If you aren’t listening to Wendy & Lisa, you should be because you’re really missing out. If you thought two of The Revolution’s most visible members disappeared, they didn’t. Other than carving out a career as TV/film scorers (i.e. Heroes, Something New) Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman have recorded five albums:

• Wendy & Lisa (1987)
• Fruit at the Bottom (1989)
• Eroica (1990)
• Girl Bros. (1998)
• White Flags of Winter Chimneys (2008)

Plug into their music and find out why these two musicians are one of the most underrated musical acts within the past two decades. You can purchase their music at Amazon, iTunes, or their official site (Girl Bros. and White Flags of Winter Chimneys only with bonus tracks).

Previous Wendy & Lisa Coverage:

• Music Review: Wendy & Lisa’s Girl Bros.
• Music Review: Wendy & Lisa’s White Flags of Winter Chimneys
• 5 Reasons Why I Love Wendy & Lisa

I have spent several months purchasing all of Wendy & Lisa’s albums in my quest to earn my musical Ph.D. in their solo work. The Girl Bros. LP is the last album I needed to complete my thesis and graduate from the University of Wendy & Lisa. Now, allow me to present my thesis defense and obtain my doctorate.

Based on what I heard and read online, I knew that the Girl Bros. LP – originally released in 1998 and re-released (digital only) in 2009 – is a more somber sounding album from Wendy & Lisa than previous releases. I have read that the album was part tribute to Wendy’s late brother, Jonathan Melvoin, (touring keyboardist for The Smashing Pumpkins) and was made during the breakup of Wendy & Lisa’s romantic relationship. As a result, I knew that Girl Bros. would be the opposite of Fruit at the Bottom – a fun, exuberant album that often makes me smile when listening to it. However, the somber sounds and lyrics on Girl Bros. are not something that made me long for previous Wendy & Lisa-sounding albums. In fact, I find Girl Bros. the most interesting because it is a clear turning point in their musical careers. Where Eroica started shifting Wendy & Lisa’s sound from their previous two albums, Girl Bros. took an exit off the freeway into a new yet pleasing direction.

Girl Bros. has an overall alternative rock tone, which is a departure from the pop, funk, and R&B sounds attributed to Wendy & Lisa’s earlier music. There is a definite mellow feel to Girl Bros. – one similar to White Flags of Winter Chimneys, Wendy & Lisa’s newest release. However, fans will find some shades of familiarity in Girl Bros. established with the Eroica LP. Keeping the history of Girl Bros. in mind, I found myself listening a lot more carefully to the lyrics and identifying the emotions Wendy & Lisa were conveying during that time. The songs “All I Wonder/Anyway,” “Love & Trouble,” “Bring You Back,” and “Jonathan” are particularly expressive and touching songs that tug at you. While the album is filled primarily with slow and mid-tempo songs, “If I Were Brave” and “All Nite” are examples of songs that kick things into high gear. There are also a couple of lighthearted moments are on the album, which I did not expect. “I’ve Got a Big Bowl of Cherries” and “Worth Your Weight in Cold” are songs that always lighten my spirits upon hearing them, and involuntarily smiles are quite common.

Like White Flags of Winter Chimneys, Girl Bros. is an album that I have a tendency to listen straight through with no fast-forwarding…unless I am stuck in a musical vortex of awesomeness where I am rewinding instead. However, that musical vortex is by no means something I desire to escape when listening to standout tracks like “All I Wonder/Anyway,” “I’ve Got No Strings,” “Reaching One,” “I Will,” and the very spectacular rock opus “Uh-Uh, Don’t Look Down.”

White Flags of Winter Chimneys is my favorite Wendy & Lisa album, but Girl Bros. is a very close second. Musically, there is so much to listen to and digest as a music lover. Girl Bros. is an album where Wendy & Lisa truly stretch themselves outside of familiar musical territory, something I definitely find extremely satisfying as a music lover. Some artists stay in their musical comfort zone, but no one can accuse Wendy & Lisa of that with Girl Bros. They did not just dip their toes into the waters of alternative rock. They leapt into “Rainbow Lake” with both feet and did not sink like some artists when shifting gears in a different musical direction. Girl Bros. proves Wendy & Lisa are not confined by musical boundaries, and they create truly great music in different genres. As usual, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman shine, shine, shine with their musical, singing, and lyrical prowess (aka genius). Girl Bros. was Wendy & Lisa’s “Chance to Grow” and grow, they did. I dare you to find anything less than total and complete “Satisfaction” with Girl Bros.

