"Lovergirl" by Teena Marie

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  2158
Date:  12/15/1984
Debut:  79
Peak:  4
Weeks:  24
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  After successfully suing Motown to get out of her contract, Marie signed with Epic Records and released her first LP for the label titled Robbery. This time around Marie was in total control of the project. While it didn't sell as well as her previous album and featured no major hits, it was a step forward for her as an artist. That experience would pay off for her on her next album, Starchild. It would be her biggest selling album thanks to this lead single, which broke her through to the Pop Top 10 for the first (and only) time. The song would also get to #9 R&B and #6 Dance. The hit would push her album to #9 R&B and #31 Pop. It was a gold-plus seller that broke Marie through to the masses.

ReduxReview:  This is one of those songs that I gained an appreciation for as time went on. I liked the song when it came out, but for some reason I didn't like it enough to purchase the single. After its radio heydays were over, each time I heard the song after that I grew to like it more. It's now a standard in most any 80s or dance playlist I create. Marie had a vision and this song fulfilled it perfectly. Written, arranged, produced, and with several instruments played by Marie, she nearly out-Princed Prince. Rick James may have been her mentor and biggest influence, but she was definitely her own artist by this point.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  Marie has ties to a former SNL alumnus. For her second album titled Lady T, Marie needed a producer and she asked if Richard Rudolph was available. Rudolph was a noted songwriter/producer and had become known thanks to the work he did with his wife Minnie Riperton, which included the two of them co-writing Riperton's 1975 #1 hit "Lovin' You." Rudolph came on board with Marie and in tow with him was his seven-year-old daughter Maya. Maya Rudolph would later be a highly successful comedian and actress thanks to her appearances on SNL. Marie and Maya had a connection and Marie would be named as Maya's godmother. A track on Lady T called "Too Many Colors" featured Maya in a little spoken word segment with Marie.

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