Parade (Prince album)

Parade
Soundtrack album by Prince and The Revolution
Released	March 31, 1986
Recorded	April – December 1985 Washington Avenue Warehouse, Minneapolis and Sunset Sound
Genre	Pop, rock, funk, psychedelic soul, R&B, psychedelic rock
Length	40:57
Label	Paisley Park/Warner Bros. 25395
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
Around the World in a Day (1985) Parade (1986) Sign o' the Times (1987)
Singles from Parade
"Kiss" Released: February 15, 1986 "Mountains" Released: May 7, 1986 "Anotherloverholenyohead" Released: July 2, 1986 "Girls & Boys" Released: 1986

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Robert Christgau	(A-)[3]
Entertainment Weekly	(C-)[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Spin	(7/10)[6]
Uppity Music	(favorable)[7]
Yahoo! Music	(unfavorable)[8]

Parade: Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon is the eighth studio album by Prince and The Revolution. It was the follow-up to Around the World in a Day and the soundtrack to Prince's second film. The album sees Prince further diversifying musically, adding orchestrations to his music and presenting a very European feel. Prince also displayed a new image with Parade: his trademark ruffled shirts, wild curly hair, and purple outfits which defined his look from 1981's Controversy to 1985's Around the World in a Day gave way to slicked-back hair and dress suits. Even though the single, "Kiss", was a number one hit, the album as a whole was not well-received in the U.S. Europe, however, embraced the album, and for the first time in Prince's career, European album sales eclipsed those in the U.S. This was Prince's final album released with The Revolution.

Music

The first four tracks were recorded in sequence with Prince laying down the drum track to all four in one take. Then he laid down the bass, guitar, and other instruments in the same fashion. They can almost be considered a suite, having a very continuous feel. "Girls & Boys" is the first funk track on the album. It features an unusual duck-like Roland guitar synth sound, saxophone by Eric Leeds, and a French-spoken monologue. "Life Can Be So Nice" features drums by Sheila E., and cuts suddenly to the serene instrumental "Venus de Milo".

Side Two starts with the lush "Mountains", and leads into the unusual "Do U Lie?" which has an airier, lighter sound; that is followed by the minimalist funk track "Kiss", the album's biggest hit. It immediately leads into "Anotherloverholenyohead", a funky rock track. The album finishes with the sad ballad, "Sometimes It Snows in April", which solidifies the lead character's storyline in his death. The cut is raw and done in one take. The sounds of the fingers on the strings, and the squeaky bar stools which Prince and Wendy & Lisa sat on, can be heard in the recording.

The album was, for the most part, a solo effort by Prince, aside for the full band's input on "Mountains". Wendy & Lisa are co-credited with writing the music for "Mountains" and "Sometimes It Snows in April", and background singing on many tracks. John L. Nelson, Prince's father, is credited as co-composer on "Christopher Tracy's Parade" and "Under the Cherry Moon". Several other contributions are also featured throughout the album. Clare Fischer composed and arranged the orchestra heard on many tracks, the album is Prince's first to use a full orchestra. Eric Leeds and Sheila E. provide some instrumentation and/or singing on various tracks. Prince's then-fiancée Susannah Melvoin (twin sister of Wendy) provides backing vocals on several tracks, and their brother, Jonathan Melvoin plays the drums on "Do U Lie?"

"Christopher Tracy's Parade" was originally called "Little Girl Wendy's Parade", the title of which can be heard in the lyrics of "Kiss". "New Position" was a 1982 track pulled from Prince's vault and re-recorded from scratch for Parade.

Several unreleased songs from the Parade sessions, including "Old Friends 4 Sale", "In All My Dreams" and "There's Others Here with Us", have become fan favorites. These tracks entered collectors' hands via the very well known bootleg Charade, which also includes other unreleased and unfinished recordings from the era.

While Parade is the last official release with The Revolution, a follow up called Dream Factory was recorded. Its release was canceled when Prince disbanded the group.

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	3
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums	2
UK Albums Chart	4

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Prince; except where indicated.

Side one

1. "Christopher Tracy's Parade" (Prince, John L. Nelson) – 2:11
2. "New Position" – 2:20
3. "I Wonder U" – 1:39
4. "Under the Cherry Moon" (Prince, John L. Nelson) – 2:57
5. "Girls & Boys" – 5:29
6. "Life Can Be So Nice" – 3:13
7. "Venus de Milo" – 1:55

Side two

1. "Mountains" (lyrics by Prince; music by Wendy & Lisa) – 3:57
2. "Do U Lie?" – 2:44
3. "Kiss" (arranged by David Z.) - 3:37
4. "Anotherloverholenyohead" – 4:00
5. "Sometimes It Snows in April" (lyrics by Prince; music by Wendy & Lisa) – 6:48

Personnel

• Brown Mark – electric bass, percussion, keyboards, vocals (co-lead vocals on "Mountains")
• Matt Fink – keyboards, synthesizers, midi-horn synths, vocals (co-lead vocals on "Christopher Tracy's Parade")
• Bobby Z – drums, electronic percussion, chimes
• Sheila E. – drums, cow bell, backing vocals
• Miko Weaver – rhythm guitar on "Mountains"
• Jonathan Melvoin – drums on "Do U Lie?"
• Eric Leeds – horns
• Atlanta Bliss – trumpet
• Wendy & Lisa – backing vocals on "Girls & Boys"
• Mazarati – backing vocals on "Kiss"
• Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals
• Marie France – French seduction voice on "Girls & Boys"
• Prince – everything+lead vocals

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

• "Kiss" (#1 U.S., #1 R&B, #6 UK)

1. "Kiss"
2. "♥ or $"

• "Mountains" (#23 U.S., #15 R&B, #45 UK)

1. "Mountains"
2. "Alexa de Paris"

• "Girls & Boys" (#11 UK)

1. "Girls & Boys"
2. "Under the Cherry Moon"
3. "Erotic City" — 12" version only
4. "She's Always In My Hair" — double 7" version only
5. "17 Days" — double 7" version only

• "Anotherloverholenyohead" (#63 U.S., #18 R&B, #36 UK)

1. "Anotherloverholenyohead"
2. "Girls & Boys" — U.S. version only
3. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" — UK version only

Notes

1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince & the Revolution: Parade > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
2. ^ Blender review^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Prince and the Revolution". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=5121&name=Prince+and+the+Revolution. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
4. ^ Browne, David (21 September 1990). "Purple Products". Entertainment Weekly (#32). ISSN 1049-0434. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,318219,00.html. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
5. ^ Hoard (2004), p. 655.
6. ^ Weisbard, Eric (10 October 1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). Vintage. ISBN 978-0679755746. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A667.htm. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
7. ^ French, Mark Montgomery (25 May 2005). "Prince and the Revolution: Parade". uppitymusic.com. http://www.uppitymusic.com/2005/05/prince-and-revolution-parade-1986.html. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
8. ^ Clay, Jennifer (1 January 1986). "Parade". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 2010-07022. http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12036660. 

References

• Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. 

External links

• Parade at Discogs