I’m white, as well. I know who she was, in the very general sense that I recognized the name, and remember when “Lovergirl” was popular. That’s the only one of her songs I could have named. Other than that, I had no idea of the length or breadth of her career, and probably would have (wrongly) called her a “one-hit wonder.”
I also vaguely remember a story about Ike Turner trying to talk her into touring with him, so that they could be billed as “Ike and Teena.” But that may be apocryphal, or could even be something that I imagined.
It’s strange. Her name is as familiar to me as, say, Pat Benatar or Patti Labelle or Chaka Khan, three other women named at random that would have been played on the radio where I grew up, and of which I can name at least one song, but I have no idea what she looks like nor what kind of music she sings.
I’m white, and while I recognize her name, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you any of her songs. It’s possible that I knew, back in the '80s, that she was white, but I honestly don’t remember.
Apparently not apocryphal, and I remember hearing the story back then (it’s one of the only things I remember about Teena Marie). From a 1985 article in Spin:
The only song of hers I remember off the top of my head is “Lead Me On” from the “Top Gun” Soundtrack. But I had heard of her at the time of that movie.
Nope. Never heard of her or any of the linked songs. I’m white, but this has nothing to do with colour and everything to do with the type of music I listened to, and it wasn’t disco, or whatever you call that.
I know of Rick James because he skipped out to Canada to avoid the draft and was in a band (The Myna Birds) with Neil Young in the 60s. I could not name any song by Rick James though. Or the Myna Birds either.
51 year old white dude, and I knew who she was if only to recognize “Lovergirl.” I went to a high school whose student body was mostly black, so that may have affected it. I thought of her generally (and without disrespect*) as one of the many funk acts that gained notoriety in the wave of “Minneapolis sound” acts (e.g., Jesse Johnson, etc.).
OK. Yes, I know that to hear it, but couldn’t have told you who it was.
I listened to classic rock from a station in Detroit back then. Those were my formative years, and classic rock doesn’t play that kind of music. It was all:
Beatles
Stones
Who
Zeppelin
Doors
Cars
Springsteen
Supertramp
AC/DC
Van Halen
Boston
Kinks
etc…
I remember her, but wasn’t too familiar with her music. I do recall crushing on her a bit as an adolescent - the nose ring she sported was quite exotic at the time.
I had no idea that she was such an anomaly in terms of crossing racial boundaries; that kind of thing never really occurred to me. I also didn’t know she had passed at such a young age. She certainly had quite the interesting life, with a sad end.
Wow!