Labelle

This is actually an extension thread from one that started in the DRATS forum. Anyone have any questions for a guy who has been a Labelle historian for decades? I'll be happy to answer anything I can as long as it isn't about their private personal lives.

I always wonder what if the Ronettes wised up to Phil Spector around 1965 and went somewhere else. Could they have been bigger? I always felt like they could have been had Phil not held them back. Nedra said they were begging him to release better material on them but he wouldn't. I guess either way Nedra would have ended up getting replaced anyway as she grew disinterested in being a Ronette after she met her husband. Ronnie should have been a much bigger superstar than she was. I've seen her several times over the years and she is an amazing entertainer. Such great energy.

The 3LP & 2CD will be available on March 26th, 2021
https://www.bbemusic.com/downloads/t...s-funky-beats/

Producer extraordinaire John Morales returns to BBE Music, celebrating the life and work of R&B / soul legend Teena Marie with a double album full of brand new remixes, lovingly crafted from the original studio tapes, entitled ‘Love Songs & Funky Beats’.
“Teena is somewhat underrated, and people don’t really know much about her.” Says Morales. “I set out to immerse people in her music and represent what she really did. That meant for me a dive into more than her R&B hits, to dig into her ballads and dance cuts. People know she was talented. I don’t really think they really knew the depth of her abilities, her complete confidence to take it upon herself to do everything – singing, producing, arranging, songwriting. Teena Marie was the total package.”
John Morales had the pleasure of mixing many of Teena Marie’s original records over the years, so it felt natural to dig into the archives and select his favourite cuts to rework, extend and subtly update in his own distinctive style. While by no means a definitive collection of Lady Tee’s expansive musical catalogue, ‘Love Songs & Funky Beats’ represents a fitting tribute to a multifaceted and important voice in popular music, by one of the most storied mix engineers and remixers of our age.
Jumping into the music industry deep end in 1979 with a three-year mentorship from Berry Gordy & Rick James at Motown, Teena Marie then spent seven fertile years with Epic, which yielded her greatest commercial successes (including the classic album ‘Starchild’). After founding an independent label ‘Sarai’, Marie took a ten-year hiatus which ended in 2004 in a deal with hip hop label Cash Money Records; a less unlikely partnership than some might assume, given that Teena was one of the first ‘mainstream’ artists to perform a rap verse, on 1981’s ‘Square Biz’.
Teena Marie Brockert forged a unique path through the industry, an artist in-charge of her own destiny, influencing (and heavily sampled by) both the hip hop and R&B sounds of the 90’s and early 2000’s. Her 1982 lawsuit against Motown records resulted in “The Brockert Initiative”, which has benefitted literally thousands of other artists by making it illegal for record companies to ‘shelve’ artists by keeping them under contract without releasing their material. She continued to tour regularly and deliver commercially successful, expertly sculpted music, right up until her untimely passing in 2010.

Tracklist
1 – I Need Your Lovin’ (John Morales M+M Mix)
2 – It Must Be Magic (John Morales M+M Mix)
3 – Aladdin’s Lamp (John Morales M+M Mix)
4 – First Class Love (John Morales M+M Mix)
5 – Now That I Have You (John Morales M+M Mix)
6 – I’m a Sucker for Your Love (Live in Long Beach, Ca 1981: Alternate Mix / John Morales M+M Mix)
7 – Behind the Groove (John Morales M+M Mix)
8 – Love Just Wouldn’t Be Right (John Morales M+M Mix)
9 – Portuguese Love (John Morales M+M Mix)
10 – Chains (John Morales M+M Mix)
11 – 365 (John Morales M+M Mix)
12 – Wasn’t I Good to You (John Morales M+M Mix)
13 – Square Biz (John Morales M+M Mix)
14 – More Love (John Morales M+M Mix)
15 – You Got Away (John Morales M+M Mix)
16 – You’re All the Boogie I Need (John Morales M+ M Mix)
17 – Lonely Desire (John Morales M+ M Mix)
18 – Fire and Desire (John Morales M+M Mix)

Digital only!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Irons-Fire-...=dmusic&sr=1-1

01. Teena Marie - I Need Your Lovin'
02. Teena Marie - Young Love (Album Version)
03. Teena Marie - First Class Love
04. Teena Marie - Irons In The Fire (Album Version)
05. Teena Marie - Chains
06. Teena Marie - You Make Love Like Springtime
07. Teena Marie - Tune In Tomorrow (Album Version)
08. Teena Marie - You Make Love Like Springtime (Reprise) (Extended Version)
09. Teena Marie - I'm A Sucker For Your Love (Live In Long Beach, CA 1981_ Alternate Mix)
10. Teena Marie - I Need Your Lovin' (1981_Live In Long Beach, CA)
11. Teena Marie - Someday We'll All Be Free (1981_Live In Long Beach, CA)
12. Teena Marie - Deja Vu (1981_Live In Long Beach, CA_ Alternate Mix)
13. Teena Marie - Square Biz (1981_Live In Long Beach, CA_ Alternate Mix)
14. Ozone - Gigolette (feat. Teena Marie)
15. Teena Marie - I Need Your Lovin' (West End Remix)

A new Motown biography!

One of Jr Walkers son's "Kenneth Dewalt" has recently published a short bio titled "Shotgun The Making Of A legend" The Paperback issue has just over 130 pages and then a gallery of photographs, a number previously unseen before. A brief and interesting read with a more personal slant.
ISBN-9798552075560

However I do find that the orignal biography "The Jr Walker Story - The Man Behind The Sax" published in 2011 is more detailed and the better of the two. It is a hard one to find but a great book to read. It has taken me a while to find another copy after misplacing the other.
Authors Derek Dewalt (another of Jr's family) and Kambon Obayami
ISBN-10-0983889031

Welcome any views if you have had the oppourtunity to have read either of the books

Attachment 18582

Mickey's Monkey
Twistin' Postman
Come On Do the Jerk
Can You Jerk Like Me?
Shotgun
Hitchhike

All of the above songs were original compositions released on various Motown labels, and all contain the names of dances.

I know there are more. Can you name more songs released by Motown that contain the names of dances that are NOT covers?