After only recently discovering her (and becoming obsessed with Square Biz & I'm a Sucker for Love) through Rick James, I've tried and failed to seek out some of her albums without resorting to ebay. Seeing as they're almost impossible to find is there any chance we'll ever see them re-released? Sometime soon? Apparantly Lady T is out of print.
I guess I'll have to make do with her Greatest Hits for the time being.

And is it true she once said she'd like to work with Prince? Has he ever spoken of her? Didn't they once tour together in support of Rick James?

I don't think I can answer any of those questions but I can tell you that Teena is one of those artists with an obsence amount of collections (probably more than she has original albums) so chose carefully. The problem is that most of her memorable singles span two labels (Motown and Sony...maybe it was CBS/Columbia at the time). Anyway, if you don't have a set yet, I'm not sure which to recommend since none of them has all the big hits. I have "The Ultimate Collection" which isn't so ulitmate since it mentions "Oh La La La" in the liner notes but suggests it isn't on there becuase it was not a favorite of Teena's (as if this album was an artist approved set). It excludes other as well, but that song was probably one of her biggest hits (I think the said it was her only #1 R&B hit after years of trying). The only other album I have from her is the "new" (from last year) one, "La Dona", which wasn't bad but could have been better. It was on a major label, surpsingly.

Surprisingly, she opened for Prince on one of his tours. I remember her mentioning Prince in an article in "Right On" magazine years ago. She said he was a very talented artist and a much more sensitive man than Rick James. She also said that he was very strange. She said he used to sit on the floor in his hotel room.

Sittin on the floor musta been weird back then?

VinnyM27 said:

Compilations I tell u will be the death of me. It seems like every week I'm painstakingly researching which one is the best to buy, and then spending hours searching around town or on the internet to find the cheapest price. I wish every artist could just settle on a definitive set, then have the rest of them all deleted. Bloody record companies!

vainandy said:

Interesting. Wonder what Rick would've thought about her being in Prince's hotel room...

kinaldo said:

MOST of Teena Marie's albums ARE still in print...matter of fact, the only ones that arent are her first 2..1979's Wild and Peaceful and 1980's Lady T but the rest of her stuff is still in print
my fav Teena Marie albums are:
Emerald City
Robbery
Irons In The Fire
It Must Be Magic

try this link to order Teena's albums

tell me if it worked:
http://www.cduniverse.com...&image.y=7

LoveAlive said:

I didn't say they were out of print I said they were hard to find. I tried that link and my computer crashed - coincidence perhaps, but I think I'll refrain from going back there. Thanks anyway.
Anyway it so happens I found It Must Be Magic today It's remastered and has 3 bonus tracks with liner notes so maybe her other albums will get the same treatment soon, hopefully.

A few years ago,it was rumored that 'Irons In The Fire' would be remastered with bonus tracks,but it never materialized.Whatta shame because that's one of her strongest albums.

kinaldo said:

As long as you buy The Teena Marie Collection from the Sony Music Label, you're be set. It the one with the 12" version of "Oh La La La". And from Motown, look for I Need You Lovin': The Teena Marie Story.
[Edited 1/24/05 4:31am]

vainandy said:

Ocassionally,she also plays Prince songs during her concerts.When I saw her in 1997,she performed a brief version of "Sexy Dancer".

vainandy said:

Yeah, I remember reading that as well. That was in an issue from 81. Teena opened 4 P on his Dirty Mind Tour. That's where P met Jill Jones, who was Teena's back up singer. P first met Teena when P opened for Rick. Teena's one of my all-time female vocalists and I highly recommend "Emerald City". All of side one is excellent. It features Bootsy and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn on lead axe on the cut "You So Heavy". That whole side is basically a tribute to Hendrix and Prince's period from "Purple Rain". Teena's album "Robbery" gives a nod to The Time's cut "777-9311". On the album cover, Teena's sitting in a car while some brother is giving her his phone number. On the paper, u can clearly see "777-93". The rest of the number is covered up. This was released in 83.

I saw her do "Lovergirl" on the show "Motown Live" back in either 1998 or 1999. She broke it down into "Sexy Dancer" that night also. When I saw it, I laughed because I could just imagine Rick James somewhere watching it and fuming.

I read a Teena Marie interview recently after Rick's death and she said she cussed Rick out backstage right before they went on for something. Looks like Lady T don't take no shit. I bet she has some great stories to tell.

Very interesting, blackguitaristz. I have several Teena Marie albums but I don't have those two. I have all her Motown albums, he Epic release, "Starchild", and two greatest hits compilations. I'm going to have to definately check those two out.

I've noticed that Teena seems to have no problems with Prince and his crew, regardless if Rick did. I always wondered exactly which tour it was that she opened for Prince and what the circumstances were of how it came to happen. Knowing that it was the "Dirty Mind" tour, I've also wondered what the circumstances were for her opening for Rick on his "Street Songs" tour later that year and what he had to say about her joining the "enemy", so to speak.

After reading in one of her recent interviews, how she didn't mind cussing Rick out when she felt he needed it, I wonder if she opened for Prince just to piss him off.

It's funny... I see almost all of her albums on cd in the stores all the time, but I have always been a fan since day one, so I already have them....A good place to get them though is at Amazon.com

kinaldo said:

I completely agree.Instead of giving us multiple compilations that always seem to be missing some key tracks,or are focused primarily on one period or another,they should simply release a fantastic 2-CD set that covers her Motown period and her Epic period.Take it all the way up to her recent album 'La Dona'.

vainandy said:

Not that it could be any of our business, but....

Do you think Teena had at least a little crush on Prince?

The earlier albums are hard to find, but well worth tracking down.

I got them from eBay a few years back, I think I paid about $30 a CD.