The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."

To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.

UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.

Teena Marie was a singular and beloved voice in contemporary music, whose legacy continues to shine after her unfortunate passing in December 2010. She released four albums for Motown between 1978-1981. But for the last several years two of them, Lady T and Irons In The Fire, were no longer in print. Tee, before her untimely death, had requested those 1980 albums be remastered and made available to her fans with any vault tracks we might find.

Lady T, her second Motown album, featured the massive funk hit "Behind The Groove" and became a top 20 R&B success. Augmenting the remastered album are bonus versions of "Behind The Groove": its rare original LP mix, which was replaced almost immediately after the LP's release with a remix that became the familiar version; a previously unreleased mix by Teena's mentor Rick James; and a thrilling new throwback 12-inch mix by John Morales, part of the renowned "M+M" team that had created several Motown remixes during the era.

Included in the package is a booklet with an essay by Brian Chin, reproduction of the original LP artwork and the lyrics from the original LP sleeve, previously unreleased photographs and detailed track annotations.

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: MARIE,TEENA
Title: IT MUST BE MAGIC
Street Release Date: 11/12/2002
Domestic
Genre: SOUL/R & B

Teena Marie signed to Motown in 1976 when she was just 20 years old, but didn't record her first album, co-produced by Rick James, until 1979. What fans had heard, but never confirmed, is that Teena recorded several tracks at Motown from April 1976-May 1977, nearly two years before James "discovered" her. Those rare and precious early recordings, approved for release by Teena, have been collected in this 2-CD set, First Class Love: Rare Tee.

First Class Love includes every one of those earliest recordings, produced by fellow Motown artist Ronnie McNeir, staff producer Winston Monseque, and the established hit makers Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise. Among these amazing performances is an early version of "First Class Love," which was later released on Irons In The Fire; the funky, autobiographical "White Soul"; covers of the Miracles' "More Love" and Martha & the Vandellas' "My Baby Loves Me"; and the doo-wop throwback "Hey Boy." All of those aforementioned tracks are previously unreleased; the soulful Kerner & Wise productions "Co-Pilot To Pilot," "Why Can't I Get Next To You" and "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" were previously issued on various compilations. Also included are four overdubbed mixes from 1983 created for a proposed fifth Teena album.

Disc 2 features eight performances that are perhaps more extraordinary: Teena Marie with just an acoustic guitar, recording song demos for Motown founder Berry Gordy. Astonishing in their purity and maturity, these "unplugged" performances -among them the original demos for "First Class Love," "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" and "God Has Created" (later re-recorded as a duet with Smokey Robinson for her 2006 album Sapphire) are exclusive to the 2-CD Edition.

First Class Love: Rare Tee includes a beautiful booklet with previously unpublished photographs and detailed track information, as well as liner notes with commentary from Teena's producers, as well as her closest friends, Mickey Boyce and Jill Jones.

(A digital-only version of this collection was issued earlier in 2011 with 12 songs from Disc 1; for this limited edition physical 2-CD edition, however, six of the12 were given new mixes.)

Teena Marie was a singular and beloved voice in contemporary music, whose legacy continues to shine after her unfortunate passing in December 2010. She released four albums for Motown between 1978-1981. But for the last several years two of them, Lady T and Irons In The Fire, were no longer in print. Tee, before her untimely death, had requested those 1980 albums be remastered and made available to her fans, along with vault tracks we might find.

Irons In The Fire, her third album, is the second of our two 2011 reissues. Her first self-production, the album was a top 10 Urban and top 40 Pop smash led by the hit "I Need Your Lovin'," as well as key album tracks, from the hard-hitting "First Class Love" to the jazzy "You Make Love Like Springtime." For this reissue, the "reprise" version of the latter song is two minutes longer than any previous releases, with extra Teena ad-libs - a great find for fans.

This reissue also adds Teena's complete set from a July 1981 concert at Long Beach Arena in southern California. Her full show, backed by James' Stone City Band, has been newly mixed and freshly edited from the original reels using vintage analog gear, with the live "I Need Your Lovin'" being issued for the first time and with Teena's show in proper sequence also for the first time.

In addition to an essay by Brian Chin, the CD booklet reproduces the original artwork and the lyrics from the original LP sleeve, adding previously unreleased photographs and detailed track annotations.

Internationally renowned singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Teena Marie, the "Ivory Queen of Soul," presents an all-new 16-song set showing she hasn't lost one bit of her edge. Features guest appearances by FAITH EVANS, GEORGE DUKE, MC LYTE, HOWARD HEWITT and SHIRLEY MURDOCK.

Starchild by Teena Marie

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