Ok so I finally got a copy of the selft titled Ta Mara & The Seen album and you guys were right it is better than Blueberry Gossip however I like that album as well. Whose cd do you think is stronger Ta Mara & The Seen or Apollonia 6 which to me is the best Pince protege album IMO. It's hard to say now because i'm still getting into the Ta Mara stuff but soon i'll make a decision...

dancerella said:

Apples6 is a better album overall than The Seen's debut.

actually Jesse Johnson brought out Tamara and the Seen

blackguitaristz said:

so far i think you might be right but i need to give it more time.

IAintTheOne said:

so prince never directly worked with her? then i guess she's more of a JJ protege.

dancerella said:

This is a Jesse production. Both of The Seen's albums are Jesse's jams.

dancerella said:

The two Seen albums were solely produced by Jesse (no Prince involvement). However Prince did work directly with her after Blueberry Gossip tanked. Around '89 or so Prince produced the unreleased MC Flash album for Margaret Cox (Ta Mara's given name). I assume the MC was her initials (I've never heard any stories on why the project was given that title). The MC Flash material was a lot more rock/blues in flavor (nothing like the Seen albums). You can see her singing backup vocals for him on SNL's 15th Anniversary special (performing Electric Chair). Also during that time she provided bkgd vocals for some of the tracks from The Time's unreleased Corporate World album.

I like the Ta Mara album better overall(pure Jesse), but Blue Limousine is one of my favorite songs ever

pzlyprk said:

yeah...prince kept her music under lock and key and refused to allow her to release it on her own...interesting coming from someone who hates CONtracts.

tho I really dig Ta Mara, I think the music could have carried them a WHOLE lot further than it did, but then this was when music started to become really obsessed with being image conscious.

I actually liked TaMara & the seen better especially the debut album.
I think the second album featured none of the band members from the
first album and mostly production from jesse and musician david cochrane
who used to work with the commodores. I liked some of the tracks from
blueberry gossip but it was a dropoff from their debut album.
[Edited 1/26/08 10:58am]

I'd have to roll with A6 because "A Million Miles" is the shit. I also dig "Some Kind of Lover" and "Ooh She She Wa Wa".

sosgemini said:

true... he loves CONtrol

pzlyprk said:

In 1991,Prince decided to abandon the MC Flash project and instead,record an album with Margie Cox as a solo artist.One of the songs from these sessions---the excellent "Standing At The Altar"---was released in 1994 on the '1-800 New Funk' compilation,but Margie's solo album was never officially released.

I love me stome Standing At The Alter. Apropo song title for what he did to her career.

I love their debut.


JJ produced the mess outta that project.