Madhouse (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Madhouse is a jazz-fusion band from Minneapolis that was formed by Prince. All instruments on the first album were performed by Prince except for the saxophone and flute parts which were performed by Eric Leeds. The second album Featured the talents of "Doctor" Matt Fink on keyboards, Eric Leeds on saxophone, and Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass guitar (each of whom were also members of an early version of Prince’s New Power Generation band, (sometimes called the "LoveSexy band w/Sheila E.") with John Lewis on drums.

The band served as a creative outlet for a jazz fusion-based sound that Prince was experimenting with at that time. To date, two albums have been released by the group. The most unusual thing about each of the albums is that the title of each song is also its numerical designation on the record (e.g., the third song on the first album is titled, “3”). Each album is comprised almost entirely of instrumental tracks, with vocals kept to a bare minimum. Cover art for the first album featured a voluptuous woman playing with a toy dog in a beach setting, reminiscent of a 1940s pinup photograph. The second album was 1940s gangster-themed, and the only vocals on either album consisted mainly of choice snippets of audio lifted from the first two Godfather films. In 1987, Madhouse served as an opening act for Prince’s headlining tours, with each of the musicians heavily disguised in baggy cloaks and sunglasses, to be removed for the final set. Prince himself often guested with Madhouse, incognito.

A later version of Madhouse in the early 1990s basically consisted of members of the NPG along with Eric Leeds. They also created an album that remains unreleased, with the exception of the song “17,” which was included on the compilation album, 1-800-NEW-FUNK.