 NEW YORK -- In 1988, Teena Marie was enjoying success with her first No. 1 R&B hit, "Ooo La La La," from the album Naked to the World." On a major tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, Keith Sweat, and the Deele, Marie met with misfortune: At a performance in Dallas, she fell through a hole in the stage while performing her hit.
She was saved from a tumble that could have been fatal by a security guard who caught her arm, pulled her up, and brought her backstage. Unconscious at first, Marie awoke in the dressing room. Over the intercom she could hear the band still playing, unaware of the accident. Marie insisted that she be helped back to the stage.
"I sat on a chair. I did a really slow version of 'Ooo La La La.' I didn't do a normal version because my ribs were broken and I could hardly breathe," Marie recalls. "I sang one verse and couldn't sing anymore. I told the audience, 'As you can see, I'm hurt.' " Blood dripped down her left leg as she was taken from the stage amid applause. She had suffered three broken ribs and a slight concussion.
This incident typifies Marie's devotion to her craft. After a recovery period of several months, Marie plunged in again, working on songs for her current Epic album, Ivory, in the basement studio of her L.A. home. Ivory was written, arranged, and produced by Marie, with the exception of "Since Day One," which was produced by Jazzie B.
"I was trying to do an album that was very raw but brought me into the 90s," says the singer, adding that the finished product "is more like some of the earlier projects that I did than anything you might have seen in the last few years."
Audiences seem to be responding positively to Marie's efforts. The first single, "Here's Looking at You," which features a rap by Bell Biv Devoe's Michael Bivins, is rising with a bullet through the Hot R&B singles chart's top 20.
Marie, who was born in Santa Monica, Calif., and raised in an all-black section of Venice, cites the late Sarah Vaughn and Marvin Gaye among her many musical influences. She began performing at age 8. It was punk-funk master Rick James who noticed Marie and brought her to Motown in 1979. Her debut album, Wild & Peaceful spawned the hits "I'm a Sucker For Your Love" and "Deja Vu."
"I wasn't allowed to have my picture on the album," says Marie. "Now it's hip to sing R&B, but at the time they didn't think people would understand a person of my complexion singing the way I sing."
Marie has earned the respect and admiration of her mostly black audience. But unlike many other white artists who currently enjoy pop success with R&B-influenced songs, she has had difficulty establishing a presence on the pop charts.
"I've always been a rhythm and blues artist," she says. "I've only had limited pop success. 'Lovergirl' was the biggest pop record I ever had. But I'm very respected by black radio and black people. I like that because this is the music that I love and to me sometimes it's a greater thing to have respect from your peers and your audience than to have a whole lot of money but not be as respected."
Epic hopes to change Marie's pop history. "Here's Looking at You" has been well received, and the follow-up, the midtempo "If I Were a Bell," was handpicked by urban AC and urban contemporary radio. Marie is currently on a promotional campaign that includes showcases for retail and radio in key cities, with merchandise tying into the "Here's Looking at You" and "If I Were a Bell" thems. Says Trupiedo Crump, VP of promotion, "You can believe we'll exploit that to the hilt."
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