Mari Wilson

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Mari Wilson
Birth nameMari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson
Also known asMiss Beehive, Neasden Queen of Soul
Born (1954-09-29) 29 September 1954 (age 70)
Origin Neasden, London, England
Genres
Years active1980–present
Labels
  • Compact
  • Beehive
Website mariwilson.co.uk

Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) [1] [2] is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single "Just What I Always Wanted". She had a further UK top-40 hit in 1983 with a cover of "Cry Me a River".

Contents

Career

Recording on Compact Records with her backing band The Wilsations, Wilson scored six UK hit singles between 1982 and 1984. Her biggest hit, "Just What I Always Wanted" peaked at No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart in 1982. [3]

In 1983, she released a cover of "Cry Me a River" (UK No. 27) along with her debut album, Showpeople (UK No. 24). [3] After this, further commercial success eluded her, though in 1985 she recorded the song "Would You Dance with a Stranger" (theme for the film Dance with a Stranger ) and turned her career towards live performances. [4] Previously known for her beehive hairstyle, she subsequently distanced herself from her beehive days, [4] but started touring with her old songs again in 2007.

In 1992, her album The Rhythm Romance, which combined jazz standards with 1960s songs and original material, failed to return her to the charts. She continued performing with jazz bands, and she sang the theme song to the sitcom Coupling ("Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"). [5]

In 2005, she returned to recording with the album Dolled Up. This was followed by a compilation of her hits, The Platinum Collection, to celebrate her 25th anniversary in the music industry. Apart from pursuing her solo career, she toured with Barb Jungr and Claire Martin as the cabaret act Girl Talk (though Claire Martin has now been replaced by Gwyneth Herbert). [6]

Wilson has also performed in musicals such as Dusty – The Musical, [7] and has been featured on a BBC Television series[ which? ] about celebrities and their health (she has Type 1 Diabetes).[ citation needed ]

Her band was known as The Imaginations for their first two singles before becoming The Wilsations, [8] and her backing vocalists were called The Marionettes. Occasional featured artists were Michelle Collins, Julia Fordham [4] bassist 'Thumbs' Cunningham and alto-saxonist Jann K.

Wilson's fourth studio album, Emotional Glamour, was released on her own Beehive label in October 2008. [9] She has also written and starred in a one-woman musical, The Love Thing. [10]

In 2012, an album of covers called Cover Stories was released, funded by public subscription. She also writes a regular blog about her life and music. [11]

On 30 September 2018, she appeared with Soft Cell, as an unannounced special guest to sing a duet with Marc Almond, as part of their final live concert 'Say Hello and Wave Goodbye, One Last Time' at The O2 Arena in London.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Wilson is a longtime resident of Crouch End, north London and is married to TV producer Mal Young. Her parents are from Scotland. [12]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Kay, Caroline (11 October 2019). "Queen of Soul is just what you've always wanted". Derby Telegraph . Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, UK: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 606. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  4. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who’s Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 311/2. ISBN   0-85112-579-4.
  5. ↑ Jarvis, Nikki (2 May 2012). "Witty songbird Mari Wilson, The Neasden Queen of Soul, performing in Canada Water Culture Space". newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  6. ↑ Profile Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine , GirlTalkdivas.co.uk; accessed 6 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Dusty Springfield: Dusty Devotedly - Dusty The Musical, details of the show starring Mari Wilson". Simonbell.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Holden, Stephen (20 September 1983). "Pop Vocalist: Mari Wilson". The New York Times . p. 21. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  9. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ "Mari Wilson: Cover Stories". PledgeMusic.com.
  12. ↑ Ross King. "Ross King: Soul singer Mari Wilson is a fan of the Broons". Sunday Post. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
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