Anybody remember Val Young? She was a Rick James protege who released her debut album 'Seduction' in late 1985.The title track was the first single.Written and produced by Rick,the song sounds alot like his other productions from this period....lots of haunting synthesizers and funky bass."Seduction" sounds like an outtake from the Mary Jane Girls' second album.But it's a really,really good song....sexy and fun.Her debut album also includes a strong second single "If You Should Ever Be Lonely".

a little trivia: when Rick was producing Val's album,one of the songs he wrote for her was "In My House",but a Motown exec heard it and convinced him to give it to the Mary Jane Girls instead.Val may have missed out on a surefire Top 10 hit,but her album contains alot of good songs regardless.

I've seen her doing a summer gig with Mary Davis of the S.O.S. band, Sharon Bryant of Atlantic Starrs and Tawatha Agee of Mtume.

She's good.

My 1st introduction to her was through these hooks she did for Death Row records with Snoop, Pac, Dre and them.

Oddly,Val is touring with her own version of the Mary Jane Girls.She's singing lead Meanwhile,the original lead singer,JoJo,is touring with her own version of the Mary Jane Girls.I saw them in concert last week.JoJo's dress was extremely short and she had to keep pulling it down...lol...she said "I'm having a wardrobe malfunction right now,so I'm not gonna dance too much"

Harlepolis said:

Yeah,she worked closely with them for many years.

I think that one's on a Rick James and Friends CD that was released a year or two ago, if it's the same one I'm thinking about. The song on the CD I heard was decent. I never heard of Val Young until recently. She got no radio airplay in my area back then and neither did Process and the Doo Rags. Of course, it was the late 1980s and instead of pushing funk, the radio stations were pushing Shitney Houston type music.
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[Edited 2/16/07 7:34am]

I for some reason can't put my finger on seduction but i am very
aware of her second album that rick produced private conversation.
I have the 12 inch for the title track which was hot. The album was
fair. I believe some of the tracks were intended for the mary jane girls
third album called conversation which was never released because of rick's
legal battles with motown and i believe they were not allowed use of the name
with any other record company.
It is interesting that there are mjg tours with jo jo and her crew as well
as val young and the other original three. It kind of seems like the klymaxx
mess.

this is too weird. i was listening to this track on the way to work this morning on my discman, yes i said discman i'm not giving into the ipod sensation yet. that song is killer. i would love to own this album. how cool is she with her blonde hair!
[Edited 2/16/07 12:23pm]
[Edited 2/16/07 12:24pm]

I remember this song. it got play in new york. But the other day i tried to sing it and started singing the song "Temptation.....it's a part of life" but was singing 'seduction....it's a part of life..." and my bf looked at me like i was insane.

I was going to see the Mary Jane Girls with Klymaxx and Cherrelle in Newark, NJ but the show got cancelled. I keep trying to find their tour dates but can't.

Both of her singles "Seduction" and "If You Should Ever Be Lonely" can be found on the 'Rick James and Friends' CD that was released a few years ago.This compilation is cool but it's missing a few tracks that should have been included:

"Party All The Time" by Eddie Murphy
"Stomp and Shout" by Process and The Doo-Rags
"Happy" by Rick James and Teena Marie


I'm sure there are a few other tracks that Rick produced for others back then.

vainandy said:

Wow,I'm surprised that you just heard about Val only a a few years ago.As a huge Rick James fan,I thought you would know all of his proteges

Val's album was released in late 1985.In my area,the singles "Seduction" and "If You Should Ever Be Lonely" got alot of radio airplay.Still,she never really blew up the way she should have.To me,she sounds like the female vocalist in Yarbrough and Peoples.She's got a good,strong,soulful voice.

phunkdaddy said:

thanks for the info.I wasn't aware that Val made a second album.What label was it on? Rick left Motown in 1987...did he take Val with him to Warner Bros?

It's a shame the way Rick and Motown had a bitter falling-out.Their feud prevented the Mary Jane Girls from moving ahead with their own career.It's a damn shame that we never got their third album!! It is titled 'Conversation' and is collecting dust somewhere in the Motown vaults After all this time,I'd still like to hear it.

