Some of you may know the John Morales M&M Mix of Teena Marie’s timeless Original, a version that has never left my box since I got my hands on it. If you are aware of the time and effort, legendary US producer and remixer John Morales has put into this Mix, you can understand why he has teamed up with Baltimore’s finest DJ Spen again for another Spencer Morales record to serve a perfect cover of that song.
The tune has remained a staple in dance music from jukeboxes to dancefloors the world over so it was a rather clever move from John & Spencer to inject new life into the track and hire Tasha La Rae as the main vocalist. She is able to impress with a strong attempt (which is certainly not easy while being compared with Teena Marie) and a soulfully captivating performance like this will cement the track again with new users getting confronted with this former Disco classic. Needless to say the musical talents of Gary Hudgins, Skip Dorsey, & Barry Woodley make this soulful house version an authentic banger, many of the instruments John used in his Teena Marie remix are carefully replayed with perfection. Beside my personal pick, The M&M Vocal Mix, which for me comes closest to the Original, John has added a nice Vocal Dub that has a stripped down feel to it! The package however also contains DJ Spen & Gary Hudgins Mixes which only have one target: The dancefloors!
Lastly, the Spen & Thommy Strings of Love Mix contains that extra little hump and is a sweet option if you are not into vocals that much. All in all this is brilliant, the spirit of legendary Teena Marie lives on!
4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by MANNIX
