| Parade (subtitled "Music from the motion picture Under The Cherry Moon") is the eighth full-length studio album by Prince, and the third and final to be credited to Prince and the Revolution. It was released worldwide in March 1986, and, as the subtitle suggests, is a companion piece to Prince’s second movie, Under The Cherry Moon (although the movie was released three months after the album).
Sessions and compiling
Prince began working on the album in mid-April 1985, shortly before the release of the previous album, Around The World In A Day, and began by recording the drum track in sequence of Wendy’s Parade (late renamed Christopher Tracy’s Parade), New Position, I Wonder U and Under The Cherry Moon, all in one take. He then layered other instruments over all four tracks.
Having been pleased with Clare Fischer’s orchestration on The Family album, Prince sent Clare Fischer a cassette tape marked 'The Marx Brothers Project' and asked him to arrange and record orchestration for the entire album (except Kiss), which he did from mid-1985 to early 1986 at Monterey Sound Studios, Glendale, CA, USA, although Prince chose not to use all of the instrumentation on the final release.
A first configuration of the album was compiled on 1 May 1985 (detailed below), but several changes, including the removal of four tracks and the recording of five additional tracks, took place between then and the final release. The sountrack doesn’t include all the songs heard in the movie (see the Trivia section and the Under The Cherry Moon score & cues page for details)
Promotion
The album produced four commercially-released singles, Kiss, Mountains, Girls & Boys (in Europe only), and Anotherloverholenyohead.
Prince supported the album with a major European and Japanese tour, starting with a series of "hit & run" shows (with each show announced a day or two before the show itself) throughout the USA before the Parade Tour was formally launched. Several songs from the album were played on the tour.
Charts
The album reached number 3 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard Top Black Albums Chart.
Certifications
The album was certified platinum by RIAA two months after release, on 3 June 1986.
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Personnel
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| Musicians
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- Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
- Lisa Coleman - background vocals on Christopher Tracy’s Parade, New Position, I Wonder U, Life Can Be So Nice, keyboards and vocals on Girls & Boys, Mountains, Anotherloverholenyohead and Sometimes It Snows In April
- Wendy Melvoin - background vocals on Christopher Tracy’s Parade, New Position, Life Can Be So Nice, lead vocals on I Wonder U, guitars and vocals on Girls & Boys, Mountains, Anotherloverholenyohead and Sometimes It Snows In April
- Susannah Melvoin - background vocals on Christopher Tracy’s Parade, Girls & Boys and Anotherloverholenyohead
- Bobby Z. - drums and percussion on Girls & Boys, Mountains and Anotherloverholenyohead
- Brown Mark - bass guitar and vocals on Girls & Boys, Mountains and Anotherloverholenyohead
- Dr. Fink - keyboards on Girls & Boys, Mountains and Anotherloverholenyohead
- Sheila E. - background vocals on Girls & Boys, cowbells on Life Can Be So Nice and drums on Venus De Milo
- Eric Leeds - horns on Girls & Boys and Mountains
- Atlanta Bliss - trumpet on Girls & Boys and Mountains
- Marie France - french seduction on Girls & Boys
- Miko Weaver - rhythm guitar on Mountains
- Jonathan Melvoin - drums on Do U Lie?
- Sandra Francisco - little gypsy girl on Do U Lie?
- Tony Christian - background vocals (as Mazarati) and rhythm guitar (uncredited) on Kiss
- Craig "Screamer" Powell - background vocals (as Mazarati) and lead guitar (uncredited) on Kiss
- Jerome "Romeo" Cox - background vocals (as Mazarati) on Kiss
- Marr Starr - background vocals (as Mazarati) and keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss
- Aaron Paul "Ace" Keith - background vocals (as Mazarati) and keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss
- Kevin "Blondie" Patricks - drums (uncredited) on Kiss
- Orchestral Players:
- Violins - Isabelle Daskoff, Francine Walsh, Mari Botnik, Pam Gates, Janice Gower, Karen Jones, Betty Moor, Irma Neumann, Assa Drori, Bill Hymanson, Oscar Chasow, Ron Clark, Henry Ferber, Erne Granat, Ed Green, Bill Hybel, Reggie Hill, Pat Johnson, Don Palmer, Sheldon Sanov, Joe Schonbrun, Terry Schonbrun and Harold Wolf.
- Violas - Pam Goldsmith, Margot Maclaine, Carol Mukagawa, Myer Bello, Alan Deverich, Norman Forrest, Alan Harshman, Jorge Moraga and David Stock.
- Cellos - Jim Arkatoff, Ray Kelley, Ray Kramer and Fred Seykora.
- Basses - Chuck Dominico and Arni Egilsson.
- Woodwinds - Gene Cipriano, Don Ashworth, John Clarke, Dave Edwards, Gary Foster, Jim Kanter, John Lowe, Dick Mitchell, Jack Nimitz, Joe Soldo and Bob Tricarico.
- Trumpets - Ray Brown, Rich Cooper, Bob Findley, Larry Ford, Bob O’Donnell and Al Vizutti.
- Trombones - Garnett Brown, Charles Loper, Morris Repass and Bill Watrous.
- French Horns - Marni Johnson, David Duke, Joe Myer, Brian O’Connor, Calvin Smith and Jim Thatcher.
- Tuba - Tommy Johnson.
- Tympani and percussion - Brent Fischer.
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| Production
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| Thanks
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- "Special thanks 2 Clare Fischer 4 making brighter the colors black and white. "Love God" - Prince and the Revolution '86"
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1985: Around The World In A Day ◄
