The Mary Jane Girls were kind of an accident and a fiction. Lead singer JoJo McDuffie was supposed to get a solo recording contract with Motown, but apparently Motown signed the “Mary Jane Girls” to a contract.
Who were the “Mary Jane Girls”? Well, they were McDuffie and sisters Maxine and Julia Waters. The trio provided backing vocals for Rick James during the late 1970s and early 1980s. With McDuffie being a dynamic singer, James sought to get her a solo recording deal. But, as I said, the wires got crossed and the “Mary Jane Girls” were given a contract. I’m guessing Motown (and maybe even James eventually) saw this is a perfect opportunity to “answer” Prince’s girl group Vanity 6.
Well, what happened thereafter is an act of pure marketing chicanery. McDuffie and the Waters sisters sang (nearly) all the vocals on the initial album by the group. HOWEVER, instead of having McDuffie and the Waters sisters be the face and voice of the group, James (or Motown) decided to hire three other women to appear with McDuffie as the Mary Jane Girls. Kimberly “Maxi” Wuletich portrayed a white dominatrix; Cheri Wells was a white valley girl; and Candi Ghant was a black supermodel.
See, you now had an interracial girl group, each with their own personality to fill whatever stupid desire male record buyers might have!
At least, McDuffie could legit sing her ass off, so the marketing may have been shameless, but the music was pretty damn good… at times.
Mary Jane Girls
Released: 1983
Despite being set up as a Rick James side project, this album is actually better than anything Rick James released in 1983 and after (except for Glow). He wrote and produced every song, so maybe creating music from the vantage point of a woman (or at least James’s conception of a woman) opened up new creative avenues for him.
However it happened, I’m glad it did.
Party Side — yes, Side 1 is described as the “party side” on the LP
“Candy Man” is an infectious piece of pop-funk with synthesizers that sound like a video game. “Boys” isn’t quite as sugary, but it is still some first-rate early 80s pop-funk. Hell, so is “Prove It”, which has a touch more new wave tossed in. Also it has a non-embarrassing rap from JoJo. The transition to new wave is complete with “Jealousy”, which naturally has a rip-roaring oh so 80s guitar solo that rides off into the wind as the song ends. Also, that’s the one song on the album where McDuffie doesn’t sing lead. The song is still good, but it ain’t cuz of Cheri’s lead vocals, that’s for sure.
Cool Out Side — yep, the official name for Side 2
Well, the Party Side lived up to its name. Unfortunately, Rick James’s propensity to hit-and-miss on ballads shows up here. “You Are My Heaven” is pretty dull and drab. “On the Inside” is of a higher quality, but standard R&B balladry. The backing vocals give it needed aural drapery, though.
Okay, now we’re coolin’ out with “All Night Long”. This song has a wicked smooth bass that was sampled to death by late 80s rappers (“Around the Way Girl” by LL Cool J and “Smooth Operator” by Big Daddy Kane for instance). The vocals are killer with multiple hooks. I’m talkin’ hooks for days and days!
The sexy message is pretty straightforward. There are delightful little touches like a fluttering flourish of flute (I live fluttering flourishes of flute). The drums keep the song extremely funky. And to cap things off, there’s a splendid saxophone solo. Easily the best ballad Rick James ever wrote and/or produced.
And after that heater, we get “Musical Love”, which sounds like it belongs on Bustin’ Out of L Seven. Trouble is that album was from 1978. At least by 1983, James had cleaned up some of the unnecessary gimmicks he employed on that older album. So although this song isn’t particularly good, it’s much more listenable than it would have been otherwise.
ALBUM GRADE: B-
Song Scores
Candy Man: 8/10
Boys: 7.5/10
Prove It: 7.5/10
Jealousy: 7/10
You Are My Heaven: 4/10
On the Inside: 6/10
All Night Long: 9/10
Musical Love: 6/10
Only Four You
Released: 1985
Ain’t this some shit. Just as James’s solo career was flailing, this album from the Mary Jane Girls produced a pop top 10 hit with “In My House” (#3 R&B, #7 pop, #1 disco). The highest James ever got was #13 pop with “You And I”. Further insult would be added to injury when Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” (written and produced by James) reached #2 pop in 1985 as well.
Well, truth be told, “In My House” is more poppish than anything James ever recorded, so its success compared to James’s singles isn’t that surprising. And it’s a very good pop-funk tune. Also, don’t any of y’all settle for the single version. The full-length LP track (only five minutes long anyways) has an outro with a rhythm guitar and synthesizer kicking ass.
