Biography
Mari Wilson channeled the lively pop sensibilities and sartorial flair of the late 1950s and early 1960s into her work from the early 1980s onward, achieving recognition via the U.K. Top Ten single “Just What I Always Wanted,” which appeared on her debut album Showpeople that reached number 30 in 1983. Her next full-length release, The Rhythm Romance, arrived eight years later and saw her exploring polished jazz standards in tandem with pop covers and new compositions. She later gained additional attention for recording the theme to the British sitcom Coupling that ran from 2000 to 2004, delivering her own take on the Cuban composition “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps,” first captured in English by Desi Arnaz & His Orchestra. Between projects that continued to fuse jazz and pop, Wilson collaborated with vocal-jazz specialists Barb Jungr and Claire Martin on the 2006 album Girl Talk, while 2012’s Cover Stories consisted solely of interpretations drawn from sources that included Dusty Springfield and Gillian Welch. Her sixth solo effort, Pop Deluxe, surfaced in 2016 as a homage to British vocalists of the 1960s such as Springfield, Cilla Black, and Petula Clark.
Born Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson in Neasden, northwest London, in 1957, she converted her affinity for early rock and girl groups into a retro-styled, Motown-tinged debut single, “Loveman,” issued in 1980 and presented with a beehive hairstyle and backing from the Imaginations. After another Imaginations release, “Dance Card,” she reached the U.K. singles chart with the solo track “Beat the Beat” in 1982 and moved nearer the Top 40 with that year’s “Baby It’s True.” Wilson finally entered the Top Ten via the original composition “Just What I Always Wanted,” which climbed to number eight in October 1982. The song formed part of Showpeople, her February 1983 debut album on the Compact Organisation label, credited to Mari Wilson & the Wilsations. Blending original material from songwriter Teddy Johns with covers of pieces by the likes of Bacharach and David (“Are You There with Another Girl?”) and Arthur Hamilton (“Cry Me a River”), the record peaked at number 24 on the U.K. album chart.
After her hit album, Wilson issued a series of shorter releases, among them the live set Born Lucky: Live at the Pleasure Dome, 1982, and standalone singles such as “Let’s Make This Last” (1984) and “Would You Dance with a Stranger” (1985), before stepping back from the spotlight for several years spent readying her follow-up. During that interval she began writing her own songs and performing standards in intimate venues with a jazz quartet, an activity that culminated in a guest appearance alongside Stan Getz at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Following her signing with Dino Entertainment, Wilson resurfaced in 1991 with The Rhythm Romance, an album that tilted toward smooth, sincere renderings of jazz standards including “My Funny Valentine.” Although the record itself did not chart, her interpretation of “Cry Me a River” was placed in the crime series McCallum, and she was chosen to record “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” for the theme of the hit sitcom Coupling. Originally written by Bobby Capó as “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás,” the English-language version had been introduced by Desi Arnaz & His Orchestra in 1948. At the same time she ventured into theater, taking roles in the musical Sweet Charity and the Dusty Springfield project Dusty, The Musical.
The vocalist’s third album, Dolled Up, emerged on her own Beehive imprint in 2005. Just twelve months later she issued the collaborative set Girl Talk on Linn Records, uniting Wilson with the vocal-jazz trio of Barb Jungr and Claire Martin. Rhino released Mari Wilson: The Platinum Collection in 2007. Her rendition of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” later appeared on her fourth solo album, Emotional Glamour, issued in 2008 as her second Beehive outing. A third Beehive release, Cover Stories, arrived in 2012; devoted entirely to covers, it honored artists ranging from Dusty Springfield and the Pretenders to the Bee Gees and Gillian Welch. Wilson focused on British influences from the 1960s for Pop Deluxe in 2016, interpreting songs associated with Springfield, Cilla Black, Petula Clark, and others; the collection came out via WG Records. In September 2018 she joined Marc Almond onstage as a special guest at Soft Cell’s farewell concert at the O2 Arena, and she embarked on a tour with the Wilsations the following year. In 2022, alongside her own headline dates, she supported Level 42 on a U.K. tour.
Born Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson in Neasden, northwest London, in 1957, she converted her affinity for early rock and girl groups into a retro-styled, Motown-tinged debut single, “Loveman,” issued in 1980 and presented with a beehive hairstyle and backing from the Imaginations. After another Imaginations release, “Dance Card,” she reached the U.K. singles chart with the solo track “Beat the Beat” in 1982 and moved nearer the Top 40 with that year’s “Baby It’s True.” Wilson finally entered the Top Ten via the original composition “Just What I Always Wanted,” which climbed to number eight in October 1982. The song formed part of Showpeople, her February 1983 debut album on the Compact Organisation label, credited to Mari Wilson & the Wilsations. Blending original material from songwriter Teddy Johns with covers of pieces by the likes of Bacharach and David (“Are You There with Another Girl?”) and Arthur Hamilton (“Cry Me a River”), the record peaked at number 24 on the U.K. album chart.
After her hit album, Wilson issued a series of shorter releases, among them the live set Born Lucky: Live at the Pleasure Dome, 1982, and standalone singles such as “Let’s Make This Last” (1984) and “Would You Dance with a Stranger” (1985), before stepping back from the spotlight for several years spent readying her follow-up. During that interval she began writing her own songs and performing standards in intimate venues with a jazz quartet, an activity that culminated in a guest appearance alongside Stan Getz at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Following her signing with Dino Entertainment, Wilson resurfaced in 1991 with The Rhythm Romance, an album that tilted toward smooth, sincere renderings of jazz standards including “My Funny Valentine.” Although the record itself did not chart, her interpretation of “Cry Me a River” was placed in the crime series McCallum, and she was chosen to record “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” for the theme of the hit sitcom Coupling. Originally written by Bobby Capó as “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás,” the English-language version had been introduced by Desi Arnaz & His Orchestra in 1948. At the same time she ventured into theater, taking roles in the musical Sweet Charity and the Dusty Springfield project Dusty, The Musical.
The vocalist’s third album, Dolled Up, emerged on her own Beehive imprint in 2005. Just twelve months later she issued the collaborative set Girl Talk on Linn Records, uniting Wilson with the vocal-jazz trio of Barb Jungr and Claire Martin. Rhino released Mari Wilson: The Platinum Collection in 2007. Her rendition of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” later appeared on her fourth solo album, Emotional Glamour, issued in 2008 as her second Beehive outing. A third Beehive release, Cover Stories, arrived in 2012; devoted entirely to covers, it honored artists ranging from Dusty Springfield and the Pretenders to the Bee Gees and Gillian Welch. Wilson focused on British influences from the 1960s for Pop Deluxe in 2016, interpreting songs associated with Springfield, Cilla Black, Petula Clark, and others; the collection came out via WG Records. In September 2018 she joined Marc Almond onstage as a special guest at Soft Cell’s farewell concert at the O2 Arena, and she embarked on a tour with the Wilsations the following year. In 2022, alongside her own headline dates, she supported Level 42 on a U.K. tour.
Albums
Singles
