Wendy And Lisa: Any Fans?

Didn't they out Trevor Horn as a homophobe?

Is it a solo career if you're a duo?

I wish I could get that 20seconds of my life back I used watching their lesvideo. Prefer Danielle staub and Lori Michaels

I loved them, I was very big into Prince, but even more so his spinoff acts, like Vanity & Apollonia 6, Jill Jones, etc. w&L are very talented, i had the 45 of Waterfalls. I always thought Lisa might be lesbian but was shocked about Wendy. Prince used to date her twin sis, Susannah.

R1 Yep, although it's possible he was using English humor and it went over their heads. Ironically, Trevor's son is now a Trans woman.

"I dedicate this song... to Apollonia, to Sheila E!, to Vanity!, to Lisa and Wendy on their own..." S. Bernhard

Prince's career and life collapsed when he fired Wendy and Lisa, They were the only ones who could keep him somewhat on track.

Nice jam and hair.

Damn.

Oh, Wendy.

[Quote] although it's possible he was using English humor and it went over their heads.

But isn't he a Frummer?

R11 His late wife was Jewish, he is not. He never covered, though believes in Judaism.

Wendy was or is in a relationship with another Lisa.

"If I Were Brave" by Wendy & Lisa is on the July 1999 Gap In-Store Playlist!

Didn't Prince hit Wendy so hard he broke one of her ribs?

Lisa wasn't a "protege," she was just in his band (as far back as Dirty Mind, before he was really big, because she does vocals on "Head").

R16 Yes, she replaced Gayle Chapman.

Just as an aside, Prince opened for The Rolling Stones on some of their 1981 dates. He was not only booed off the stage, but I believe some audience members pelted him with objects. He lasted 15 minutes onstage in LA before leaving the stage in tears. Mick's advice to Mr. Nelson viz. this fragrant episode? "PREPARE TO DIE!"

R18 But they stuck with it.

Wendy's IG name is Wigmusic. Does she wear wigs?

Paisley Park is in your heart.

They do a lot of TV work.

A nice Christmas song from the movie "Toys". This began their work with Seal.

Bump.

Is Sheila E. a lesbian? Now I'm wondering.

R25 Lynn Mabry is her rumored partner.

Thank you, R26.

I'm R25 above, forgot to sign.

Love them!

R28 Ha, no problem.

One of them looks like Ruth Buzzi in the Raspberry Beret video. I clearly recall commenting hey, look, it’s Ruth Buzzi on guitar!

R31 That would be Wendy.

Fruit at the bottom!

Yes I’m a fan

I'm a huge Wendy and Lisa fan. First things first, OP, and I'll try not to be a bitch about it because you meant well....but I get irked when people refer to Wendy and Lisa as Prince's proteges.

Some people still get the image of vapid tartlets with little to no talent, backed by Prince because he found them attractive. And those did exist. But there were also artists who had real talent (Jill Jones) and others who had talent....where maybe singing wasn't the strongest of their talents, but they were talented (paging Sheila Escovido on the black courtesy phone!)

But Wendy and Lisa were not only NOT Prince proteges, but it's quite the other way around - they had a MAJOR influence on his sound. Not so much on 1999, as Lisa was just on board a bit before that and Wendy came on board during that album or tour. But definitely as part of Purple Rain. And their DNA was definitely all over Around The World In A Day and Parade.

Prince was a huge Joni Mitchell fan. And just as Joni had a lot of LA's best jazz musicians and Jaco Pastorius to get a sound she wanted, to teach her how to play the pop/jazz hybrid she wanted, Prince had Wendy and Lisa as collaborators to get the pop/funk hybrid he'd started to build to with 1999.

I think he fired them in part because he knew they had a lot of sweat in the game, knew it was a collaboration, and moved to reclaim control. And you can tell when they left how his music changed. It turned back to the stronger funk sound on albums like Diamonds and Pearls and the symbol album.

