So I know he was in shalamar for a while but what's his story? What other bands has he been in and where is he now?
[Edited 1/6/06 14:19pm]

He embraced his indian heritage and he releases rock albums with those indian culture themes. He has a website, www.mickifree.com - haven't been there in a while. Last time I looked, he and Howard Hewitt were available for performances...

I always thought he was a good guitar player - would've loved to have seen him live.

he used to hang out with Prince sometimes, their gear(clothes) were kinda similar, during 83-86. There used to be stories that he was gonna front Mazarati at one point.

interview on free's wesite:

I'm lead to believe that you also work with Prince at one point, is this true and what was he like to work with ?

Totally true! You must understand that the Hollywood music scene is very small. Prince and I use to run into each other all the time in the LA Club Scene. Price saw mw with Shalamar, like my style and asked me to record with him in his studio in Minnesota. I was to be in his next movie after “Under the Cherry Moon”, but my record company executive, Dick Griffey prevented it.



well dayum.....we're left to wonder what if.....

Did this guy ever release any material of his own? A Micki Free album? I loved Dead GiveAway...but that was a Shalamar joint.

brothaluv said:

circumstancial evidence is one funky jam. i just recently got that cd and it's pretty good!

JesseDezz said:

I just checked out that website. First off I didn't realsie he was native american but look like he's deeply involved in that culture. I wish he was still doing the glam funk thing though.

JQuad said:

who are mazarati? i've heard of them before.

dancerella said:

Oh really? Where did you get it? Bargain Bin at Sam Goody or what? I would love to hear his stuff.

brothaluv said:

I got it from Ameoba music in SF! It's actually a decent new wave/funk album. I think I prefer them doing this sort of music over that cheesy disco shit they used to do but I also realise this was a completely different band to the original. Jody Watley is my girl though!

Amoeba, huh? Well I guess I can catch that 38 Geary to get there. The fact that I'm willing to inconvenience myself this much is a sad commentary on the state of today's music.

brothaluv said:

you live in sf?! you should try calliing first to make sure they have more copies. by the way, with the exception of a handful of newer artists i really mostly listen to artists like vanity, shalamar, rockwell etc.

dancerella said:

ME TOO! Hey, but they're still a few artists that come out with new stuff. But generally it's only one or two songs. Amerie's Trippin song has a Prince type of beat. Pussycat Dolls -- Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend. There's a new ballad out by Shanice I think that's has the old Prince vibe.

brothaluv said:

Hey neighbor! Yeah, I like the pussycat dolls a lot. They remind me of Vanity. I wish there were more groups out there like them.

So have you discovered anymore musical gems lately? Just curious. Micki Free can't be the only good thing out there...I'm always receptive to new artists or ones I haven't had the pleasure of hearing yet...

JQuad said:

Yeah,I remember hearing that.Prince was considering making Micki Free the leader of Mazarati.Then in 1991,when Jesse Johnson was booted out of The Time,Prince was considering giving the job to Micki.It's obvious that Prince had alot of respect for Micki and his guitar-playing.

JQuad said:

interestingly,Micki was dating Vanity in early 1984 while she was working on her debut solo album for Motown.

brothaluv said:

Newer artists I like include....

Peaches
Mount Sims
Duke
Fischerspooner
Kelis
Pussycat Dolls
MIA
Lady Sovereign
Shystie
Missy Elliott

A part from that I listen to all 80's musis by, Prince, vanity, rockwell, mj, etc....How about you?

brothaluv said:

What's Up All,
This is my first post here so bare with me, It's funny you mentioned Jesse and "Dead Give Away" because that is Jesse Playing on this song as well as playing on the DeBarge song "You Wear It Well" he didn't receive credit because at the time Jimmy and Terry had just gotten fired from the band. He worked a lot with Leon Sylvers who was a hot producer at the time and was one Jesse's production mentors (If there is such a phrase) around this time period. What's Up Rhastus It's Yo' Boy MJ.
Peace,
eyelikefonkymuzic

DavidEye said:

I think P dug Micki's fashion more so than his playing. He wasn't a lead guitarist, per se. He had a good image and true, he would have fit in Mazarati like a glove. BUT, he wouldn't have been the lead guitarist. U see they recruited Jessie for some session work.

dancerella said:

Great black funk rock glam band who was produced by BrownMark. One of the best to come out of Paisley Park. Their first album is bangin'! They were good live, too. Saw them at The Palace in 86. That was the first time I met Andre. Funny, I saw Jak, with that SAME light blue leather outfit he had on the cover of his album.

blackguitaristz said:

cool! i don't know how they passed me by. never heard of them until recently on the prince board. can someone post a pic? i'm curious to see what they looked like.

Welcome aboard. I step out every now & then to post as I do my usual bit of lurking here.

I first read about Jesse playing on "Dead Giveaway" back in 85' in an interveiw Jesse did for Bam magazine. I have the Shalamar album the track appears on & yes, Jesse is not credited. (Bookie Coleman Jr. is credited for the track) I also have the Debarge album that "You Wear It Well" is on. Jesse is credited for playing on that track.

What I don't get about your post is what Jam & Lewis' firing from The Time has to do with whether or not he was credited for any session work he did. Unless of course you meant that he didn't want Prince to know that he was doing any "outside" work. Which was a major no-no back then.

Peace.....


-KSTRAT-

eyelikefonkymuzic said:

[Edited 1/10/06 10:08am]
[Edited 1/10/06 12:55pm]
[Edited 1/12/06 6:55am]

KSTRAT,
That's what I meant, he didn't want it to be known at the time because of what happened with Jimmy & Terry working with outside artist.

kstrat said:

DavidEye said:

I thought Mazarati was Brownmark's band, and Prince's only envolvement was 100 MPH

they were signed to Paisley Park.....

eyelikefonkymuzic said:

What's up my man

you learn something everyday
you know they play dead giveaway alot on the clasic soul station around here and i really dig it and I've been thinking getting a compilation or whatever with it on it. Is the debarge song on that album that has Rhythm of the night? It sounds vaguely familar and i have that tape somewhere

brothaluv said:

so do you know the song cicumstancial evidence? that shit rocks! have you started looking for that album yet??

JQuad said:

I believe that's him...




...to the left of Prince.


"And Mikki Free was like the new cat in Shalamar that when he joined the group, I heard mad cats was like, "Yo man Shalamar got a new, new girl in there man, that bitch fine like a mf!"

~Charlie Murphy


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

damn, check them out! how coem guys don't look like that any more??