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.
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.
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