"U" by Mary Wilson

Does anyone else besides me remember all the hype about Mary releasing this single? Carl from the MW Fan Club did an excellent job of keeping all of the fans informed of what was happening. There was thought, originally, that the single would be called "YOU". The promos for the single were something like:

YOU have been waiting for this!
YOU are going to love Mary's new single!

I did eventually find it on a cassette single. I thought the "rap" intro was not needed, and while it never became the hit everyone had hoped for, it was a very solid release.

I have the 12" version with 6 different mixes [Contract recording company CRC1114].
I had not known of its existence when I found it in the disco section at HMV in London.

I bought a copy of this single at Tower Records in Los Angeles. There was one mix I really liked and the rest seemed just okay to me.

I bought a CD copy when it came out. It was put out by 80 West Entertainment and
mine had 6 mixes on. I remember only playing it once. Need to re-listen and see
what I think now. Can anyone tell me what year it came out?

July 2011 is what I remember.

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Originally Posted by lakeside

I bought a CD copy when it came out. It was put out by 80 West Entertainment and
mine had 6 mixes on. I remember only playing it once. Need to re-listen and see
what I think now. Can anyone tell me what year it came out?

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I believe it was 1995? Mid-90's for sure.

Mary's voice on this song was absolutely heavenly! Anyone else who ever sang a song with the word "You" or the letter "u" in it simply pales in comparison! I've listened to all of those other songs and Mary's voice on "U" just blows every single one of them out of the water!

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Originally Posted by danman869

Mary's voice on this song was absolutely heavenly! Anyone else who ever sang a song with the word "You" or the letter "u" in it simply pales in comparison! I've listened to all of those other songs and Mary's voice on "U" just blows every single one of them out of the water!

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Agree. Deserved a lot more then it got.

What made me think of this song, and this topic, is all of the buzz surrounding Diana's new single. We certainly live in a different world in 2021 than we did 20 and 30 years ago.

With the internet, songs get "leaked"; there's a big build up until it drops. Without a doubt, SDF will be a flurry for the next several months. But in the 80's and 90's, you had to rely on Fan Club newsletters and word of mouth when the next Mary or Diana single was being released. Carl always did a fantastic job with the MWFC keeping everyone updated. Diana of course got TV time, so you might catch her on one of the late night shows promoting an upcoming single or album. Kind of like the Supremes in the 60's; you knew if you saw it on Sullivan, you'd have to start scouring the shelves the next day.

Anyway, back to the song "U". It does have a nice funk vibe to it, but IMO still not the right direction for Mary at the time.

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

I believe it was 1995? Mid-90's for sure.

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I think it was 1995. I remember Mary mentioning it when she appeared on the show MIKE AND MATY with Martha Reeves and the Tempts. She didn't perform it but they showed a very brief bit of the video.

Myself, I never saw it in the record stores. I ended up ordering copies from someone off the internet. But today I barely remember what it sounds like.

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

I believe it was 1995? Mid-90's for sure.

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Thanks, Mary. I think mid-90's sounds about right. Did anyone see the music video
for this? I might have it on some of my Supremes DVD compilations. I need to dig
through those and see if I can find it. I have a vague recollection of it....I only remember Mary getting in and out of a car?

Here's the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fkrz1BWi4M

To go off on a tangent a bit, but I remember in early 90s seeing Mary perform Walk the Line on Arsenio Hall and the video getting some play on BET. I kept waiting for the album to come out and nothing. It wasn't until years later that I learned that the label went bankrupt on the day album was released.

In the mid 90s U was a part of Mary's live show if that Sands DVD is anything to go by. It was nice and good to see Mary devote a part of her show to a few solo songs even if the audience by and large didn't know them.

Ok I thought you asked when was the CD released with the mixes - iTunes state 2011.

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Originally Posted by Spreadinglove21

To go off on a tangent a bit, but I remember in early 90s seeing Mary perform Walk the Line on Arsenio Hall and the video getting some play on BET. I kept waiting for the album to come out and nothing. It wasn't until years later that I learned that the label went bankrupt on the day album was released.

In the mid 90s U was a part of Mary's live show if that Sands DVD is anything to go by. It was nice and good to see Mary devote a part of her show to a few solo songs even if the audience by and large didn't know them.

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I missed Mary on Arsenio, but did hear about "Walk the Line" though Mary's Fan Club. I headed straight to the Mall of America to pick up a copy. This was back when the Mall had about 3 or 4 "record stores". Could not find it at any of them. I somehow managed to order a copy on cassette.

It was years, and I mean YEARS later that I was finally able to find it on CD.

Tower Records had the cassette single of One Night With You, which I bought. I had trouble finding the Walk The Line CD, though. I went to many stores looking. Finally found a copy at J&R Music World. They only had one copy. I had no idea the company went bankrupt the day it was released. Glad I kept looking and found a copy.

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Originally Posted by thommg

Tower Records had the cassette single of One Night With You, which I bought. I had trouble finding the Walk The Line CD, though. I went to many stores looking. Finally found a copy at J&R Music World. They only had one copy. I had no idea the company went bankrupt the day it was released. Glad I kept looking and found a copy.

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I went looking for the WALK THE LINE the cd as soon as I heard about it. Finally I found it at Tower but it was the only copy I ever saw in a store.

I think I ended up with 2 or 3 copies now; one I actually found at a thrift shop a few years ago. I think they're pretty ready available on eBay or Amazon these days. But at the time, it was like a treasure hunt!

Many of Mary's recordings were very good and should have done much better than they did. I remember "U" being released around September or October and one of the initial rap lines is relax your mind, because it's Summertime. I thought, for that alone it would miss chances because of the timing since if it had been released in May then people may have heard it as a Summer jam. Walk The Line and One Night With You were both great, but even after Mary promoted it, the label went bankrupt the day after it was released. "Turn Around" was really a great song for Mary, but seems to only have had a European release. The latest "Mary Wilson Expanded" is another sad chapter because it was released after she had passed and only [[allegedly, so far) as a streaming option. Plus, all of the songs recorded for Atlantic could have secured a deal for her much sooner. Her "Clarity" CD for the Holland Brothers never saw the light of day except for 2 songs available for streaming in the early 2010's. Luckily, Sweet Feet Music garnered some chart action for "Time To Move On" a few years ago. Still, for some reason there always seemed to be roadblocks for Mary and it wasn't because of lack of talent or good songs. Luckily, I own the U CD and Walk The Line CD, but still at the time it was hard to find and I managed to get it through the Fan Club back in the day.

jim I am hopeful that there's still a chance that MW EXPANDED will come out on physical CD. My understanding was they had been in the works to get it released, but did a "rush job" to get it out after her passing, around her birthday. I can't imagine that after her years of contributions to all of the EE, that the team behind it wouldn't collectively give one big push for something deserving of her legacy.

MB, I do hope that the Mary Wilson Expanded Edition will be released on CD. Too bad the songs from Clarity and Walk The Line and her demos are not out there, too. Still, I am very happy with hearing the new song and the 4 track for Gus Dudgeon.

I would much sooner have had the “Clarity” album then the inferior disco numbers featured on the Mary Wilson album. I’m not holding my breath though.

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Originally Posted by jim aka jtigre99

MB, I do hope that the Mary Wilson Expanded Edition will be released on CD. Too bad the songs from Clarity and Walk The Line and her demos are not out there, too. Still, I am very happy with hearing the new song and the 4 track for Gus Dudgeon.

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Would be nice if it were a career retrospective, including some of her Supremes-lead solos like "Come and Get These Memories" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", plus some of the unreleased solos like "If You Let Me" and "Son of a Preacher".

A girl can dream, LOL.