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Thread started 10/09/11 4:21pm

badujunkie

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do you think Teena Marie influenced Madonna?

find this first review of her debut album v. interesting - i made a mix cd and i totally hear it!

By DON SHEWEY
SEPTEMBER 29, 1983

Madonna, who crashed onto the dance charts last year with "Everybody," has a voice that takes some getting used to. At first, it doesn't sound like much at all. Then you notice its one distinguishing feature, a girlish hiccup that the singer uses over and over until it's irritating as hell. Finally, you get hooked, and you start looking forward to that silly little catch in her voice. It helps that she writes good tunes — catchy and bare to the bone. It helps even more that her album is pristinely produced by Reggie Lucas. Electric keyboards have the clarity of finger chimes. The bass slaps the backbeat like shoes on pavement. Mind you, it's simple stuff: "I'm burnin' up/Burnin' up for your love," or "Holiday/Celebrate." But it's clever at times, too. "Physical Attraction" is practically a capsule history of high-school proms, with its sly references to the Association's "Cherish" and Olivia Newton-John's "Physical."

There are lots of blue-eyed soul belters with more generous voices and more intricate songs — Teena Marie comes quickly to mind. Still, without overstepping the modest ambitions of minimal funk, Madonna issues an irresistible invitation to the dance.

I'll leave it alone babe...just be me
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Reply #1 posted 10/09/11 4:36pm

rialb

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No, not to any significant degree.

[Edited 10/9/11 16:36pm]

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Reply #2 posted 10/09/11 4:38pm

Timmy84

No.

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Reply #3 posted 10/09/11 4:41pm

TonyVanDam

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The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

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Reply #4 posted 10/09/11 4:43pm

Marlena58

No. I don't see it or hear it

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Reply #5 posted 10/09/11 5:00pm

Timmy84

TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

And there you have it. I also count Diana Ross as an influence in some level vocally... (just SOMEWHAT, mostly in her Supremes days lol).

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Reply #6 posted 10/09/11 5:12pm

mjscarousal

Madonna is soulLESS.... NO

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Reply #7 posted 10/09/11 5:13pm

TD3

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Timmy84 said:

TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

And there you have it. I also count Diana Ross as an influence in some level vocally... (just SOMEWHAT, mostly in her Supremes days lol).

hmm i'm glad you two can "see it".

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Reply #8 posted 10/09/11 5:17pm

theAudience

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TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

The "hiccup"?

Missing Persons (Dale Bozzio)...



...Walking in L.A. & Words

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

peace Tribal Records

"Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all."
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Reply #9 posted 10/09/11 5:21pm

TD3

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theAudience said:

TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

The "hiccup"?

Missing Persons (Dale Bozzio)...



...Walking in L.A. & Words

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

peace Tribal Records

nod

My memory couldn not be jarred. Thank ya.

lol

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Reply #10 posted 10/09/11 5:26pm

Timmy84

theAudience said:

TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

The "hiccup"?

Missing Persons (Dale Bozzio)...



...Walking in L.A. & Words

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

peace Tribal Records

Dale was definitely an influence...

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Reply #11 posted 10/09/11 5:26pm

LittleBLUECorv
ette

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Pretty sure she did, maybe not a major influence, but many and many people influence an artist, not just the few they always mention.

PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #12 posted 10/09/11 5:50pm

MickyDolenz

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mjscarousal said:

Madonna is soulLESS.... NO

Madonna used to get a lot of airplay on R&B stations when she first came out just like Art Of Noise and Culture Club did. That's probably why she's compared to Teena in this early article.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #13 posted 10/09/11 6:04pm

TonyVanDam

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theAudience said:

TonyVanDam said:

The people that influenced Madonna were Deborah Harry, Donna Summers, & Marilyn Monroe.

The "hiccup"?

Missing Persons (Dale Bozzio)...



...Walking in L.A. & Words

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

peace Tribal Records

Them too! nod

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Reply #14 posted 10/09/11 6:21pm

mjscarousal

MickyDolenz said:

mjscarousal said:

Madonna is soulLESS.... NO

Madonna used to get a lot of airplay on R&B stations when she first came out just like Art Of Noise and Culture Club did. That's probably why she's compared to Teena in this early article.

Being played on r&b stations and having soul are two DIFFERENT things... I would never compare Madonna to Teena Marie.

