Wendy and Lisa

Episode notes

(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Wendy and Lisa are veteran composers and singer-songwriters. They were integral members of Prince’s Revolution.

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman were born in the ’60s, and were childhood friends. Both of their fathers were members of the legendary Wrecking Crew; a collective of session musicians based in Los Angeles who recorded with just about everyone between the ’60s and ’70s.

In their early 20’s, they started dating. Around that same time, Lisa started playing keys and singing for Prince. You can hear her work on Prince’s breakthrough, Dirty Mind.

Soon after, Wendy joined on guitar. Together they recorded some stone cold classics with The Revolution: Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, When Doves Cry and more.

They left The Revolution in 1986. They released a few albums of their own under the name. All these years, Wendy & Lisa have kept collaborating – even long after they broke up as a couple.

These days, they compose scores for TV and movies: Heroes, Dangerous Minds, Crossing Jordan and Nurse Jackie. Earlier this summer the two reunited with the Revolution to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain. And they just announced they’re working on an album with Annie Lennox.

Wendy and Lisa talk with us about their 40-plus year partnership, and their Emmy award-winning work as composers. They’ll reflect on their childhood friendship and the work their fathers contributed as members of The Wrecking Crew. And of course, what it was like to collaborate with Prince, and work on some of his most iconic records.

A version of this interview originally aired in June of 2021.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Wendy Melvoin
Lisa Coleman

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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