Artist: Prince and the Revolution Album: Parade
Label: Paisley Park Release year: 1986 Performed, arranged, produced, and composed by: Prince and the Revolution Orchestra composed and arranged by: Clare Fischer Engineered by: David Z, Susan Rogers, Coke Johnson, David Leonard, David Tickle, and Peggy Mac Recorded at: Paisley Park and Sunset Sound (Los Angeles) Orchestra recorded at: Monterey Sound by Arne Frager Cover photo by: Jeff Katz
Where does the Revolution enter into the creative framework for this album?
then we worked in that Advision truck in the South of France. But the real work was done at Sunset Sound and at home in Minneapolis.
What were some of the similarities and differences between recording at Sunset Sound and at his home studio in Minneapolis? Susan Rogers: As far as the signal path went, it was pretty good at home. We had really good equipment at his home studio in Minneapolis, but Sunset Sound is one of the great studios of the world. When we worked there, we had everything. We had every tube microphone, the greatest equipment, and a maintenance staff. We had everything that money could buy. Sunset Sound was the pinnacle. It is legendary. When we worked at home, we had good equipment, but we didn’t have the same support we could get at Sunset. When Prince worked in Minneapolis, he had a different kind of freedom. The vibe was different between the two studios. As far as the auditory path, it was the same at both places.
Susan Rogers: The band was never in the studio before Prince. Everything would start with him. It also depended where we were. About fifty-five percent of the time, we were in Minneapolis, because that’s where he liked to be, it’s where he lived, and we had a rehearsal space. I had recording consoles hooked up to the rehearsal space. So that meant the whole band could be there rehearsing, and I could be recording what the band was playing. It wasn’t the typical recording studio, but it allowed Prince to record ideas, as they came to him, with the whole band in rehearsal. We would lay down tracks that way. In those cases, a record would start with the whole band playing, then he would send the band home. He and I would do the vocals and overdubs. Sometimes, he’d have Wendy and Lisa stay around or Eric Leeds to finish certain parts that he needed done, but he liked to work by himself. Most of the time, in Los Angeles at Sunset Sound and many tracks at home, [the process] would start with just him. The only time he would bring in Wendy and Lisa was when he needed their special touch. Lisa played piano in a way that he didn’t. Wendy played guitar in a way that he didn’t. Often, he would bring them in for backing vocals. Most times, it was just he and I. He would play everything, so they weren’t always involved in the records.
What was some of the equipment you used during your recording sessions?
Susan Rogers: At Sunset Sound and Prince’s home studio, we had custom recording consoles made by a guy named Frank DeMedio. Frank designed this console for Studio 3 at Sunset Sound. It was basically an API design, but it was customized by Frank. Prince liked it so much that he had Frank build one for his home. So we used that API DeMedio recording console at Sunset and at home. At Sunset Sound, we used Studer tape machines. At home in Minneapolis, we used an MCI tape machine because it was reliable and I could fix it. I was out there by myself, and there were no other technicians around. We had the nice outboard gear he liked. We had an EMT reverb unit and a Telefunken U47 tube microphone in both places. He liked those mics a lot. We had all the usual stuff other studios had. We had harmonizers. He loved the Lexicon Prime Time [Delay] and Lexicon 480L Reverb. The equipment itself wasn’t unusual, but the way he used it was definitely unique.
How much of the recording took place in Europe?
Susan Rogers: We did a little bit of work in a couple studios in the South of France. We had this mobile truck where we did a few pieces here and there, but all the pieces we worked on didn’t end up on the album. We did songs like “Splash,” “Sexual Suicide,” “Power Fantastic,” and a few things there. He didn’t get a chance to devote his energies to the Parade album until he finished the movie. He did a lot of ideation, and he got a lot of inspiration when he was in Europe, but he didn’t really start recording until we returned home when he could get into Sunset Sound in Los Angeles and at his home studio in Minneapolis. That’s where he liked to work and where his ideas really flowed. We worked at Advision Studios in London for a day or two,
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