Prince: Life's a Parade!

 In episode 9 of The Violet Vault, host Ava Cyr travels back to 1986 to explore one of the most pivotal eras in the career of Prince. The episode dives into Prince’s eighth studio album, Parade, and his directorial debut film, Under the Cherry Moon. Ava discusses the album’s unique blend of jazz, funk, soul, orchestral pop, and European influences, along with the story behind the chart-topping hit “Kiss,” which was originally given to Mazarati before Prince reclaimed it for himself. The episode also explores the end of Prince’s legendary collaboration with The Revolution, examining the creative tensions and artistic evolution that led to the group’s split after the Parade era. In addition, listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at Under the Cherry Moon, including Prince stepping in as director after Mary Lambert left the project, the film’s original ending, its transformation from color to black and white, and the unforgettable MTV contest premiere held in Sheridan, Wyoming. Featuring stories about Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Jerome Benton, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Susannah Melvoin, this episode captures Prince at a moment of reinvention as he closed one chapter of his career and prepared to enter another. 

Transcript

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The first time Ava Seer heard Prince was the day he passed. At 12 years old, she sat in her room listening to Purple Rain, and something in her changed. Now, years later, that moment lives on through the Violet Vault, a podcast exploring Prince's legacy, his music, and the world he created. Join Ava Seer as she opens the vault. One story, one era, one purple mystery at a time.

