Timmy84 said:

Plus while Debbie Dean may have been the "first", she was hardly promoted either. None of her records were hits so she found success on Motown elsewhere as a songwriter. Same with Chris Clark though I believe she was more of an associate of Berry Gordy's and later became a screenwriter (she was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar for her work on Diana's "Lady Sings the Blues"). I think she left Motown after it moved to L.A. in 1972.

Then we have Rick James' own group Mynah Birds, which technically was one of the first interracial rock groups (them and Arthur Lee's Love and of course the Jimi Hendrix Experience) prior to Sly Stone forming Sly and the Family Stone in 1967, and Rick was unusual even then because while he had a natural R&B voice, he was gearing for the same rock crossover success of the Byrds, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Of course, Rick's problems with the Navy (AWOL) let to an early disbanding of the group. When he returned, they tried again with Neil Young in the lineup but the label dropped them.

In the early 1960s, we also had a white male singing group, the Valadiers, but have you heard of them? Probably not because they disbanded. I think one white male singer got signed and had only one hit with them, but his name escapes me at the moment. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Rare Earth signed and briefly had success on the charts but I think it was because they were promoted as a ROCK act. Debbie Dean and the Valadiers were not R&B anyway. Chris Clark was, but technically I think it was because she was influenced by Jackie DeShannon and Dusty Springfield. But she was hardly promoted either. It was a running joke that a white act on Motown was at best a novelty because Motown didn't struggle to have crossover success with its black acts. And even WITH that, Motown was still called a "black label" by the time Teena joined.

Then in the early 1970s, we had Kiki Dee (no success), Charlene (no success until some disk jockey played "I've Been Good to Me" some seven years after it was released) and Stoney & Meatloaf (yes that Meatloaf) but all three of them were pop-rock. Again no success. Before Judas Priest became who they became, they were on Motown's short-lived Prodigy label, to build a rock/heavy metal base but again that failed. Then we had Bobby Darin in Motown briefly (again no success). Some country artists joined the label (Chris Clark herself attempted comebacks in both rock and country but failed miserably).

Ironically as that was going on, here comes Teena Marie but she stood out because her thing wasn't pop or rock or heavy metal, it was R&B, which I would think SHOCKED Motown. For a minute it seemed Teena would join the list of other white artists who didn't get success as Motown singers. They tried different producers and writers (nothing clicked), then she joined a group (which included Benny Medina and one of Berry Gordy's sons) and that bombed. I have to say had Motown NOT made that decision to Rick James to NOT produce Diana Ross' next album (and instead give her four songs), we probably wouldn't have heard about Teena Marie. Rick James took a chance but he knew Teena was a prodigy that needed to find her voice and she found it through Rick and was able to chart her own path and that led to groundbreaking success in Motown. Never had a white act on Motown's label had a huge R&B hit or went gold and Teena did just that.

That explains why the media has said Teena was the first white artist Motown signed. Technically that wasn't accurate but she WAS the first white artist to find SUCCESS as an artist on Motown. When you think about it, that's real deep.

Jackson Browne's brother Severin was also on Motown in the early 70's. He had a minor hit called Stay.

These are some cuts with Teena and her daughter...marvelous!

Milk 'N Honey should've been the next single from her last album, Congo Square because it was too funky...SAD!

This is too much...I'm dying over here! Dang what a loss. Gone too soon!

i just logged on and saw the news.....

Lord Have Mercy. may Teena rest in peace.

although i don't have any of her music, i always thought of her as one of the TRUE FUNKateers....BELIEVE DAT.

[Edited 12/26/10 22:30pm]

banks said:

wow 15hrs ago she was alive twittering away

MsTeenaMarie

1. @AMindwNoCeiling No I haven't found it! What was the name of the Pope John Paul 2nd/Sarah Vaughan Project? about 10 hours ago via Echofon in reply to AMindwNoCeiling
3. MORE RAIN IN CALI!!! I NEED A BOAT!!! about 11 hours ago via Echofon
5. Sarah Vaughan "May You never grow old, and may I never die"... about 15 hours ago via Echofon
7. Happy Birthday @RoseyDough about 15 hours ago via Echofon
9. Happy Birthday Baby Jeshua! You fill my Life with Love Always! Thankyou for Being Born! about 15 hours ago via Echofon
11. May Gods Light always shine on you and your family! May you have the most joyous Holliday season ever! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! about 15 hours ago via Echofon

Ok. That just made me lose it!

It's the REALITY of it all...here one moment, gone the next!

OMG...I've got to get off of this.

Live everyday to the fullest but most of all...love yourselves and somebody! Forgive yourselves and somebody!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Live everyday to the fullest but most of all...love yourselves and somebody! Forgive yourselves and somebody!

I've been hearing that message a lot in recent weeks, and have lost several significant people in my personal life this year. We're only here for a hot minute, then we're gone from here ...forever.

JamFanHot said:

Lost my GF of 3 years just 2 days ago...now this..another of my heroes gone. Speechless.

