The Revolution (band)

The Revolution is an American R&B/pop rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979 by Prince, serving as his live band and later as his studio band. The band's sound incorporated rock, funk, R&B, new wave, synthpop and psychedelia elements. Along with Prince's other projects, the Revolution helped create the Minneapolis sound. By the time of their 1986 breakup, the Revolution had backed Prince on two studio albums, two soundtracks and two videos.

After making its studio album debut on 1999 (1982), the Revolution rose to international fame with Purple Rain (1984), which reached number one on the Billboard 200 and became certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The band achieved its second number-one Billboard 200 album with Around the World in a Day in 1985. They charted six top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including three number-ones: "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss".

The Revolution officially disbanded in 1986 after the Hit n Run – Parade Tour, which supported Parade, the soundtrack for Under the Cherry Moon, but following Prince's death in 2016, the band announced reunion shows. The Revolution has won three Grammy Awards.

The pre-Revolution

When Prince formed his backing band after the release of his first album, influenced by Sly Stone, he created a multi-racial musical ensemble with both male and female performers. The band initially consisted of:

Prince on lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, and piano
Dez Dickerson on guitar and backing vocals
Andre Cymone on bass guitar
Bobby Z. on drums and percussion
Gayle Chapman on keyboards
Matt Fink on keyboards

Though officially unnamed, Prince experimented with the band acting as a side project known as The Rebels, recording material in 1979 in Colorado to get more music out. The recordings were a group effort with lead vocals by Cymone, Dickerson or Chapman. The project was shelved for unknown reasons, but two of the tracks were later re-recorded and given away by Prince: "You", became "U", and was released on Paula Abdul's 1991 Spellbound album; while "If I Love U 2 Nite" was released by both Mica Paris and Prince's later wife, Mayte Garcia. Paris rerecorded the song from scratch, which was released in 1991. Garcia's version, released in 1995, was rerecorded by Prince.

On the next two tours following the Prince Tour, the band underwent two line-up changes. Gayle Chapman quit the band in 1980. The end came when she told Prince she needed more musical fulfillment and growth for herself, but Prince wanted her to commit to some short-noticed rehearsals instead. After a long conversation, Chapman quit the group to be replaced by Lisa Coleman.

The following year, after the Dirty Mind Tour, bass guitarist André Cymone would leave the band. Cymone, whose family gave Prince a home after he left his father's house, left over a number of grievances with Prince—little input in the studio, he was not getting credit for his contributions to Prince's music, and in general his desire to start his own career—and would have bitter feelings toward Prince as he later claimed that Prince stole many of his ideas that were used for the Time and that he created the bassline for Controversys "Do Me, Baby". Released at the end of June 1984, the album featured the singles "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", "I Would Die 4 U", and "Take Me with U". Purple Rain would become the first official appearance of The Revolution. At the time of the release the band contained:

Prince on lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, and piano
Wendy Melvoin on guitar and vocals
Brown Mark on bass guitar and vocals
Lisa Coleman on keyboards, piano, and vocals
Matt "Doctor" Fink on keyboards and vocals
Bobby Z. on drums

Expansion (1985–1986)

They lasted as such through 1986's Hit n Run – Parade Tour. In 1985, members of the then soon-to-be-defunct R&B/pop group The Family (which, in turn, included former members of another disbanded Prince-associated group, The Time) joined The Revolution, along with people from Sheila E.'s band. The "Counter-Revolution" line-up:

Prince on lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, and piano
Wendy Melvoin on guitar and vocals
Brown Mark on bass guitar and vocals
Bobby Z. on drums
Lisa Coleman on keyboards, piano, and vocals
Matt Fink on keyboards and vocals
Miko Weaver on guitar
Susannah Melvoin on backing vocals
Eric Leeds on saxophone
Matt "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan on trumpet
Jerome Benton, Wally Safford and Greg Brooks as dancers/vocalists/comic foils (known as The Bodyguards)

For the Hit n Run – Parade Tour, the augmented Revolution with its several new members began to perform the jazzy arrangements from the album, including the horn sections.

Unreleased Revolution album

Dream Factory was an unreleased double LP project recorded by Prince and The Revolution in 1986. The album morphed into Sign o' the Times following the dissolution of The Revolution. "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" was the only track with the full Revolution band kept for inclusion as the album developed. The basis for the track was recorded live on August 25, 1986, in Paris during a show on the Parade Tour. Jill Jones recording her lead vocal on November 26, 1986, and Sheila E. was on tour with Lionel Richie and recorded her "Transmississippirap" over the phone on the night of November 26/27, 1986. Overdubs and mix were done between November 22 and 30, 1986 at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California.

Dissolution

Prince did not want to see his band anymore and The Revolution were not happy with Prince's decision to include new band members. In a 2017 direct-to-YouTube interview (on Yahoo's account), Wendy Melvoin remembers Prince rehearsing with all his new selections, and ignoring The Revolution by not looking at them. Brownmark, Wendy and Lisa threatened to quit. At one point, Prince dispatched Bobby Z. to the airport and literally caught Melvoin and Coleman before they boarded. Eventually all three were convinced to ride it out. Prince promised Brownmark a lot of money, but Brownmark settled for $3000 a week, a paltry sum based on other touring bands. He turned down a much more lucrative gig as bassist for Stevie Nicks, who was going on tour at that time. Brown has said that Prince never followed through on "all that money". But as the tour ended, on the final night in Yokohama, Japan, Prince smashed up all of his guitars after a final encore of "Purple Rain". Wendy looked around at the other members and whispered (and they agreed), "It's over!"

Shortly after the Parade Tour in October 1986, after all the tension between Prince, Wendy Melvoin, and Coleman due to his relationship with Susannah Melvoin, Prince invited Wendy Melvoin and Coleman to dinner at his rented Beverly Hills home and fired them both.

