The Family (band)

The Family is a band formed by Prince, and one of the first on Prince's record label, Paisley Park Records. The band reformed as fDeluxe in 2009. This band is not be confused with a 1970s Minneapolis R&B band of the same name.

History

The band's origins started with the disintegration of The Time in 1984. Lead singer Morris Day had left the band to pursue a solo career and guitarist Jesse Johnson became the de facto band leader. Prince suggested restructuring the band with new member Paul Peterson to head the group, but Johnson opposed. A few of the Time's newer members followed Johnson to join his backing band (called Jesse Johnson's Revue). MTV placed the video for the song in light rotation. "High Fashion" was the second single, but no video was made.

The album sold poorly upon its release and has been out of print in any form since the late 1980s in the United States. A compact disc version was released in Germany during the early 1990s following the success of Sinéad O'Connor's cover version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" which was released that same year and is highly valued among Prince fans and collectors.

Prince often incorporated the track "Mutiny" into the set list of his Parade Tour in 1986, which occasionally was extended to contain the chorus of his song "Dream Factory" and the snarky chant "St. Paul – punk of the month!" (due to his annoynance of Peterson's decision to depart) as well as on subsequent tours. From 1990 onward, Prince occasionally added "Nothing Compares 2 U" to his tour setlist.

Breakup

After the band performed a single concert, released its self-titled album and only two singles, Peterson felt constricted by Prince's control and opted to pursue his own career. he fondly remembers his time with the Family and often plays songs from the album in concert. The Family reunited on December 13, 2003, for a single performance for charity along with other acts formerly associated with Prince. On January 26, 2007, the Family announced that it was returning to the music scene with a tour and a recording of new music. Now called fDeluxe, the band reformed in 2009 and released an album titled Gaslight (2011) with four of the five original members performing.

Band members

Current members

Eric Leeds – saxophone, flute
Susannah Melvoin – vocals
St. Paul – vocals, keyboards

Past members

Jerome Benton – background vocals
Jellybean Johnson – drums

Additional members

Greg Brooks – backing vocals
Bill Carrothers – keyboards
Allen Flowers – bass
Jonathan Melvoin – keyboards
Wally Safford – backing vocals
Miko Weaver – backing vocals, guitar

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album

! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

! style="width:45px;"|US

! style="width:45px;"|US R&B

| rowspan="2"| 1985

| "The Screams of Passion"

| align=center | 63

| align=center | 9

| align=center | 10

| align=center | 73

| "High Fashion"

| align=center | —

| align=center | 34

| align=center | —

| rowspan="2"| 2011

| "Drummers and Healers" (as fDeluxe)

| align=center | —

| "Gaslight" (as fDeluxe)

| align=center | —

| rowspan="2"| 2012

| "Over the Canyon" (as fDeluxe)

| align=center | —

| "You Got What You Wanted" (as fDeluxe)

| align=center | —

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

External links

fDeluxe discography at Discogs
The Family (includes a photo of the group)