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Reply #15 posted 10/09/11 6:32pm

vainandy

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The only similarity I see is that both of them are white and both of them's first release was released without a picture and played on R&B radio first before pop radio. "Everybody" was a 12 Inch before it was released on an album.

Other than that, Madonna is a lot more pop than Teena Marie who only crossed over once with "Lovergirl".

Andy is a four letter word.
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Reply #16 posted 10/09/11 6:45pm

musicjunky318

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LOL

Absolutely not.

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Reply #17 posted 10/09/11 7:16pm

MickyDolenz

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mjscarousal said:

MickyDolenz said:

Madonna used to get a lot of airplay on R&B stations when she first came out just like Art Of Noise and Culture Club did. That's probably why she's compared to Teena in this early article.

Being played on r&b stations and having soul are two DIFFERENT things... I would never compare Madonna to Teena Marie.

You're looking at this from a modern standpoint. Many new acts are compared to someone already established. Madonna was a new act, and was a white female singer that recieved R&B airplay and liked by some Black listeners. The so-called "blue eyed soul" acts that were popular were pretty much all males and Teena was the only woman that recieved regular airplay, so Madonna was compared to Teena. It might be hard to concieve to modern listeners, but Madonna was considered "blue-eyed soul" at first. Really her first album sounds like the Stephanie Mills stuff of the time, because they had the same producer, Reggie Lucas. But Madonna could get pop radio (and MTV) airplay unlike Stephanie (or Teena).

[Edited 10/9/11 19:45pm]

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #18 posted 10/09/11 7:59pm

sosgemini

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Madonna wouldn't even have known who Teena Marie was. Her diet consisted of digesting pop culture and stealing ideas from her gay friends. lol

Space for sale...
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Reply #19 posted 10/09/11 8:31pm

HuMpThAnG

And would it be a bad thing if she did influence Madonna? hmmm

[Edited 10/9/11 20:31pm]

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Reply #20 posted 10/09/11 8:36pm

badujunkie

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sosgemini said:

Madonna wouldn't even have known who Teena Marie was. Her diet consisted of digesting pop culture and stealing ideas from her gay friends. lol

Im sure she knew who every then-successful female pop/rock/and especially R&B act was when she was trying to emulate their success and danceclubs/radio dominance in the beginning. Puh Lease .... i'd bet you $50 at least one of her "gay friends" who she stole "ideas" from was a Queeny Lady Tee ultrafan

I'll leave it alone babe...just be me
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Reply #21 posted 10/09/11 8:37pm

MadamGoodnight

Lawd Jesus, Lady T and Madonna named in the same sentence. ~deep breath~ Okay, let me recover. I'll be back.

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Reply #22 posted 10/09/11 9:05pm

mjscarousal

MickyDolenz said:

mjscarousal said:

Being played on r&b stations and having soul are two DIFFERENT things... I would never compare Madonna to Teena Marie.

You're looking at this from a modern standpoint. Many new acts are compared to someone already established. Madonna was a new act, and was a white female singer that recieved R&B airplay and liked by some Black listeners. The so-called "blue eyed soul" acts that were popular were pretty much all males and Teena was the only woman that recieved regular airplay, so Madonna was compared to Teena. It might be hard to concieve to modern listeners, but Madonna was considered "blue-eyed soul" at first. Really her first album sounds like the Stephanie Mills stuff of the time, because they had the same producer, Reggie Lucas. But Madonna could get pop radio (and MTV) airplay unlike Stephanie (or Teena).

[Edited 10/9/11 19:45pm]

The overall point for some reason is slipping over your head. This isnt about who had more black appeal or black fans. Madonna is a souless singer. She is a pop star. I dont care about many African American fans she has. It is obsurd to compare her to Teena Marie and insinuate she has soul JUST because she played on r&b stations and has African American fans...

Once again appeal and soul are DIFFERENT. Madonna is NOT a soulful singer EVEN if she wasnt compared to Teena she STILL would not be soul and I double dare you to make a ridiculous case that she is. Madonna has guts of steel but doesnt have an ounce of soul in her body..

