Teena Marie - Emerald City

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Emerald City, the seventh studio album from Teena Marie. This 1986 record spent eleven weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, where it peaked at number 81. It also reached number 20 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Teena Marie - It Must Be Magic

Today (May 14th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of It Must Be Magic, the fourth studio album and final one on the Motown label for Teena Marie. This 1981 release spent twenty-five weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 23. It also went all the way to number 2 on the US Billboard R&B Album chart. Besides vocals and keyboards, she also produced this record and wrote most of the tracks too.

Top Gun (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Today (May 13th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the soundtrack from Top Gun. This 1986 album spent ninety-three weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, five of those weeks at the number 1 spot. It also featured a star-studded roster of bands and artists.

For the full album review, click here.

Rick James - Street Songs (35th anniversary)

Today (April 7th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Street Songs, the fifth studio album from Rick James. This 1981 release was certified Platinum in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Album charts (with an impressive seventy-four weeks total on the chart) and number 1 on the R&B Album charts.

For my full review of this album, click here.

And for more from Rick James, click here.

The Goonies (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Welcome to another edition of "Soundtrack Sunday".

Today (June 7th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the soundtrack from The Goonies. Featuring an all-star line-up of artists, the record spent ten weeks on the US Billboard Album chart with a peak spot of number 73.

For my full album review, click here.

Teena Marie - Lady T

Today (February 14th) marks the thirty fifth anniversary of Lady T, the second studio album from American R&B great Teena Marie. This 1980 release went to number 45 on the US Billboard Album chart (with a twenty-three week total run) and number 18 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Teena Marie - Starchild

Last month (November 11th) marked the thirtieth anniversary of Starchild, the sixth studio album from Teena Marie. This 1984 release was her best-seller to date, topping off at number 90 in Canada, number 31 on the US Billboard Album chart (with a thirty-five total week run on that chart), and number 9 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Teena Marie - Wild and Peaceful (35th anniversary)

Today (March 31st) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Wild and Peaceful, the debut album from Teena Marie. I was a fan of her music from the mid-80's and only a few years ago, after her untimely death, fully explored her back catalog.

Click here for my full review of this album.

Rick James - Bustin’ Out of L Seven

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Sunday.

This month (January 26th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Bustin’ Out of L Seven, the second studio album from Rick James. The album went Platinum and charted at number 16 on the US Billboard Album chart and number 2 on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1979.

Teena Marie - Robbery

This week (September 18th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Robbery, the fifth studio album from Teena Marie and her first on the Epic records label. It peaked at number 119 on the US Billboard Album chart and number 13 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Rick James - Throwin' Down

To follow up his hugely successful album Street Songs (click here for that review), Motown records released Rick James’ sixth studio album Throwin’ Down on March 13th, 1982 - thirty years ago from today.

The album peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 2 on the R&B charts, generating a Gold sales certification. In the UK, the album only got as high as number 93 on the charts.

Teena Marie - Wild and Peaceful

Today (March 5th) would have been the fifty-sixth birthday of American singer-songwriter and producer Teena Marie. She passed away on December 26th, 2010.

At age twenty, the California born singer was introduced to a producer working for Motown where she recorded some demos. Rick James who was also with Motown was impressed by her sound and decided to co-produce her debut (along with Art Stewart). Teena’s debut album Wild and Peaceful was released on that famed record label on March 31st, 1979. It did fairly well, going to number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 18 on the US R&B charts.

Rick James - Street Songs

On April 7th of 1981, Buffalo, NY, native Rick James released his fifth studio album. Street Songs was certified Platinum in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Album charts and number 1 on the R&B Album charts. Three singles were released from the record, all of which went to number 1 on the US Dance Singles chart.

Teena Marie - Irons in the Fire

In the hot summer month of July 1980, the last thing anyone wanted to think about was curling up before a roaring hearth. But that’s exactly what Teena Marie wanted you to do based on the cover of her smoking hot third album Irons in the Fire.

Combining elements of funk, soul and R&B, the album burned its way up the charts. It peaked at number 9 on the US R&B charts and number 38 on the Billboard 200 charts. Teena wrote most of the tracks and, for the first time, produced the entire record herself as well. It really shows her talents as a musician as well as a performer.

Top Gun (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of “Soundtrack Sunday”.

In May of 1986, the newest film to star hot young actor Tom Cruise soared into theatres. Along with Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Tom Skerritt, we all soon learned what it was like to “…feel the need, the need for speed!” The film was a box office success, landing at the number one spot on its opening weekend. It would go on to becoming the highest grossing film of the year (earning over $350 million worldwide).

The Goonies (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of "Soundtrack Sunday".

It was the summer of 1985 and I was living in Dover, NJ, while working a college co-op job for an information processing company. Since I knew very few people outside of work, I spent a lot of my free time on the weekend at the movies - often seeing two to four new films each weekend. One film that came out during that time was the Goonies, an action-comedy written by Chris Columbus, directed by Richard Donner and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.

Musical Passings - Gerry Rafferty & Teena Marie

Two music masters passed within the last few weeks, and I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to them.

Today, Gerry Rafferty passed away after a long bought of illness. This Scottish singer and songwriter penned a number of songs that were heard often around the AM and FM dials in the 70's. My iPod has a dozen or so tunes by this man including "Baker Street", "Home and Dry" and "Right Down the Line" from his 1978 album City To City. Another favorite of mine from this era is "Stuck In the Middle" from 1973 which Gerry co-wrote as part of the band Stealers Wheel (I did not know this - so even in death I learn something about the man).

The day after Christmas, Teena Marie was found dead in her home. This phenomenal talent got her start on the Motown label in the late 70's working with super-producer Rick James. She was a rare breed - one of the few white artists on a label mostly known for black musicians. Still, she proved her ability and held her own, racking up a number of hits in the 80's including "I Need Your Lovin'" (1980), "Square Biz" (1981), "Lovergirl" (1985) and "Ooo La La La" (1987). One of my favorite tracks of hers appears on the Goonies soundtrack - "14K". I definitely plan to add more of her tracks to my iPod in the coming months (a number of her albums are on my save-for-later list on emusic.com - just waiting to be downloaded as time allows).