In an interview back in 85 - 86 Prince said something like "if Brownmark ever left the band he would eliminate bass from his music all together". Obviously he was exaggerating but none the less was paying Brownmark a huge compliment. But, of all the revolution members he seems to be the one that had the least interaction with Prince on stage and on record. I don't recall any songwriting credits for Mark and on stage he'd call out all the other members from time to time but not him. Also he never really got a solo did he? As soon as Levi took his place wouldn't you know it..Levi gets that bass solo in "Now's The Time" from the Sign Of The Times live set. Anyone here know of any stories or have insight as to Prince and Brownmark's relationship? And no I'm not going to ask Brownmark. I already asked him a Mazarati question on his facebook which he thankfully answered, but I figured I'd leave him alone for a while.

on stage he'd call out all the other members from time to time but not him.

Then you weren't listening.

And he didnt have any lines in Purple Rain.

muirdo said:

And he didnt have any lines in Purple Rain.

I believe the lines he did have were a part of the deleted scenes.

There were a lot of scenes where the revolution members were exhibited more. One reason they took a lot of acting class prior to the movie

bigben07 said:

In an interview back in 85 - 86 Prince said something like "if Brownmark ever left the band he would eliminate bass from his music all together". Obviously he was exaggerating but none the less was paying Brownmark a huge compliment. But, of all the revolution members he seems to be the one that had the least interaction with Prince on stage and on record. I don't recall any songwriting credits for Mark and on stage he'd call out all the other members from time to time but not him. Also he never really got a solo did he? As soon as Levi took his place wouldn't you know it..Levi gets that bass solo in "Now's The Time" from the Sign Of The Times live set. Anyone here know of any stories or have insight as to Prince and Brownmark's relationship? And no I'm not going to ask Brownmark. I already asked him a Mazarati question on his facebook which he thankfully answered, but I figured I'd leave him alone for a while.

Brown Mark from Controversy upward had a lot of stage time with Prince, Dez just got more because of the guitar.

And yes Browmark did get a lot of solos, I'll just mention one from the PR tour performance of America

IIRC, Prince wanted Mark to stay on after the Revolution broke-up, so that would kind of blow any theories about him not being the shit out the window.

NouveauDance said:

IIRC, Prince wanted Mark to stay on after the Revolution broke-up, so that would kind of blow any theories about him not being the shit out the window.

Mark was offered to stay alongside Matt but he decided to leave out of solidarity for W&L & Bobby, and probably also because he fely it was time for him to go solo. Had he changed his mind we could have had a SOTT, Lovesexy & Nude tours with him instead of Levi.

databank said:

NouveauDance said:

IIRC, Prince wanted Mark to stay on after the Revolution broke-up, so that would kind of blow any theories about him not being the shit out the window.

Mark was offered to stay alongside Matt but he decided to leave out of solidarity for W&L & Bobby, and probably also because he fely it was time for him to go solo. Had he changed his mind we could have had a SOTT, Lovesexy & Nude tours with him instead of Levi.

the sudden expansion of the Revolution did mesh completely

BrownMark had a bit of a problem with being up front to being situated behind the 3 dancers

OldFriends4Sale said:

databank said:

Mark was offered to stay alongside Matt but he decided to leave out of solidarity for W&L & Bobby, and probably also because he fely it was time for him to go solo. Had he changed his mind we could have had a SOTT, Lovesexy & Nude tours with him instead of Levi.

the sudden expansion of the Revolution did mesh completely

BrownMark had a bit of a problem with being up front to being situated behind the 3 dancers

And there's that story he tells of being a couple minutes late for the tour bus and being left behind (think it was the Parade tour), and how he was offered a lot more money to leave Prince and play for Stevie Nicks but declined.

Come to think of it, out of all the Revolution members, Mark has talked the worst about Prince. There was a quote that went something like "Prince only spent his money on the girls in the band, only hung out with the girls in the band." He gave Prince credit for being so strong minded because he never would have made it to the top if he wasnt, but also said something to the effect of Prince will pay for all the wrongs he has done to folks.

Let's not forget that Prince contributed two tracks - "Bang Bang" and "Shall We Dance" to Mark's solo album "Good Feeling" in 1988 - a solid two years after he'd left The Revolution.

So evidently their relationship wasn't that bad after The Revolution broke up.

Militant said:

Let's not forget that Prince contributed two tracks - "Bang Bang" and "Shall We Dance" to Mark's solo album "Good Feeling" in 1988 - a solid two years after he'd left The Revolution.

So evidently their relationship wasn't that bad after The Revolution broke up.

Just for the sake of dates:

Just Like That came out in 1988. He specifically did not thank Prince in the credits on that album.

Good Feeling came out a year later in 1989, and Prince contributed "Bang Bang" to the disk. I didn't know about "Shall We Dance", because I don't have a copy of that CD. I have a physical CD of his first record (which is REALLY good, and I like it more than the 2nd).

ernestsewell said:

Militant said:

Let's not forget that Prince contributed two tracks - "Bang Bang" and "Shall We Dance" to Mark's solo album "Good Feeling" in 1988 - a solid two years after he'd left The Revolution.

So evidently their relationship wasn't that bad after The Revolution broke up.

