"not one Picasso, he’d give me a pair/that’s what I’ve always dreamed of"

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¢€.

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.