Oh, also the Mary Jane Girls actually did the backing vocals on this album instead of the Waters sisters. And Yvette “Corvette” Marine replaced Wells as the obligatory valley girl.
Okay, back to the music…
“Break It Up” is some great uptempo funk thanks to its slap bass and McDuffie getting absolutely tough on the lead vocals. She’s tearing up the scenery on this one. Might not be her best vocal performance, but it’s definitely her most powerful.
And then McDuffie kills it even further on the gorgeous ballad “Shadow Lover”. Daniel LeMelle shows up to give his customary excellent sax solo too. Aaaaaand there’s a classy piano that gives the song some unexpected sentimentality from the Mary Jane Girls.
“Lonely for You” closes out Side 1 with some decent sparse mid-80s Rick James production. Sounds like a leftover track from Cold Blooded. Eh, we can’t win them all folks.
But we’re back in business with “Wild And Crazy Love”! It’s a cousin of “Break It Up”, right down to the hyperactive slap bass, but there’s enough differences to make it stand out as a song of its own instead of a mere clone.
Okay, we’re back out of business. For good.
The final three songs of this album are helmed by the other Mary Jane Girls. Usually, I encourage democratic vocals in groups, but these other women can’t sing! I don’t blame them for asking to get a lead spot since they were in a music group, but they were explicitly chosen for their looks, not their vocals. That shouldn’t have been the situation, but given the circumstances, Motown shoulda told them to be happy as JoJo McDuffie’s entourage.
Okay, leaving aside the paper thin vocals, the music on “Girlfriend” and “I Betcha” ain’t bad. “Leather Queen”, however, should have been left off the album entirely.
But when there’s singing, we can’t really ignore the vocals. Corvette’s vocals are extremely mediocre on “Girlfriend”. Candi’s vocals on “I Betcha” are competent enough, except when she tries to hit some high notes. Honey, no.
And Maxi’s lead on “Leather Queen” is wise. Not good, but wise. She has no singing voice at all, so wisely she just talks on the song. The backing vocals are ridiculous and the lyrics even more so. Like I said, shoulda left this shit off the album.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Y’all this album started off soooo good. Then just falls apart by the end.
Song Scores
In My House: 8/10
Break It Up: 8.5/10
Shadow Lover: 8.5/10
Lonely for You: 5/10
Wild and Crazy Love: 7/10
Girlfriend: 5/10
I Betcha: 6/10
Leather Queen: 2/10
Sweet Conversations
Recorded: 1986; unreleased
After the success of “In My House” the Mary Jane Girls did record another album, but it never saw the light of day. Too bad, cuz it had some decent tracks, but ultimately falls into the same trap of the previous MJG albums.
“On the Streets Where You Live” is some Minneapolis influenced funk typical of the mid-80s. The synth-keyboards are very reminscent of Jesse Johnson’s “Be Your Man”.
After that decent opener, things get cookin’ on “Shake Me”. Slap bass, chiming keyboards, swells of synths, simple but catchy lyrics… this shoulda been a single. In any case, it’s a lost 80s funk gem, IMO.
Well, “Shake Me” never saw the light of day, sadly, but the one song from these sessions that was released was a cover of “Walk Like A Man”. It’s okay. Nothing special at all.
The ladies get back to funkin’ and funkin’ hard on “Where’s the Party”. Big thwoppin’ 80s drums anchor this track that while recorded in the studio has the atmosphere of a live performance piped in.
Rick James’s original version of “Hollywood” sucked in 1978 and it sucks worse now despite JoJo’s vocals. The song is not salvageable.
Hey, now we got some interesting things happening on “Can You Make It Feel Good”. It’s definitely got some influences from house music which was still fairly underground with the mainstream in 1986.
“Keep Givin’ It Up” — perfectly average 80s rock.
“Night Lover” — perfectly average 80s new wave.
“Bad Reputation” — perfectly average 80s MPLS funk.
ALBUM GRADE: C
This album isn’t that bad (except for “Hollywood”. YUCK) or that impressive (except for “Shake Me”). Sounds like a C to me!
Song Scores
On the Streets Where You Live: 6/10
Shake Me: 8.5/10
Keep Givin’ It Up: 5/10
Walk Like A Man: 5/10
Where’s the Party: 7/10
Night Lover: 5/10
Hollywood: 0/10
Can You Make It Feel Good: 7/10
Bad Reputation: 5/10