GaryMF said:

I wonder which version of the Mary Jane Girls you were gonna see I saw the JoJo version on February 10.Oddly,they were billed as simply "JoJo of the Mary Jane Girls".She appeared with two female backup singers who were never part of the original line-up.

Also,I wonder what version of Klymaxx you were gonna see,too.As you know,one of the members is touring with her own version....a bunch of girls who were never part of the original line-up the original members aren't too happy about this.

dancerella said:

Rick wanted to make her into "the black Marilyn Monroe" she was rockin' the blond hair looooonnngggg before Faith Evans,Lil Kim and the others copied her.

I love Val. I first learned of her from the songs she did with Tupac. Never knew she was of 80s stardom until I cam across some of her old material on the Napster all time ago.

She sounds so nice on "2 Live And Die in LA" I wish she wouldve did a solo version. I also like that song she did with Warren G & El DeBarge called "G-Spot".

I remember that song. Good one. It was Rick James producing at its best. I wonder if he ever considered giving it to the MJG's? It sounds like they could've done it also.

SoulAlive said:

OH GOD... my mama saw her
a few years back (she opened up for MAZE I believe)
and she did the same fucking thing
I swear those were my mama's & my cousins
exact words when reciting it back to me
maybe it's a part of her act

a fuckin mess

*about Val though
I never heard any of her stuff
(other than To Live & Die In LA... etc)
[Edited 2/19/07 11:23am]

SoulAlive said:

The private conversation album was on a local independent label called
amherst. That was a year before rick did the wonderful album for warner bros.
Yeah it hurt me that the world was deprived of more from the mary jane girls
because they were really hot at the time and even had crossed over with
in my house. They could have really been bigger.
This tour with klymaxx and cherelle is pretty interesting.
Call it the funky girls of the 80's tour.

ThePunisher said:

Yeah,it actually sounds like an outtake from their second album.In the mid-80s,Rick's sound changed drastically.He got rid of the horns and added ALOT of synthesizers.I guess he was just keeping up the times.

phunkdaddy said:

several years ago,I used to post regularly on the Motown official site forums.A few of us were asking for the third Mary Jane Girls album 'Conversation' to finally get released.The guy in charge of Motown remasters (Harry Weigner,I think that's his name?) read our comments and gave us a little info about the project.Unfortunately,he said there were no plans to release it

SoulAlive said:

Yeah I know about the 2 "versions" of MJGs and Klymaxx.

The tour I was going to see was with "the original Klymaxx" with Bernadette, Lynn, Fenderrella and Lorena..... and the MJGs were the other 4 plus Val Young.

The website for Klymaxx is http://www.klymaxx.org/ and they have a myspace page.

The "other" version is just Cheryl Cooley with other musicians..... Bernadette is "much, much unhappy about that!" Who can blame her?

That sounds like a cool tour....Klymaxx,Mary Jane Girls and Cherelle

Too bad there can never be a Vanity 6 reunion tour


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[Edited 2/21/07 0:53am]

SoulAlive said:

Yeah but the show was "postponed" and I can't find info on when it's actually gonna happen.

Who knows, perhaps Denise will one day have a change of heart.....though it seems unlikely

SoulAlive said:

I saw an interview with the MJG's the other day it was from right before Rick had died and they were saying Rick was just so out of it that he lost interest in them and the group and really music in general. They said they were kind of glad and even scared of him and the way he was acting when he was high which was all the time.

phunkdaddy said:

are the tour dates listed anywhere? i'd love to go check it out!

I never heard of her because the radio never played her. Beginning with the summer of 1985, they were too busy overplaying a certain weak little goodie two shoes to play anyone else. I'm just glad they waited until the summer because that would have just ruined my senior year in high school.

vainandy said:

You would not be talking about shitney houston by any chance?

I am not a big fan of her music either but i at least hope she gets her life
together because she had fast become a tragic story.

SoulAlive said:

Isn't she a church bunny now though? I think she's newly born Christian,,,I do remember her with Peri Reid(Pebbles) in a TBN show.

Harlepolis said:

The last thing I heard about Cherelle is....she and her pal Whitney Houston were sharing an apartment together...hanging out and partying.I guess we probably don't wanna know all the details,lol.

vainandy said:

I'm gonna start a Whitney Houston appreciation thread...just for you!