Though Rick James sadly descended into a rather violent and drug-filled obscurity, this track still reminds us of his undeniable genius..

The synth and bass here are just insanely funky. This is easily becoming one of my favorite tracks. For some reason I had never heard of it before.. (Maybe because it isn't actually "by" Rick James, but his short-lived all-female group, the "Mary Jane Girls"...???) Either way, I'm grateful my local radio station decided to pull this out at 2 am in the morning.. Who else digs this one?

(Oh, and the 12" mix is the ONLY version of the song you should be listening to. The instrumental is mind-blowing.)

THis has been brought up here several times.

This is one of my favorite girl group tracks and one of my favorites from Rick.

Well, it's the album (version) that I bump. It is my favorite faster cut.

Well, thank you very fucking much ShadeoViolet.

I clicked on this thread to find out what was being said about MJG and you mentioned that there was an instrumental version of Candy Man. Now, since I adore instrumental tracks (particularly of songs I like), so I set out to find it on the internets.

That was almost two hours ago.

I still didn't find it. But I did find the instrumental versions of In My House and All Night Long. Oh, and a shitload of various 80's extended tracks thanks to a couple music blogs...

So, again, thanks a lot, bub!

Yeah, this song has always been one of my faves. Right up there with "Boys." I had the instrumental and enjoyed that as well....can't remember where I got it from. Sorry.

Loved the cheesy video for this as well, but the "Boys" video was the best, imo.

bettybop said:

SoulAlive said:

I first saw this in 2004. I LOOVE this song. The synths and the snares are FUNKY!


The 12" is the album version I believe. The single version has more vocal adlibs than the extended version I should add...because the video has some parts that are not included. I was thrown off after hearing the long version afterwards.

damn, that's my jam!

heard it on the radio today. they weren't too cute but they had the jams. My House was the bomb shit ryte der. I thought it was only the lead girl that could sing and in fact did all the vocals. I thought the others were for show.

SoulAlive said:

The subtle yet definable guitar licks of Tom McDermott.....
The Synth lines of Levi Ruffin.....
The "evilfunkygenius" of Rick James.....
The "vocal chops" of JoJo.....
=CLASSIC STONE CITY FUNK!!!!!

this song is constantly getting play on my I-Pod. The Mary Jane Girls were bad ass. Rick was truly a genius, when he was on top of his game, he couldn't be touched.

paisleypark4 said:

That got a little x-rated there in the end with that taffy.

daPrettyman said:

She sucked the hell outta that thing, Rick said she was the one he was messin'around with in his book

Abdul said:

She's very gifted!

DesireeNevermind said:

You are correct the others couldn't sing or very very little. JoJo sung with well known session singers the Water Sisters to create what you heard and enjoy.JoJo would change her voice and sing with them for the background.The band sang for the others when they were on tour and tape was used for television shows.

truth007 said:

The blonde could sing, but she had more of a pop voice. She is the one that sued Paula Abdul over the vocals on her first album. I think she actually won that case.

I found the article about Paula being sued:
http://www.ew.com/ew/arti...27,00.html



When a new Paula Abdul single, ''Rush Rush,'' is released on May 2 from her upcoming album, Spellbound, fans may be watching the video siren's lips more closely than her legwork. Caught up in the biggest voice-over outcry since Milli Vanilli were revealed as secret lip-synchers, Abdul's record company has been sued by a studio backup singer who insists her voice was used in three lead vocals on Abdul's smash 1988 debut album, Forever Your Girl. And if the plaintiff wins, the floodgates may be opened for all backup singers to sue to determine their contributions to a star's songs.

Yvette Marine, a session singer and ex-member of Rick James' Mary Jane Girls, filed the million-dollar lawsuit against Virgin Records earlier this month, claiming her voice was merged with Abdul's on the songs ''Opposites Attract'' (which won a Grammy for short-form video for Abdul), ''I Need You,'' and ''Knocked Out.'' Virgin and Abdul have denied the charge, but Marine's attorney, Steven Ames Brown, says, ''This is Vocalgate — they wanted her to join in a cover-up,'' contending that Virgin offered her hush money to keep quiet about the session work. (Brown sued and settled out of court with RCA Records last year on behalf of ex-Weathergirl Martha Wash for vocals on Black Box's Dreamworld album.)

