April 4, 2025 • 8 mins
44 years ago this month, the song Superfreak was released by funk legend Rick James. But success didn’t sit well with him .. eventually leading to prison and an early death.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, you know this song? Yeah, yea nah nah.
She's a very kinky girl, the kind you don't take
home to mother. She's a super freak. Okay, Suffice it
to say, I do not have a future in the
music business. But that song from the legendary funk artist
Rick James was out forty four years ago this month
on his Street Songs album, and it was sampled by
(00:22):
other huge artists. But in the ensuing years he got
involved in heavy drug use and wound up in prison
on kidnapping charges. I'm Hatty Steele, the super freaky guy
behind super Freak. That's next on the backstory. The backstory
is back. In April of nineteen eighty one, funk artist
(00:46):
Rick James put out his biggest album, Street Songs. It
included one of his biggest hits, super Freak. The song
begins with the lyric She's a very kinky girl, the
kind you don't bring home to mother. She's a super freak.
Starting in the late seventies, he'd had other big hits
like You and I, but super Freak was super successful.
(01:07):
In twenty twenty one, Rolling Stone named it number one
hundred and fifty three on the Top five hundred Greatest
Songs of All Time. It went on to be sampled
on songs like mc Hammer's nineteen eighty nine top ten
hit Can't Touch This, jay Z's song in two thousand
and six, Kingdom Come, and Nicki Minaj's number one hit
from twenty twenty two called super Freaky Girl. But Rick
(01:31):
James was the original super Freak. His story included a
meteoric rise and a devastating fall. Born in Buffalo, New
York in nineteen forty eight, he had everything going for
him as he launched his music career with a fusion
of funk, soul, and rock. He was twenty nine years
old when he had his first huge hit, You and I.
(01:52):
By the early eighties, he was dating Linda Blair, you
know her from the Exorcist. As a kid, he was
friends with stars like Eddie Murphy, Debbie Allen, Smokey Robinson,
and Marvin Gaye. But the success was more than he
could handle. His music and his personality were tied to
one another. He gave fans electrifying performances and hits like
(02:13):
super Freak and Give It to Me Baby. But Rick
James flamboyant, glitzy, and rebellious reputation had a quieter and
much darker sub narrative. By the early nineteen nineties, his
life was pretty much out of control. His addiction to
cocaine and other drugs had him spending an insane seven
thousand dollars a week with drug dealers. We're talking thirty
(02:36):
five years ago too, and he was becoming more and
more reckless and violent. Then came the beginning of the end.
In July nineteen ninety one, Rick James and his ex
wife Tanya were accused of holding twenty four year old
Francis Alley captive in Rix Hollywood Hills home. They kept
her there for days during a week long cocaine binge.
(02:56):
Court records say Francis was severely abused by them, including
being tied up, burned over twenty times with the hot
end of a crack pipe, and forced to perform sex acts.
That got crazier when he accused Francis of stealing his drugs.
That's when he pointed a gun at her and threatened
to kill her if she tried to leave. Rick James
(03:17):
finally untied Francis and she managed to escape. She was
treated at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA and the
cops were called. Rick and Tanya were arrested. Fast forward
more than a year to November of nineteen ninety two.
While out on bail, finally ready to go to trial
in this case, Rick got involved in another violent situation.
(03:39):
This time it was Mary Sauger, a thirty four year
old music executive from West Hollywood. She had a professional
relationship with Rick and Tanya and they had all agreed
to meet up to talk business at an upscale club
and hotel in West Hollywood. Mary arrives at the hotel
around ten o'clock at night and meets Rick and Tanya
(03:59):
in their They drink a bottle of wine. She says,
Rick then basically forced her to take a hit of cocaine. Okay,
So the evening moves on as they discuss Rick's new
record label. Now it's two am. Rick and Tanya get
into a really heated argument. It gets uncomfortable, so that's
when Mary decides she's going to leave. She gets into
(04:22):
the elevator and exhausted and maybe a little high, rests
her head against the wall with her eyes closed. She
says she must have dozed off because suddenly the door's open.
She's back on the eleventh floor and Tanya is waiting
for her. She apologizes to Mary and talks her into
coming back to the suite. Now they're back in the room,
(04:43):
but things go from bad to worse. Tanya walks out
for a moment, but when she comes back, she's wearing
only her underwear. She starts coming on to Rick while
Mary is sitting there. Oddly, they all start chatting about
the challenges faced by women involved professiontionally and personally with musicians,
especially the constant harassment. That's when Tanya's attitude suddenly changes.
