| Showpeople | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 18 February 1983 [1] |
| Recorded | 1982–83 |
| Genre | Pop, new wave [2] |
| Label | Compact (UK) London (Europe) Polygram (US) |
| Producer | Tony Mansfield Andrew Powell |
Showpeople is the debut album by UK singer Mari Wilson. It was released in 1983 and featured her breakthrough hit "Just What I Always Wanted".
In early 1982, Wilson had achieved minor success with two singles, "Beat the Beat" and "Baby It's True", but it was in September that she broke through to top ten success when "Just What I Always Wanted" became a No.8 hit. [3] The song sparked media interest in Wilson due to her 1960s image (in particular her beehive hairstyle) and retro sound. She was also keen to promote her backing band, The Wilsations, who received joint credit on the album. This was followed up with the more modest hit "(Beware) Boyfriend", but a cover of "Cry Me a River" returned her to the top 30. Alongside this fifth single came the debut album, which also charted well, by reaching No.24 in the UK. [4] One more single was released from the album afterwards, "Wonderful (To Be With)", which proved to be Wilson's final top 75 entry.
The album was released in three different versions: the UK edition, a slightly modified version in Europe and a truncated version in the US. The UK edition featured neither "(Beware) Boyfriend" or "Baby It's True", while none of them included "Beat the Beat". [5] In the US, the album was issued in 1983 on Polygram Records and was released alongside lead single "Just What I Always Wanted", but was unsuccessful. In the UK, Showpeople remains her only hit album.
The album has never been released on compact disc, but in 2007, all tracks were featured on Wilson's compilation album, The Platinum Collection. [6]
All tracks composed by Teddy Johns, except where indicated.
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The Beach Boys Today! is the eighth studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 8, 1965 on Capitol Records. It signaled a departure from their previous records with its orchestral sound, intimate subject matter, and abandonment of car or surf songs. Side one features an uptempo sound, while side two consists mostly of introspective ballads. Supported by this thematic approach, the record became an early example of a rock concept album and established the group as album artists rather than just a singles band. It has since become regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
In Our Lifetime? is the sixteenth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released January 15, 1981, on Motown label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Marvin's Room in Los Angeles, California, Seawest Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Odyssey Studios in London, England, throughout 1979 and 1980. The album cover was designed by Neil Breeden. Gaye's final album for Motown before leaving for Columbia Records, the album was the follow-up to the commercial failure of Here, My Dear, a double album which chronicled the singer's divorce from Anna Gordy. Entirely written, produced, arranged, and mixed by Gaye, In Our Lifetime? was a departure for Gaye from the disco stylings of his previous two studio efforts and was seen as one of the best albums of the singer's late-Motown period.
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"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the U.S. and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and it is regarded by some as one of the greatest songs of all time.
Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single "Just What I Always Wanted" and her 1960s image complete with beehive hairstyle.
"Help Me, Rhonda" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, appearing first on their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! and subsequently in re-recorded form on the following 1965 album Summer Days . It was written by Brian Wilson, with additional lyrics by Mike Love. Unlike many other songs by the band from this period, "Help Me, Rhonda" features a lead vocal sung by Al Jardine.
"Here Today" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, the lyric warns the listener of inevitable heartbreak before the narrator reveals himself to be the ex-boyfriend of the listener's newfound love. Musically, the song features an uncommon formal structure, the use of electric bass guitar as a lead instrument, and a 20-bar length instrumental break.
The Return of the Magnificent Seven is the second collaborative album between Motown label-mates The Supremes and Four Tops, released in 1971. The production only featured two covers compared to their first album together, The Magnificent 7, that included more than eight. Although the three albums the Supremes recorded with the Four Tops did not match the commercial success of the Supremes/Temptations duet albums, what they did have instead were original tunes, soulful lead vocals by Jean Terrell and Levi Stubbs and high production values in terms of arrangements and orchestration.
Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson was an American jump blues pianist and bandleader active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably "Since I Fell for You", which became a jazz standard.
Nothin' Matters and What If It Did is John Mellencamp's fourth studio album, under his pseudonym of John Cougar. Produced by soul pioneer Steve Cropper, the album includes the Top 40 hits "Ain't Even Done with the Night", which reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 as the album's second single, and "This Time", which peaked at No. 27 as the album's lead single.
The Hits Album 4 or Hits 4 is a compilation album released in the UK in March 1986 by CBS and WEA, with RCA Ariola now also joining the partnership from this release onwards. It followed The Hits Album and Hits 2 to the top of the UK Top 100 Album chart and remained there for 4 weeks. A VHS compilation was also released by RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video.
Time Won't Let Me is the first studio album by the Outsiders. It was named after the band's early 1966 break-out single, "Time Won't Let Me".
"I Want a Guy" is a song written by Freddie Gorman, Berry Gordy and Brian Holland and was the debuting single for Motown girl group The Supremes in 1961. It was also recorded by The Marvelettes on their album Please Mr. Postman. Featuring Diana Ross in lead, the song was a doo-wop ballad similar to what the Supremes had been recording since forming as "The Primettes" two years earlier.
Singin'... is a 1977 album release by Melissa Manchester on Arista Records.
Monty Powell is an American country music songwriter best known for collaborating with Keith Urban, and for producing albums by Diamond Rio.
"Just What I Always Wanted" is a song by English singer Mari Wilson, released in 1982 as the lead single from her 1983 debut album Showpeople.
"Are You There (with Another Girl)" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for American singer Dionne Warwick. Her version, released as a single in December 1965, eventually reached number 39 on the Billboard charts. It also appears as the tenth track on her album Here I Am (1965).
Tot Taylor is an English, Cambridge-born, London-based songwriter, composer, record producer, author and art curator. He was a songwriter, singer, performer and band member throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties as well as composer of film soundtracks and theatre scores including stage-productions for the UK's National Theatre. In 2003 he founded the Riflemaker Gallery in London with the curator Virginia Damtsa, which featured feminist, audio and performative art for galleries and museums.
