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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
remember me?, 22 Oct 2007
WEll I bought all the singles and waited a few years for the showpeople album to come out on vynal! but at last its on cd! (though you can get all the tracks on 2 or 3 other mari cd albums that came out a few years ago)this cover and the songs take mari fans back to that day in time she was in the charts! On here you have the studio version of ecstacy which is very 60s sounding and faster than you cry me a river b side which was sang"lIVE".
you also have 2 of maris new songs "perhaps perhaps perhaps" and the love thing, which is how mari is now! truly a fantastic album!!i do hope we can have a 12ich album on cd one day with all the extended mixes of the singles.. but for now this is a must if you only remember JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED! the whole album is as catchy as that song was its self!
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thanks, but a missed opportunity?, 6 Oct 2007
Before I start may I say that any release featuring Mari is very welcome indeed and I was so looking forward to this release as a long overdue retrospective of one of the UK's largely under-appreciated female artists of the last 3 decades.
Mari has in her career turned her hand to many styles such as pop/jazz/soul that I have to say that the track listing is disapointing as it is largely made up of her 1st album. Many Mari fans will have all of this stuff (admittedly on hard to find Japanese releases)but I feel it would have been much better to re-release the Showpeople album as a de-luxe edition with added 'b' sides, extended versions etc if the content was going to be so heavily lifted from her early eighties output.
We have waited years for 'perhaps' and it is great to have 'Dance with a stranger' on here but it feels like there could and should have been so much more featured on such a compilation.
Also the cover picture is just a straight rip from that first album.Come on guys there are so many great pics of Mari to choose from over the last 25 years ,with the Imaginations/Wilsations when Mari was always in Smash hits etc.Also from the early 90's album with that classy blonde bob and her ultra glamourous forties hollywood starlet look from 'Dolled Up'!
Albums by Mari don't come along very often (1 every decade or so!) and are so rewarding that it would have been great to pull out some real nuggets from the archives.Mari always did cracking 'b' sides in her days with Compact and also her live shows often showcased her voice much better than the confines of the studio,that it would have been great to hear the comparison on here.
Mari has so far done 3 great musicals (of which to my knowledge none have been recorded) as well as the 'Girltalk' show with Barb Jungr and Claire Martin (check it out on cd)
Let's hope it will be an opportunity for younger fans to appreciate the fantastic Showpeople album but I just wish there could have been more thought put into this release as we have waited for so long.
Still we do have a great opportunity to see her this month so check out her website and go and see her on tour if you can,you won't be disapointed.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pop perfection from Mari Wilson, 19 Jan 2008
As with many early 1980's acts, Mari typified the era in so many ways. The new wave post punk sound had by this time evolved into pure pop, where the visuals were just as important as the music. So Mari's 1982 album 'Showpeople' really did sum up that time so well. And just as the 70's had harked back to the 50's with 'Grease' and the rest, so the early 80's hung onto the coat tails of the 'glam' of the 1960's. Acts that shared Mari's style and sound such as 'The Maisonettes' and 'Makin' Time' also had a stab at the charts; albeit with varying degrees of success.
What made Mari stand out from the rest were three things; her striking beehive hairdo and the glamour of her backing band 'The Wilsations'; the production of the records, and Mari's voice. She wasn't called the Neasden Queen Of Soul for nothing!!!. Moreover, the quality of the single releases was also something to behold. Most came in high quality shiny covers with free postcard inserts, and a wonderful commentary on Mari's travels through showbiz..all courtesy of her record label 'Compact'.
Big credit has to be given to Tony Mansfield, a wonderful producer , who along with his contemporaies such as Trevor Horn, bought new production values and soundscapes to pop music, never before heard. He made Mari's songs shine and sparkle, and took his craft from his own band 'New Musik', and moulded it for acts such as Mari. It worked so well!!
So it's therefore hard to understand why Mari never kept up the momentum after hitting the charts with 'Just What I Always Wanted' in September 1982. The follow up singles 'Beware Boyfriend', and 'Wonderful' were just as good, but both failed to make the Top 40. As pop music moved on, and the stadium acts such as U2 took a hold, Mari was seemingly left behind, and she moved into jazz music. But no matter, because here at last in the UK is the 'Showpeople' album wrapped up with other tracks that came after, all under the moniker of 'The Platinum Collection'. It has taken much too long for these tracks to make it to CD. Perhaps it's something to do with the fact that London Records (parent company to Compact) was sold to Warners a while back, and it's just taken a while to catch up.
Mari is an underated talent, and I would say fairly influential. Whilst harking back to Dusty Springfield herself, one only has to look at Amy Winehouse to see the natural progression of Mari's style.
To sum up then, this CD is pure pop perfection, with the 'Showpeople' tracks released at a time in the 80's when pop never got any better. Whether you know of Mari or not, you should buy this CD.
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