Besides her silky, incomparable voice, I admired Teena Marie for making no apologies for being a white girl doing her thang in a black genre. Certainly more than a few eyebrows were raised over "Fire and Desire", her sizzling duet with Rick James. The song emoted such passion, some of it real for the couple who had a romantic relationship but ended with a good friendship that lasted decades. Racists must have seen their worse miscegnationist fears realized and more than a few black women wondered why Rick James had to share his success with a white woman. None of that slowed Teena Marie for a second.
I learned from her that if you're going to play someone else's game, play it well.
Here's a sample of Tina Marie singing my favorite song:
