Mazarati was an American R&B, rock and funk band, formed in the mid-1980s and was active until 1989.
The band was seven pieces and included the former Prince and The Revolution bassist Brownmark. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, they became defunct as a group in 1989.
The band's sole hit was a song called "100 MPH", which was written and co-produced by Prince.
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, with melody, lyrics and basic song structure. David Z worked on the song, "starting with a LinnDrum, I programmed the beat and began experimenting.
Taking a hi-hat from the drum machine, I ran it through a delay unit and switched between input and output and in the middle. That created a very funky rhythm.
Then I took an acoustic guitar, played these open chords and gated that to the hi-hat trigger. The result was a really unique rhythm that was unbelievably funky but also impossible to actually play... The background vocals I adapted from the Brenda Lee song 'Sweet Nothings' " The end result was, "a so-so dance number. "The guitar was dry and gated, and everything else sounded kind of different to the corporate rock that was on the radio at that time.”
Mazarati's backing vocals were retained on the final song which was released on Parade (1986). The song became a No. 1 hit single and Grammy Award winner. 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 HOLLY ROCK.
Mazarati is a perfect example of a band that was expected to be huge but never enjoyed the commercial success it was supposed to.
When Brown Mark of the Revolution produced this self-titled debut album in 1986, the Minneapolis funk-rock sound was tremendously popular. Prince was a superstar, and disciples like the Time, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Ta Mara and Jesse Johnson had enjoyed major hits as well.
But for whatever reason, Mazarati wasn't the blockbuster that many R&B experts predicted it would be. Although not in a class with Prince's Purple Rain or the Time's Ice Cream Castle, Mazarati is decent and respectable, if derivative. Driving funk-rock items like "Suzy," "100 MPH" and "Player's Ball" aren't breathtaking, but they aren't anything to be ashamed of either. Also noteworthy are the psychedelic-influenced "Strawberry Lover" and the melancholy soul ballad "I Guess It's All Over."
An LP that shouldn't have fallen between the cracks, Mazarati been out of print since the 1980s but is worth picking up if you come across a copy somewhere.
Tracklist
1. Players’ Ball - 4:43
2. Jerk Out - 7:10
3. Lonely Girl On Bourbon Street - 4:47
4. 100 MPH - 7:23
5. Champagne Saturday - 4:05
6. She’s Just That Kind Of Lady - 3:47
7. Stroke - 4:34
8. Don´t Leave Me Baby - 4:12
9. Susannah´s Pajamas - 3:42
10. Suzy - 4:28
11. Strawberry Lover - 5:26
12. Kiss - 4:03
13. I Guess It’s All Over - 4:56