(05:08):
She starts slapping Mary and then Rick joins in. It
gets so intense Mary passes out. She comes too when
they drench her with water. Then they begin to beat
her violently. This goes on for several hours. Rick finally
takes Mary to another room on the eighth floor, where
he eventually fell asleep himself. That night, at around seven
(05:29):
point thirty, Tanya calls a cab from Mary and hands
her five bucks for the fair. Despite her crazy injuries.
Her left eye is swollen shut and the right nearly so.
Mary waits for two days to get medical attention and
report the incident. To cops. She only does that after
a lawyer friend tells her she has to do it.
She later testified that the ordeal left her in constant
(05:52):
pain with throbbing behind her eye. Of course, this whole
mess led to a cascade of legal troubles for Rick
and Tanya. Rick was charged with a slew of felonies,
including assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated mayhem, torture, forcible
oral copulation, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. He could have gotten
(06:12):
life on all those charges. Tanya got four years for
pleading guilty to assault. During Rick's trial, Mary Sauger gave
heartfelt emotional testimony about her torture by the pair. In
a bizarre turn of events, during the trial, Rick fell
asleep and started to snore loudly, prompting the judge to
call a recess. His lawyer blamed the stress of the trial. Okay. Finally,
(06:38):
Rick was found guilty of both offenses, but was acquitted
of the torture charge and was sentenced to five years.
Wealthy and famous people often got away with crimes, and
I guests unfortunately still do. But while in prison, Rick
composed over three hundred songs, calling jail a blessing in
disguise that probably saved him from a fatal overdose. Mary
(06:59):
Sawager got a settlement of one point seven million dollars,
with the hotel paying seven hundred thousand of that since
the hotel staff were apparently aware of what was happening.
Rick's reputation never recovered. By two thousand and four, Rick
was a walking drug store when he died of heart
failure complicated by a stroke, diabetes, and a heart attack.
(07:21):
In his blood the corner found xanax, valium, two different antidepressants,
as well as hydrocodone, digitalis, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Rick james
musical genius had long been overshadowed by his own drive
towards self destruction. Doesn't it make you wonder why we're
(07:41):
all so hungry to hit the big time? He was
just fifty six years old when he died. Hope you
like the backstory with Patty Steele. I would love it
if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new
episodes delivered automatically and free to DM me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
(08:03):
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
(08:24):
episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out
to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram
at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
All right, you know this song? Yeah, yea nah nah.
She's a very kinky girl, the kind you don't take
home to mother. She's a super freak. Okay, Suffice it
to say, I do not have a future in the
music business. But that song from the legendary funk artist
Rick James was out forty four years ago this month
on his Street Songs album, and it was sampled by
(00:22):
other huge artists. But in the ensuing years he got
involved in heavy drug use and wound up in prison
on kidnapping charges. I'm Hatty Steele, the super freaky guy
behind super Freak. That's next on the backstory. The backstory
is back. In April of nineteen eighty one, funk artist
(00:46):
Rick James put out his biggest album, Street Songs. It
included one of his biggest hits, super Freak. The song
begins with the lyric She's a very kinky girl, the
kind you don't bring home to mother. She's a super freak.
Starting in the late seventies, he'd had other big hits
like You and I, but super Freak was super successful.
(01:07):
In twenty twenty one, Rolling Stone named it number one
hundred and fifty three on the Top five hundred Greatest
Songs of All Time. It went on to be sampled
on songs like mc Hammer's nineteen eighty nine top ten
hit Can't Touch This, jay Z's song in two thousand
and six, Kingdom Come, and Nicki Minaj's number one hit
from twenty twenty two called super Freaky Girl. But Rick
(01:31):
James was the original super Freak. His story included a
meteoric rise and a devastating fall. Born in Buffalo, New
York in nineteen forty eight, he had everything going for
him as he launched his music career with a fusion
of funk, soul, and rock. He was twenty nine years
old when he had his first huge hit, You and I.
(01:52):
By the early eighties, he was dating Linda Blair, you
know her from the Exorcist. As a kid, he was
friends with stars like Eddie Murphy, Debbie Allen, Smokey Robinson,
and Marvin Gaye. But the success was more than he
could handle. His music and his personality were tied to
one another. He gave fans electrifying performances and hits like
(02:13):
super Freak and Give It to Me Baby. But Rick
James flamboyant, glitzy, and rebellious reputation had a quieter and
much darker sub narrative. By the early nineteen nineties, his
life was pretty much out of control. His addiction to
cocaine and other drugs had him spending an insane seven
thousand dollars a week with drug dealers. We're talking thirty
(02:36):
five years ago too, and he was becoming more and
more reckless and violent. Then came the beginning of the end.