As I mentioned previously, you can purchase the album from digital retailers Amazon and iTunes, but I suggest buying it directly from Wendy & Lisa’s official site for these bonus tracks:

• “All I Wonder/Anyway (Original Home Demo)”
• “If I Were Brave (Original Home Demo)”
• “I’ve Got a Big Bowl of Cherries (Original Home Demo)”
• “Madmen Swim Upstream (Home Demo Unreleased Out Take)”
• “Vengeance of a Nerd (Home Demo)”

Thank you for allowing me to present my dissertation. I am now a proud graduate from the University of Wendy & Lisa, class of 2009. If you are an incoming freshmen, catch up and join the rest of us Ph.D. recipients. Buy Girl Bros. today!

Previous coverage:

• Music Review: Wendy & Lisa’s White Flags of Winter Chimneys
• 5 Reasons Why I Love Wendy & Lisa

Note: I know I don’t write music reviews, but I’m giving it a shot for an artist that’s near and dear to my heart.

It’s been approximately four months since I reconnected with my love of all things Wendy and Lisa. During that time, Wendy and Lisa released White Flags of Winter Chimneys – their first album since 1998′s Girl Bros – through their website on December 9, 2008. For me, White Flags of Winter Chimneys was an exciting and hotly anticipated music release. I’d just began my musical journey with Wendy and Lisa’s solo work with their first album, Wendy and Lisa, in early November 2008. Although I’d heard some music from different phases of their solo career, I was still missing the full spectrum of Wendy and Lisa’s evolution as artists. After hearing Balloon and Invisible – two tracks from their new album – I was intrigued by their musical direction. As a long time fan taking a crash course in Wendy and Lisa’s music, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with the new album other than an alternative/rock feel. I’d dropped any preconceived notions that Wendy and Lisa needed to sound like The Revolution era long ago, and I was musically open and receptive to what they were doing now. Even though I was still playing catch up at the time, I had a gut instinct that White Flags of Winter Chimneys would be a musical experience to behold. I was glad my instincts were right.

I can still remember my reaction upon listening to White Flags of Winter Chimneys from beginning to end. I felt like I’d heard one of the best albums of 2008…hands down. Over the years, I’ve come to expect albums to have four good-great singles, maybe a couple of alright-good songs, and “bloatware” to fill out the rest of the space on an album. It’s rare to find albums in this music age where I can listen to every single track and not feel inclined to skip to the next track. White Flags of Winter Chimneys is one of those albums that keeps your finger away from the fast forward button. If anything, it keeps your finger on the rewind button to hear a track again and again and again.

White Flags of Winter Chimneys takes me on a haunting yet ethereal journey every time I listen to it. I take off slowly with the opening track, Balloon, ascend quickly to the stratosphere with tracks like Red Bike and Salt & Cherries (MC5), and land gently back down on Earth with Sweet Suite (Beginning at the End). And if that isn’t enough, I have four bonus tracks (only available exclusively from Wendy and Lisa’s website) that I never exclude while listening:

• The Dream
• Niagara Falls (Lisa demo from 1997)
• Viste
• Waiting for Coffee

As I mentioned earlier, Wendy and Lisa’s new album has an overall alternative/rock theme to it, but it also subtly touches on their musical past (i.e. the bonus track The Dream) and musical present as film/TV scorers (i.e. the beautiful epic Sweet Suite [Beginning at the End]). Just when I think I have nailed down a song (or few) that’s my favorite, my ears find something new to love about another song. While I have my standout tracks that I play regularly – Balloon, Red Bike, Salt & Cherries (MC5), Waiting for Coffee, and Sweet Suite (Beginning at the End) – I truly love the entire album.

