Teena Marie

The last of Teena Marie's four albums for Motown, It Must Be Magic found the songstress continuing to do all of her own writing, producing, and arranging, with magnificent results. Irons in the Fire proved that she didn't need the input of a big-name producer in order to deliver first-class albums, and Marie provided additional evidence of that fact on an album that offered such gems as the playful "Square Biz" (one of her biggest hits, and an early example of an R&B artist incorporating rap), the thought-provoking "Revolution" (inspired by the assassination of John Lennon and filled with references to the Beatles), and the gritty title song. Marie has periodically shown a strong love of jazz, which is exactly what happens on the ballad "Yes Indeed" and the sexy "Portuguese Love." It Must Be Magic was Marie's highest-charting album in the pop market, and thanks to a largely black following, the gold-seller just missed topping the R&B charts. The 2002 reissue employs the 12" single version of "Square Biz" (its fade-out is 17 seconds longer), adds the instrumental version that originally appeared on the B-side of that single, and concludes with a 14-minute excerpt from Marie's July 30, 1981, concert in Long Beach, CA, on a tour promoting the album, during which she performed a brief rendition of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" and an extended rendition of her own "Déjà Vu (I've Been Here Before)." Listeners may well be reminded of another R&B-influenced Caucasian female, Laura Nyro. A. Scott Galloway's liner notes, including comments from Marie, add historical perspective. ~ Alex Henderson & William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide