Showpeople is the debut album by UK singer Mari Wilson

Mari Wilson

Mari Wilson is an English singer, best known for her sometimes quirky, early 1960s-influenced pop music songs, and her beehive hairstyle.-Career:...

. It was released in 1983 and featured her breakthrough hit "Just What I Always Wanted".

Background

In early 1982, Wilson had achieved minor success with two singles, "Beat the Beat" and "Baby It's True", but it was in September that she broke through to top ten success when "Just What I Always Wanted" became a No.8 hit. The song sparked media interest in Wilson due to her 1960s image (in particular her beehive hairstyle

Beehive (hairstyle)

The Beehive is a woman's hairstyle that resembles a beehive; it is elegant and it is also known as the B-52, for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "big hair" that developed from...

) and retro sound. She was also keen to promote her backing band, The Wilsations, who received joint credit on the album. This was followed up with the more modest hit "(Beware) Boyfriend", but a cover of "Cry Me a River" returned her to the top 30. Alongside this fifth single came the debut album, which also charted well, by reaching No.24 in the UK. One more single was released from the album afterwards; "Wonderful (To Be With)", which proved to be Wilson's final top 75 entry.

The album was released in three different versions - the UK edition, a slightly modified version in Europe and a truncated version in the US. The UK edition featured neither "(Beware) Boyfriend" or "Baby It's True", while none of them included "Beat the Beat". In the US, the album was issued in 1983 on Polygram Records and was released alongside lead single "Just What I Always Wanted", but was unsuccessful. In the UK, Showpeople remains her only hit album.

The album has never been released on Compact disc, but in 2007, all tracks were featured on Wilson's compilation album, The Platinum Collection.

UK edition

Side One

1. "Wonderful (To Be With)" (5.34)
2. "The End of the Affair" (5.16)
3. "One Day is a Lifetime" (5.34)
4. "Dr Love" (4.30)
5. "Remember Me" (4.46)
6. "Cry Me a River" (Arthur Hamilton) (3.26)

Side Two

1. "Just What I Always Wanted" (3.29)
2. "This Time Tomorrow" (3.01)
3. "Are You There (With Another Girl)" (Burt Bacharach
   Burt Bacharach
   Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
   
   , Hal David
   Hal David
   Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
   
   ) (5.44)
4. "I May Be Wrong" (3.21)
5. "Ecstasy" (4.39)
6. "This Is It?" (6.01)

European edition

Side one

1. "Just What I Always Wanted"
2. "The End of the Affair"
3. "Are You There (With Another Girl)"
4. "Dr Love"
5. "Remember Me"
6. "Cry Me a River"

Side two

1. "Wonderful (To Be With)"
2. "This Time Tomorrow"
3. "One Day is a Lifetime"
4. "I May Be Wrong"
5. "(Beware) Boyfriend"
6. "This Is It?"

US edition

Side one

1. "Just What I Always Wanted"
2. "The End of the Affair"
3. "One Day is a Lifetime"
4. "Baby it's True"
5. "Ecstacy"

Side two

1. "Wonderful (To Be With)"
2. "Dr Love"
3. "(Beware) Boyfriend"
4. "Are You There (With Another Girl)"
5. "Cry Me a River"

Personnel

• Tony Mansfield
  Tony Mansfield
  Tony Mansfield, born May 28, 1943, Salford, England, is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. Mansfield was the main songwriter/producer for New Musik, a synthpop band that performed from 1979 to 1982.-References:...
  
   - Producer
• Andrew Powell
  Andrew Powell
  Andrew Powell - musical composer, arranger and performer - was born 18 April 1949 in London, England of Welsh parents.- Early life :He began taking piano lessons at the age of four and later attended Kings College School, Wimbledon by which time he was also learning the viola, violin and orchestral...
  
   - Producer on "Cry Me a River"
• Teddy Johns - Arranger
• Tommy Masefield - Programmer

• Colin Ryan - Bass
• Mark Cunningham - Bass
• Paul Bultitude
  Paul Bultitude
  Paul Bultitude is an English musician and record producer. He was the drummer in power pop band Advertising, working with his cousin Dennis Smith, Tot Taylor and Simon Boswell, before replacing Seb Shelton as the drummer in Secret Affair...
  
   - Drums
• Keith Airey - Guitars
• Rocky Holman - Piano
• Stewart Curtis - Saxophone
• Christopher Smith - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
• Anne Stephenson, Virginia Hewes - Violins
• Hank B Hive, Janey Hallet, John Cogan, Jules Fordham
  Julia Fordham
  Julia Fordham is a British singer-songwriter based in California. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde.-Career:...
  
  , Mari Wilson, Melvyn J Taub - Backing vocals