There was a rash of teen pop princesses in the mid-80s due to the success of Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, but one who is much overlooked was the incredibly talented Martika. Martika became famous for being on the very popular Saturday morning show Kids Incorporated.
K-I-D-S! After appearing on the show for two seasons, Martika signed to CBS records and put out her first album Martika. The song
Toy Soldiers shot to #1 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1989. Two more songs from that album hit the top 40:
More Than You Know (#18) and the Carol King cover
I Feel the Earth Move (#25). Martika was a pop star. Her next album, Martika's Kitchen, had several songs written with or by His Purple Badness, Prince, who approached her in 1991 about a collaboration. One of the songs that resulted of their work together,
Love...Thy Will Be Done, became a top 10 hit in the U.S. and kicked off the album. Also coming from that collab was the song
Martika's Kitchen, which is a thinly veiled song about (in true Prince form) Martika's vagina. Of course. And it's ah-mazing! (watch it below) Subsequent singles from the album failed to match that success in the U.S., but the album did much better overseas. Not much happened after the second album for Martika, sadly. Her voice and style were very unique, not to mention how pretty she is, and I still play those old songs sometimes.
Toy Soldiers went on to be famously sampled by Eminem on his 2004 top 40 song
Like Toy Soldiers. Martika still writes and sings backup for other artists, but her mark on pop music has been made. Enjoy some classic Martika below.
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