Wrapped in taffeta and camp while sporting a foot-high blonde beehive, Mari Wilson (not the Supreme) stepped out of the mid-sixties and straight into the new wave movement with her 1983 debut, Á¢€Å“Show PeopleÁ¢€ and its centerpiece single, Á¢€Å“Just What I Always WantedÁ¢€.

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Wilson began her career with a huge backing group dubbed the Á¢€Å“WilsationsÁ¢€, including three male background singers who had the nelliest, campiest choreography ever. Mari notched a couple chart hits in the U.K. and MTV put the Á¢€Å“Just WhatÁ¢€¦Á¢€ video in light rotation, where I sat waiting to see it for hours and hours, alongside the video for Tears For FearsÁ¢€â„¢ Á¢€Å“Pale ShelterÁ¢€ after my best friend Brandon claimed he saw once and I refused to believe him (he was right, by the way). There, tucked between such videos as Planet P Á¢€Å“Why Me?Á¢€ and Rod Stewart Á¢€Å“Baby JaneÁ¢€ came Mari, all sixties girl group glam and lush production, belting a Bacharach-ish tune with electronic drums. Heaven.

WilsonÁ¢€â„¢s Á¢€Å“Show PeopleÁ¢€ album was packed with such treasures, but the highlight was probably her version of Á¢€Å“Cry Me a RiverÁ¢€, where she very nearly ditched all the camp novelty aspects of her act and gave a stirring, moody performance. ItÁ¢€â„¢s quite lovely and pointed toward her future career as a smooth-jazz performer. A few more singles, a cameo in the Soft Cell video for Á¢€Å“What!Á¢€, a record label dispute and one final jazzy album in 1991 followed, then the quiet life until this month, when Mari released her first album in 15 years, Á¢€Å“Dolled UpÁ¢€.

VH1 Classic rolls the Á¢€Å“Just What I Always WantedÁ¢€ video here and there, so if you get the chance, definitely check it out.

Download Á¢€Å“Just What I Always Wanted (single version)Á¢€.
Download Á¢€Å“Just What I Always Wanted (extended version)Á¢€.
Download Á¢€Å“Cry Me a RiverÁ¢€.

You can find some more recent Mari Wilson CDs here, and one compilation of her new wave era songs, but donÁ¢€â„¢t have a coronary when you see the price tag.

Á¢€Just What I Always WantedÁ¢€ failed to chart in 1983.
Á¢€Å“Cry Me a RiverÁ¢€ was not released as a single in the U.S.

About the Author

John C. Hughes

John C. Hughes began his Lost in the ’80s blog in 2005 and is now proud to be a member of the Popdose family, where he’s introduced LIT80s’s companions, the obviously named Lost in the ’70s and Lost in the ’90s, alongside the slightly more originally named Why You Should Like…

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