Just for the sake of dates:

Just Like That came out in 1988. He specifically did not thank Prince in the credits on that album.

Good Feeling came out a year later in 1989, and Prince contributed "Bang Bang" to the disk. I didn't know about "Shall We Dance", because I don't have a copy of that CD. I have a physical CD of his first record (which is REALLY good, and I like it more than the 2nd).

Wow, even though Brownmark was Prince's "right hand man" so to speak for so many years..so far most everyones info on him is surprisingly fuzzy?? Thanks ernestewell for clearing up Militants contribution. Indeed Prince had no input on Mark's first solo album. Aside from the music video however for Next Time which shows the Parade award hanging in Mark's bedroom. The second album's first single was Bang Bang which was Prince penned but that was it. Track 2 was Shall We Dance which was a Levi track. I would bet that Motown probably forced the Prince connection for the second album to boost attention to it. Come on org...is this it? Is this what ya'll think of Brownmark??? Aside from the Mazarati connection isn't there anymore stories going around?

OldFriends4Sale said:

bigben07 said:

In an interview back in 85 - 86 Prince said something like "if Brownmark ever left the band he would eliminate bass from his music all together". Obviously he was exaggerating but none the less was paying Brownmark a huge compliment. But, of all the revolution members he seems to be the one that had the least interaction with Prince on stage and on record. I don't recall any songwriting credits for Mark and on stage he'd call out all the other members from time to time but not him. Also he never really got a solo did he? As soon as Levi took his place wouldn't you know it..Levi gets that bass solo in "Now's The Time" from the Sign Of The Times live set. Anyone here know of any stories or have insight as to Prince and Brownmark's relationship? And no I'm not going to ask Brownmark. I already asked him a Mazarati question on his facebook which he thankfully answered, but I figured I'd leave him alone for a while.

Brown Mark from Controversy upward had a lot of stage time with Prince, Dez just got more because of the guitar.

And yes Browmark did get a lot of solos, I'll just mention one from the PR tour performance of America

Seriously? We are going to count America on the PR tour as Brownmark getting a solo? How many times did America make the setlist on that tour? We could probably count it on one hand maybe two. Come on org...where is the love for Brownmark!!!

What about Mazarati, Brown Mark was behind that and Prince signed them, gave them a song for their album and even released it. Originally Mark was worry Prince would boot him out of the Revolution for doing it.

ernestsewell said:

Militant said:

Let's not forget that Prince contributed two tracks - "Bang Bang" and "Shall We Dance" to Mark's solo album "Good Feeling" in 1988 - a solid two years after he'd left The Revolution.

So evidently their relationship wasn't that bad after The Revolution broke up.

Just for the sake of dates:

Just Like That came out in 1988. He specifically did not thank Prince in the credits on that album.

Good Feeling came out a year later in 1989, and Prince contributed "Bang Bang" to the disk. I didn't know about "Shall We Dance", because I don't have a copy of that CD. I have a physical CD of his first record (which is REALLY good, and I like it more than the 2nd).

My bad. Still, not much difference there. I did a quick Google search before posting and I believe a few sites had said Good Feeling was '88. Guess not.

I could have sworn "Shall We Dance" was Prince-penned though. It certainly sounds like it.

BrownMark was the Bill Wyman of the Revolution. Both looked bored onstage while performing...

bigben07 said:

I would bet that Motown probably forced the Prince connection for the second album to boost attention to it. Come on org...is this it? Is this what ya'll think of Brownmark??? Aside from the Mazarati connection isn't there anymore stories going around?

I don't really buy into that kind of conjecture. It's usually brought up for the sake of drama. Brownmark and Prince have reconciled whatever angst they had with each other, and obviously did by 1989 when Mark took the "Bang Bang" song (which isn't that great of a tune) for his second album. Remember, Mark is a JW, so he and Prince have a closer bond now. Prince even stepped in once, quite a few years ago, to sound mix a show that Brownmark was putting on at First Avenue (or some Mpls club).

Militant said:

very nice pics Oldfriends4sale. Thank U....

soulyacolia said:

Militant said:

My bad. Still, not much difference there. I did a quick Google search before posting and I believe a few sites had said Good Feeling was '88. Guess not.

I could have sworn "Shall We Dance" was Prince-penned though. It certainly sounds like it.

According to The Vault book Prince did indeed write 'Shall We Dance' and merely contributed backing vocals to 'Bang Bang'

That's what I thought. Although I reckon he either completely or co-wrote both.

Militant said:

soulyacolia said:

Militant said: According to The Vault book Prince did indeed write 'Shall We Dance' and merely contributed backing vocals to 'Bang Bang'

That's what I thought. Although I reckon he either completely or co-wrote both.

I'd say his involvement in each song was probably fairly equal (remember what he's done with credits in the past). Listen to the fantastic female backing vocals on Bang Bang... Margaret Cox (who was working with P at the time on the MC Flash project). I never had any doubts about his involvement on either track. It's obvious from the programming and arrangements (listen to Shall We Dance and Lemon Crush [also from '89] back to back and you'll hear it). You can also hear P pretty clearly on the Shall We Dance backing vocals.

It wouldn't surprise me if Brownmark played again with Prince. ...Maybe even sometime soon.