Skip to main content

Happy Birthday to the Melvoin Twins

An Appreciation for the Melvoin Sisters. 
Susannah's Pajamas & Little Girl Wendy's Parade.

There are two sets of musical twins that weigh heavily in my musical orbit. Of course, there are Robin and Maurice Gibb. But today is the birthday of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin. 

Susannah was a part of the Family, one of Prince's spin off bands. They had a 1985 hit with Screams of Passion. The group was a testing ground for some of the jazzier, orchestrated textures Prince would employee on his next few records (Parade and Sign "O" the Times). She was also his muse several years running. Susannah sang backing vocals on many of the sides he cut at the time. You can catch her in the spectacular video for Girls & Boys.

Her twin sister, you probably know - better - as the sarcastic, sexy, whirling & twirling Rickenbacker-wielding guitar demi-goddess in paisley and lace from Purple Rain that Madonna was trying to be. Wendy was half of "Wendy & Lisa," the musical foils to Prince within Prince and the Revolution from 1983-86. 

Whenever I think my list of musical heroes lacks female presence, I immediately say - "Hold up! Wendy & Lisa!" These women are a big reason Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day and Parade sound the way they do. These two were major composers and contributors to the music Prince produced during my favorite period of his, even if they don't get the credit. Wendy & Lisa were 'moted from the Revolution during the recording of Sign, but if you hear the demos they still influenced the finished product which is an album of grand design. Their self-titled debut album appeared the same year as Sign and you can here what part of Prince's sound was a shared effort. The lush layers, instrumentation and harmonics, particularly Lisa's piano. Yes, Prince is his own man, but Wendy & Lisa added exponentially to the appeal of those records.

Wendy & Lisa needed to go solo or rather duo. Check the video below for Waterfall. Prince may have retooled and recorded this song or maybe not. He was always moving forward and too quickly for most. Back in 1987, this track would have fit perfectly on Sign 'O' The Times. But I suspect it was the ladies' reaction to being left out in the cold. Regardless, Wendy tackles the subject with gusto and her guitar solo oozes fuzzed-out soul. This should have been a major hit with hook like this. Check out how amazingly melodic Waterfall is and how much it sounds like classic Prince. Or how much did classic Prince sound like Wendy & Lisa...?

Either way, Wendy Melvoin deserves her place in the pantheon of pop influences. Thank you for contributing to one of my favorite pop star's best material. Susannah Melvoin, thank you for inspiring one of my favorite pop stars to write his best material.

Happy Birthday, ladies. You rocked my world.

#WendyandLisa #Prince #Princeandtherevolution #WendyMelvoin #TheFamily #SusannahMelvoin

http://youtu.be/mdfAhCG3oDo

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air - Book Review

“The Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air” is a trippy new mystery novel from Phillip Mottaz. It captures the grit and gilt of the City of Angels with the flair of a contemporary Raymond Chandler. The brisk pace and wit are reminiscent of Douglas Adams’s entries in the detective game. Flourishes of  Fletch  and “Medium” also spring to mind. However, Mottaz has added a psychic/mutant/superhuman touch and his own comedic voice, structure and internal monologues to the proceedings that help the author announce his own style and the arrival of a literary heroine for a new generation. Hairstylist and budding private investigator, Danica Luman is the perfect character to convey the irony, angst and sarcasm needed to tell a 21st century L.A. crime story. Danica also represents anyone who thought it would be neat to get tangled up in a mystery and the darkly comic cautionary tale that follows. The genre is recognizable, but Mottaz offers a fresh take on the not-ready-for-prime-time-hard-b

Being There [Grammy Recap]

Hey Soul Mates, Check out your boy. Yes, I did look that damn suave at the Grammys last night. Look, the tickets very clearly said "black tie." What could be less rock and roll than black tie? Not wearing "black tie." Frankly, the hipsters and the club girls just looked silly. Maybe I'm getting sartorially conservative, but you must be clean for the Grammys. We arrived early in the afternoon. A beautifully mild afternoon in downtown L.A. and not a sign of the predicted rain. I wanted to experience the whole nine, so we got there in time for the "Pre-telecast" ceremony. This is where 97 of the 108 gramophone statuettes are awarded. It was much more entertaining and endearing than the actual broadcast. The winners were genuinely moved, were not limited in their speech time and came in all stripes. Now, very few of the acts I voted for won. But the day did start off with a bang as OK Go won best short form video for the treadmill hopping video for Here

Freebird, Fla.

Hey Soul Mates, the Rock Hall inductee class of '06 has been announced. Now, my high school mates (especially, Mike) can shut up about Jacksonville's own, Lynyrd Skynyrd making the Hall. Congrats to them. This is not my favorite group of Hall of Famers: Miles Davis, Black Sabbath, Blondie and the Sex Pistols. Of this batch, only Blondie was a contemporary presence for me. No disrespect to the fans of the other artists. Just not my cup of tea. I'm sure my buddy Mark though is still lamenting Chicago's absence from the Rock Hall. The induction ceremony should be interesting though, because a lot of country-rockers are going to come out of the woodwork to honor Skynyrd. Blondie, Sabbath and the Pistols are all relatively intact so their performances will be highly anticipated. I'm particularly anxious to hear what the Sex Pistols portion of the evening will entail. Who will induct them? Green Day? U2? That's sure to be the highlight of the night. That, and Ozzy