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Jheri Curl June: Teena Marie’s “Lovergirl”
Just like we did last year, we wanted to take a week out of Jheri Curl June to spotlight the important contributions made by women artists to the genre. And how better to kick off our second annual JCJ Ladies’ Week than with the Ivory Queen of Soul herself, Teena Marie? Initially a protégé of Jheri…
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Jheri Curl June: The Whispers’ “Rock Steady”
On Tuesday we talked about the Deele, the Ohio-based R&B group that kickstarted the careers of Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. Today we look at one of the songs the duo produced under their production company, Deelesongz, Inc.: the Whispers’ “Rock Steady.” The Whispers were formed in 1963 by twins and black Mario…
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Jheri Curl June: D-Train’s “You’re the One for Me (Labor of Love Mix)”
Jheri curl music is an essentially synthetic musical form: like its namesake from the hair world, it is not a genre that occurs in nature, but a heavily processed transformation of traditional African American styles. That’s one of the reasons why Brooklyn jheri-curl duo D-Train was so interesting. A collaboration between the group’s namesake, singer James “D-Train”…