Mark Brown (born March 8, 1962), better known by the stage name Brown Mark, also styled Brownmark and BrownMark, is an American musician, bassist and record producer.
Life and career
Born in The Bronx, New York, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at a young age. Brown's early fame came when he was the bass guitarist of The Revolution, Prince's original touring (and later also his recording) band. BrownMark started working for Prince in 1981, one year out of high school. Noted for his unique, funk-based style of musicianship, he became a record producer and recording artist himself after parting company with Prince in 1986.
Brown joined Prince's band in 1981 for the Controversy album recordings. One infamous story was when Prince gave Brown a demo with melody and lyrics of a song that became "Kiss." Brown, along with frequent Prince collaborator David Z, worked on a version, intended for the Mazarati album. Prince liked the unique, funky rhythm and background vocals but felt he needed to keep this funky creation for himself. Removing the bass line, and adding signature guitar and falsetto vocal elements; Mazarati's background vocals were retained. The finished, minimalist song was a hard sell to Warner Bros., but Prince insisted and the song was released. Mazarati went on to release their self-titled debut album on Paisley Park,