At the 2006 BRIT Awards, a reformed Revolution once again backed Prince, as he reunited with Wendy, Lisa and Sheila E., while also featuring former New Power Generation member Morris Hayes and played "Te Amo Corazón" (from Prince's 3121 album), "Fury" (also from 3121), "Purple Rain", and "Let's Go Crazy". Sheila E. played drums only on "Purple Rain", playing percussion for the rest of the songs.

On February 19, 2012, The Revolution (without Prince) performed a reunion/benefit concert in Minneapolis at First Avenue, where the Purple Rain movie was filmed.

Following the death of Prince on April 21, 2016, The Revolution announced that they were getting back together as a band. , they continue to perform Prince's songs live.

Personnel

;Current members

Bobby Z. – drums, percussion (1979–1986, 2012, 2016–present)
Matt Fink – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (1979–1986, 2012, 2016–present) (continued to work with Prince until Nude Tour)
Lisa Coleman – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (1980–1986, 2012, 2016–present)
Brown Mark – bass guitar, vocals (1981–1986, 2012, 2016–present)
Wendy Melvoin – guitar, vocals (1983–1986, 2012, 2016–present)

;Former members

Prince – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, bass guitar, drums, percussion (1979–1986; died in 2016)
Dez Dickerson – lead guitar, backing vocals (1979–1983)
André Cymone – bass guitar, backing vocals (1979–1981)
Gayle Chapman – keyboards, vocals (1979–1980)
Miko Weaver – rhythm guitar (1985–1986) (continued to work with Prince until Nude Tour)
Eric Leeds – saxophone (1985–1986) (continued to work with Prince until Graffiti Bridge album and made a guest appearance on "Gett Off")
Matt "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan – trumpet (1985–1986) (continued to work with Prince until Graffiti Bridge album)
Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals (1985–1986)
Jerome Benton – dancer, vocals (1985–1986)
Wally Safford – dancer, vocals (1985–1986) (continued to work with Prince during Sign o' the Times era)
Greg Brooks – dancer, vocals (1985–1986) (continued to work with Prince during Sign o' the Times era)

Timeline

Honors and awards

thumb|Stars honoring [[Prince (musician)|Prince and his band The Revolution on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue]]The Revolution has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue. Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh. The band's star is located to the immediate right of Prince's own star on the mural.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" width="33"| Year

!rowspan="2" width="250"| Album details

!colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

!colspan="3"| Certifications

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| US

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| AUT

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| CAN

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| GER

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| NLD

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| NOR

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| SWE

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"|SWI

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| UK

!style="width:9em;font-size:85%"| CAN

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|8

|align="center"|5

|align="left"|

|align="left"|Gold

|align="left"|2× Platinum; WW: 7.0 million

Soundtrack albums

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" width="33"| Year

!rowspan="2" width="250"| Album details

!colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

!colspan="3"| Certifications

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| US

!style="width:9em;font-size:85%"| CAN

|align="center"|5

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|4

|align="center"|3

|align="center"|7

|align="center"|4

|align="left"|6× Platinum

|align="left"|2× Platinum

|align="left"|13× Platinum; WW: 22.0 – 25.0 million

|align="center"|1986

|align="left"|Parade

Released: March 31, 1986
Label: Warner Bros.

|align="center"|3

|align="center"|8

|align="center"|7

|align="center"|11

|align="center"|6

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|5

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|4

|align="left"|

|align="left"|Platinum

|align="left"|Platinum; WW: 4.0 million

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Song

! colspan="11"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

! style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| US

! style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| AUS

|align="center"| —

|Non-album single

|"Take Me with U" (with Apollonia Kotero)

|align="center"|25

|align="center"|40

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|7

|Purple Rain

|rowspan="6"|1985

|"Paisley Park"

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|38

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|18

|rowspan="3"|Around the World in a Day

|"Raspberry Beret"

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|3

|align="center"|4

|align="center"|13

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|35

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|25

|"Pop Life" /

|align="center"|7

|align="center"|8

|align="center"|5

|align="center"|67

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|65

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|60

|"Hello"

|align="center"| —

|align="center"| 5

|align="center"| —

|Non-album single

|"America" /

|align="center"|46

|align="center"|35

|align="center"| 31

|align="center"| —

|Around the World in a Day

|"Girl"

|align="center"| —

|align="center"| 31

|align="center"| —

|Non-album single

|rowspan="5"|1986

|"Kiss" /

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|8

|align="center"|4

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|16

|align="center"|3

|align="center"|6

|Parade

|"♥ or $"

|align="center"| —

|align="center"| 1

|align="center"| —

|Non-album single

|"Mountains"

|align="center"|23

|align="center"|15

|align="center"|11

|align="center"|45

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|32

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|45

|rowspan="3"|Parade

|"Anotherloverholenyohead" /

|align="center"|63

|align="center"|18

|align="center"|21

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|36

|"Girls & Boys"

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|21

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|27

|align="center"| —

|align="center"|11

Video albums

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" width="33"| Year

!rowspan="2" width="250"| Album details

!colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

!colspan="3"| Certifications

!style="width:4em;font-size:85%"| US

|align="center"| —

|align="left"|

| 1985

| align="left"| Prince and the Revolution: Live

Released: March 6, 1985
Label: Warner Bros. Records

|align="center"| 1

|align="center"| —

|align="left"|

|align="left"|2× Platinum

Tours

Purple Rain Tour (1984–85)
Hit n Run – Parade Tour (1986)

The Revolution (band)

The pre-Revolution

Expansion (1985–1986)

Unreleased Revolution album

Dissolution

Personnel

Timeline

Honors and awards

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtrack albums

Singles

Video albums

Tours

See also

Notes

References

External links