Teena Marie – Out on a Limb – 1985

I still have a hard time believing Teena Marie’s, Out on a Limb…
Never came anywhere close to No. 1.
Seriously?

Hell, in my world, it was No. 1. ❤️

Out on a Limb came from Teena’s 1984 album Starchild, but Epic released it as a single in 1985.
While Lovergirl became her huge crossover record, reaching No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Out on a Limb peaked at only No. 56 on the R&B chart and NEVER touched the Hot 100.
That number still doesn’t compute for me because I swear it was all over the radio.

Because this song was everywhere in my musical life.
When I started making some of my earliest mixtapes and slow jam cassettes, Out on a Limb was definitely on them.
I owned the 45 too, and when I say I wore that record out…
I mean WORE. IT. OUT. 😂
Eventually I bought Starchild too.

When I hosted Quiet Storm during my college radio days, I played it.
Years later, during my 1.FM radio years, I was still playing it.
And here we are decades later, and it’s still sitting comfortably in a couple of my Spotify playlists. 🎧

Out on a Limb was written by Teena Marie, whose birth name was Mary Christine Brockert.
She produced it herself.
The original album version, which is my favorite, stretches to 6:37.
Giving Teena all the room she needed to work that song.
And WORK it she did.

This might actually be my favorite solo vocal performance of hers.
Period!
Because we’re not even going to touch Fire & Desire with Rick, right now.
That’s another post, for another time.
It’s another classic within itself.

I’ve heard other people try to cover Out on a Limb over the years, but nobody has ever made me forget Teena’s original.
Not even close.😂

That chick could SANG.

But that’s part of what fascinated me about her.
That little white chick had SOUL.
Not imitation soul either!
Teena wasn’t standing outside R&B looking in.
She understood the music.

Rick James heard it too.
He didn’t actually discover her as I originally thought.
Berry Gordy had already signed her to Motown.
But Rick heard her singing at Motown, became captivated by that voice and went on to produce her 1979 debut Wild and Peaceful.

And by Starchild, Teena didn’t need anybody to tell her who she was musically.
She knew.

There’s something beautifully vulnerable about Out on a Limb.
She’s basically admitting that love has her completely exposed.
She’s insecure and absolutely certain at the same damn time.
That’s grown folks R&B right there. ❤️‍🔥

More than forty years later, the record is still finding new ears.
My gurl, Megan Thee Stallion even sampled it for B.A.S. in 2024.

So Billboard you can keep that No. 56.
Because a chart position only tells you where a song landed at the time.
It doesn’t tell you where that song will live in people’s hearts forty years later.
Charts don’t always measure a classic.

Out on a Limb is easily one of my Top 20 R&B classics of all time.
And depending on what day you catch me?
Top 10.

I’m just saying. 😏🎶❤️

DJZ7 🎧

PS…
Billboard, you gave it a number.
But DJs like me gave it a legacy.

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