In July nineteen ninety one, Rick James and his ex
wife Tanya were accused of holding twenty four year old
Francis Alley captive in Rix Hollywood Hills home. They kept
her there for days during a week long cocaine binge.
(02:56):
Court records say Francis was severely abused by them, including
being tied up, burned over twenty times with the hot
end of a crack pipe, and forced to perform sex acts.
That got crazier when he accused Francis of stealing his drugs.
That's when he pointed a gun at her and threatened
to kill her if she tried to leave. Rick James
(03:17):
finally untied Francis and she managed to escape. She was
treated at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA and the
cops were called. Rick and Tanya were arrested. Fast forward
more than a year to November of nineteen ninety two.
While out on bail, finally ready to go to trial
in this case, Rick got involved in another violent situation.
(03:39):
This time it was Mary Sauger, a thirty four year
old music executive from West Hollywood. She had a professional
relationship with Rick and Tanya and they had all agreed
to meet up to talk business at an upscale club
and hotel in West Hollywood. Mary arrives at the hotel
around ten o'clock at night and meets Rick and Tanya
(03:59):
in their They drink a bottle of wine. She says,
Rick then basically forced her to take a hit of cocaine. Okay,
So the evening moves on as they discuss Rick's new
record label. Now it's two am. Rick and Tanya get
into a really heated argument. It gets uncomfortable, so that's
when Mary decides she's going to leave. She gets into
(04:22):
the elevator and exhausted and maybe a little high, rests
her head against the wall with her eyes closed. She
says she must have dozed off because suddenly the door's open.
She's back on the eleventh floor and Tanya is waiting
for her. She apologizes to Mary and talks her into
coming back to the suite. Now they're back in the room,
(04:43):
but things go from bad to worse. Tanya walks out
for a moment, but when she comes back, she's wearing
only her underwear. She starts coming on to Rick while
Mary is sitting there. Oddly, they all start chatting about
the challenges faced by women involved professiontionally and personally with musicians,
especially the constant harassment. That's when Tanya's attitude suddenly changes.
(05:08):
She starts slapping Mary and then Rick joins in. It
gets so intense Mary passes out. She comes too when
they drench her with water. Then they begin to beat
her violently. This goes on for several hours. Rick finally
takes Mary to another room on the eighth floor, where
he eventually fell asleep himself. That night, at around seven
(05:29):
point thirty, Tanya calls a cab from Mary and hands
her five bucks for the fair. Despite her crazy injuries.
Her left eye is swollen shut and the right nearly so.
Mary waits for two days to get medical attention and
report the incident. To cops. She only does that after
a lawyer friend tells her she has to do it.
She later testified that the ordeal left her in constant
(05:52):
pain with throbbing behind her eye. Of course, this whole
mess led to a cascade of legal troubles for Rick
and Tanya. Rick was charged with a slew of felonies,
including assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated mayhem, torture, forcible
oral copulation, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. He could have gotten
(06:12):
life on all those charges. Tanya got four years for
pleading guilty to assault. During Rick's trial, Mary Sauger gave
heartfelt emotional testimony about her torture by the pair. In
a bizarre turn of events, during the trial, Rick fell
asleep and started to snore loudly, prompting the judge to
call a recess. His lawyer blamed the stress of the trial. Okay. Finally,
(06:38):
Rick was found guilty of both offenses, but was acquitted
of the torture charge and was sentenced to five years.
Wealthy and famous people often got away with crimes, and
I guests unfortunately still do. But while in prison, Rick
composed over three hundred songs, calling jail a blessing in
disguise that probably saved him from a fatal overdose. Mary
(06:59):
Sawager got a settlement of one point seven million dollars,
with the hotel paying seven hundred thousand of that since
the hotel staff were apparently aware of what was happening.
Rick's reputation never recovered. By two thousand and four, Rick
was a walking drug store when he died of heart
failure complicated by a stroke, diabetes, and a heart attack.
(07:21):
In his blood the corner found xanax, valium, two different antidepressants,
as well as hydrocodone, digitalis, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Rick james
musical genius had long been overshadowed by his own drive
towards self destruction. Doesn't it make you wonder why we're
(07:41):
all so hungry to hit the big time? He was
just fifty six years old when he died. Hope you
like the backstory with Patty Steele. I would love it
if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new
episodes delivered automatically and free to DM me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
(08:03):
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
(08:24):
episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out
to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram
at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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