Martika is the title of the debut album by former child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

 and Teen pop

Teen pop

Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....

 singer Martika

Martika

Martika is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress. As a singer she released two internationally successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, selling over four million copies worldwide.-Early life and career:Martika entered mainstream show business in an uncredited role as one of the...

. It was released on CBS Records

CBS Records

CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...

 in 1988.

Background

The album marked the solo debut for Martika, and spawned the American #1 single "Toy Soldiers

Toy Soldiers (song)

"Toy Soldiers" is a song by Martika appearing on her eponymous debut album in 1989 as a ballad. The single was a number-one hit in the United States. It was sampled by Eminem in his 2004 single, "Like Toy Soldiers"...

". The song is about drug addiction, but with only a cursory listen it sounds like a break-up ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

. The song was later sampled by rapper Eminem

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

 for his 2004 single "Like Toy Soldiers

Like Toy Soldiers

"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fifth album Encore. The song samples 1989 song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika and the title theme from 1972 film The Hot Rock...

". Songs that charted internationally included "More Than You Know", "Water", and "I Feel the Earth Move", a Carole King

Carole King

Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...

 cover that cracked the American Top 25. Stylistically the music was strictly pop, despite exploring some adult topics lyrically. The song "Water" is partially sung in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, an homage to Martika's Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n heritage. Other songs were re-recorded fully in Spanish for international release.

The album was successful in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

; it managed to peak at #15 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and was certified Gold by the RIAA, making it her best-selling album to date. The album peaked at #11 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, containing three top 20 singles there. In the UK, the song "Cross My Heart" had been a top 20 hit for the band Eighth Wonder

Eighth Wonder

Eighth Wonder were a British pop band in the 1980s. They formed in 1983 and enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy between 1985 and 1987, before having hit singles in the UK and across Europe in 1988.-Early years:...

., while Big Fun pulled their planned single release of "I Feel the Earth Move" shortly before Martika's release.

Track listing

Side One

1. "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane" (Jay, Smith; Copyright
   Copyright
   Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
   
    Ensign Music Corp/Curley Top Music) 4:20
2. "Cross My Heart
   Cross My Heart (Eighth Wonder song)
   "Cross My Heart" is a 1987 song recorded by British pop band Eighth Wonder. It was the second single from the album Fearless and group's sixth single, and was released in 1988. It which proved to be almost as successful chart wise as "I'm Not Scared", reaching the top ten in Italy, Norway and...
   
   " (Jay; Copyright Ensign Music Corp) 3:52
3. "More Than You Know" (Martika, Jay, Marvin Morrow; Copyright Tika Tunes-Famous Music Corp/Ensign Music Corp/Marvin Morrow Music) 4:10
4. "Toy Soldiers"
   Toy Soldiers (song)
   "Toy Soldiers" is a song by Martika appearing on her eponymous debut album in 1989 as a ballad. The single was a number-one hit in the United States. It was sampled by Eminem in his 2004 single, "Like Toy Soldiers"...
   
    (Martika, Jay; Copyright Tika Tunes-Famous Music Corp/Ensign Music Corp) 4:51
5. "You Got Me Into This" (Jay; Copyright Ensign Music Corp) 4:11

Side Two

1. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Carole King; Copyright Colgems-EMI
   EMI
   The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
   
    Music) 4:12
2. "Water"
   Water (Martika song)
   "Water" was the final single from Martika's self-titled debut, Martika. "Water" was never released as a single in the US, but peaked at number 59 in the UK. The version released on the single was a remix of the album version, simply titled 7" REMIX....
   
    (Martika, Sheridan, Treadwell; Copyright Lorimar Music Bee Corp/Crazy Eights Music/Ensign Music Corp) 4:39
3. "It's Not What You're Doing" (Etoll, Jay; Copyright Ensign Music Corp/Rightsong Music Inc/Sweet Silence Music Co) 4:13
4. "See If I Care" (Martika, Jay, Morrow; Copyright Tika Tunes-Famous Music Corp/Ensign Music Corp/Marvin Morrow Music) 3:41
5. "Alibis" (Martika, Kaplan; Copyright Tika Tunes-Famous Music Corp/Mika Music) 3:50

Alternative versions

Four of the tracks from the album were recorded in Spanish by Martika:

1. "Como Un Juguete" (Toy Soldiers) 4:48
2. "Siento Temblar La Tierra" (I Feel The Earth Move)
3. "Quiero Entregarte Mi Amor" (More Than You Know) 4:13
4. "Agua" (Water)

"Toy Soldiers" was also recorded by Martika in Japanese, released on an EP in 1989 called "Special Touch".

