Kiss

The band Mazarati, which was formed by Prince's bass player Brown Mark and signed to his Paisley Park record label, asked Prince for a song for their debut album, so he took a break from his Parade sessions and dashed off a minute-long bluesy acoustic demo for them on a mini tape recorder. Mazarati and producer David Z re-worked the song, giving it an irresistible funk groove. When he heard it, Prince was smart enough to take the song right back. He replaced their lead vocal, added the guitar break in the chorus and included it as a last-minute addition to his Parade album. Brown Mark was persuaded by Prince to let him record the song in return for a writer's credit resulting in a big payday for him. He recalled to Uncut: "I thought that sounded like a good deal. I spread the bad news to Maserati, who were pretty angry. In the end, I didn't even get paid for it. He totally stiffed me. I quit the band shortly after that. He treated me so bad, but I don't care. He gave me a ton of opportunities, so I look at the good things."

Listen to the backing vocals on this song - they feature Mazarati's keyboard player Marvin Gunn ("Marr Starr") and guitarist Tony Christian (born Bruce DeShazer), who sang as The Wild Pair on Paula Abdul's hit "Opposites Attract.

On the week "Kiss" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the #2 hit was also a song written by Prince, the Bangles' "Manic Monday." "Kiss" reached #1 in Australia as well.