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Friday 20 March 2020

Teena Marie


NB This was originally posted on ModernSoul on 31st December 2010



It was a great shock whilst listening to Solar radio last week to discover that Teena Marie had died in her sleep on Boxing Day 26th Dec 2010 at the age of 54.  It will the 10th anniversary this year!

I bought her debut album 'Wild & Peaceful' as a US import on spec from a review in Blues & Soul way back in 1979 and on the strength of her debut single 'I'm Just A Sucker For Your Love'.  Even to this day this album stands the test of time, not least for the classic De Ja Vu (I've Been Here Before) which was also released as the flip to 'Sucker'.  By way of a tribute I've uploaded the 12:25 minute live version released on the CD issue of her 1981 'It Must be Magic album, which is preluded with her interpretation of Donny Hathaway's 'Someday We'll All Be Free'.  I think this is a fitting tribute and a showcase for the indisputable talent of the world's greatest white soul singer dubbed quite rightly as 'The Ivory Queen Of Soul'.

The sad irony is that after taking a sabattical for most of the 90s to bring up her daughter, apart from her independent release of 'Passion Play' on her own Sarai label which unfortunately sunk without trace owing to limited distribution, her return in 2004 with La Dona, followed by Sapphire in 2006 and Conga Square in 2009 showed that she was back at her best with La Dona and Sapphire being her best sellers on Billboard and being nominated for a Grammy for 'I Still love You' from Conga Square.

In total Teena released 13 studio albums between 1979 and 2009.  Another album 'Black Rain' was scheduled for release in the early 2000s, and some copies were released on promo, but it was never officially released.  Many of the tracks have appeared on later albums.

Album Discography


The Motown Gordy Years 1979-81

01 1979 Wild & Peaceful (18 R&B 94 Billboard)
01. I'm A Sucker For Your Love 02. Turning Me On 03. Don't Look Back 04. De Ja Vu (I've Been Here Before) 05. I'm Gonna Have My Cake (And Eat It Too) 06. I Can't Love Anymore
02 1980 Lady T (18 R&B 45 Billboard)
01. Behind The Groove 02. Now That I Have You 03. Lonely Desire 04. Aladdin's Lamp 05. You're All The Boogie I Need 06. Can It Be Love 07. Young Girl In Love 08. Why Did I Have To Fall In Love With You 09. Too Many Colors 10. Why Can't I Get Next To You 11. Co Pilot To Pilot
03 1980 Irons In The Fire (9 R&B 38 Billboard)
01. I Need Your Lovin' 02. Young Love 03. First Class Love 04. Irons In The Fire 05. Chains 06. You Make Love Like Springtime 07. Tune In Tomorrow 08. You Make Love Like Springtime (Reprise)
04 1981 It Must Be Magic (2 R&B 23 Billboard)
01. It Must Be Magic 02. Revolution 03. Where's California 04. 365 05. Opus Iii (Does Anybody Care) 06. Square Biz 07. Ballad Of Cradle Rob & Me, The 08. Portuguese Love 09. Yes Indeed 10. Square Biz (Instrumental) 11. Someday We'll All Be Free ( Live) 12. Deja Vu (We've Been Here Before) (Live)

The Epic Years 1983-1990

05 1983 Robbery (13 R&B 119 Billboard)
01. Robbery 02. Playboy 03. Shadow Boxing 04. Midnight Magnet 05. Fix It 06. Ask Your Momma 07. Dear Lover 08. Stop The World 09. Casanova Brown 10. Playboy (12In Remix) 11. Midnight Magnet (Instrumental)
06 1984 Starchild (9 R&B 31 Billboard)
01. Lovergirl 02. Help Youngblood Get to the Freaky Party 03. Out on a Limb 04. Alibi 05. Jammin' 06. Starchild 07. We've Got to Stop (Meeting Like This) 08. My Dear Mr. Gaye 09. Light
07 1986 Emerald City (20 R&B 81 Billboard)
01. Emerald City 02. Once Is Not Enough 03. Lips to Find You 04. You So Heavy 05. Shangri-La 06. Batucada Suite 07. Love Me Down Easy 08. Sunny Skies
08 1988 Naked To The World (15 R&B 65 Billboard)
01. Trick Bag 02. Call Me (I Got Yo Number) 03. Ooo La La La 04. Crocodile Tears 06. Surrealistic Pillow 08. Work It 09. The Ball 10. Naked To The World
09 1990 Ivory (27 R&B 132 Billboard)
01. Here's Looking At You 02. The Sugar Shack Prelude 03. The Sugar Shack 04. If I Were A Bell 05. Just Us Two 06. Mr. Icecream 07. Ivory (Atone Poem) 08. Snap Your Fingers 09. Cupid Is A Real Straight Shooter 10. How Can You Resist It 11. Since Day One 12. Miracles Need Wings To Fly 13. The Red Zone

The Nineties & The Noughties

10 1994 Passion Play (Sarai)
01. Warm As Mommas Oven 02. Main Squeeze 03. Wild Horses 04. Smooth Tip 05. Hypnotized Prelude 06. Hypnotized 07. Parking Music 08. Sweet On You 09. Slow Grind 10. Climb The Walls 11. Breakfast In Bed 12. Passion Play 13. Pretty Man 14. The Air I Breathe
11 2004 La Dona (3 R&B 6 Billboard)
01. La Dona (Intro) 02. Still In Love 03. Honey Call 04. Baby I'm Your Fiend 05. My Body's Hungry 06. A Rose By Any Other Name 07. Off The Chain 08. Makavelli Never Lied 09. Revelations 38 Introduction 10. Recycle Hate To Love 11. The Mackin' Game
12 2006 Sapphire (3 R&B 24 Billboard)
01. God Has Created 02. Cruise Control 03. Baby Who's Is It 04. Make It Hot 05. Ooh Wee 06. Sleeping With the Enemy 07. A.P.B 08. Love Is a Gangsta 09. Ladies Choice 10. Somebody Just Like You 11. You Blow Me Away 12. Simmer Down 13. Romantica 14. The Way You Love Me 15. Ecstasy 16. Resilient (Sapphire)
13 2009 Conga Square (4 R&B 20 Billboard)
01. The Pressure 02. Can't Last a Day 03. Baby I Love You 04. Ear Candy 101 05. Lover's Lane 06. Marry Me 07. You Baby 08. Milk N' Honey 09. What U Got 4 Me 10. Rovleta's Jass 11. Congo Square 12. Harlem Blues 13. Black Cool 14. Ms. Coretta 15. Soldier Boy 16. The Rose N' Thorn

I have made a selection of my favourite track from each of her albums:

I haven't embedded links as take up too much space but clicking a link will open a YouTube clip in a new window.



Ooh Baby Baby - Live

Here's a live clip of her 'serenading' Smokey Robinson with his classic Ooh Baby Baby in 2009.  This will blow you away!




Fire And Desire with Rick James [1984] Gordy

Another tremendous performance, although the footage is live the audio isn't, it's been overdubbed.




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