As for their music as a duo, I've loved their albums. Each one has some songs I've truly loved. Most people, if they know their music together at all, remember the big major label albums, but I've loved the ones they've done since, too.

And I witnessed a truly magnificent performance of the Revolution in 2017, led by Wendy and Lisa.

There's no denying Prince was a genius and the leader of his massive body of work. But W&L were definitely more than just proteges in lacy lingerie.

(and OMG, Wendy does kinda look a bit like Ruth Buzzi!)

Oh, and a few years ago Lisa released a solo instrumental album. I know as a duo they've done dozens of scores for TV and movies, but I didn't know a huge amount about that work or about their instrumental work.

Lisa's album "Collage" is gorgeous, emotionally devastating and ultimately hopeful. It's one of my favorite pieces of music of the last few years and is often how I end my day. I recommend it.

R36 Are they working on anything new?

R37 I know in a few social media posts they said they wanted to go back into the studio once the Revolution tour(s) were done. I don't know if they've been scoring anything recently. It takes forever for them to come out with stuff now, but it seems like they might have one more record in them.

R38 Well, they're not that old, I'm sure they have miles left to go.

According to one of their Twitter accounts (girlbros) this is a recent show they scored.

(I think they both have individual Twitter accounts, there's a "girlbros" account, and another one for Wendy & Lisa.)

Loved the first album and Fruit on the bottom and Eroica. Sideshow and Waterfall were my favorite but most of the albums were listenable and should have gotten more airplay. The duo became super successful doing music for TV - They wrote the themes to Carnivale, Crossing Jordan, and Heroes (as well as all the incidental music).

They also wrote themes and music for Nurse Jackie and Shades of Blue.

They worked with Neil Finn on his second solo album.

They really produce some melodically interesting music.

I do like Ballon from White Flags of Winter Chimneys.

R42 I love Balloon too! I thought I was the only person that knew that song.

I love the first half of that album - none of it's bad but the last half seems to be more slower music, maybe leftovers from their scoring.

Such a great song - they really rock out a bit on this one.

Love almost everything they did (Fruit on the Bottom probably my least favorite) but you can tell - this is from their debut album and the follow up single to Waterfall and the record company was like, OK, Waterfall wasn't a hit, let's see if putting you in skimpy outfits reminds the public you used to play with Prince!

R40 Wendy runs the W&L account, Lisa runs the Girl Bros account. On IG, Lisa runs the W&L account, and Wendy has her WigMusic account.

Niagara Falls from White Flags of Winter Chimneys is also a gr8 track. I’ve been a W&L fan since Purple Rain and have stayed up with all of their solo Revolution work.

Correction - post-revolution solo work

This is one of my personal fave W&L songs featuring Lisa on keyboards and vocals.

I’ve Got a Big Bowl of Cherries 🍒

Don't forget Wendy's twin sister, Susannah.

Once went off on my own father when he accused Wendy & Lisa of plagiarising and stealing from Prince. We fell out for a long time over it.

I heard Wendy is single again.

R52 OMG there’s no time I have to lose 20lbs get a haircut burn my wardrobe and learn to flirt

Wendy's IG name is Wigmusic. Does she wear/like wigs?

R53 Wonder if she's BI? They both crushed on Prince, and Lisa briefly dated him.

Love them. Waterfalls, Honeymoon Express and Strung Out amazing tracks.

*Correction: WaterFALL.

;I think it's Wigmusic for Wendy IG Music

R49 LETS BE FRIENDS!!!!

seriously, I know of like two other people on earth who even know that song let alone love it!

Trivia: the very lovely k.d. lang album "Ingenue" is all about her unrequited love for Wendy (!!)

R59 I knew of it. There's also an unreleased record that they did with Trevor Horn in the 90s.

R58 Wigmusic was also her Twitter handle for a while.

Well then, fuck if I know what it means. Perhaps you can ask her and report back.