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Hello and welcome back to the Violet Vault. I'm your host, Ava Seer, and this is episode 9 of our Purple Journey. In today's episode, we'll be traveling back in time about 40 years ago to the year 1986, the year Prince released his eighth studio album Parade, and also stepped into the director's chair for his second feature film, Under the Cherry Moon. So let's dive in. After the massive success of Purple Rain and its accompanying film, Prince could have easily stayed in the same lane. But if there's one thing we know about Prince, is that he never is interested in repeating himself. Instead, he followed up Purple Rain with the psychedelic and experimental album Around the World in a Day, which we talked about in the previous episode. But for his next album, he took yet another sharp creative turn with Parade. Released on March 31st, 1986, Parade was unlike anything Prince had ever created before. The album blended jazz, funk, soul, pop, orchestral arrangements, and even European influences into a sound that felt elegant, theatrical, and completely unique. It was sophisticated but yet playful at the same time, almost like a musical score to a film, which makes sense considering that the album also served as the soundtrack to Under the Cherry Moon. And honestly, from the get-go, Parade feels very different from anything else in Prince's discography. It feels very cinematic from the very first moments. And actually, the opening run of songs, Christopher Tracy's Parade, New Position, I Wonder You, and Under the Cherry Moon were actually all recorded in one take back to back, which is insane. It just shows Prince's work ethic and the constant genius flow that was coming out of him all the time. And it's almost like Prince had this entire vision mapped out in his head before he even stepped into the studio. Now, of course, the biggest hit from the album was Kiss. But a little fun fact, Prince originally gave the song away, as he did with many other songs that he would give to friends, colleagues, you name it. It was kind of almost like a love language for Prince. And he handed it to this group called Maserati, who were signed with Prince's label Paisley Park Records. Maserati reworked the track, they stripped it down, but when Prince heard what they had done with it, he did not enjoy the direction a whole lot, then he took the song back, re-recorded it himself, and released it as a single. And clearly that decision paid off because Kiss became a massive success. It reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100, and even today it remains one of Prince's most recognizable songs. It's minimalistic, funky, interesting, charismatic, and it perfectly captured his ability to turn something unconventional into a pop phenomenon. I mean, I've never heard another pop song sound like Kiss. By June of 1986, Parade had officially gone platinum. But despite the success, this era also marked the end of something incredibly important in Prince's career: his relationship with the Revolution. Parade would ultimately become the final album Prince produced for the Revolution, the band members that helped shape some of the most iconic music of the 80s. Members like Wendy Melboyne, Lisa Coleman, Brown Mark, Dr. Fink, and Bobby Z were not just backing musicians. They were collaborators who helped define the sound of albums like 1999, Purple Rain, and Around the World in a Day. But by the mid-1980s, the dynamic between Prince and the band had started to shift. Prince's fame had exploded after Purple Rain, and according to several band members, the atmosphere became less collaborative and more centered around Prince's increasingly singular vision. Wendy and Lisa reportedly felt creatively sidelined at times, while Prince himself seemed eager to move into a new artistic chapter. And for years, stories circulated about dramatic tension and explosive fights, including rumors that Prince smashed instruments backstage during the Purple Rain tour. The later interviews painted a more nuanced picture. Wendy Melvoyne would later describe the split as a more of an honest realization that everyone involved needed to go creatively in different directions. And honestly, that makes sense when you look at Prince's career. He was constantly evolving. The sound of Dirty Mind is different from 1999. Purple Rain is different from Around the World in the Day, and Parade is different from all of them. Prince was always chasing the next idea before the world had fully caught up to the previous one. And after the Parade tour, the revolution officially disbanded, closing one of the most iconic chapters in Prince's career. It truly marked the end of an era. And unfortunately, they never reunited, but Prince did play with Wendy in the early 2000s live acoustically, but they never all fully reunited. And at the same time, Prince was reinventing his music. He was also trying to reinvent himself on film. And this is where Under the Cherry Moon comes in. So released in 1986, the film starred Prince as Christopher Tracy, who was this Suave Gigolo, alongside his real life best friend and collaborator Jerome Benton, who played Tricky, who was Christopher Tracy's brother in the film. And Jerome was actually in Purple Rain. He used to uh travel with the time. He did a little fun bit where he'd bring the mirror out whenever Morris would say, Jerome, bring me a mirror, or somebody bring me a mirror, and he'd come out and they would dance. The movie follows the two living in the French Riviera, who became entangled in a romance and deception. An actress Kirsten Scott Thomas played the wealthy heiress Mary Sharon, and it was actually one of her earliest film roles. What made this project even more ambitious was that this marked Prince's directorial debut, and interestingly enough, he actually wasn't supposed to direct it. Director Mary Lambert, who was best known at the time for directing music videos for Madonna, was initially hired for the film. However, she was reportedly fired only after a couple days due to some creative clashes with Prince. And another surprising name attached to the project at one point was legendary director Martin Scorsese. Prince apparently met Scorsese in Paris, and the two even had dinner together discussing the possibility of collaborating. But Scorsese later joked that it probably wasn't a good idea for two geniuses to work together on the same film. And one of the most fascinating details about Under the Cherry Moon is although the movie was released in black and white, it was actually filmed in color. And Prince later made the artistic decision during the editing to transform the movie into a black and white, giving it that glamorous old Hollywood European feel. And the film also had almost a completely different ending, too. In the original cut, Christopher Tracy survived the ending of the movie, but Prince later changed his mind, deciding on a more dramatic and emotional conclusion instead. Now 2026 does mark the 40th anniversary of Parade and Under the Tray Moon, so I'm really hoping that the estate might be able to dig up the color version and potentially the alternate ending of this film, but we may never know. It'd be really cool to see someday if they do. And there's also a little interesting real-life romance connected to the film. So Princess Then Girlfriend, and then eventually fiance Susanna Melbourne, who happened to also be Wendy Melboyne's twin sister, and again, Wendy was Princess guitarist in the revolution. She was actually originally supposed to play the female lead in the movie. But Prince later pulled her from the role and he proposed to her. He wanted her to be his wife rather than his scene partner. And although the two were engaged for a time, they eventually broke things off before getting married. And perhaps the wildest fact about this entire era involves the movie's premiere. To me, this sounds like a fantasy book tale, because this is insane. So instead of hosting a glamorous Hollywood event, the premiere for Under the Tray Moon was held as an MTV contest. A woman named Lisa Barber from Wyoming won the contest, and because of that, the world premiere ended up taking place on July 1st, 1986, at the Centennial Twin Theater in Sheridan, Wyoming. I mean, can you imagine that? Prince premiering his highly anticipated film not in Los Angeles, New York, but in Wyoming because a fan won a contest. And not only did Lisa Barber get to attend the premiere, but Princess Team also gave her a complete glamorous makeover for the event, and she got to be Princess Date for the premiere. I mean, that's so cool. I would love to hear her story. It'd be so cool to hear her version. So Under the Cherry Moon did receive a Razzie, unfortunately, and the reviews were very mixed at the time, but the parade album has only grown in appreciation over the decades. Many fans now see it as one of Prince's most musically adventurous and sophisticated works. It captured him at a turning point where he left behind the Purple Ryan era, dissolved the revolution, experimented with film, and prepared for yet another reinvention. Because if there's one thing Prince never did, it was stand still. And next time on The Violet Vault, we'll continue following Prince into his next chapter, one filled with vault projects, abandoned albums, new bands, and one of the most ambitious creative periods of his entire career. Thank you so much for joining me for episode 9 of our Purple Journey. I'm your host, Ava Seer, and make sure to like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook at The Violet Vault. And if you are interested, you can now support our podcast. Details will be listed in the show notes, or you can find a direct link to donate through our social media pages. I also have some more exciting news. If you are dying to share your print story and gain the chance to be featured on an episode, make sure to send us a message either on Instagram or Facebook. I want to hear your story and potentially work it into an episode. So if you are interested, feel free to message me through our social media pages and share your story in either a voice note or a text. Thank you so much again. Peace and be wild.

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The Violet Vault is hosted by Avis D, celebrating the sound, style, and spirit of Prince. Subscribe wherever you find your podcasts.