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Wendy & Lisa (Music)

 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
type
TVTItem
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
label
Wendy & Lisa (Music)
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
page
WendyAndLisa
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
comment
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Childhood friends and Amicable Exes Wendy Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) and Lisa Coleman (born August 17, 1960), much like fellow Prince associate Sheila E., had musical families: Wendy's father Mike and Lisa's father Gary (not to be confused with Gary Coleman the actor) were highly in-demand session musicians, and Wendy's brother Jonathan also went on to become a musician and served as touring keyboardist for The Smashing Pumpkins... until he died of a heroin overdose.Lisa was the first to join The Revolution as a keyboardist in 1980, replacing Gayle Chapman. Once guitarist Dez Dickerson left in 1983, Lisa pulled the I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine card and got Wendy into the band as a guitarist.Wendy & Lisa (as they were always credited) were generally acknowledged by fans and critics as The Revolution's "secret weapon": their complex approach to melody and songwriting helped push Prince and the band to a whole different level musically, while their love of The Beatles was reflected in the Pop and Psychedelic Rock influences they added. Their backing vocals and contributions to Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day and Parade are held in very high regard. And their spoken introduction to "Computer Blue" has proven quite memorable, being referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000 and other places.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Unfortunately, their relationship with Prince during their tenure grew increasingly sour, both due to creative differences, and the latter seemingly going out of his way to find new ways to piss them off (up to and including not only bringing in Wendy's twin sister into the band, but dating her!). Prince's assholish behavior towards Wendy and Lisa in Purple Rain wasn't exactly acting. In fact, Prince's conflict with the two was one of the key intra-band conflicts that eventually led to Prince's disbanding of The Revolution in 1986.In response, Wendy and Lisa recorded their first self-titled album in 1987. They co-produced the album with Revolution drummer Bobby Z, called up contributions from family members (namely Wendy's sister Susannah, Lisa's brother David and father Gary), played various instruments, wrote and sang all the songs. The result was a quirky, low-budget pop album filled with memorable melodies and possessing an overall ethereal character. The album received positive reviews, made a bit of headway in the USA and climbed up to a moderate position up in the UK.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })For their follow-up album, Fruit at the Bottom, the two abandoned the low-key charms of their debut and tried to take a shot towards success, adding more synths and dance beats to their music. Unfortunately they came up short in the songwriting department, which was reflected in its sales: the USA pretty much ignored it completely, while the British again sent it up the charts. Prince did a remix of the track 'Lolly Lolly' for the single release which is the only instance of Prince contributing to Wendy & Lisa's solo work.Wendy and Lisa next signed with Virgin Records and released a new album, Eroica, a much more eclectic alternative-rock oriented work that didn't sacrifice the group's trademark ethereal atmosphere or memorable melodies. It met with strong reviews and became their biggest success... in the UK, natch.The two took some time off from their solo career and found a second job out of soundtracks - they've since contributed soundtracks and incidental music for various films and TV shows such as Toys, Dangerous Minds, Heroes, Bionic Woman, Crossing Jordan, Something New and Nurse Jackie, the last of which they won an Emmy for. They also took up work as session musicians, appearing either together or alone on albums by Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Meshell Ndegeocello, Michael Penn, Liz Phair, Seal, Madonna and k.d. lang.They've also made two more albums since, the Tchad Blake-produced Girl Bros. in 1998 and the entirely self-released White Flags of Winter Chimneys in 2008 (the latter's online release being similar to the ones for Radiohead's In Rainbows and Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV).
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
fetched
2022-08-11T00:56:47Z
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
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2022-08-11T00:56:47Z
 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
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DBTropes
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_74b7629c
type
Instrumentals
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_74b7629c
comment
Instrumentals: "White".
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_74b7629c
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_74b7629c
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8ad0bc24
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Something Blues
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8ad0bc24
comment
Something Blues: Played with a bit in the title "Blues Away".
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8ad0bc24
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 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8ad0bc24
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8ad0bc24
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8b4f2a4f
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'80s Hair
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8b4f2a4f
comment
'80s Hair: They had this back in... well, the eighties. See for yourself.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8b4f2a4f
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_8b4f2a4f
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_91b55fe
type
Pop-Star Composer
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_91b55fe
comment
Pop-Star Composer: As mentioned above, they've scored multiple films and television series. Dangerous Minds was their very first film they scored.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_91b55fe
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1.0
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_91b55fe
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_91b55fe
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_a681bfc6
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Amicable Exes
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_a681bfc6
comment
Amicable Exes: It was believed for a long time that they were just Heterosexual Life-Partners, and they were, in fact, childhood friends, but in a 2009 interview with Out magazine they revealed that they had a past romantic relationship with each other, and had been openly out since.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_a681bfc6
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_a681bfc6
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
type
Rearrange the Song
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
comment
Rearrange the Song: "This Is the Life" was rearranged for the Dangerous Minds soundtrack.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
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1.0
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_ce6555f0
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Lighter and Softer
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_ce6555f0
comment
Lighter and Softer: Fruit at the Bottom, which was a more mainstream-sounding album than its predecessor.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_ce6555f0
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1.0
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_ce6555f0
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_dbfd6b8
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Lyrical Dissonance
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_dbfd6b8
comment
Lyrical Dissonance: A common criticism of Fruit at the Bottom is that the dance beats clash badly with the lyrics.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_dbfd6b8
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1.0
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_dbfd6b8
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e563bf09
type
Insistent Terminology
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e563bf09
comment
Insistent Terminology: Their group name's either spelled "Wendy and Lisa" or "Wendy & Lisa". Nobody seems to agree on this, but the "&" seems to be the most widespread.
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e563bf09
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e563bf09
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e680af6f
type
Grief Song
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e680af6f
comment
Grief Song: "Jonathan" deals with the death of Wendy's brother Jonathan after an overdose during a tour with The Smashing Pumpkins (the same incident resulted in Jimmy Chamberlain being fired from that band.) This topic was also explored in Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel", and Prince's own "The Love We Make" (judging by the hints left in the liner notes).
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e680af6f
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e680af6f
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e91cc721
type
In the Style of
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e91cc721
comment
In the Style of...: Given away right in the title of "Salt and Cherries (MC5)".
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e91cc721
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 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e91cc721
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_e91cc721
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_f3cf057b
type
Fading into the Next Song
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_f3cf057b
comment
Fading into the Next Song: On the self-titled debut, "Everything But You" and "Light".
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_f3cf057b
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Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_f3cf057b
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_name
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ItemName
 Wendy & Lisa (Music) / int_name
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Wendy & Lisa (Music)

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 Wendy & Lisa (Music)
hasFeature
The Minneapolis Sound / int_63e56948