Help ID this '80s R&B hit (refrain sounds like "I Know Garita")

There’s this '80s R&B hit that I remember getting extensive airplay. I’m 99.999% certain that it was sung by a well-known female singer in the mold of Patti Austin, Patti LaBelle, Deneice Williams, etc.

In fact, I thought this song was by Patti Austin, but a perusal of her entry at allmusic.com turned nothing up.

The refrain contains, in part, the following lines:

I know garita,
I’m by myself

Googling those two lines got me nowhere, and I am unsure about the word “garita”. It could well be another similar-sounding word. I vaguely remember hearing – back when the song was new – that the song was about self-defense and female self-assurance, and that the word “garita” is a “street” pronunciation of “karate”.

Can anyone help? This song was a huge radio hit all over the U.S, and charted well on Billboard’s Top 40 … so the track is anything but an obscurity. I just can’t put enough of the pieces together to recall the artist and title.

I’m Garita woman
It’s all in me

Thanks … Google turns up nothing.

Do you happen to know the title and artist?

Ai No Corrida, by Quincy Jones with featured vocalist Patti Austin.

I found a clip here.. I’m pretty familiar with '80s R&B, so I’m surprised I didn’t recognize it.

And, wow, not one of Q’s better efforts.

Pash

Released in the winter of 1980-81 … that would be it … thanks! And welcome aboard.

:slight_smile:

Seems I only remembered the refrain phonetically. And I don’t know where the heck I go the “karate” spiel from … :smack: