RIP Teena Marie

She probably meant a little more to us poor white girls who so wanted to do what she was doing.

 

RIP. My favorites were "Portuguese Love" and "Casanova Brown." She had a great voice.

 

No, Heaven needed someone to sing with Superfreak.

 

She blazed a trail for plenty other white funkstresses, including Madonna.

Teena probably owed a lot of her pop crossover success in the mid-80s to artists like Madonna who were performing similar R&B music, sort of like Slade finally broke through in the States thanks to Quiet Riot. (Sorry, had to work that in.)

RIP.

 

Oh man she was a staple of my mix tapes in college. "Portuguese Love", "I Need Some Lovin'", "Square Biz", "Fire and Desire", etc., those were sweet. This was a shock. 54, wow.

 

Mary Christine Brockert, also known as Lady T also known as Teena Marie as a pure talent. Her music, unlike most of the crap that is out now, flowed. From her first album, Wild and Peaceful, it was clear that she had the stuff to make it. However, it was subsequent albums, Lady Tee, Iron in the Fire and Square Biz that made her shine. Her duets with Rick James are legendary R&B classics. However, it was what she did away from the microphones that many people in the industry should be grateful for.
In 1982, Marie got into a legal battle with Motown over her contract and disagreements about releasing her new material. The scuffle resulted in "The Brockert Initiative", which makes it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release with another label instead of being held back by an unsupportive one.
RIP

 

I was confused for a moment and terrified that the original poster meant Tina Louise, from "Gilligan's Island" and, later, a brief turn on "Dallas."