While working on this mix I read on Twitter that Teena Marie (real name: Christine Brockert) had passed away. With a little help from (intimate) Motown friend Rick James she was a real R&B sensation 30 years ago. She sounded like a raw diamond: straightforward, energetic and dynamic. In 1982 she left Motown after a legal dispute. The outcome became known as ‘The Brockert Initiative’, which makes it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. Six years later she had her first and only number one hit on the American R&B charts, ‘Ooo la la la’. When the decade came to an end with the house and hip hop revolution taking place, she struggled to move on in her career. In 1995 The Fugees borrowed her ‘Ooo la la la’ for their breakthrough single ‘Fu-Gee-La’. Teena kept on making records and performing on a lower scale. Her latest album ‘Congo square’ was released on Stax in 2009. My tribute to her in this mix is ‘Why can’t I get next to you’ from her album ‘Lady T.’, one of her best. Last, but not least, best wishes to all visitors of my blog!
Tracklist:
John Schroeder Orchestra – Working In The Coal Mine (Picadilly/1966)
Larry Willis – Out On The Coast (Groove Merchant/1974)
Kool & the Gang – Jungle Jazz (De-Lite/1975)
Smoke – I Can Feel Your Love (J Bridge/1976)
Duffy – Keeping My Baby (A&M/2010)
Jimmy Gilstrap – One More Heartache (Roxbury/1975)
O’Jays – Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind Of People (Philadelphia International/1972)
Marvin Gaye – Ego Tripping Out (Motown/1979)
Masterfleet – Malfunction (Sussex/1974)
Average White Band – Soul Mine (SPV/1996)
Incognito Feat. Ursula Rucker – Gotta (Dome/2010)
Leela James Feat. Raheem Devaughn – Mr. Incredible Ms. Unforgettable (Stax/2010)
Ntjam Rosie – Roof Over My Heart (Coast To Coast/2010)
Teena Marie – Why Can’t I Get Next To You (Gordy/1980)
N’dambi – Can’t Hardly Wait (Stax/2009)
Spyder Turner – I’ve Been Waitin’ (Whitfield/1978)
Stargard – Disco People (MCA/1978)
James Last – Bolero ’75 (Polydor/1975)
Joy Denalane – Be Real (Nesola/2006)
Macy Gray – Beauty In The World (Concord/2010)
Working In The Soul Mine by Professor Eddy on Mixcloud
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