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Reply #23 posted 10/09/11 9:05pm

MadamGoodnight

I have never listened to anything by Madonna and thought it was influenced by Teena. Never, ever, ever. Teena was the Ivory Queen, in a category of her own. She sang with a lot of runs, and power. This article is reaching. Listening to Teena just makes me think of how much Madonna is lacking, if anything. RIP.

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Reply #24 posted 10/09/11 9:18pm

sosgemini

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badujunkie said:

sosgemini said:

Madonna wouldn't even have known who Teena Marie was. Her diet consisted of digesting pop culture and stealing ideas from her gay friends. lol

Im sure she knew who every then-successful female pop/rock/and especially R&B act was when she was trying to emulate their success and danceclubs/radio dominance in the beginning. Puh Lease .... i'd bet you $50 at least one of her "gay friends" who she stole "ideas" from was a Queeny Lady Tee ultrafan

lol

Space for sale...
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Reply #25 posted 10/09/11 9:25pm

alphastreet

Does Teena Marie have some Italian in her or am I wrong about that? That's one thing they have in common, and the other being that people thought both were black artists when on the radio until it was revealead on tv that they weren't. Those are the only things they have in common, nothing else at all.

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Reply #26 posted 10/09/11 9:36pm

MickyDolenz

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mjscarousal said:

MickyDolenz said:

You're looking at this from a modern standpoint. Many new acts are compared to someone already established. Madonna was a new act, and was a white female singer that recieved R&B airplay and liked by some Black listeners. The so-called "blue eyed soul" acts that were popular were pretty much all males and Teena was the only woman that recieved regular airplay, so Madonna was compared to Teena. It might be hard to concieve to modern listeners, but Madonna was considered "blue-eyed soul" at first. Really her first album sounds like the Stephanie Mills stuff of the time, because they had the same producer, Reggie Lucas. But Madonna could get pop radio (and MTV) airplay unlike Stephanie (or Teena).

[Edited 10/9/11 19:45pm]

The overall point for some reason is slipping over your head. This isnt about who had more black appeal or black fans. Madonna is a souless singer. She is a pop star. I dont care about many African American fans she has. It is obsurd to compare her to Teena Marie and insinuate she has soul JUST because she played on r&b stations and has African American fans...

Once again appeal and soul are DIFFERENT. Madonna is NOT a soulful singer EVEN if she wasnt compared to Teena she STILL would not be soul and I double dare you to make a ridiculous case that she is. Madonna has guts of steel but doesnt have an ounce of soul in her body..

What exactly is "soul"? According to the church I went to, everyone has a soul. lol "Soulful" singing doesn't mean anything, just like "new age", "pop", "alternative", "goth", "race", "freestyle", "bluegrass", or "heavy metal" doesn't mean anything. What is "world music"? All music is made in the world. Soul is a label someone made up for marketing purposes. I never said Madonna was a soul or any other kind of singer. I was explaining the article and said she was considered "blue eyed soul" by some people of the time and hence compared to Teena. That's all I have to say about this, since you like arguing for no reason. It's not that big of a deal.

[Edited 10/9/11 21:46pm]

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #27 posted 10/09/11 9:43pm

johnart

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noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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Reply #28 posted 10/09/11 9:57pm

musicjunky318

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MickyDolenz said:

mjscarousal said:

Being played on r&b stations and having soul are two DIFFERENT things... I would never compare Madonna to Teena Marie.

You're looking at this from a modern standpoint. Many new acts are compared to someone already established. Madonna was a new act, and was a white female singer that recieved R&B airplay and liked by some Black listeners. The so-called "blue eyed soul" acts that were popular were pretty much all males and Teena was the only woman that recieved regular airplay, so Madonna was compared to Teena. It might be hard to concieve to modern listeners, but Madonna was considered "blue-eyed soul" at first. Really her first album sounds like the Stephanie Mills stuff of the time, because they had the same producer, Reggie Lucas. But Madonna could get pop radio (and MTV) airplay unlike Stephanie (or Teena).

[Edited 10/9/11 19:45pm]

LOL I asked my dad about this a year or two ago and he says it's not true. I've seen the interviews of her saying people thought she was black but I don't think she was fooling as many listeners as legend has it.

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Reply #29 posted 10/09/11 9:58pm

Timmy84

OK, let's set the record straight: Madonna was never billed a "blue eyed soul artist". She was pop from day fucking one! lol Sire Records was just being fishy, that's all. lol

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