Lovergirl

Album: Starchild (1984)
Charted: 76 4
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Songfacts®:

  • Teena Marie is a Rick James protégé and blue-eyed soul singer who became one of the few female singers in the business to write, arrange and produce her own songs. This was Teena's biggest hit, although she scored many Top 10 hits on the R&B charts and is widely known and respected in the world of funk. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    John - Nashville, TN
  • Marie wrote this song, and also played many of the instruments on the track. She credited Rick James with teaching her a vast array of musical skills, even though she was a white girl in the world of soul music. Marie met James when she was signed to Motown Records, who released her first album without a picture of her on the cover because they didn't want to alienate white buyers. Marie, who died in 2010 at age 54, said of James, "Rick knew there were feelings in my heart and songs upon my lips."

    Things didn't end well with Motown, and she left the label after her 1981 album It Must Be Magic and sued for nonpayment of royalties, eventually receiving an out-of-court settlement. She moved on to Epic Records, releasing the album Robbery in 1983 and Starchild in 1984, which produced her first pop hit, "Lovergirl."
  • You can hear the Rick James influence in this song, as Marie used her exceptional voice to do a little pseudo-rap at the end of the song and sprinkled some operatic elements throughout the song. Check out James' "Super Freak" and you'll hear some creative vocals and a classical influence that shows up on this track.

Comments: 5

  • George Pope from Vancouver BcA beautiful song by a beautiful voice; I can close my eyes & imagine any of my crushes singing this to me, & I smile.
  • Cylk from NevadaI always thought “Behind The Groove” was more funky and rhythmic
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 8th 1984, Teena Marie performed "Lovergirl" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    The very next day on Dec. 9th it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #79; and fifteen weeks later on March 24th, 1985 it peaked at #4 {for 1 week} and spent 23 weeks on the Top 100...
    Between 1979 and 2009 she had twenty-eight hits on the R&B Singles chart; seven made the Top 10 with one reaching #1, "Ooo La La La" in 1988...
    Teena Marie, born Mary Christine Brockert, passed away on December 26th, 2010 at the young age of 54 {natural causes}...
    Make she R.I.P.
    * Just a side note; during the same year of 1984 two different records title "Lover Boy" entered the Top 100, the first in July by Karen Kamon and then in December by Billy Ocean.
  • Kent from Greensburg, PaThis is one of the best song from the 80s!
  • Elaine from La Plata, MdRIP, Teena.
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