Teena Marie: Starchild (Epic)

MARY CHRISTINE BROCKERT is a tiny white California gal who makes big, beautiful black music. Her speciality is exuberantly sassy and happy music for the dancefloor, as past classics ('Behind the Groove', 'I Need Your Lovin'', 'Square Biz') have so amply demonstrated. Now, having survived a protracted wrangle with former employers Motown, she emerges with full colours on a second Epic album – and you should wrap your ears around it pronto.