"Seduction" (1985)


"If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (1985)

I remember Val... I liked Seduction and If You Should Ever Be Lonely

banks said:

Did you ever get her debut album? I'm gonna look for it on my next vinyl dig.I like those two singles

SoulAlive said:

No i never did...

The song "In My House" was originally intended for Val Young.A Motown exec heard it and persuaded Rick to give it to the Mary Jane Girls instead.I wonder if Val resents the fact that she had to give up a song which ultimately became a major hit for someone else?

SoulAlive said:

The whole Mary Jane debut album was intended for her to record(as she said in some radio interview).

I absloutly adore her voice,,,,,very sad and melancholy YET sometimes it sounds abit "devilish" so to speak.

Val is amazing. I first came across her via Tupac, as she sang the hook on his "To Live & Die In LA", and also had some vocals on his "Teardrops and Closed Caskets".

When I was in LA a couple of years ago making a documentary about 'Pac for the BBC, I had tried to get in contact with Val as I wanted her to be part of the documentary.

We spoke on the phone, unfortunately she was away on vacation at the time, so we couldn't get her in the documentary. But I still have her number, I'll probably give her a call next time I'm in LA just to say hi. She's a great singer and her own stuff is the bomb too. I really dig "If You Should Ever Be Lonely".

Oh, there's an unreleased (but circulating) track she did with Snoop Dogg called "Purple", the synth line on it re-plays the main melody from Sheila's "Glamorous Life". Just thought some folks might be interested to hear that.
[Edited 7/22/08 8:07am]
[Edited 7/22/08 8:09am]

I do, I do!

Mind Games, Come Hang Out, Seduction, Piece Of My Heart are probably my favorite cuts from her first album, but it's funkingly good record overall. As Harlepolis pointed out, she has a very unique voice that was offset by it's melodic raspiness.

Little known trivia: The first three tracks -- Private Conversations, Sweetest Thing, Dreamin' -- from Val's second lp, Private Conversations, were Rick James produced tunes intended for inclusion on the shelved third Mary Jane Girls lp, Private Conversations With The Mary Jane Girls.

GoActive said:

I like those three cuts and "Let's Fall In Love" most off Val's debut album. For any Punk Funk fans it's a must have

wish that someone would upload her albums...

I never heard of her until recent years. The radio in my area never played her for some reason. I also remember Rick mentioning starting a new group called Process and the Doo Rags back during his "Reflections" album era. I never dreamed he had followed up and released it since the radio in my area didn't play them either. I figured they were just another one of Rick's ramblings such as the movie "Alice In Ghettoland" starring Teena Marie as Alice. I've yet to see that damn movie.

how funny i was just listening to the Seduction cd this weekend. its a nice record the title track is the bomb as well as If you should ever be lonley!!

GoActive said:

how is the private conversations album overall?? is it funky new wave? how does it compare to Seduction??

God, that takes me back. IYSEBL was the shit!

dancerella said:

While I've only listened to it thoroughly once, I'll say it's not much of a departure from her debut effort. In fact, it actually builds upon Seduction, giving the funk and tempo an added boost.

dancerella said:

Sounds like a typical mary janes girl album. I was disappointed as hell
when motown shelved the 3rd mjg album. I have the 12 inch to private conversations. The radio station in my area used to always play the dub
version with the tight beats as opposed to the straight forward lp version
which was good also. If you happen to find the album in a vinyl dig for 3 bucks it's worth it.

GoActive said:

It's a shame that the third Mary Jane Girls album was never released.Rick's feud with Motown basically killed their careers and prevented them from moving forward.

I found out some recent info on her.For the past few years,she's been touring with the Mary Jane Girls (as lead singer) but earlier this year,she was apparently kicked out of the group.She is now focused on getting her new solo album 'The Voice Beyond' released.

SoulAlive said:

Tell me about it. It would be really interesting to hear what would've became of their sound as they sought-out to work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

GoActive said:

Yeah,I had heard that they wanted to work with Jam and Lewis.

SoulAlive said:

So does this mean that JoJo is back with the original lineup as
lead singer?

vainandy said:

Never heard about that one. I'm still waiting on the movie Cameo spoke
of in the late 80's called "Funny Guys".

You never heard about that one? He used to talk about it all the time in some of his "Soul Train" appearances when he was interviewed and also in "Right On" and "Rock and Soul" magazines. He changed the title of the movie several times but I first remember hearing him calling it "Alice In Ghettoland".

Hell, he talked about it so many times that when Prince released the movie "Purple Rain", he gotted pissed and said he stole his idea. Now I can see Prince stealing the idea of a girls group because Rick discussed his idea in private but, as far as making a movie, hell Rick gave that idea to Prince by constantly running his damn mouth about it.

Val Young is a great singer I Love her voice. Its a shame that she never got the due she deserved, I never knew she was singing with the mary jane girls on tour...WOW! I too was sad that the 3rd MJG album was shelved it would have been a huge success i think because building off the In My House release would have been PERFECT....That was my shyt there.

vainandy said:

Yeah,I remember Rick talking about this movie.At one point,the film was tentatively titled 'Spice Of Life'.He first started talking about it in 1982.

phunkdaddy said:

Not sure,but that would be great.In recent years,she's been touring with two young girls who have absolutely nothing to do with the Mary Jane Girls

regcart said:

Yeah,it's a shame that the Mary Jane Girls' careers were cut short,due to the tug-of-war game that Rick and Motown were involved in.He was feuding with them in 1986,fighting for control of the group.When the dust settled,he was released from his contract and able to with Warner Bros,but the girls were left with no contract at all.I wonder why they didn't try to go on and start over at a new company,without Rick and Motown? They probably would have had to change their name,but it could have been done.

SoulAlive said:

Especially the only real singer in the group Jojo, she could of caught on with a company easy IMO.

Abdul said:

she should have tried a solo career.

she had a chance to be in demand at one point didn't she? with bobby brown, yo yo, and others.