Ever since I downloaded White Flags of Winter Chimneys from their site, it has been on regular rotation as indicated by the number of Last.fm scrobbles I have contributed. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman have clearly taken the time to craft quality music with their new album. In fact, it’s clear that time has only made them a finely tuned music machine. Lisa’s emotionally stirring vocals touches your soul with each haunting yet beautiful note, and her expressive playing shines brighter than ever. Wendy’s vocals and guitar work kicks ass and takes names on rock-driven songs and makes you feel like you’re slowly tumbling down a gentle waterfall on the softer ballads. Together, Wendy and Lisa crafted a musical masterpiece in White Flags of Winter Chimneys that is an experience, not just an album. Plain and simple, White Flags of Winter Chimneys gives you multiple musical eargasms that won’t quit.

You will be able to purchase White Flags of Winter Chimneys via retailers such as Amazon’s MP3 store on February 24; however, if you can’t wait (and you shouldn’t), you can buy it now at their official website, which includes multiple packages and the bonus tracks.

I feel this is an important comment to highlight in regards to 5 Things I Love About Wendy & Lisa and how you can find your way back on the path to their music if you got lost.

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.

-@thehivemind-

If you were lost like I was, come home to White Flags of Winter Chimneys.

One of my brothers recently told me, “You know what? I believe you liked Wendy and Lisa more than you did Prince back in the day.” I merely smiled and laughed. I then said, “You’re probably right.”

I have special memories of Wendy and Lisa while growing up, and I have my own reasons why I love the super duo. Here’s a few:

1. Girl Rockers Rule…Especially if You’ve Never Seen Any Before

As I kid growing up the 80s, I wasn’t exposed to many “girl rockers” in the beginning. I didn’t have MTV at the time, so I caught music videos on some generic local channel that played videos sometimes. Other than Joan Jett, I didn’t see any other female rockers playing instruments…until I spotted Lisa in Prince’s “1999″ video playing keyboards. While I was fascinated by all of the members in Prince’s pre-Revolution band, Lisa drew my attention the most. She sung on the record; she played keyboards; she dressed in “cool clothes,” and she rocked! Of course, I didn’t understand why the “blond looking Madonna chick” was dancing up close to Lisa while she played keyboards, but I remember always watching out for Lisa every time that video or “Little Red Corvette” came on.

When I first saw the video for “When Doves Cry,” I was introduced to Wendy for the first time via my TV. I immediately thought two things:

1. Where was the dude with the Karate Kid-looking headband?
2. The new guitarist is a girl…wow! Cool!

Other than Joan Jett, I’d never seen another female guitarist before at the time. Wendy was the second, and she emoted fierce rocking guitar goddess in the “When Doves Cry” video while dancing alongside Prince and other Revolution members. Granted, I missed “the dude with the Karate Kid-looking headband” (actually a Rising Sun headband and his name is Dez Dickerson), but I was digging Wendy in the band. There was another girl rocker in the Revolution, and it was an interesting sight to see.

In my little bubble of a world then, female musicians were like spotting meteors. You just didn’t see them, but when you did, you followed the path they took. Even as a kid, I felt there was something special about Wendy and Lisa and that the best was yet to come.

2. They Made an Impression in Purple Rain That I Never Forgot

By the time the Purple Rain film came out, my blood was already bleeding purple for Prince & the Revolution. Even though I was fairly young, I begged my dad to let me watch the Purple Rain film when it came on VHS. He relented because he knew how much I loved listening to the Prince records when he played them on the stereo. Of course, he covered my eyes during the nude or sexually suggestive scenes, but as I watched the film unfold for the first time, Wendy and Lisa made a deep impression on me…one that made me a fan for life.

While I know some people might say The Time were the scene stealers in Purple Rain, Wendy and Lisa made me remember their names forever. One of my favorite scenes then and now is the dressing room scene where Wendy expresses angst and unleashes on Prince. Another is the scene where Wendy and Lisa are rehearsing, playing the song “Purple Rain” by themselves as Prince approaches. Both scenes were powerful and emotionally charged – scenes that even I recognized as a kid that had some significance I didn’t understand until later. It was then that I learned their names for the first time: Wendy and Lisa. Finally, two of my favorite female musicians had names I could place with faces. I always remembered and always eagerly watched out for them in videos. In fact, as engaging Prince was in his videos, I spent just as much as time watching Wendy and Lisa rock out. In the back of my mind, I always subconsciously connected them with their scenes in Purple Rain every time I saw the Prince & the Revolution videos.

