Mazarati

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Not to be confused with Maserati.
Mazarati
OriginMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States
GenresR&B, funk, soul, new wave, pop, rock
Occupation(s)Band
Years active1986–1989
LabelsPaisley Park/Warner Bros., Motown
Past membersSir Casey Terry (Vocals)
Jerome "Romeo" Cox (Bass)
Craig "Screamer" Powell (Lead guitar)
Kevin Patricks (Drums)
Tony Christian (Rhythm Guitar) (born Bruce DeShazer)[1]
Marr Starr (Keyboards)
Aaron Paul Keith (Keyboards)
Sir Casey Terry (Lead vocals)

Mazarati' was an American R&B band formed in the mid-1980s by former Prince and The Revolution bassist Brownmark. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, they are now defunct as a group. The band's sole hit was a song called "100 MPH", which was written and co-produced by Prince.

1986: "MAZARATI" and Paisley Park

The band is notable for some of the songs that they did not release. They were originally given the song "Kiss" by Prince in demo form. They transformed the brief bluesy track into a unique funk number. After hearing their work on the demo, Prince took the song back, added a guitar break and his trademark falsetto vocals and released the song on his Parade (1986), where it became a No. 1 hit single and Grammy Award winner. Mazarati's background vocals are even kept intact and were credited on the album. Another song given to Mazarati was an out-take from The Time called "Jerk Out". Their take on the song never made the album, but the track was redone in 1990, once again with The Time who scored their biggest hit with the track, which reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Mazarati's backing vocals were also kept on the released version. Mazarati are name checked on the Prince penned Sheila E. track "Love on a Blue Train".

On July 1, 1986, the group performed "Players' Ball," "I Guess It's All Over," and "100 MPH" live at the premiere party of the movie Under the Cherry Moon, held at the Centennial Theater of the Sheridan Convention Center - Holiday Inn, Sheridan, Wyoming (population 10,369).[2] A few other live concerts took place that year.

1989: "MAZARATI 2", Motown Records and Split

The band continued after its association with Prince and signed with Motown Records releasing their second album, Mazarati 2 (1989), including the singles "The Saga Of A Man" and "The Woman Thang". This project reflects the music of that era which was directing to the new jack swing-genre. Brown Mark and former Klymaxx-founding member Bernadette Cooper both worked as producers on this album. The project experienced little success, and since the distribution of the LP and CD seems to be limited in quantity and exclusively released as a promo in Canada (before it was withdrawn), these original copies are in demand by collectors.

Members Marvin Gunn and Tony Christian, also known as Bruce DeShazer, formed the musical duo The Wild Pair and recorded a 1989 song with Paula Abdul, "Opposites Attract", for which they voiced the animated MC Skat Kat in the video.[1][3]

Reunion Concert

The Prince Family Reunion at the Cabooze was the venue where they reunited and performed again. The tickets were being sold for $2 and they dedicated Christian's house for rehearsals of their live performances.[3]

Mazarati "Revisited" 2011–Present

Mazarati album releases

Mazarati, along with certain other Prince associates, fall in to the Paisley Park Records void, where albums released in the '80s on Vinyl are effectively 'lost' due to the collapse of the label and of its joint venture with Warner Bros. Records. This means that the 1986 "Mazarati" album is very hard to find on CD, except for bootlegged European copies and highly expensive Japanese pressings from the early 90's. Due to Prince's nature many of these 'lost' albums will never see the light of day and fans have to make use of Vinyl rips to enjoy this music. Mazarati's second album, "Mazarati 2", is also a 'lost' album from the vaults of Motown Records. Both these sitiations combined make Mazarati's back catalogue very scarce and highly sought after by fans of both Prince and of the Minneapolis Sound/Funk genre.

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • "Players' Ball" / "I Guess It's All Over" (1986), Paisley Park
  • "100 MPH" / "Don't Leave Me Baby" (1986) No. 19 U.S. R&B, Paisley Park/Warner Bros.
  • "Stroke" / "Champagne Saturday" (1986), Paisley Park/Warner Bros.
  • "The Saga of a Man" (1989), Motown
  • "The Woman Thang" (1989), Motown

References

  1. ^ a b "Bruce Deshazer". Discogs.org. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  2. ^ "http://www.princevault.net/index.php/01_July,_1986". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. ^ a b Gabler, Jay (2009-05-31), "The return of Mazarati: "Y'all don't think they're funky? You're wrong!"", TC Daily Planet, retrieved 2013-09-18

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mazarati&oldid=699181781"