Mary Jane Girls
| Mary Jane Girls | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, soul, funk |
| Years active | 1979–1987 2016-present |
| Labels | Gordy |
| Associated acts | Rick James |
| Members | Candice "Candi" Ghant Val Young Farah Melanson |
| Past members | Joanne "JoJo" McDuffie Cheryl Ann "Cheri" Bailey aka Cheri Wells Kimberly "Maxi" Wuletich Yvette "Corvette" Marine |
The Mary Jane Girls are an American R&B, soul and funk group in the 1980s. They were protégées of singer Rick James. They are known for their hit songs "In My House", "All Night Long", "Candy Man", and their cover version of "Walk Like a Man".
Joanne "Jojo" McDuffie was the lead singer, the others filling out the group's style, appearance, and had co-lead vocals. The Mary Jane Girls released two albums in the 1980s and recorded a third which was never formally released. The third album, Sweet Conversations, is available for listening on music streaming websites such as YouTube and Spotify.
Rick James was frequently backed in his studio recordings by vocalists Joanne "Jojo" McDuffie and the sisters Maxine and Julia Waters. For live performances starting in 1979, James was backed by McDuffie along with Cheryl Bailey (who used the stage name Cheri Wells), Candice "Candi" Ghant and Kimberly "Maxi" Wuletich. Casually amongst the musicians, McDuffie, Wells, Ghant and Wuletich used the moniker Mary Jane Girls, a subgroup of James' backing band, the Stone City Band. The girls learned choreographed dance routines and they practiced under a vocal coach.
In 1983, James proposed to Motown that McDuffie be offered a solo career but miscommunication caused the label to sign an all-girl group, which he determined would be the Mary Jane Girls. James filled the positions behind McDuffie with Wells, Ghant and Wuletich. He also wrote all the original songs and produced all the recordings.
The first Mary Jane Girl's album was released in 1983, titled Mary Jane Girls. Jojo sang lead vocals on most of the songs, while Cheri and Candi sang the lead vocals on Jealousy, and You Are My Heaven, respectively. The album yielded their first R&B hits: "Candy Man", "All Night Long" (which was later included in the soundtrack of the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), and "Boys". In live performances, the Mary Jane Girls were backed by the Stone City Band. The male band members also sang the background vocals to support McDuffie as lead vocalist. Cheri Wells left the group before the next album project was recorded. She was replaced by Yvette "Corvette" Marine.
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