3. They’re Legitimate Musicians Who Aren’t Just “Pretty Faces”

As I grew up and finally got MTV, I was greeted with more female musicians. By that time, I was a musician in training myself – playing piano and keyboards in the beginning. Even though I was still a kid, I knew the difference between some of the female bands vs. what I saw with Wendy and Lisa in the Revolution and much later in their solo efforts. I hate to say it, but some of the female bands played like crap…as if they’d just picked up their instruments six months ago and got a record deal. With Wendy and Lisa, I knew they weren’t flash in the pan acts who weren’t taken seriously as musicians. My ears didn’t lie.

I also know some people like to group Wendy and Lisa in the “Prince protege” category, but again, my ears (and eyes) didn’t lie. After the Parade album, I knew that Wendy and Lisa contributed to Prince’s sound before he split the Revolution up in 1986. I could hear it in the Sign o’ the Times LP; something was off, and I suspected it had something to do with the musical duo’s departure. I knew that their songwriting and record producing abilities expressed in Purple Rain was based in reality by the late 80s. I knew they weren’t just another glammed up, sexy female act. They were true-blue musicians…ones I sorely missed when the Revolution disintegrated. Almost anyone can dress up (or down) and perform synchronized choreography while singing, but Wendy and Lisa were always something more. They were real contributors to the musical process. Prince’s music is definitely different before and after Wendy and Lisa; listen to the LPs.

4. Their Solo Music Made Me Realize What I Missed Out On

After the Revolution split, I didn’t know that Wendy and Lisa had released their first solo LP, Wendy and Lisa. The first time I remember seeing them resurface was with the Fruit at the Bottom LP. I remember the VJ promising to air the world premiere of their new video and single for “Are You My Baby?”, which I waited impatiently for. When it finally aired…well, I didn’t like it…at all. I was expecting it to sound more like what I got with the Purple Rain LPs-Parade LPs. “Are You My Baby?” was definitely not that sound, and I admittedly was disappointed and did not buy the album.

Despite my disappointment, I kept small tabs on Wendy and Lisa and knew they were still producing and recording solo LPs and film scores over the years. While I liked the film score work I’d heard from them, my little boycott against buying CDs and DRM’d music kept me away from buying any music for a couple of years (and no I didn’t pirate [much]; I acquired music I really wanted through other means). For me, Wendy and Lisa’s music stayed low on my radar as I was busy discovering “old school” music and different sounds from the norm and mainstream noise. When I did start buying music again, I didn’t buy any of Wendy and Lisa’s solo music…until very recently.

While I was on YouTube, I ran across the video for “Are You My Baby?” and “Waterfall.” Of course, I knew “Are You My Baby?” and remembering not liking it; however, I decided to give it another listen. I learned that songs I grew up not liking, I actually ended up liking later in life. I decided to find out if that was true for “Are You My Baby?”…and it was. In fact, I was drinking it up. Maybe it was growing older and really opening my ears up, but I realized what I missed out on all those years ago if I had the same “musical ear” then that I do now. From that moment, I started watching other Wendy and Lisa videos, loving it and wanting their old and new music in my collection. As I listened, I knew that I missed out on the musical genius of their solo LPs. Perhaps I wasn’t ready for what their solo music back then, but since I’m a different music listener than I was even two years ago, I appreciate what I missed. It took me nearly 20 years, but at least I’d come full circle and returned home after getting lost in the forest.

5. They’re Hilarious & Extremely Engaging!

Consumed in my musical quest for all things Wendy and Lisa, I naturally sought them out online. I found their website and realized they had a Twitter account. Of course, I followed them on Twitter, which I must say has been a real treat. I find myself laughing out loud over their tweets and candid pics. You also find out just how engaging they are with their fans and how much their fans love them. It’s a joy to be a part of their circle and find out about them as real people instead of just Wendy and Lisa the act. You don’t hardly get that vibe with other artists, and I like the fact that there is no barrier to communication like there can be with others.

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman are beloved by many, and there is a reason why. Some of those reasons might even be the ones I named previously. If you fell out of their musical realm, give their music another chance. Like me, you might just find diamonds in the rough, even if you dismissed it as mere rocks years ago.

If you were ever a fan, show your love and support by listening to and buying Wendy and Lisa’s first solo release in a decade, White Flags of Winter Chimneys. You can buy the album in several packages at their official website.