To this day, I think the song "Player's Ball" is one of the BEST singles to ever be released out of the P camp. I fucking ADORE this song. It has everything. Excellent musicianship, catchy hook, great verse. Great title. Mark did a fantastic job on this cut. I love the dual keyboard lines on the chorus. And the infectous melody on the verse. But what I've always admired about this song is how the musicianship is such a huge part of the song. Mark highlights this by putting spotlights on his fantastic bass playing and the rock guitar. The mix of the song is perfect. I love how the bass and the distorted guitars are waaaay up front in the mix. It gives the song an edge which compliments the poppiness of the melody. It's one of the best songs that perfectly blends funk and rock AND pop equally. All the things that people had dug about Prince up to that point, Mark captured it all in that one song. This was a "can't miss" single that had the potential of being a great charter...Man, if this song had come out in 84?! Man oh man....What do u guys think of "Player's Ball"?

You're so right. The song is killer. Mazarati was doomed, imo, by their cross-dressing, because that album would have been huge otherwise. Player's Ball was the ideal lead single too. My only complaint about the song--and maybe this was just me--is that the lyrics of the chorus are really hard to understand the way Terry sings them. The song is catchy as hell, but if you can't follow the chorus, it's trouble.
I also thought it was interesting how the intro to Player's Ball and 100 MPH are so similar. What was the point of that?

Efan said:

Yeah, I was always flashy and ever since I was a 8 years old, I wore my hair long. And even I thought that MZ's image was kinda on the drag queen vibe. It's interesting..when I saw them live in the summer of 86 at The Palace in Hollywood, (the first time I actually met Andre Cy) MZ didn't dress that way at all. They wore jeans and boots. But the drag queen image, obviously had a double standard. Cuz u had tons of white boys out here on the Sunset Strip doing glam metal...they all got their start out here..Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, etc. And that's not counting Motley Crue and Ratt..all o.g.'s from L.A. They were part of the hair metal and they wore their share of Aqua Net and makeup. Same thing that Mazarati was doing, visually. BUT the huge difference of course, besides the two white cats in the group, were that they were brutha's. So u know how that's going to be received. But to be fair to the general public in 86, I think many people dug them anyways. The Glam look was big in the 80's. I think what fucked MZ up was poor marketing and promotion.

True, there were a lot of factors. It's hard to understand why they didn't make it bigger. I wore that album out when I got it. I played it for my friends and they loved it too. So many associated artists had albums that had some filler that you had to be a fan to really love, but not MZ's. That thing was tight from start to finish. I mean, I love Sheila, but I know there are songs on her albums that I probably wouldn't care about if it wasn't her. MZ, though, put out an album that was solidly good AND commercial.

I would say the Mazarati album is probably one of the most consistently played associated artist albums I have (particularly given I am lucky enough to have a great quality Japanese released CD). The songwriting and musicianship is superb which makes for a highly enjoyable and consistent album.Even the fairly straight forward tracks such as "She's Just That Type Of Lady" and "Stroke" kick hard due to the skilled bass and guitar playing of Brown Mark and Prince. I love Casey's vocals and think his voice really captures a lot of different moods on tracks such as "Lonely Girl On Bourbon St" to the slightly odd "Suzy". The album finishing with the Prince touches in "Strawberry Lover" then his delicate acoustic solo in "I Gues It's All Over" makes the Mazarati experience all the more enjoyable. Great record and a key moment in the Minneapolis sound.

Efan said:

I agree with ya on terry's vocals. That's really the weakest thing about the group. Even on the verses of Player's Ball, his vocals aren't clear. The music totally overpowered his voice. And it's like that on the whole album. My other favorite song by MZ is Strawberry Lover. P wrote that as well but he didn't want credit on the album since he was credited for 100 MPH. Strawberry Lover is fucking bangin'. Period. BUT, what kills it off are Terry's weak ass vocals. Again, u don't know what the hell he's saying on the chorus and parts of the verses. Cool melody and excellent music and musicianship but weak vocals. P should have beefed up the vocals by doubling Terry's voice. Especially on the chorus. P did that on 100 MPH. And I think Mark and P was going for a certain "theme" musically on that album. So, that's why Player's and 100 are on the same vibe. Totally different grooves though. 100 MPH is bangin' too. I LOVE that intro and mid section and the ending. The verse is on that assembly line Prince factory: A Love Bizzare, Erotic City where the vocal doubles the keyboard melody. That should have been a bigger hit too.