R60 power couple dream😍😍☺️why didn’t they collab?

R64 Unrequited love.

Wendy was either still with Lisa at the point k.d. was in love with her, or was with *someone* else.

I know Wendy was in a relationship with Lisa Chodelenko (sp?) who directed that lez movie with Julianne Moore, Seriously and Nettie Bening back in the day.

Wendy and Lisa were friends since childhood and retained the friendship and the music partnership after their breakup. I think Lisa has been with the same woman for eons now. Probably in serious throes of Lez Bed Death.

Wendy and Lisa were together until 2000. Lisa's girlfriend is Renata Klancerz, also the mother of her child. Wendy had a son with Lisa C. The movie was "The Kids Are Alright".

Never thought I'd hear the name of the legendary jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius in a thread about Wendy & Lisa.

Jaco was amazing. IIRC, he died from a traumatic brain injury after getting into a bar fight.

Wait, [bold]WHAAAT[/bold]??

Wendy was in a relationship with Lisa Chodelenko [bold]and[/bold]Annette Bening?!

In that post, the sentence structure is a bit 'off'.

OMG I am now in love with "I've Got a Big Bowl of Cherries." Thanks for posting, R49!

R49 Such a great song.

R69 No. Let me retype for clarity.

I know Wendy was in a relationship with Lisa Chodelenko (sp?)

Lisa C was the one who directed that lez movie with Julianne Moore, Seriously and Nettie Bening back in the day.

Julianne and Nettie were married to each other in the aforementioned movie

Wow...I wonder if Wendy and Lisa C's personal lives inspired the movie at all?

Wow, Balloon is beautiful too!

[quote][R69] No. Let me retype for clarity. I know Wendy was in a relationship with Lisa Chodelenko (sp?) Lisa C was the one who directed that lez movie with Julianne Moore, Seriously and Nettie Bening back in the day.

OK, now I get it. Yes, I saw that film. Julianne and Annette are two of my fave actresses.

I would not be all that surprised if Annette B was bi, or a lesbian, because I recall reading somewhere she was not totally straight.

Annette was nuts to marry that STD petri-dish Warren Beatty, but that's just my opinion.

R76 Annette always struck me as Bi. Even K.D. Lang said she was sexually attracted to men, though she considers herself a lesbian.

Incidentally that was the part of that movie that confused me.....the women were lez but watched gay porn in bed?

Lisa was in a band with Wendy's brother, Waldorf Salad, in 1973 (!)

Since both Wendy and Lisa's dads were in the industry, the fact that they'd have a record out is not entirely surprising.

Julie Goldman says that gay porn is attractive to lesbians because no women are harmed in the making of it.

R35 nice post

Thanks R81

R82 Loved it as well.

If Wendy wears wigs, then she needs to market them or tell us who makes them for her. Her hair on The Revolution tour was great.

I'm still salty about the way Sheila E. did the CBS Grammy tribute to Prince. Since his death, she's behaved in a way that has a LOT of Prince fans questioning her motives. And if rumors or true, she didn't even include W&L originally in this event. It only happened after intervention from the producers and some ugly words.

As far as what is seen, they're mostly ignored until the end of the event - never mind that they either played or co-wrote some of what went to air - but when Purple Rain comes around?

Well, maybe Wendy is Wig Music because when she played on that track, SHE SNATCHED EVERYONE'S FUCKING WIG AND BURNED IT. So, so good.

A moment of triumph before Sheila "I Fucked Prince So Let Me Put My Dirty Culo All Over Every Song!" E. came back to the stage.

Grammy tribute

R85 This is true. They cut out "Mountains" from the broadcast, and W&L wrote the music for that. Sheila E. strong armed her way into everything and The Revolution was nearly shut out.

Ok r59!

