Parade (Prince album)

Parade
Soundtrack album by Prince and The Revolution
Released	March 31, 1986
Recorded	April – December 1985 Washington Avenue Warehouse (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Sunset Sound (Hollywood, California) Monterey Sound Studios (Glendale, California, for Clare Fischer's orchestrations)
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
Blender
Robert Christgau	A−
Entertainment Weekly	C−
New York Times	(favorable)
Rolling Stone
Spin	(7/10)
Uppity Music	(favorable)
Yahoo! Music	(unfavorable)

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^{[citation needed]}. Then he laid down the bass, guitar, and other instruments in the same fashion^{[citation needed]}. They can almost be considered a suite, having a very continuous feel. "Girls & Boys" features a Roland guitar synth sound^{[citation needed]}, saxophone by Eric Leeds^{[citation needed]}, and a French-spoken monologue. "Life Can Be So Nice" features drums by Sheila E.^{[citation needed]}, and cuts suddenly to the instrumental "Venus de Milo".

Side Two starts with the "Mountains", and leads into "Do U Lie?"; that is followed by "Kiss", the album's biggest hit^{[citation needed]}. It immediately leads into "Anotherloverholenyohead". The album finishes with the ballad, "Sometimes It Snows in April". The cut is raw and done in one take^{[citation needed]}. 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^{[citation needed]}.

The album was, for the most part, a solo effort by Prince, aside for the full band's input on "Mountains"^{[citation needed]}. 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" (Prince, 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" (Prince, Wendy & Lisa) – 6:48

Early configuration

Configuration of 1, May 1985

Side one

• "Wendy's Parade" (Original 1985 version of "Christopher Tracy's Parade", before lyric changes) - 2:09
• "New Position" - 2:20
• "I Wonder U" (Different version than released) - 1:38
• "Under the Cherry Moon" - 2:57
• "Others Here with Us" (Officially unreleased) - 2:42
• "Life Can Be So Nice" - 3:13

Side two

• "Sometimes It Snows in April" - 6:48
• "Old Friends 4 Sale" (Original 1985 version, after orchestral overdubs) - 3:33
• "All My Dreams" (Officially unreleased) - 7:15

Personnel

• Prince – all vocals and instruments, except where noted
• 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 on "Venus de Milo", cowbell on "Life Can Be So Nice", backing vocals on "Girls & Boys"
• Miko Weaver – rhythm guitar on "Mountains"
• Jonathan Melvoin – drums on "Do U Lie?"
• Eric Leeds – horns
• Atlanta Bliss – trumpet
• Lisa Coleman - keyboards, vocals
• Wendy Melvoin - guitars, vocals, lead vocals on "I Wonder U"
• Mazarati – backing vocals and additional instrumentation on "Kiss"
• Clare Fischer - orchestral arrangements
• Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals
• Marie France – French seduction voice on "Girls & Boys"
• Sandra Francisco - little girl voice on "Do U Lie?"
• Isabelle Daskoff, Francine Walsh, Mari Botnik, Pam Gates, Janice Gower, Karen Jones, Betty Moor, Irma Neumann, Assa Drori, Bill Hymanson, Oscar Chasow, Ron Clark, Henry Ferber, Erne Granat, Ed Green, Bill Hybel, Reggie Hill, Pat Johnson, Don Palmer, Sheldon Sanov, Joe Schonbrun, Terry Schonbrun, Harold Wolf - violins
• Pam Goldsmith, Margot Maclaine, Carol Mukagawa, Myer Bello, Alan Deverich, Norman Forrest, Alan Harshman, Jorge Moraga, David Stock - violas
• Jim Arkatoff, Ray Kelley, Ray Kramer, Fred Seykora - cellos
• Chuck Dominico, Arni Egilsson - stand-up basses
• Gene Cipriano, Don Ashworth, John Clarke, Dave Edwards, Gary Foster, Jim Kanter, John Lowe, Dick Mitchell, Jack Nimitz, Joe Soldo, Bob Tricarico - woodwinds
• Ray Brown, Rich Cooper, Bob Findley, Larry Ford, Bob O'Donnell, Al Vizutti - trumpets
• Garnett Brown, Charles Loper, Morris Repass, Bill Watrous - trombones
• Marni Johnson, David Duke, Joe Myer, Brian O'Connor, Calvin Smith, Jim Thatcher - French horns
• Tommy Johnson - tuba
• Brent Fischer - timpani and additional percussion
• Susan Rogers - engineer
• Peggy McCreary - engineer
• Coke Johnson - engineer
• David Z. - engineer
• David Tickle - engineer
• David Leonard - engineer
• Arne Frager - orchestra recording (Monterey Sound)
• Bernie Grundman - mastering
• Jeff Katz - photography
• Laura LiPuma - art direction
• Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff - art direction
• Ann Field - collage
• Cavallo, Ruffalo and Fargnoli - personal management
• Fred Moultrie - business management
• Lee Phillips - legal representation

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

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