Marie Marie

1980 song by The Blasters

"Marie Marie"

Song by the Blasters
from the album  American Music
Released| 1980 (1980)
Studio| Rollin' Rock Studio
Length| 2:00
Label| Rollin' Rock
Songwriter(s)| Dave Alvin
Producer(s)| Ronny Weiser
"Marie Marie"

Single by the Blasters
from the album  The Blasters
B-side| "Hollywood Bed"
Released| 1981 (1981)
Studio| United Western Studios, Los Angeles
Genre| Rockabilly
Length| 2:03
Label|

* Slash
* Warner Bros.

Songwriter(s)| Dave Alvin
Producer(s)| The Blasters

"Marie Marie" is a song by American rock and roll band the Blasters. It became an international success after being covered by Welsh rock and roll singer Shakin' Stevens.

## Composition and releases

[edit]

The song was originally released in 1980 on the Blaster's debut album American Music on the small independent label Rollin' Rock. It was then re-recorded a year later for the Blaster's second album The Blasters, released by Slash Records and distributed by Warmer Bros. This album had much better distribution than their first album and "Marie Marie" was released as a single in Australia in 1981 and France and the Netherlands in 1982.[1]

Dave Alvin has said "Marie Marie" was "the third or fourth song I wrote with the Blasters". After joining the Blasters, Alvin came up with the melody, thinking "this would be a great Cajun Balfa Brothers kind of song, and then if you put it to a Chuck Berry beat, this might be pretty cool". However, he couldn't think of any lyrics and the band had a rehearsal the next evening. "About 30 minutes before we left to go to rehearsal, I sat down at our kitchen table and I just wrote the lyrics – just came to me. I was kind of – I remember being a little kid and we were driving down this road up near the Puente Hills. And there was an old Victorian farmhouse and there was a girl sitting on the porch with a guitar. And for whatever reason, that image stuck with me and so I just wrote that. So in like 20 minutes we had [the song]."[2]

After its success by Shakin' Stevens, Alvin was called up by Stevens asking if he'd become his official songwriter. However, Alvin turned down the offer, saying "‘I don’t know about that! I don’t know where these come from, Mr. Stevens, so I don’t know if I can become an official songwriter for you".[3]

## Shakin' Stevens version

[edit]

"Marie, Marie"

Single by Shakin' Stevens
from the album  Marie, Marie
B-side| "Baby If We Touch"
Released| 18 July 1980 (1980-07-18)
Recorded| 1980
Studio| Eden Studios, London
Genre| Rock and roll
Length| 2:40
Label| Epic
Songwriter(s)| Dave Alvin
Producer(s)| Stuart Colman
Shakin' Stevens singles chronology
| "Hey Mae"
(1980)  | "Marie, Marie"
(1980)  | "Shooting Gallery"
(1980)

|
|

Stevens released his cover of the song in July 1980 as the third single from his album Marie, Marie (later re-released as This Ole House). The single peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Stevens' first Top-20 UK hit.[4]

### Release

[edit]

Despite being released in July, the single did not enter the UK Singles Chart until the second week of August, staying in the chart for ten weeks.[4] In Germany, it entered the chart at the beginning of 1981, reaching its peak on the second week of June, staying in the chart for a total of 29 weeks.[5]

In the US and Canada, an EP titled Shakin' Stevens was released, comprising four songs: "Marie, Marie" and the single's B-side "Baby If We Touch", "Hey Mae", which was Steven's previously released single, and "Is a Bluebird Blue", a cover of the Dan Penn song, first released by Conway Twitty in 1960. It had featured on Stevens' previous album Take One!.

### Reception

[edit]

The single was reviewed twice in Record Mirror. Firstly by Mike Nicholls who described it as "blandly uptempo", and then by Amanda Nicholls who wrote "love the way he flexes his voice on this rock 'n' roll tune."[6][7] In Smash Hits, Deanne Person described it as a "good ol' rock 'n' roll song with a touch of C&W in the vocals. As such it breaks no new ground, and doesn't leave much of an impression in the old. The sort of record that gets put on jukeboxes everywhere but never played.[8]

### Track listings

[edit]

1. "Marie, Marie" – 2:40
2. "Baby If We Touch" – 2:55

1. "Marie, Marie" – 2:44
2. "Hey Mae" – 2:30
3. "Is a Bluebird Blue" – 3:01
4. "Baby If We Touch" – 2:59

### Charts

[edit]

Chart (1980–1981)  | Peak
position

|

Germany (Official German Charts)[5] | 19
Ireland (IRMA)[9] | 28
UK Singles (OCC)[4] | 19

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Blasters - Marie Marie". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
2. ^ "In Big Bill Broonzy's Blues, Brothers Find A Way To Sing Together". NPR. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
3. ^ "Dave Alvin: On Songwriting, Speculation and Maintaining His Own Muse". American Songwriter. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
4. ^ a b c "Shakin Stevens: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
5. ^ a b "Shakin' Stevens – Marie, Marie" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
6. ^ "Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror. 19 July 1980. p. 8. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
7. ^ "Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror. 26 July 1980. p. 10. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
8. ^ "Singles". Smash Hits. 7–20 August 1980. p. 27. Retrieved 4 February 2021 - via flickr.com.
9. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Marie, Marie". Irish Singles Chart.

* v
* t
* e

Shakin' Stevens

Studio albums|

* Shakin' Stevens
* Take One!
* Marie, Marie
* This Ole House
* Shaky
* Give Me Your Heart Tonight
* The Bop Won't Stop
* Lipstick Powder and Paint
* Let's Boogie
* A Whole Lotta Shaky
* There Are Two Kinds of Music... Rock 'n' Roll

Extended plays|

* The Shakin' Stevens EP

Compilation albums|

* Greatest Hits
* The Collection
* Singled Out

Video albums|

* The DVD Collection

Box sets|

* The Epic Masters

Singles|

* "Treat Her Right"
* "Endless Sleep"
* "Fire"
* "Spooky"
* "Hot Dog"
* "Marie, Marie
* "This Ole House"
* "You Drive Me Crazy"
* "Green Door"
* "It's Raining"
* "Mona Lisa"
* "Oh Julie"
* "Shirley"
* "Give Me Your Heart Tonight"
* "I'll Be Satisfied"
* "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night"
* "It's Late"
* "Cry Just a Little Bit"
* "A Rockin' Good Way"
* "A Love Worth Waiting For"
* "A Letter to You"
* "Teardrops"
* "Breaking Up My Heart"
* "Lipstick, Powder and Paint"
* "Merry Christmas Everyone"
* "Turning Away"
* "A Little Boogie Woogie (In the Back of My Mind)"
* "Come See About Me"
* "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For"
* "Feel the Need in Me"
* "True Love"
* "Jezebel"
* "I Can Help"
* "Trouble"
* "Echoes of Merry Christmas Everyone"

Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets|

| Singles|

* "Sea Cruise"
* "Honey Don't"
* "It Came Out of the Sky"
* "Lonesome Town"
* "No Other Baby"
* "Donna"
* "Two Hearts, Two Kisses"
* "Sweet Little Sixteen"

|

Related articles|

* Discography

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