Madhouse

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Madhouse


Madhouse was originally a 'faux 'jazz rock group conjured up by Prince in late 1986 in Minneapolis to be an outlet for some jazz material he had recorded with Eric Leeds. In essence it can be seen as a instrumental follow up to The Family, of which the two instrumental songs they released are very much in the vein of Madhouse and the ill-fated project The Flesh. The band played live shows in 1987 (supporting the Sign O' The Times Tour with a live line-up that did not included Prince


Original Band Members

  • Prince: Drums, bass, Keyboards
  • Eric Leeds: (Baritone) Sax, flute
  • Dr. Fink - credited for keyboards, but does not appear
  • Levi Seacer, Jr. - credited for bass guitar, but does not appear
  • John Lewis - credited for drums, but does not appear


Additional Band Members


Extra 1987 Live Band Members


1994 Band Members



In The Studio

The band (Prince w/ Eric Leeds) recorded a dozen songs in the studio that were then given numbers and were released as two albums: 8 released in 1987 and 16 released in 1988, both featuring model Maneca Lightner and a terrier dog on the cover. A third album 24 as left unreleased. As was an album under the title 26, of which some material ended up on Eric Leeds first solo album Times Squared.
A re-booted version of the band (Eric Leeds with Michael B. on drums, Sonny T. on bass, Levi Seacer, Jr. on guitar and Prince on various instruments recorded an album in 1994 again using the title 24, which was then not released, slightly revised in 1995 and ultimately left unreleased. One track of that project and the only one with a numerical title like all song on previous 'Madhouse albums got a release on the compilation album 1-800-New Funk

Live

A live version of the band was made up when 'Madhouse was slated as a support act on the Sign O' The Times Tour. The line up of the band was as it was on paper: Eric Leeds: (Baritone) Sax, Dr. Fink Keyboards, Levi Seacer, Jr. Bass, and instead of the fictional John Lewis Dale Alexander who had auditioned to be in Prince first band in 1978 on drums. The band all in monks habits played a 20 minute set, usually comprising The Family's Mutiny, Two, Three and Six, but occasionally One, Nine and Sixteen were also played. Each song was announced with a scantly clad model holding up a sign with the number of the song to play. While on tour they also played some one-off shows in clubs.



Discography

Albums

  • 1987 8 (Paisley Park)
  • 1988 16 (Paisley Park)
  • 1989 24 (unreleased)
  • 1990 Album: 26 (unreleased)
  • 1994 24 (unreleased)


Singles


Live Performances

Reference