The lawsuit by Marine, who was credited as a background vocalist on Forever, alleges that Virgin deliberately combined her ''pilot track'' or ''guide vocal'' with Abdul's lead track in the final mix and passed it off as one voice. Marine says she was also asked to enhance Abdul's ''I Need You,'' and wore headphones that piped in Paula's vocals. ''I was listening to her and matching her,'' says Marine. At a press conference, however, Virgin's Jeff Ayeroff submitted a sound analysis of ''Opposites Attract'' conducted by University of California music professor Fredric Lieberman, who says, ''It remains possible, though I believe highly improbable, that a small percentage of Yvette's pilot track was blended or bled into some sections of the lead vocal mix, but if so it is imperceptible.''

The use of guide vocals by singers is not unusual. Besides blending two vocals together, common studio tricks include applying processors and harmonizers to enhance an audio track. But Virgin maintains the only technology used to sweeten Abdul was double-tracking — recording the singer's voice twice to strengthen its timbre. ''Paula's a really good singer, and that's why this thing pisses me off,'' says L.A. producer Don Was, who worked on Spellbound.

Curious fans will be able to decide for themselves in August, when Abdul begins her first headlining tour. For a year and a half, she has been training with Shirley MacLaine's vocal coach — even jogging with him to learn how to project while dancing. Does that mean her show won't have those canned vocal assists used by dance queens from Madonna to Janet Jackson? ''I can't say,'' says a source close to Abdul. ''But one thing's for sure — you won't see her singing alone with just an acoustic guitar.''

Posted Apr 26, 1991 | Published in issue #63 Apr 26, 1991 | Order Article Reprints
[Edited 4/29/09 9:23am]

daPrettyman said:

It wasn't the blond girl that sued paula abdul. Her name is maxine wuletich.
Yvette Marine is the black girl who replaced cheri wells on the MJG
first Lp.

paisleypark4 said:

I have the 12" which is 7:39 in length, much longer than the album version. But you are correct in that the vocal adlibs at the end of the song were edited out on the 12" so that the instrumental track just plays until the end.

phunkdaddy said:

Right! That Yvette girl who sued Paula, I believe this is the one who did the lead vocal on "Jealousy" from their first album. I oftened wondered why she left the group so soon.

kitbradley said:

No. Cheri Wells did the lead vocal on jealousy. She was replaced by Yvette
on the second album. Cheri claimed she left the group because of rick's
drug problems in a where are they now jet magazine feature earlier this
year but she was fired from the group because she auditioned to replace
jody watley in shalamar and finished runner up and they had pictures and
shit of the whole thing.
Delisa Davis replaced jody watley in shalamar.
Yvette sung lead on girlfriend on MJG second album.

I love this song, and the ridiculous ass video cracks me up. I like how the candy they're eating/fondling with their mouths gets progressively bigger and bigger, and by the end they're basically deepthroating Willy Wonka.

phunkdaddy said:

Thanx for clearing that up.

Loved this song since I was a youngin'!

song is groovy

misses polka dots is looking fine in the video as well

r.i.p. rick!

daPrettyman said:

I remember this lawsuit.Ironically,it has been alleged that three of the Mary Jane Girls weren't singing on their records either.However,Yvette is clearly doing the lead vocals on "Girlfriend" on the second MJG album.

How did the lawsuit turn out? Did Virgin have to pay Yvette?

SoulAlive said:

I don't recall. This was the only article I could find.

I remember hearing about that lawsuit at the time! But I don't recall the outcome.

Yvette Marine was CORVETTE, who replaced Cheri.....

...and they were both my favorites. What are the chances?