My fave W&L tracks

Honeymoon Express

Stay

This is the Life (Dangerous Minds Soundtrack version)

Lolly Lolly (the extended introduction on the special edition of Fruit at the Bottom rocks)

Are You My Baby

Are You My Baby (My Man’s 12”)

Always In My Dreams

Happy Birthday

Rainbow Lake 🌈

Strung Out

Crack In The Pavement

Stones And Birth

Love & Trouble

I’ve Got A Big Bowl of Cherries 🍒

I’ve Got No Strings

Balloon

Niagra Falls

Lemon Chiffon

Eh... isn't Sheila as gay as Wendy & Lisa?

This is a fave article with The Current that Lisa did during the release of the 1999 Super Deluxe Edition. She gives a lot of insight to what it was like being with Prince during his meteoric rise to superstar status. The link gives audio and the transcript of the interview. As a Prince and Wendy & Lisa fan I find it utterly fascinating.

R79 how adorable are W&L as little kids?

This video of Wendy in a hotel room ordering room service and whatnot cracks me up.

I’ve always suspected that Sheila was lez or at least bi. Apollonia posted a scathing rebuke of her last year on social media when Sheila released her song “Lemon Cake,” and in the post she mentioned how Prince would refer to Sheila as “he-she.”

Sheila is butch in the same way as Alicia Keys.

It's a bit rich of gender bender Prince to use that moniker for Sheila.

Wendy & Lisa once referred to Prince as being a “fancy lesbian”.

Sounds about right!

R92 Wendy wasn't in that band, but yes Lisa is pretty adorable.

Wendy and Lisa in 2010, shopping at Amoeba.

R100 thanks so much for sharing, that’s a fantastic bit of footage. Both have the coolest esoteric music tastes (especially Wendy—love that she loves shoegaze), and incidentally both looked glowing that day (‘Lesbian Skin’ is a real thing). I miss 2000s record shopping in those big outlets.

Fascinating to see which artists so influenced their work. I never would have guessed the mix of Morton Subotnik, Steve Reich, Grace Jones, Malcolm McClaren, MBV, The Horrors, Joe Cocker, & Buffy Sainte-Marie would have been so impactful on their ouevre, but it makes perfect sense when you think about it.

The 70s in LA were wild, if a preteen Wendy was easily sneaking into disco clubs after hours and watching DJs. 15 or 16 is one thing, but 12/13? Guess her parents were liberal arty types, so they didn’t mind.

Lisa is the most adorable woman on Earth. Hippy-dippy granola and sort of zonked, but lovely nonetheless. Not to lez out totally, but she has this goddessy aura about her.

Said with love and respect and appreciation, from a fellow dyke—did Lisa break up with Wendy because Wendy can’t stop talking over her and interrupting? Wendy is a blast and so fun to be with, I’m sure, but her never-ending yap and need to dominate a conversation would get on my damn nerves. Lisa must have the patience of a saint.

Also, Wendy’s constant chattering and grumbling about how much she hates her son’s taste in music is a little overboard, though I do understand her concern about rap (ugh, the misogyny). Why though is she then ok with giving her son an Ike & Tina record?

Wendy’s reaction to Lisa’s obvious crush on Pete Seeger is so funny. “Look—a guy with a guitar!” Wend is seething! She must have Prince-PTSD still. And I laughed too at the look on Lisa’s face when she was explaining Jim Gordon’s friendship with her dad...

Assuming that Lisa does know the difference between classical & opera, she just couldn’t be bothered making the distinction.

Now I’m curious to know why their record with Trevor Horn never got finished as Lisa mentions, and why both ladies grimace when they talk about him. How come it didn’t go well?

Wendy definitely has the stronger personality. Not to reinforce gender stereotypes but she definitely had a more masculine energy.

Lisa seems painfully shy and self-conscious but I think she's more assertive when she's in the studio. Lately she's reminded me a lot of Laura Nyro.