I'm very sorry to hear of your personal loss. Stay strong.

Teena Marie, known as 'Ivory Queen of Soul,' dies

The confirmation came from a publicist, Jasmine Vega, who worked with Teena Marie on her last album, 2009's "Congo Square." Her manager, Mike Gardner, also confirmed her death to CNN.

The singer continued performing in recent years after overcoming an addiction to prescription drugs. It was unclear late Sunday where and how she died.

Marie certainly wasn't the first white act to sing soul music, but she was arguably among the most gifted and respected, and was thoroughly embraced by the black audience.

Even before she started her musical career, she had a strong bond with the black community, which she credited to her godmother. She gravitated to soul music and in her youth decided to make it her career.

Marie made her debut on the legendary Motown label back in 1979, becoming one of the very few white acts to break the race barrier of the groundbreaking black-owned record label that had been a haven for black artists like Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye.

Marie was the protege of the masterful funk wizard James, with whom she would have long, turbulent but musically magical relationship.

The cover of her debut album, "Wild and Peaceful," did not feature her image, with Motown apparently fearing black audiences might not buy it if they found out the songstress with the dynamic, gospel-inflected voice was white.

But Marie notched her first hit, "I'm A Sucker for Your Love," and was on her way to becoming one of R&B's most revered queens. During her tenure with Motown, the singer-songwriter and musician produced passionate love songs and funk jam songs like "Need Your Lovin'," "Behind the Groove" and "Ooh La La La."

Marie's voice was the main draw of her music: Pitch-perfect, piercing in its clarity and wrought with emotion, whether it was drawing from the highs of romance or the mournful moments of a love lost. But her songs, most of which she had a hand in writing, were the other major component of her success.

Tunes like "Cassanova Brown" "Portuguese Love" and "Deja Vu (I've Been Here Before)" featured more than typical platitudes on love and life, but complex thoughts with rich lyricism.

And "Fire and Desire," a duet with Rick James that featured the former couple musing about their past love, was considered a musical masterpiece and a staple of the romance block on radio stations across the country.

Marie left Motown in 1982 and her split became historic: She sued the label and the legal battle led to a law preventing record labels from holding an artist without releasing any of their music.

She went to Epic in the 1980s and had hits like "Lovergirl" but her lasting musical legacy would be her Motown years.

Still, she continued to record music and perform. In 2004 and 2006 she put out two well-received albums on the traditional rap label Cash Money Records, "La Dona" and "Sapphire."

In 2008, she talked about her excitement of being honored by the R&B Foundation.

"All in all, it's been a wonderful, wonderful ride," she told The Associated Press at the time. "I don't plan on stopping anytime soon."

http://new.music.yahoo.co...--62008336

Eddie Levert, founder of the vocal group The O'Jays, praised Marie as both a singer and mother.

"There are a lot of black people who swore by her and believed in her, as far as her music was concerned," he said. "She was a good mom, and to me, that is saying a lot.''

CNN Senior Political Contributor Roland S. Martin contributed to this report.

mods let's make this a sticky - seems she has a HUGE following amongst orgers

Indeed, she has to be one of the all-time most popular artists on this site.

ZombieKitten said:

mods let's make this a sticky - seems she has a HUGE following amongst orgers

Speaking of active leadership in The Funk, it just dawn on me that Prince, Larry Blackmon (of Cameo), George Clintion, Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, & Larry Graham is all we have let now.

Life after Teena Marie means that there is no more active women playing The Funk, live or otherwise. This sucks!

I've always loved this article when she taled about Prince and Rick.

Teena later found herself wedged between the two future legends when she went on the road with Prince. “We were on the Dirty Mind tour together… [Prince and I] never had a problem. We would kick it…neither one of us drank so after the concerts we’d go and sit and have our little orange juice or whatever. He had a lot of respect for me. There were some nights that I would come on stage and I would kick his butt, you know, and [afterwards] he’d walk by me and go “Whew! I have to work hard tonight’ and there were some nights that he would come by and say ‘I whooped you! I whooped you tonight!’ so it was really awesome and he’s always been really wonderful to me.”


For James, however, it was a different story. “I don’t think Rick really liked the fact that [Prince and I] were friends but you know….The rivalry to me as I look back on it - it was really Rick. It wasn’t really Prince. It was more Rick than anything. I never really saw Prince feeding into it too much. It really actually saddened me because I think the two of them would have made some amazing music together. It would have been ridiculous

~*~ Rest In Peace ~*~ Teena Marie ~*~

banks said:

I've always loved this article when she taled about Prince and Rick.

Teena later found herself wedged between the two future legends when she went on the road with Prince. “We were on the Dirty Mind tour together… [Prince and I] never had a problem. We would kick it…neither one of us drank so after the concerts we’d go and sit and have our little orange juice or whatever. He had a lot of respect for me. There were some nights that I would come on stage and I would kick his butt, you know, and [afterwards] he’d walk by me and go “Whew! I have to work hard tonight’ and there were some nights that he would come by and say ‘I whooped you! I whooped you tonight!’ so it was really awesome and he’s always been really wonderful to me.”


