows Crossing Jordan, Heroes and Nurse Jackie.
Earlier this year, Wendy and Lisa reunited with original Revolution members Bobby Z, Matt Fink and Brown Mark for a tour honouring their late mentor.
As they hit the road, Lisa spoke to
Esquire about how she and Wendy viewed their role in the story of the legendary musician. “We were Prince’s balancing pole, we were his net, his springboard, his dance floor, the bounce in his step,” she said. “We put the groove in his butt while he was on stage. We are proud that we did that. We loved it and we loved him and each other, and we want the audience to be in that place, share that feeling.”