Remixes

1. "Toy Soldiers" (Single Version) 4:19
2. "Toy Soldiers" (Special Version)
3. "Toy Soldiers" (Original Backing Track)
4. "Toy Soldiers" (Edit Version)
5. "I Feel the Earth Move" (7" Version)
6. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Single Version) 3:58
7. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Extended Single Version)
8. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Seismic Rhythm Mix) 7:13
9. "I Feel the Earth Move" (12" Club Mix) 6:36
10. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Dub Mix)
11. "More Than You Know" (7" Edit/Single Version)
12. "More Than You Know" (Single Remix) 4:04
13. "More Than You Know" (Club Mix) 6:14
14. "More Than You Know" (House Mix Part I) 6:06
15. "More Than You Know" (House Mix Part II) 5:04
16. "More Than You Know" (Dance Mix) 6:10
17. "More Than You Know" (Dub Mic Part II) 2:06
18. "Water" (Remix)
19. "Water" (7" Remix)

Personnel

• Martika - lead and backing vocals, shaker
• Greg Smith - keyboards (tracks 1, 4, 6)
• Claude Gaudette - keyboards, drum programming, additional keyboards (tracks 1-2, 5-7)
• Brad Cole - keyboards, additional keyboards, synthesizers (tracks 2-3, 5, 8)
• Marvin Morrow - keyboards, drum programming (tracks 3, 9)
• Mitch Kaplan - keyboards (track 10)
• Mark Leggett
  Mark Leggett
  Mark Leggett is a Los Angeles-based, twice Emmy nominated composer who has composed music for hundreds of television and documentary productions in the U.S....
  
  -guitar (tracks 1-5, 7-9)
• Don Kirkpatrick - guitar (track 6)
• David Macias - guitar (track 10)
• Marc Jones - bass (track 10)
• Paulinho Da Costa
  Paulinho Da Costa
  Paulinho da Costa is a Brazilian percussionist born in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. Playing over two hundred percussion instruments, he has participated in thousands of recording sessions, Grammy Award-winning albums, hit songs, soundtracks, radio...
  
   - percussion (tracks 5, 7, 9)
• Omar Martinez - drums (track 10)
• Michael Jay - drum programming, backing vocals (tracks 1-2, 4-6, 8-9)
• Christopher Ainsworth - drum programming (track 7)
• Michael Mattioli - saxophone (track 10)
• Clif Magness - backing vocals (track 1)
• Davey Faragher
  Davey Faragher
  Davey Faragher is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band, Cracker, and his following work with The Imposters, the backing band for Elvis Costello since 2001.Faragher is an accomplished...
  
   - backing vocals (track 1)
• Michael Cruz - backing vocals (track 1)
• Rick Jude Palombi - backing vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6-7)
• Donna De Lory - backing vocals (tracks 3, 6)
• Niki Haris
  Niki Haris
  Niki Haris is an American actress, dancer, and singer of pop, R&B, Dance music and jazz, perhaps best known for having been one of Madonna's backing vocalists from 1987 to 2001.-Early life and family:...
  
   - backing vocals (track 3)
• Alitzah Wiener - backing vocals (track 4)
• Devyn Puett
  Devyn Puett
  Devyn Puett is a former American child actress and singer who was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the character of "Devyn" in the 1988 and 1989 seasons of the long-running children's television show Kids Incorporated. As a singer, Puett was featured in...
  
   - backing vocals (track 4)
• Kimberly McCullough
  Kimberly McCullough
  Kimberly Anne McCullough is an American actress, dancer, and director. She is best known for her longtime role as Robin Scorpio on the soap opera General Hospital, a role which she originated at the age of 7, playing the character from 1985-1996...
  
   - backing vocals (track 4)
• Marlen Landin - backing vocals (track 4)
• Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson is an American singer and actor, best known for portraying "The Kid" on the popular 1980s television show Kids Incorporated. He is a native of The Bronx, New York. He was named after '60s jazz saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk...
  
   - backing vocals (tracks 4, 7, 10)
• Rasha Patterson - backing vocals (track 4)
• Renee Sands
  Renee Sands
  Renee Ilene Sandstrom , an American singer and actress better known by her stage name, Renee Sands. She is best known for appearing as Renee on the 1980s children's television show Kids Incorporated.-Career:...
  
   - backing vocals (track 4)
• Stacy Ferguson
  Stacy Ferguson
  Stacy Ann Ferguson , better known by her stage name Fergie, is an American singer-songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She was a member of the children's television series Kids Incorporated and the girl group Wild Orchid. She is the female vocalist for the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas...
  
  - backing vocals (track 4)
• Mona Lisa Young - backing vocals (track 6)
• Laura Creamer - backing vocals (track 7)
• Mendy Lee - backing vocals (track 7)
• Sue Sheridan - backing vocals (track 7)

Production

• Arranged By Michael Jay, Greg Smith, Claude Gaudette, Marvin Morrow, Brad Cole & Martika
• Produced by Michael Jay
• Engineered by Peter Arata, Rick Butz, Greg Loskorn, Michael MacDonald, Mike Nicholson, Karen Siegel
• Mixed by Michael MacDonald & Keith "KC" Cohen

Chart performance

Singles:

• 1988 "More Than You Know" - #18 US, #15 UK
• 1989 "Toy Soldiers" - #1 US, #5 UK
• 1989 "I Feel The Earth Move" - #25 US, #7 UK
• 1990 "Water (Remix)" - #59 UK

Album:

Chart (1988)	Peak position	Total weeks
Australian Albums Chart	2	26
Austrian Albums Chart	18	6
Canadian Albums Chart	17	17
New Zealand Albums Chart	11	16
Norwegian Albums Chart	17	3
Swedish Albums Chart	26	10
Swiss Albums Chart	11	7
UK Albums Chart	11	37
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	15	39