# Teena Marie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 29, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717 "2020-02-29T21:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/41 "2020-03-03T11:09:56Z")
I’m white, and I know of her because “Behind The Groove” is on my permanent rotation. I did not know she was white. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/42 "2020-03-03T11:27:51Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > They didn’t play Super Freak to death up north? Because EVERYBODY’S heard Super Freak. Only in the big cities back then. You would not of heard Super Freak on any mainstream radio station in Albany NY when the song came out. It was college radio or NYC up here for years. I was really young when that song came out, but I remember my uncles making a big deal about having to go to NYC to get it. It’s how they used to get laid back then, going to NYC to get the hot new music. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/43 "2020-03-03T11:42:41Z")
Well, I learned from this thread that I guess i’m the only white person here who listens to rap or watched Chappelle’s Show, among other things. I DID know about Rick James and Neil Young, though, since Neil is probably my favorite non-hip-hop artist and I’ve read several of his biographies and other stuff. Also, re; Super freak. I grew up on the beach and rural MD. Every adult I knew recognized the MC Hammer song Can’t Tough This (which every adult and child I knew in 1990 knew) as sampling or “ripping off” Superfreak by Rick James. I think in the '90s I mostly knew about that one song and his drug problems. Plus, you know, his “Mary Jane” song in the movie Friday (which every teen my age in my area knew). Then he became super famous to a new generation due to Chapelle’s Show. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/44 "2020-03-03T19:32:06Z")
Nope. Not a clue. The only music I listened to up until about age 25 (I’m about twice that now) was country and classical. Then I moved over to Oldies ('50s - '60s tunes), and then to Classic Rock. So I missed her every which way. I \*have \*heard Super Freak, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/45 "2020-03-03T20:15:22Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You’ve probably heard “Lovergirl” and don’t realize that’s her; it comes across as more early 80s pop than anything R&B or funk really. I clicked on the YouTube link and didn’t recall hearing the song before. Maybe because I never heard it, or maybe because I heard it and it didn’t stick with me. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/46 "2020-03-03T20:30:37Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I clicked on the YouTube link and didn’t recall hearing the song before. Maybe because I never heard it, or maybe because I heard it and it didn’t stick with me. I listened to it (Lovergirl), as well. It does sound sort of familiar to me, and as I was 19 when it came out, I almost undoubtedly heard it on the radio at that time. But, its general style is similar to a lot of other music from that time, and I didn’t have a reaction of “oh, yeah, I remember that song!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/47 "2020-03-03T20:41:59Z")
In the '70s, even though they didn’t care for disco, I knew plenty of white rock-‘n’-roll fans who liked Parliament/Funkadelic. For one thing, Eddie Hazel carried on the legacy of Jimi Hendrix on guitar (just listen to “Maggot Brain,” talk about a slow burn). P-Funk provided a rock sensibility along with the infectious funk beat that helped bridge cultures; Bernie Worrell was a welcome addition to Talking Heads (who also hired Nona Hendryx from Labelle). To free your ass so that your mind will follow, to give up the funk, was an almost miraculous opening of horizons for these white rock fans, who will attest to the enlightenment brought to them on the Mothership. So we had _Soul Train_ on when Teena Marie debuted (the performance I linked to in the OP)… and at once I was impressed that here was one white artist who so sincerely fell in love with black culture that, instead of exploiting it like all the others, she \*joined \*it, became one with it, and was welcomed wholeheartedly. That has stayed with me all the 40 years since. I can’t forget her. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/48 "2020-03-03T21:15:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I listened to it (Lovergirl), as well. It does sound sort of familiar to me, and as I was 19 when it came out, I almost undoubtedly heard it on the radio at that time. But, its general style is similar to a lot of other music from that time, and I didn’t have a reaction of “oh, yeah, I remember that song!” I was 12 when it came out; I didn’t ever really care for it, or realize it was Teena Marie, but when I clicked on **Snowboarder Bo’s** links, I recognized “Lovergirl” as a song that was pretty common in the 1984-1985 time frame- a little looking shows #29 on the year-end “hot singles” of 1985, which is no small feat, considering that classic pop songs like “Raspberry Beret” by Prince, or “Material Girl” by Madonna were lower on the list that year. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/49 "2020-03-03T22:03:39Z")
Oddly, the name is not really ringing a bell with me. I recognize the name of the song “Lovergirl,” but I don’t recognize the song itself. I listen to quite a bit of 80s radio, so I guess I haven’t listened to it closely enough. We also used to have Soul Train on in the background when I was a kid in the early 80s, but I was too young to really remember any of the acts on there. I’m sure now I’m going to hear Teena Marie songs all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/50 "2020-03-03T22:23:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > …I’m sure now I’m going to hear Teena Marie songs all over the place. Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/51 "2020-03-03T22:23:33Z")
Oh I do, early 20’s beach town, bar hopping ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/52 "2020-03-03T23:07:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. Thanks. I was trying to remember the name of the phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/53 "2020-03-03T23:28:55Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > In the '70s, even though they didn’t care for disco, I knew plenty of white rock-‘n’-roll fans who liked Parliament/Funkadelic. For one thing, Eddie Hazel carried on the legacy of Jimi Hendrix on guitar (just listen to “Maggot Brain,” talk about a slow burn). P-Funk provided a rock sensibility along with the infectious funk beat that helped bridge cultures; Bernie Worrell was a welcome addition to Talking Heads (who also hired Nona Hendryx from Labelle). To free your ass so that your mind will follow, to give up the funk, was an almost miraculous opening of horizons for these white rock fans, who will attest to the enlightenment brought to them on the Mothership. > > So we had _Soul Train_ on when Teena Marie debuted (the performance I linked to in the OP)… and at once I was impressed that here was one white artist who so sincerely fell in love with black culture that, instead of exploiting it like all the others, she \*joined \*it, became one with it, and was welcomed wholeheartedly. That has stayed with me all the 40 years since. I can’t forget her. I think the world is big enough for the Bay City Rollers, Bee Gees and EW&F But I get what you’re saying. And yes…my Who loving classmates did indeed evidence disgust for disco. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/54 "2020-03-04T02:04:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m sure now I’m going to hear Teena Marie songs all over the place. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. > [@divemaster](#): > > I \*have \*heard Super Freak, though. So this evening I’m walking from my office up to Union Station where I catch my commuter train. An elderly chap in a motorized chair-scooter thing whizzes past me with Super Freak blasting. I haven’t heard Super Freak since I was in 8th grade. But of course 2 hours after I mention it here–there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717/55 "2020-03-15T08:18:49Z")
Teena Marie bio documentary on _Unsung_ from 2009, the year before she died. I really enjoyed watching this and hope you will too. [part 1](https://youtu.be/OC0v3qYhVyk) [part 2](https://youtu.be/Q2Skaz_SYQA) [part 3](https://youtu.be/PeSVG6p0XNo) [part 4](https://youtu.be/yibDWCvALW0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teena-marie/848717.md?page=2)