Efan said:

Man, you're on point there. Mark was a good songwriter and he learned a lot from P. Mark, hands down, was the best bassist to ever play with Prince. I'll always believe that. Mark could slang his ass off on that bass. And he wrote great grooves on the MZ album. Like u stated, that whole album was tight. Good example too about Sheila's first two albums. Like I've stated in other threads, P was committed to making sure Sheila was going to do well. That was evident in the sure fire hit songs he gave her. The Glam Life is one of the best singles by anyone from that whole decade. There was no way in hell THAT song wasn't going to be a hit. The timing of that release was dead on perfect. Same way with A Love Bizarre. P's vocals so high up in the mix was another thing that was going to make it a hit. Like Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me. Look at the timing of the release of that single. In the midst of Michael Mania and Michael is all over the hook. That's a no brainer hit song. MZ should have been huge. Their second album should have been with Mark and followed the same theme. Like The Time did. Their follow up was stoopid good. MZ didn't have that.

I had no idea what to expect from the Mazarati album initially. Sure, the group were associates of Prince and the album was executive produced by Brown Mark --- but the interesting cover ran a host of speculations through my head.

Talk about putting any suspicions to rest, Player's Ball is a killer entrance into one of funk's most underrated albums ever! Z, your summary is spot on. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I stumbled upon the 12'' extended mix...Godly!
[Edited 3/22/08 17:43pm]

Sydney said:

Good post.... The reason why I've always held this album up so high is, again, I mention, the musicianship. Mark really showcased that in his writing so yeah, with P on board, look out. Prince is first and foremost a musician. So Mark wrote killing grooves giving all the room in the world for P to do his thing. U can tell that P was into the recording of the album. Very much like he was on The Time's first two albums. But to Mark's credit, this was his baby. Not P's. So P was able to put his touches on great tracks done by Mark to begin with. This album is definately a musician album. Very much like P's 1999 album. That's why I adore both albums so much. There aren't enough words to say how much I was influenced musically, by those two albums. Mark and P gelled well together because P respected Mark as a musician. P knew that Mark could throw down. Listen to the b-side "Champagne Saturday". Although it's an instrumental, that's the two of them just jamming.

Actually, half of "Mazarati 2" is produced by Brown Mark.

The 12" mix of "Player's Ball" is sick.

LOVE THIS SONG! LOVE THIS ALBUM! The Mazarati album is perfect from beginning to end.In fact,I enjoy it more than 'Parade'.It's more focused and contains more funk.Like BG said,it's one of the best albums that Paisley Park ever released.I love all 8 tracks.

Mong said:

Yeah that's true...but dig. I first bought the single "The Saga Of A Man" and was like "What the fuck is this shit?" Isn't that Klymaxx chic producing that? Bernadette? I was so let down from the sound of the single that I didn't even search out the album. Mainly cuz I had read that she had took over the band. A lot of the o.g. members had bounced, Mark wasn't involved. When I read that, especially AFTER I couldn't fuck with their new single, I closed on it.

I quite like "The Saga Of A Man"! The "Mazarati 2" album is not bad, but not a patch on the first one. What is odd on that album is that it features the 100 MPH B-side track "Don't Leave Me This Way" in a different mix, but it's the same recording as the Paisley Park released version.

Mong said:

I ended up hearing it later on and although I dig Mark's productions in general, I had no desire to get the album.

SoulAlive said:

Oh man Soul, that album KILLS Parade. If P went on a serious tour for Parade and not just the Hit & Run tour (which was excellent) word was that MZ was going to be the opening act. That would have been serious exposure for the band and things may have turned out different for them. I know P had them at the Premire party of UTCM and with Sheila. They toured on their own playing small clubs, (that's when I saw them) getting ready for the tour with P but...Man, Mark might haved stayed on with P's band. I think the way MZ went down had a lot to do with why Mark bounced from P.

blackguitaristz said:

Do you remember hearing about a "Paisley Park Revue" tour that was supposed to take place in early 1986? The tour was gonna be Sheila E. headlining,with The Family and Mazarati as the supporting acts.That would have been a kickass tour!! Too bad it never happened.

SoulAlive said:

I remember that... I think The Family would have been weak though, for some reason. It looks good on paper with the lineup that they had. No doubt Jellybean on drums and Jerome would have worked cuz they had mad experience from being with The Time. BUT I was never sold on Paul and definately never took Wendy's twin sister seriously. She was just up in it cuz she was P's woman at the time. Neither one of them were strong front people. At least not from what I saw in their video.

I agree. On that video of the Family live show at First Avenue, St. Paul is so ill at ease and unconvincing as a frontman. Susannah...well, she was very pretty but she wasn't exactly Ms. Charisma. Vocally, the two of them were too weak. Morris Day ain't the greatest singer but at least he's got a lot of stage presence.

