Youngsters with musical ambitions today concentrate on computer skills and the entire process of writing and recording music has become completely masturbatory. In my lifetime, the idea of a bunch of young hopeful musicians getting together and starting a band was almost cliché-ish.
But the long term impact of Purple Rain may be abetted some by the fact that youngsters playing “real” music on traditional instruments is so less common than it was twenty five years ago. LEEDS: Initial reaction is purely personal: time flies! I suppose the film’s legacy standing is a bit unexpected given the normally brief shelf life of pop art. I’m grateful that it was so successful and still is in people’s minds. So yes, in that respect, I’m not surprised. So it’s a wonderful thing: it’s become a classic from that period of time, much like other movies of the day-like The Wizard of Oz, they air that every year, no matter what. It’s still being played regularly on stations like VH1 and other cable on a fairly regular basis ‘cos no matter what, every year it’s played several times. I mean, I think it’s a wonderful thing that people are still remembering it and still influenced by it and still watching it. What are your initial reactions to this? Are you surprised the film’s legacy has lasted as long as it has?įINK: Am I surprised by that? Yes and no. Together, they share their stories, insights, and personal experiences as to what made the Revolution as groundbreaking as it was, and why-25 years later-we still adore them as much as we do.įirst off: wow, it’s been 25 years since Purple Rain first came out. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain, PopMatters got a chance to talk with two of the most instrumental figures to the Revolution’s success: longtime keyboardist and “Computer Blue” co-writer Matt Fink and Prince’s manager of 20 years Alan Leeds. So it’s no wonder we’re still fascinated with the Revolution over decades later: their myth and their music still live on, so many critics often holding up Prince’s latest work to his time with the Revolution for comparison, as, truly, his time with the band was a time when he was truly untouchable. Over the course of three albums (Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, and Parade), the Revolution wound up expanding Prince’s creative reach by introducing him to new bands and styles, providing ample room for jam-based improvisation and more, all leading His Royal Badness to some of the greatest pop singles ever made ("Kiss", “Raspberry Beret”, “Let’s Go Crazy”, etc.) Following the dissolution of the band after Parade, Prince would eventually try and recapture that same energy by forming the New Power Generation, who-despite playing on one of Prince’s most commercially successful ‘90s albums (Diamonds & Pearls)-simply didn’t have the same creative dynamic that the Revolution had, the NPG ultimately becoming more of a glorified backing outfit than a cohesive group of musicians. Yet is any of this true? According to the people who were there: not really.
#PRINCE DOCTOR FINK MOVIE#
Many people cite that band’s role in the Purple Rain movie was somewhat indicative of what was really going on behind the scenes: each member wanted to make their own songwriting contributions, but Prince wouldn’t have any of it, leading to in-fighting and even an unnecessary (though interesting) rivalry between the Revolution and Prince’s other band, Morris Day & the Time. Yet the more that you read about the Revolution, the harder it is to determine fact from fiction, as so much of the Revolution’s dynamic has been hyperbolized and dramatized to the point of caricature.
There was bassist Mark Brown, longtime Prince drummer Bobby Z., keyboard maestro “Dr.” Matt Fink, and the immortal guitar/keys duo known as Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman, and together, they played on (and sometimes even co-wrote) some of the biggest songs of the ‘80s, tracks that still hold up remarkably well to this very day. A good deal of songs from Purple Rain, in fact, were recorded live and in one-take, the band so in sync with each other that you wouldn’t even be able to tell that they were live recordings (with a few studio overdubs) unless you listened very, very closely. Though the group had been around for awhile-they served as the backing band during Prince’s 1999 tour-it wasn’t until Purple Rain that they began contributing to Prince’s songwriting and recording endeavors. It seems that we have all been misinformed about the Revolution.ĭuring their creative and commercial peak in 1984/5, there was no band alive that was bigger-or better-than Prince’s touring ensemble, known simply as “the Revolution”.
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