Do any of you remember the time Teena Marie had a roll in the original Beverly Hillbillies show? Do any of you even know who Teena Marie is?
Mary Christine Brockert, was born to your average working class family, who would send the young girl out for auditions in hopes of some form of acting work spawning from the efforts. While she did land the roll noted above, Brockett soon turned her attention to music, teaching herself multiple instruments in her youth.
After high school, she formed the band, Truvair, with a few high school friends, and while auditioning for various record companies caught the attention of Motown. At first, she was hired to work on a film which ultimately got shelved. However, Barry Gordy was impressed enough with her voice that he signed her as a solo act. It was here that she caught the attention of Motown artist, Rick James, who opted to produce her first album.
It was with her 1979 debut, Wild And Peaceful, that she officially dawned the stage name, Teena Marie. The album produced her first top ten hit, and Marie would continue to release albums through the Gordy label through 1981. However, heated arguments soon ensued, as Maries pushed for her new material to be released, but was denied by the label. This led to a lawsuit, resulting in The Brockert Initiative.
The Brockert Initiative made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing their new material. This in tern allowed her, and other future artists, to be released from a record label, and sign with another, if their music was being denied release by their current label.
Marie left Motown, and signed with Epic Records, releasing the concept album, Robbery, which garnered three top one hundred hits. This was followed up with 1984's Starchild, which is the album that landed her on my radar.
Starchild features her top ten hit, Lovergirl, which is an amazing tune! Everything about it encompasses the 80's in a sheer perfection capsule. Sadly, the rest of the album does not deliver this same experience. Rather, it's quite bland, encumbered by ballads, and other forgettable tracks.
As for Marie, she released further albums through Epic up until 1990's Ivory. However, from then on, while continuing to release albums from 2004 through 2010, she hopped from label to label, never quite bottling that success she once had. Tragically, she was found dead in her home in 2010, with natural causes being ruled. A posthumous album was released in 2013.I'm not going to lie, for as disappointed as I was with Starchild, Lovergirl was worth the price of admission, and I'm not mad. The four times I've played it since buying it have more than paid for the album.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 7, 1981 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 7, 1987 |
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