# Help ID this '80s R&B hit (refrain sounds like "I Know Garita") **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046 "2003-06-24T15:14:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/1 "2003-06-24T15:14:18Z")
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](http://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. ---
**Author:** ![wakimika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@wakimika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wakimika)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/2 "2003-06-24T15:18:19Z")
_I’m Garita woman_ _It’s all in me_ ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/3 "2003-06-24T15:25:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wakimika \* > \*\*_I’m Garita woman_ > _It’s all in me_ \*\* Thanks … Google turns up nothing. Do you happen to know the title and artist? ---
**Author:** ![Qburn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/bc79bd/32.png) [@Qburn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qburn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/4 "2003-06-24T16:04:20Z")
Ai No Corrida, by Quincy Jones with featured vocalist Patti Austin. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/5 "2003-06-24T16:16:39Z")
I found a clip [here.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004S93L/qid=1056471470/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-5527844-3926251?v=glance&s=music). 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 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-80s-r-b-hit-refrain-sounds-like-i-know-garita/184046/6 "2003-06-24T16:17:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qburn \* > \*\*Ai No Corrida, by Quincy Jones with featured vocalist Patti Austin. \*\* Released in the winter of 1980-81 … that would be it … thanks! And welcome aboard. 🙂 Seems I only remembered the refrain phonetically. And I don’t know where the heck I go the “karate” spiel from … :smack: