Mary Jane Girls
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| The Mary Jane Girls | ||
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 The Mary Jane Girls on the cover of their 20th Century Masters album
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Los Angeles, California, United States |
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| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul, Pop, Funk | |
| Years active | 1979– Present | |
| Label(s) | Motown Records | |
| Former members | ||
| Jojo McDuffie Candi Ghant Maxi Wuletich Cheri Bailey |
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The Mary Jane Girls were a popular American R&B, Soul, Funk and Pop group from the 1980s. The group consisted of four girls: Joanne (Jojo) McDuffie, Candice (Candi) Ghant, Kim (Maxi) and Ann (Cheri) Bailey. They were the protegee of the legendary 80s singer Rick James, who first started out as backup singers and then became successful in their own right. They are best known for the Pop smash "In My House".
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[edit] Rise to Success
The name of the group was created in the vein of James' passion for the drug marijuana. The group consisted of four females with distinctive looks and matching personalities. Lead singer Joane "Jojo" was the Street Chick who also went by the name Chic Rick (being dubbed the female version of Rick James), Kim "Maxi" Wuletich the Leather Wearing Dominatrix, Candice "Candi" Ghant the Diva/Glamour Girl and the Valley Girl Ann "Cheri" Bailey.
Formed in 1979 as James' permanent backup singers, James soon got them to the recording studio on their own. Their self-titled album, released in 1983, featured the classic funk jam, "All Night Long" (which has been sampled heavily sampled in Hip-Hop music.) The album saw two more singles, the equally funky "Candy Man" and "Boys". During the early recording phases of their sophomore LP, Bailey announced she was departing from the group due to personal reasons, and was quickly replaced by Yvette "Corvette" Marine. In 1985 they released their second album Only Four You.
[edit] Success With "In My House"
The group scored their biggest hit yet with the unforgettable sex romp "In My House". It peaked at #7 on the "Billboard Hot 100" that fall and topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. What most people don't know was that "In My House" was actually the second single to be released from Only Four You. The label insisted on the first single to be the feisty "Break It Up", but considering the song didn't make it into the Top 75 on the R&B charts, James and the girls decided not to promote the single any longer. The group saw 2 more minor hits.
The next single "Wild And Crazy Love" just missed the Top 40 that winter, but managed to hold the #10 spot on the R&B charts. The cover of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons hit "Walk Like A Man" was featured on the soundtrack for 1986's blockbuster hit "A Fine Mess". The album saw another release in the spring of '86, but due to problems with the label and James himself, "Shadow Lover" received little to no promotion.
A third album was supposed to be released in 1986 but because of James' troubles with drugs, Motown and his dissolvement of his Stone City Band, he was asked to step down from his position with the label. This resulted in their third LP being shelved. Candi appeared live on an urban radio station the same year telling listeners that she hoped the group can make a comeback and record with famed producers "Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis", but nothing happened. By the time 1987 had ended, the group had sadly disbanded.
[edit] Career Later In the 80s
The girls returned to doing backup vocals for various artists in the late-80's, Marine had the pleasure of notably singing back up on Teena Marie's #1 single "Ooh La La" in 1988 Rumors spread throughout the late 80's that while on the label, James treated the ladies with nothing but disrespect, and a 3rd album under his supervision would have been next to impossible. The Girls also blamed James for being the reason why they had constant tabloid feuds, and run-ins with Prince's rival girl group Vanity 6.
[edit] Career In the 90s and into Today
In the 90's Jojo McDuffie became a live Jazz musician, but never recorded a jazz LP. Ann Bailey Briefly sang lead in Morris Day's studio group "The Dayzes". Yvette Marine sued choreographer-turned-singer MsPaula Abdul (for an undisclosed amount), claiming that it was her singing the lead vocals on a majority of Abdul's debut album "Forever Your Girl". The jury disagreed and she lost the case in 1993.
In 1997, some members of the group reunited with James as he brought back the Stone City Band to record his album, Urban Rapsody and go out on tour.
Mowtown released "In My House: The Very Best of the Mary Jane Girls". The 14-track set never received U.S. certification, but was heavily praised by fans of the girl group, because it featured their biggest hits (All Night Long, In My House), minor hits (Walk Like A Man), and warming album cuts from both of their albums. Seven years later 20th Century Masters released "The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Mary Jane Girls" (Using the same cover as their debut) with an ensemble of singles far more superior to their success.
In 2001 Jojo, Candi & Maxi appeared on daytime talk show Jenny Jones. They announced that they still toured with James & the Stone City Band, and they were involved (as strictly singers) in various Burlesque shows. At that current time the girls went by the acronym "MJG" The group appeared on "VH1"'s Where Are They Now show in 2003, but without Jojo or an explanation. However, they did let viewers know that they wanted to make a comeback, but are waiting for the perfect opportunity.
The group reformed again in 2002, but for unknown reasons Jojo decided not to return. She was replaced by 80's singer Val Young. Young (also known as Lady V) had originally recorded "In My House", but the song didn't make the final cut of her 1985 album "Seduction". So in a way the ladies were already bringing a Mary Jane Girl into the group, but yet another setback occurred when James died in his sleep in 2004. Talks of a reunion were once again cut short.
[edit] What do The Girls Do Now?
Jojo Currently songwrites and works behind the scenes Maxi Is a "Soulfood" cook who caters to celebrities, and has 1 son Candi Owns a production company where she manages and produces her own artists Cheri Formed her own music group "Miss Lady" and is a part time Mid-Wife Lady V Still recording and gearing to release her album "The Voice Beyond" sometime in 2007 Corvette A married mother of 2, and has her own U.S. television show "In The Mix with Yvette" Profiling the lives of today's hottest celebrities
[edit] MJG's History
The Girls have had their songs sampled by hip-hop and modern R&B acts, most famously by singer Mary J. Blige, who sampled the group's "All Night Long" for her song, "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" starting off her 1994 album, My Life. Rapper LL Cool J had sampled the same song four years prior for his hit, "Around the Way Girl". And an early sample was used by Hip-Hop heavyweight Big Daddy Kane for his 1989 smash "Smooth Operator".
[edit] Trivia
Their song "All Night Long" is one of the featured songs in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and can be heard on the radio station Fever 105.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | US R&B Singles | US Singles | US Dance Singles | Album | |
| 1983 | "All Night Long" | 11 | - | - | Mary Jane Girls | |
| 1983 | "Boys" | 29 | - | - | Mary Jane Girls | |
| 1983 | "Candy Man" | 23 | - | - | Mary Jane Girls | |
| 1985 | "Break It Up" | 79 | - | - | Only Four You | |
| 1985 | "In My House" | 3 | 7 | #1 | Only Four You | |
| 1985 | "Wild and Crazy Love" | 10 | 42 | 3 | Only Four You | |
| 1986 | "Walk Like a Man" (original version by Frankie Valli) | 41 | 91 | - | A Fine Mess |
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | |
| 1983 | Mary Jane Girls | |
| 1985 | Only Four You | |
| 1986 | A Fine Mess | |
| 1994 | In My House: The Very Best of the Mary Jane Girls | |
| 1999 | Best of Mary Jane Girls | |
| 2001 | 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection |
