The Revolution Will be Harmonized By Barry Walters (OUT.COM Interview)

Keyboardist Lisa Coleman was 19 when she started working with Prince on his 1980 album Dirty Mind. Her childhood friend, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, was also 19 when she joined Prince in 1983 for Purple Rain. Known from that point on as Wendy & Lisa, Melvoin and Coleman became key members of the Revolution, Prince’s band at the peak of his musical powers and multi-platinum popularity. After they left the group in ‘86, the pair continued as a recording duo and as composers for such hit TV shows as Heroes. Shimmering with bright surfaces that compliment its complex depths, their latest album, White Flags of Winter Chimneys, showcases sophisticated strains of rock and jazz that definitively assert their serious chops. To celebrate that achievement, Melvoin and Coleman cast aside their usual privacy and gave Out their most candid interview ever.

To read more, please click here: http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=25083

(site last visited May 17, 2009)

Exclusive! House Petrelli: Wendy and Lisa interview part 1!

House Petrelli: In the scoring process, how much is recycled and how much is custom-composed for the episode?

Wendy: Well, that’s an easy answer. We have not reused one cue in the three seasons that we’ve done. We can’t, because each scene is so specifically composed that if you reuse anything you won’t be hitting the right spots on the characters. So when we go in and listen to the cues when we’re trying to spot the episode, they’ve inevitably thrown a cue in there that works but it’s for the wrong character. So we haven’t reused, and we’ve never wanted to. On Crossing Jordan we were able to repurpose some romantic cues, but again, on this show we don’t, and also I think it helps keep the integrity of the feeling we had from the first season.

To read more, please click here: http://www.housepetrelli.com/default.asp?Display=82

(site last visited May 17, 2009)

The Art and Business of Song: USC-Annenberg

Music Review: Wendy & Lisa’s Girl Bros. (The HiveMind)

I have spent several months purchasing all of Wendy & Lisa’s albums in my quest to earn my musical Ph.D. in their solo work. The Girl Bros. LP is the last album I needed to complete my thesis and graduate from the University of Wendy & Lisa. Now, allow me to present my thesis defense and obtain my doctorate.

Based on what I heard and read online, I knew that the Girl Bros. LP - originally released in 1998 and re-released (digital only) in 2009 - is a more somber sounding album from Wendy & Lisa than previous releases. I have read that the album was part tribute to Wendy’s late brother, Jonathan Melvoin, (touring keyboardist for The Smashing Pumpkins) and was made during the breakup of Wendy & Lisa’s romantic relationship. As a result, I knew that Girl Bros. would be the opposite of Fruit at the Bottom - a fun, exuberant album that often makes me smile when listening to it. However, the somber sounds and lyrics on Girl Bros. are not something that made me long for previous Wendy & Lisa-sounding albums. In fact, I find Girl Bros. the most interesting because it is a clear turning point in their musical careers. Where Eroica started shifting Wendy & Lisa’s sound from their previous two albums, Girl Bros. took an exit off the freeway into a new yet pleasing direction.

To read more, please click here: http://www.writetilt.com/2009/03/31/music-review-wendy-lisas-girl-bros/

Print Interviews: Recent

• Plato, Catherine. "Catching Up With... Wendy and Lisa." Jane and Jane Magazine. March-April 2009, 56-57.

What Had Happened Was: Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin by Vibe Interview Keith Murphy

When talking to keyboardist Lisa Coleman and guitarist Wendy Melvoin about their experiences working with mercurial funk-rock God Prince, the stories are seemingly endless. So much so, that we couldn’t fit the bulk of the duo’s interview into our 51 Best Albums That Never Were package, which highlighted Prince’s now mythical 1986 unreleased project Dream Factory (Paisley Park). These days Wendy and Lisa—the most celebrated members of the Purple One’s classic ‘80s backing band The Revolution—are still making uncompromising music with the release of the latest album White Flags of Winter Chimneys (wendyandlisa.com).

As for Prince, the 50-year-old music icon is as prolific as ever. The superstar is releasing a three-disc CD set, LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND and third album from protégé Bria Valente through an exclusive deal with retail chain Target on March 29. So what’s it like recording with a prodigious talent who can write a song as easy as “brushing his teeth” as Coleman muses? Read on.

To read more, please click here: http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2009/03/what_had_happened_was_lisa_coleman_and_wendy_melvoin/

(site last visited May 17, 2009)

Wendy & Lisa: White Flags Of Winter Chimneys Review by Dan Everett

Some folks may remember Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman from their work with Prince & The Revolution. You can see them in the film ‘Purple Rain’, standing either side of the pint-sized funk flaneur during his climactic performance of the title tune. More than mere accompaniment for Prince’s project, they had a significant influence on his musical direction during that period when he moved from straight disco-funk to…well, Prince. Once their employer found a new direction, Wendy & Lisa seemed to disappear from view. In fact, they have never stopped writing and performing, even touching the charts in the early ’90s with a few hits of their own. They have also been working tirelessly behind the scenes in the music industry, producing and writing for others, and are the creative force behind the music for the TV series ‘Heroes’.
To read more, please click here: http://wearsthetrousers.com/2009/03/08/wendy-lisa-white-flags-of-winter-chimneys-2009/

(site last visited May 17, 2009)