There are also about eight unreleased outtakes from what appears to be pre-Mazarati debut album days, including covers of "Satisfaction" and "Come Together". As with the albums, Casey doesn't cut it as a vocalist.

Having seen a lot of live footage of Mazarati, I can't help but wonder if Prince's unwillingness to promote them would be partly based on their energetic performances and not wanting them to threaten his more Svengali-like offshoot products. That first album is so strong and is up there with the Time's first album, if not slightly better as a whole.

I've seen some footage of Sheila playing with Mazarati, and it's incredible. That would have been a fantastic tour. The Family might have been good as a short opening act, but I agree; they'd wear out their welcome pretty quickly.

Mong said:

Terry was an old friend of Mark's from high school. I think that obviously had a lot to do with him staying as lead singer. Cuz he could have easily been replaced with another brother who had hair and had a way stronger voice. But dating back to 83, MZ was turning out at award shows where P was winning awards in the Twin Cities. They filled in for Dez's band who pulled out and from what was reported, even upstaged The Time. Which isn't surprising being that there was a grip of tension within the band at the stage. Morris was on his way out as soon as the film was over. So yeah, being that MZ was definately hungrier at that stage, P put them on ice for a minute. Although he signed them with Mark overseeing as early as 84. So truth be told, there's no telling when that album was actually recorded. I've always believed it was in the can much earlier than reported. P didn't have too much time on his hands to sit up and wait to record with Mark. Meaning that many of P's projects were cut before he went out on tour. With the exception of Sheila's follow up, which some tracks were recorded on the road, o.g. style, during the PR tour. Towards the end of the tour, WB didn't even wait and rushed out ATWIAD. P didn't even fuck with a tour to support that cuz he was already filming UTCM. I'm saying all of this to say I believe MZ's album was pretty much done quite awhile before 86. The overall sound of the album kinda leans toward 84. The drum sounds, keys, so forth. I know David Z co produced with Mark but I think it was pretty much Mark's album as far as what went down. Besides of course, what P said. U can definately hear P's involvement in the prodcution. Besides P writing and playing on 100 MPH and Strawberry Lover, Mark handled some of the drums, guitar and keys. P of course, on his songs especially, handled all of the instruments, except bass. That's Mark's bass playing on that whole album. And of course, that's P on the rock leads and acoustic guitar. U can tell that's not P on the rhythm guitar on cuts like Stroke cuz P's rhythm chops are way too distinctive. Like on cuts like High Fashion and Mutiny,...dead give away that's P on rhythm. And those cuts were recorded in 84. That's when I believe MZ was cut.

BrownMark has said that,initially,he tried to "hide" Mazarati from Prince.He discovered them in the early 80s and wanted to produce them himself.I think he saw this as his big opportunity to write and produce a project on his own and establish himself as a talented producer.Of course,Prince found out about them and insisted that they sign to Paisley Park Records,lol.To his credit though,Prince didn't "take over" the project.BrownMark was allowed to write and produce the bulk of the album,and receive most of the credit as well.

Unfortunately,when the album didn't do very well (commercially),it was Mark who got all the blame."They blamed me for alot of things",he said."It was Prince who dressed them like that.... he made them wear those clothes".Clearly,Mark feels that their appearance is what hurt their chances at being really successful.

blackguitaristz said:

I never heard the second Mazarati album and I don't think I want to.I have a feeling that it can't compare to the first album.

blackguitaristz said:

Bernadette Cooper is actually a good producer.I like her production work on the Madame X album from 1988.Never heard her work on the Mazarati album,but I think they shoulda let Mark produce the whole thing.

Efan said:

AGREED! I wore that album out in 1986! The album is TIGHT,with no filler at all.It was released at a time when Prince was starting to branch out,using orcehstras in his music,etc.That was cool,but I needed a dose of pure Minneapolis funk.Mazarati's album delivered.It was so good that,in 1986,I wasn't even missing The Time anymore.Mazarati picked up where they left off.It's interesting to wonder what would have happened if The Time had stayed together? Some of the Mazarati songs might have been given to them instead."She's Just That Kinda Lady",in particular,sounds just like a Time song.Terry Casey is "shouting" the lyrics,very much like Morris Day.I could see that being a Time song.

BlaqueKnight said:

They ushered in the album on one of Minneapolis's Funk highest notes, kept the momentum steadfast -- and finished it off with the double-entendre of I Guess It's All Over.

Genius album!

SoulAlive said:

Hella true.

I bet you think the way I look im gay..

paisleypark4 said:

A little bit of P's Controversy right there.

My question is where are they now? Casey Terry and the bunch. I would love to see an interview with him. I never remember seeing an interview with him at all. I would love to hear from him how he felt about things. Hell even Brown Mark for that matter