Prince FAQ. Arthur Lizie

quit after deciding not to sign up for the three-year Purple Rain commitment. He was replaced by guitarist Wendy Melvoin, creating The Revolution. The band debuted on August 3, 1983, at First Avenue in Minneapolis and closed shop with a September 9, 1986, show in Yokohama. Except for Fink, who would last until 1990, and occasional member Eric Leeds, member turnover would be complete by the end of the 1980s.

      Wendy Melvoin (1982–1986)

      Prince noticed Wendy Melvoin during 1982’s Controversy tour when she was hanging around the bus with her girlfriend Lisa Coleman. She was soon in the studio adding background vocals to “Free,” and in May 1983, she assumed guitar duties when Dez Dickerson left the band.

      Melvoin’s addition not only pushed Prince more toward rock and increased the bands’ diversity but also upped the internecine drama, as her twin sister Susannah became engaged to Prince. If Lifetime ever makes a Prince movie, this drama gets my vote.

      Wendy made her debut on August 3, 1983, at First Avenue, the first Revolution show. She was onstage until the September 9, 1986, Yokohama show. She is the only musician who was only a member of The Revolution.

After “Free,” Wendy added background vocals on “Irresistible Bitch” and half a dozen other songs and lead vocals on Parade’s “I Wonder U.” She’s a member of the Revolution on the standard baker’s dozen of band studio tracks and adds tambourine and congas on “Strange Relationship.” She cowrote “Computer Blue” and “Mountains” and is on “Power Fantastic” and both versions of “4 the Tears in Your Eyes.” She also has the uncredited guitar solo on The Time’s “Chocolate.” Like Lisa, Wendy had a large stake in Dream Factory, although both claim that the album never existed as anything more than a loose collection of songs.

      Wendy & Lisa released three major label albums after leaving Prince and placed one single on the US Hot 100: 1987’s “Waterfall.” They’ve scored a number of TV shows and received a Title Theme Emmy in 2010 for Nurse Jackie.

      Wendy had worked with Prince a few times without Lisa. She appeared on February 12, 2004, on the Tavis Smiley show performing “Reflection.” On July 2, 2004, she appeared in New Orleans at the Superdome on nine songs, mostly from Purple Rain. The two duetted on guitar for seven songs on June 25, 2007, at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood and she appeared at a few smaller shows around this time, occasionally with Susannah.

      Sheila E. (1984–2010)

      Prince first saw Sheila E. (Escovedo) backstage at an Al Jarreau concert in 1978. When they met a year later at a Prince concert, he asked her how much she’d charge to play drums for him. She told him, and he said, “I’ll never be able to afford that.” Cut to: Prince and Sheila started recording together in early 1984, working on drum tracks for an unreleased version of “A Million Miles (I Love You)” and “Pop Life” and vocal overdubs for “Erotic City” before finishing Sheila E. in the Glamorous Life (April 1–4).

      Sheila E. opened the July 27, 1984, Purple Rain premiere party and the subsequent tour. Her band jumped onstage almost every night for an extended “Baby I’m a Star.” Her band also opened the September 1986 Japan leg of the Parade tour. She was the full-time Prince drummer from March 21, 1987, at First Avenue through February 13, 1989, at the final Osaka Lovesexy show. They guested with each other’s bands numerous times from 2000 through 2011.

      Sheila drums on about ten Prince album tracks, including “Pop Life,” “U Got the Look,” and “2 Nigs United 4 West Compton,” but appears on only two associated artist tracks. Her most significant Prince-associated studio work was on Madhouse 16. She cowrote “Ten,” “Eleven,” and “Fifteen” and plays drums on those tracks. She cowrote three songs and plays on Eric Leeds’s Times Squared. She’s also the drummer on the never-released late 1985/early 1986 instrumental jazz/funk sessions.

      Although there were relationship issues, Sheila left the band in 1989 because she wasn’t happy about the direction the music was going, especially the lyrics. After leaving Prince, she was thrice a part of Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, playing a humorous drum duet with Ringo, and in 2006, she formed the group C.O.E.D. (Chronicles of Every Diva) with Prince alum Rhonda Smith and Kat Dyson.

      Eric Leeds worked with Prince for almost two decades, from 1984’s The Family project to 2004’s C-Note. The two Madhouse LPs were mostly Leeds and Prince collaboration projects and Leeds’s image appeared in Paisley Park/Warner Bros. promotional materials as the group leader. (Author’s collection)

Eric Leeds (1984–2003)

      In 1984, Prince was looking for a saxophonist for his new band The Family. Tour manager Alan Leeds encouraged his younger brother Eric to take a stab. Eric wasn’t into Prince’s music but was convinced to demo with and eventually join the group. Prince quickly took to Leeds’s more jazz-oriented sound, crediting him as “the expert” on Purple Rain