Back on the Mari-go-round
The highest hair in pop returns to musical form and this time it's personal.
Once the voice behind the beehive, now Mari Wilson is back after having ‘lived a bit’ and paying her dues on the jazz and theatre circuit. Although the hair may be less structured these days, the music certainly reflects the current trend for all things retro; which is where she first came in over a quarter of a century ago with a string of early 80’s hits which stood out like a sore thumb amongst the new wave, new romantics of the era but proved endearingly popular. Now she’s doing what she does best with a new album, nationwide tour and a forthcoming one woman show.
So what prompted the current ‘hive of activity’ and the withdrawal from the pop scene all those years ago?
“When I first disappeared from the music scene in 1985 it was because I was unhappy with what I was doing. I loved my early singles and my first album, but I had recorded the follow up and it just wasn’t the direction I wanted to go in. I came into the business for the music and wanted to be a singer and I was in danger of becoming a celebrity. I was getting offered things like Blankety Blank, and it would have been fine if I was doing the music I really wanted to do, but I wasn’t. So I disappeared and went and sang jazz for about 20 years!
Does she regret turning her back on pop success?
“Well funnily enough it actually made me a better singer. I was disillusioned with the whole pop thing so I got out. I did record an album in 1991 called The Rhythm Romance and got good reviews, but really I concentrated on being a mum (Mari has an 11 year old daughter Lily May). I was also in a relationship for eighteen years, which ended up being quite an unhappy one for me and you do lose yourself in those situations. 
However, the experience provided all the material from which I’m working today. I did an album in 2005 called Dolled Up which was pretty autobiographical. I sent a copy to Dave Stewart (yes he of The Eurythmics) and he said: ‘you really should turn this into a musical’ So that’s exactly what I’ve been working on for the past few years.
That album and my new album all feature songs from a one woman show I’ve been working on and I’m hoping it will be ready for the spring. It’s not a ‘theatrical’ show, it’s simply a musical show telling the stories of one woman’s experiences .The trouble is I just can’t stop writing and that’s why there’s a new album out this month!’’
(Emotional Glamour will only be Mari’s third complete album in her 28 year career.)
“Gradually over the last few years I really think I’m becoming the person I was meant to be years ago. I think I’m now just getting to be the person I lost. The new stuff is much poppier and more like my old stuff , with melodies and a 60’s feel, but it’s all new and it’s all my own work! ”
And the beehive?
“I wish I could carry it off nowadays but I really wanted to look like Bobbie Gentry (late 1960’s country-pop siren) and if I had that hairdo these days I’d look more like a drag queen or Dick Emery!
Infact when I wanted to get out of the music business in the mid 80’s, I went and had all my hair cut off and dyed black. It really didn’t suit me and I looked like a darker haired version of Hazell Dean. I never wanted to be so famous that I couldn’t go to the supermarket without being recognized but that was probably going a bit too far.”
How has the music business changed since she’s been away?
“Well for me a lot. I never made much money as when I really hit it big we were touring with a 12 piece orchestra so there wasn’t much left really. It’s a good job I like thrift store retro chic! Now the band is smaller and I’m doing pretty much everything myself; writing, producing, promotion, even responding to all my own e-mails!
It’s important to me that people realize you can be my age and still be sexy. There’s a song on the album called ‘Have you got what it takes’ and it’s really about sex but all very tongue in cheek. There’s also one about the model Agnes Deyn, who I think is fab. I saw her at London Fashion Week and wanted to tell her about it but I didn’t have a copy of the album on me.
It seems that in her early career, the hair and the vintage look seemed to dominate her image and 
after years singing live and doing the odd theatre show (notably playing Dusty Springfield a singer who also disappeared and came back to prominence again in her fifties) - it seems although she’s grateful for the past it’s her voice and her music that she wants people to enjoy.
“My early success came just after punk and I think the current economic climate does mirror the early 80’s in a way. People still want to be entertained and I just want to give them a good night out. I’m still high camp which explains the album title, Emotional Glamour. Adrian York who wrote the songs with me and I couldn’t think of a title, and he said your songs are emotional and you are glamorous so really it’s as simple as that.”
What can we expect from the 2008 Mari Wilson?
“Well I’ve got some new dresses and new band members! Honestly I don’t want to give anything away about the show but its getting camper by the minute.“
How camp are we talking?
“Well on stage I’m definitely 10 and off stage I’m a 9! Not when I’m helping my daughter with her homework of course but I do try to see the humour in everything. I’m really enjoying it all this time around. Now I can do the old stuff but there was a time when I just couldn’t bring myself to sing songs like Cry Me a River (her famous cover of the Julie London song - still regarded by many as her anthem.) Amy Winehouse is still singing songs from Back to Black, I would hate that. Its good to have a mix of old and new material and the new stuff is really like where I left off in the early 80’s.”
Mari was 51 on September 29th ,does she feel any pressure to compete with the many young female singers that are out there and who does she rate?
“To be honest, I have been asked to go on certain makeover shows and have a little work done but I don’t want to - I mean have you seen Priscilla Presley lately? Anyway I don’t need it! 
Often people ask me about Amy Winehouse because of the beehive and she really does have a fabulous voice. although I don’t think she sounds that great lately. I’m a bit on the fence about Duffy. There are plenty of people I really love like Elbow, their music is so emotive and the singer has such a great voice. I love Rufus Wainwright too. One of my all time favourites is Glen Campbell who I went to see in the States recently. He’s in his early 70’s and he couldn’t remember the names of his band but he was still amazing.
My daughter loves Katy Perry but I just don’t get it. People say she’s great live - maybe I’m getting old but she just sounds like so many other people to me. I was watching the X Factor the other day and I thought do these people really want to be singers or do they just want fame? I really want to tell them that if you’re after fame it really isn’t what you think it‘s going to be. Everybody wants a piece of you and everyone wants to shape your career.”
“I look at Madonna who is the same age as me and of course has been around the same time and I wonder how she does it? I mean what motivates her to keep making records and how does she find the time to look after her kids ? I don’t get the music either, call me old fashioned but I like a song to have a beginning , middle and an end and that’s what I’m getting back to: lots of backing vocals, girl group sounds and echoes of Karen Carpenter, Dusty, The Chiffons etc.”
Having found her second wind there’s no stopping the girl from Neasden who has plans beyond the album, tour and the musical.
“I really would like to do an album with just strings for accompaniment and I’d love to do a really good Christmas album. I’m looking forward to the tour and I’m obviously aiming to work my way up again. I would love to be able to do the London Palladium."
Talking to Mari you get a very strong feeling that fans old and new are in for a real musical treat and this time around, whatever she achieves it will most definitely be on her terms.
"Emotional Glamour", the brand new CD by Mari Wilson, will be released on Monday 6 October 2008 on Mari's own label, Beehive Records. Produced by Mari Wilson and Adrian York, the CD features 10 new tracks all co-written by Mari and Adrian, plus one surprise bonus track.
Mari starts a 24 date nationwide tour on October 1st which takes in several North West venues until November 7th.
