Martika (album)

Martika is the self-titled debut studio album by former child actor and teen pop singer Martika, released October 18, 1988 through CBS Records.

Martika
Studio album by
Martika
ReleasedOctober 18, 1988 (1988-10-18)
RecordedApril–May 1988
Genre
Length41:59
LanguageEnglish, Spanish
LabelCBS (Europe)
Columbia, Sony Music (US)
ProducerMichael Jay
Martika chronology
Martika
(1988)		 Martika's Kitchen
(1991)
Alternative cover
European edition
Singles from Martika
  1. "More Than You Know"
    Released: November 1988
  2. "Toy Soldiers"
    Released: January 21, 1989
  3. "I Feel the Earth Move"
    Released: July 1989
  4. "Water"
    Released: 1990
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Background

The album marked the solo debut for Martika, and spawned the American #1 single "Toy Soldiers". The song is about drug addiction, but can sound like a break-up ballad. The song was later sampled by rapper Eminem for his 2004 song "Like Toy Soldiers" featuring Martika as the chorus singer. Songs that charted internationally included "More Than You Know", "Water", and "I Feel the Earth Move", a Carole King 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, an homage to Martika's Cuban ancestry. Other songs were re-recorded fully in Spanish for international release.

The album was successful in the United States; it managed to peak at #15 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the RIAA, making it her best-selling album to date. The album peaked at #11 in the United Kingdom, containing three top 20 singles there.[2] In the UK, the song "Cross My Heart" had already been a top 20 hit for the band Eighth Wonder a year previously,[3] whilst Big Fun pulled their planned single release of "I Feel the Earth Move" shortly before Martika's release.[4]

Track listing
Side one
  1. "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane" (Michael Jay, Greg Smith) – 4:20
  2. "Cross My Heart" (Jay) – 3:52
  3. "More Than You Know" (Martika, Jay, Marvin Morrow) – 4:10
  4. "Toy Soldiers" (Martika, Jay) – 4:51
  5. "You Got Me Into This" (Jay) – 4:11
Side two
  1. "I Feel the Earth Move" (Carole King) – 4:12
  2. "Water" (Martika, Sue Sheridan, Larry Treadwell) – 4:39
  3. "It's Not What You're Doing" (Roberts Etoll, Jay) – 4:13
  4. "See If I Care" (Martika, Jay, Morrow) – 3:41
  5. "Alibis" (Martika, Mitchell Kaplan) – 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".

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 – guitar (tracks 1–5 & 7–9)
  • Don Kirkpatrick – guitar (track 6)
  • David Macias – guitar (track 10)
  • Marc Jones – bass (track 10)
  • Paulinho Da Costa – 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 – backing vocals (track 1)
  • Michael Cruz – backing vocals (track 1)
  • Rick Jude Palombi – backing vocals (tracks 1, 3 & 7)
  • Donna De Lory – backing vocals (tracks 3 & 6)
  • Niki Haris – backing vocals (track 3)
  • Alitzah Wiener – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Devyn Puett – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Kimberly McCullough – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Marlen Landin – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Rahsaan Patterson – backing vocals (tracks 4, 7 & 10)
  • Rasha Patterson – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Renee Sands – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Stacy Ferguson – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Mona Lisa – backing vocals, keyboards (track 3)
  • 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 and Martika
  • Produced by Michael Jay
  • Engineered by Peter Arata, Rick Butz, Greg Loskorn, Michael MacDonald and Karen Siegel
  • Mixed by Michael MacDonald and Keith "KC" Cohen

Chart performance

Weekly charts
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[5] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[6] 18
Canadian Albums Chart[7] 17
New Zealand Albums Chart[8] 11
Norwegian Albums Chart[9] 17
Swedish Albums Chart[10] 26
Swiss Albums Chart[11] 11
UK Albums Chart[12] 11
US Billboard 200[13] 15

Year-end charts
Chart (1989) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 89

References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25549/martika/
  3. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23931/eighth-wonder/
  4. "Big Fun - Biography". Freenet-homepage.de. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  5. Steffen Hung. "Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  6. Steffen Hung. "Austria Top 40 - Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  7. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
  8. Steffen Hung (2011-10-31). "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  9. Steffen Hung (2006-06-15). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  10. Steffen Hung (2011-10-28). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  11. Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  12. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25549/martika/
  13. "AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  14. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums Chart – 1989 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 1)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 15 December 2016.
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