Teena Marie - Starchild 1984

b. Mary Christine Brocker, 1957, Santa Monica, California, USA. A singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, Teena Marie is one of the few white artists to sustain a consistent career in the US soul market. Spotted by Motown Records' Berry Gordy in the 70s, he linked her up with funk star and labelmate Rick James, and her early career strongly reflected their joint influences. The highly commercial Wild And Peaceful saw her backed by James and the Stone City Band on a set that included their hit duet, 'I'm A Sucker For Your Love'. She returned the favour by partnering James on 'Fire And Desire' on his Street Songs album in 1981.

Afterwards, Marie took increasing control of her career and songwriting, singing both ballads and funk. Both 'I Need Your Lovin'' and 'Square Biz' reached the Top 20 of the US Billboard charts in 1980 and 1981, respectively. In the UK, 'Behind The Groove', a surprise disco smash at number 6 in the singles chart, led to confusion in public minds over her and the similarly titled Kelly Marie (it also, accidentally, picked up on the prevalent UK disco trend for songs with 'Groove' in the title). However, her greatest success followed her move to Epic Records, which some saw as an assertion of her independence, with the number 4-peaking US hit, 'Lovergirl'. Afterwards, her chart career declined. Emerald City was a funky outing, notable particularly for Stevie Ray Vaughan 's guitar solo on 'You So Heavy'. Demonstrating her talent for modernizing her technique with the advent of each new instalment in R&B's development, Ivory was produced by Soul II Soul 's Jazzie B

Tracklisting:

A1		Lovergirl (4:54)
A2		Help Youngblood Get To The Freaky Party (5:44)
A3		Out On A Limb (6:37)
A4		Alibi (5:23)
B1		Jammin (5:52)
B2		Starchild (5:35)
B3		We've Got To Stop (Meeting Like This) (5:06)
B4		My Dear Mr. Gaye (5:28)
B5		Light (1:18)

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