R101 The Trevor Horn thing is just weird, and a mystery. W&L say he was not pleasant to them, often debated homosexuality's sinfulness with them, and ultimately withheld the recording. Horn has recorded other LGBT artists, though. I think W&L are reliable and professional, so I really don't understand what the issue is.

One of my favourite pop flautist/saxophonists Eric Leeds played with Prince + W&L in The Revolution, and also contributed to the W&L album EROICA.

This was THE song of all songs for me in 1990-91ish. Loved this so much.

Of all their singles, it truly mystified me why THIS never made a bigger splash.

Okay but are there any fans of The Family? I still have the LP of that. The Family is what became of the time after Morris Day went solo fronted by St. Paul and Susannah Melvoin - Wendy's twin sister.

R105 I wasn't a huge fan but I liked The Screams of Passion.

And of course they were the original act that recorded Nothing Compares 2 U - Prince wrote it for them to record.

The Screams of Passion is still a jam. I love Prince’s rehearsal/soundcheck version of it.

Great, long interview with Wendy about Prince and music.

I loved that one too r108. Love Jamie Liddell too.

Wendy must have felt weird about the fact that Prince was so deeply and unsettlingly obsessed with her sister. I know if that were my sister he was all over to that degree, I’d be wary and suspicious and want her to distance.

Prince may have been a genius and may have done a lot as an ally for gay visibility in the 80s, but frankly sometimes his treatment of women & gays in his personal life really was questionable.

Agreed, R110.

I think Prince either had a small amount of gay curiosity or had a deeply feminine side, though if his song If I Was Your Girlfriend is autobiographical, he thought being a woman would give him access to a secret part of femininity he was denied.

His "Camille" persona....I mean......

I rue that he ever met Larry Graham - I don't think Larry did much for his music and he fucked his head up with that Jehovah's BS. He would say antigay shit now and again, then follow up with something supportive.

Wow, will have to listen to R108's podcast. I've enjoyed Jamie's music, though I always felt it needed something to take it to the next level.

Weren't Wendy and Lisa heavily involved with Michael Penn's music (Sean's brother).

I wouldn't say heavily involved, R113, but Michael was one of many artists where they played on their records.

This is the list from Wikipedia of the artists they've done session work for:

Seal, k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Meshell Ndegeocello, Pearl Jam, Terence Trent D'arby, Lisa Germano, Lisa Marie Presley, Liz Phair, Michael Penn, Grace Jones, Tricky, The Three O'Clock, Uh Huh Her, Sheryl Crow, Victoria Williams, Rob Thomas, Gwen Stefani, Skye Edwards, Scritti Politti, Nerina Pallot, OK Go, Madonna, The Like, Nina Gordon, fDeluxe, The Family, Doyle Bramhall II, Nikka Costa, André Cymone, Kate Earl, Eric Clapton, Bettye LaVette, Ilse Delange, Mac Miller, and Walk the Moon.

Sometimes the DL is a cesspool of heinous cunts....but it warms what remains of my heart that we've had a lovely conversation of 100+ posts about these two amazingly talented women.

Smooches 💋 and a free ride on the Honeymoon Express 🚆 with a big bowl of 🍒 cherries (that you can eat one by one) for all! ❤️

Is the water warm enough?

Yes Lisa

Shall we begin?

Yes Lisa.

*funky guitar begins playing*

Bump.

New.

Here's a video of Wendy breaking down her iconic guitar parts.

Wendy is also the main guitar player on Sheryl Crow's "If it makes you happy". After a lifetime of love for the W&L era Revolution, I thought I knew a lot about Wendy, but I just learned that yesterday.

R125 Wendy played on "My Favorite Mistake" not "If It Makes You Happy".

Lets find that missing tape with the trevor horn recording sessions on it.

Bump!

[quote]Wendy Melvion and Lisa Coleman were Prince's proteges, but later had their own solo careers

Did they?

Wendy playing guitar on Tracy Chapman's Give Me One Reason:

Are you trying to say THAT'S a career R130?