For James, however, it was a different story. “I don’t think Rick really liked the fact that [Prince and I] were friends but you know….The rivalry to me as I look back on it - it was really Rick. It wasn’t really Prince. It was more Rick than anything. I never really saw Prince feeding into it too much. It really actually saddened me because I think the two of them would have made some amazing music together. It would have been ridiculous

I've been telling people for years that Teena's Emerald City album was inspired by Prince's Purple Rain album.

TonyVanDam said:

Speaking of active leadership in The Funk, it just dawn on me that Prince, Larry Blackmon (of Cameo), George Clintion, Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, & Larry Graham is all we have let now.

Life after Teena Marie means that there is no more active women playing The Funk, live or otherwise. This sucks!

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?

[Edited 12/26/10 23:12pm]

Timmy84 said:

TonyVanDam said:

Speaking of active leadership in The Funk, it just dawn on me that Prince, Larry Blackmon (of Cameo), George Clintion, Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, & Larry Graham is all we have let now.

Life after Teena Marie means that there is no more active women playing The Funk, live or otherwise. This sucks!

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?!

Hello! R&B still survives...

purplethunder3121 said:

Timmy84 said:

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?!

Hello! R&B still survives...

Thank you!

banks said:

I've always loved this article when she taled about Prince and Rick.

Teena later found herself wedged between the two future legends when she went on the road with Prince. “We were on the Dirty Mind tour together… [Prince and I] never had a problem. We would kick it…neither one of us drank so after the concerts we’d go and sit and have our little orange juice or whatever. He had a lot of respect for me. There were some nights that I would come on stage and I would kick his butt, you know, and [afterwards] he’d walk by me and go “Whew! I have to work hard tonight’ and there were some nights that he would come by and say ‘I whooped you! I whooped you tonight!’ so it was really awesome and he’s always been really wonderful to me.”

For James, however, it was a different story. “I don’t think Rick really liked the fact that [Prince and I] were friends but you know….The rivalry to me as I look back on it - it was really Rick. It wasn’t really Prince. It was more Rick than anything. I never really saw Prince feeding into it too much. It really actually saddened me because I think the two of them would have made some amazing music together. It would have been ridiculous.

It's nice to read the opinion of someone within that camp who really had no dog in the fight.

Timmy84 said:

TonyVanDam said:

Speaking of active leadership in The Funk, it just dawn on me that Prince, Larry Blackmon (of Cameo), George Clintion, Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, & Larry Graham is all we have let now.

Life after Teena Marie means that there is no more active women playing The Funk, live or otherwise. This sucks!

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?

[Edited 12/26/10 23:12pm]

Chaka, yes! But those other two haven't been on my radar for quite some time. Please accept my apology. I'm losing it a bit after think about all of the talent ones that are dropping like flies.

PDogz said:

banks said:

I've always loved this article when she taled about Prince and Rick.

Teena later found herself wedged between the two future legends when she went on the road with Prince. “We were on the Dirty Mind tour together… [Prince and I] never had a problem. We would kick it…neither one of us drank so after the concerts we’d go and sit and have our little orange juice or whatever. He had a lot of respect for me. There were some nights that I would come on stage and I would kick his butt, you know, and [afterwards] he’d walk by me and go “Whew! I have to work hard tonight’ and there were some nights that he would come by and say ‘I whooped you! I whooped you tonight!’ so it was really awesome and he’s always been really wonderful to me.”

For James, however, it was a different story. “I don’t think Rick really liked the fact that [Prince and I] were friends but you know….The rivalry to me as I look back on it - it was really Rick. It wasn’t really Prince. It was more Rick than anything. I never really saw Prince feeding into it too much. It really actually saddened me because I think the two of them would have made some amazing music together. It would have been ridiculous.

It's nice to read the opinion of someone within that camp who really had no dog in the fight.

Tina was a class act all the way!

purplethunder3121 said:

Timmy84 said:

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?!

Hello! R&B still survives...

R&B lives forever............

TonyVanDam said:

Timmy84 said:

Do Marva Whitney, Chaka Khan and Nona Hendryx ring any clues to you?

[Edited 12/26/10 23:12pm]

Chaka, yes! But those other two haven't been on my radar for quite some time. Please accept my apology. I'm losing it a bit after think about all of the talent ones that are dropping like flies.

It's OK, I just hate generalization. Just because a lot of legends are dying don't mean all of them are gonna "drop like flies".

I really can't say more than what has already been said. I am floored by this. I had tix to see her for the first time in June in Chicago, but the show was cancelled.

Thank God she was blessed with such immense talent and shared her gift with us for 30 years.

RIP Lady T.

My heart aches for her young daughter.

I just saw the headline and it took my breath away. I'm absolutely stunned. Another one of my favorite artists and an irreplaceable legend gone. She was one of the funkiest and most authentic women in music. My thoughts are with her daughter, family, and friends.