Thanks!

I love your write up about these fabulous ladies. It is so refreshing having my same thoughts and sentiments validated by other devoted fans..

see ya on the tweet!
suejester

great post.

No offense taken by your comment, and you raise legitimate points. Let me explain a little.

I grew up in a very small town that had no MTV, BET, or VH1 on cable; we had only the number of channels on a rotary-style TV. In fact, my former hometown didn’t get those channels until the mid 90s after my family had moved away. I saw music videos through local stations that sometimes aired programming from larger affiliates. It wasn’t until around 1989 or so when my dad got satellite and I could watch MTV, BET, and VH1. So, yes, I did miss W&L’s debut record in 1986. As for radio play, my small town had only a few stations that I could pick up and listen to, and most of it was country; I lived (and still do live) in the deep South. It was a little difficult to hear/see something when you had limited access or none in some cases

As for dismissing “Are You My Baby?” and their entire solo career on the basis of one single…well, I can’t argue with you on that one. I can only say that in 1989, I was very young still (was just a pre-teen), and I was a different music listener at that time. I loved Wendy and Lisa, but my mind was still stuck on them as Revolution members and wanting that same, almost exact sound they had with Prince. That’s just the truth and how I felt during that time in my life. I’m not even going to lie about it. Even though I watched the video multiple times, it just never grew on me. Sometimes it’s just like that with songs. I’ve felt that way about other songs from artists I like, and I love the songs now.

I also didn’t find out about their other subsequent releases to the Fruit at the Bottom LP until many years later (via the Internet and when I got curious about what happened to them). What can I say other than I just didn’t seek them out. In some cases, what happened to W&L after 1989 didn’t cross my mind much. I was tapped into the mindset that if I didn’t see you on MTV, BET, or VH1, you didn’t exist to me. There really is no explanation why I didn’t seek out their music after that album and with the penetration of the Internet. Yes, in recent years, I was hearing about them every once in a while through their film score work, but I still wasn’t curious enough to really seek them out. That’s just truth.

Finally, how I feel about Wendy and Lisa can be best summed up on how anyone feels about their family. You can still love a person (or people) but may not like everything they do. Just like in real life, you may not understand what some of your family members are doing and why they’re doing it. You may even wander away from your family for years, but it doesn’t mean you don’t still love them. When you finally see/talk to that family member after a long time apart, you realize how much you both have grown and changed over the years. What you didn’t understand about them then, you might finally be at a place in your life when you get them. That’s me when it comes to Wendy and Lisa. I finally get their music and yes, realize how much my own enforced distance made me miss out on what everyone else got.