Martika (1,697 views)

[Alex61]

Marta Marrero
Vocal Range: D3 – D6

Significant High Notes:
D6 ("See If I Care")
C♯6 ("Toy Soldiers")
B5 ("Safe in the Arms of Love")
B♭5 ("Exchange of Hearts", "Martika's Kitchen")
A5 ("Alibis", "Broken Heart", "I Feel the Earth Move", "Love... Thy Will Be Done", "You Got Me Into This")
G♯5 ("Coloured Kisses", "Cross My Heart", "Dancing in the Street", "A Magical Place", "See If I Care", "Toy Soldiers")
G5 ("Bounce Back", "Exchange of Hearts", "Martika's Kitchen", "More Than You Know", "Take Me to Forever", "Temptation", "You Got Me Into This")
F♯5 ("Coloured Kisses", "Dare Me", "Flow with the Go", "Love... Thy Will Be Done", "Masquerade", "Pride and Prejudice", "Upside Down", "We Are Music")
F5 ("20/20", "Alibis", "Cross My Heart", "Destiny", "I Feel the Earth Move", "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane", "Say Anything", "See If I Care", "Take Me to Forever", "Temptation", "Train Comes 'Round")
E5 ("Blue Eyes Are Sensitive to the Light", "Broken Heart", "Don't Make Me Sorry", "How Will I Know", "It's Not What You're Doing", "Kids Incorporated", "A Magical Place", "Martika's Kitchen", "Misery", "Ride the Wave", "Safe in the Arms of Love", "Singing Machine", "Toy Soldiers", "Water", "Why", "We Are Music", "You Got Me Into This")
E♭5 ("Bounce Back", "Cross My Heart", "Fade Away", "Liar", "Livin' in Desperate Times", "Masquerade", "Mi Tierra", "More Than You Know", "Never", "The Only One", "Pride and Prejudice", "Say Anything", "Spirit", "This Lonely Life", "Train Comes 'Round", "Twist of Fate", "Upside Down")
D5 ("Alibis", "All Alone", "Auld Lang Syne/Tomorrow Morning (A Brand New World)", "Careless Whisper", "Dare Me", "Dead Giveaway", "Don't Make Me Sorry", "Easy to Be Hard", "Forever", "How Will I Know", "I Feel the Earth Move", "I'm Coming Out", "I'm So Excited", "It's Not What You're Doing", "Livin' in Desperate Times", "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", "Mi Tierra", "No Escape", "Out of Touch", "Ride the Wave", "Take Me to Forever", "Temptation", "That's Dancin'", "Thunder Road", "The Warrior", "We Are Music", "You're the One That I Want")
C♯5 ("Auld Lang Syne/Tomorrow Morning (A Brand New World)", "Coloured Kisses", "Fade Away", "Flow with the Go", "Give Me a Shot", "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane", "Liar", "Message in a Bottle", "My Life", "Never", "No Escape", "The Only One", "Pride and Prejudice", "Release Me", "Safe in the Arms of Love", "So", Spirit", "Toy Soldiers", "Upside Down", "Water")
C5 ("20/20", "All Tied Up", "Bad, Bad Trouble", "Blue Eyes Are Sensitive to the Light", "Bounce Back", "Broken Heart", "Careless Whisper", "Celebrating You", "Cool Places", "Cross My Heart", "Dancing in the Street", "Destiny", "Don't Say U Love Me", "Don't You (Forget About Me)", "Easy to Be Hard", "Everybody Have Fun Tonight", "Exchange of Hearts", "Forever", "The Glamorous Life", "How Will I Know", "I Feel the Earth Move", "I'm Coming Out", "I'm in Love with Someone Else", "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane", "It's a Mystery", "Livin' in Desperate Times", "Mad About You", "Martika's Kitchen", "Masquerade", "Misery", "More Than You Know", "Move Away", "Never Surrender", "No Looking Back", "Nothin' At All", "See If I Care", "So", "Take Me to Forever", "Temptation", "Thunder Road", "Time Is On Our Side", "Time Machine", "Twist of Fate", "We Built This City", "You Got Me Into This", "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)")
B4 ("All Alone", "Auld Lang Syne/Tomorrow Morning (A Brand New World)", "Celebrating You", "Dancing in the Dark", "Dead Giveaway", "Dare Me", "Don't Make Me Sorry", "Flow with the Go", "Forever", "The Glamorous Life", "Go Insane", "It's a Mystery", "Kids Incorporated", "Let's Go Crazy", "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", "Love... Thy Will Be Done", "A Magical Place", "Never Surrender", "No Escape", "Out of Touch", "Ride the Wave", "Safe in the Arms of Love", "Say Anything", "Since You've Been Away", "Singing Machine", "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", "This Lonely Life", "Time Is On Our Side", "Train Comes 'Round", "The Warrior", "Water", "Why")

Significant Low Notes:
B3 ("Auld Lang Syne/Tomorrow Morning (A Brand New World)", "The Belle of St. Mark", "Celebrating You", "Conga", "Dancing in the Dark", "Dare Me", "Forever", "Go Insane", "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", "Love... Thy Will Be Done", "A Magical Place", "Message in a Bottle", "My Life", "No Escpe", "Out of Touch", "Say Anything", "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", "The Warrior", "Why", "You Got Me Into This")
B♭3 ("All Tied Up", "Bounce Back", "Cool Places", "I'm So Excited", "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane", "Move Away", "Never", "The Only One", "Possession Obsession", "Souls", "Sunglasses at Night", "Thunder Road", "Time Machine", "Twist of Fate", "When the Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going)", "You Can't Hurry Love", "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", "You're the One That I Want")
A3 ("All Alone", "Blue Eyes Are Sensitive to the Light", "Conga", "Don't Say U Love Me", "Exchange of Hearts", "Forever", "It's Not What You're Doing", "Mad About You", "Masquerade", "More Than You Know", "No Looking Back", "Out of Touch", "Ride the Wave", "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", "Take Me to Forever", "The Warrior", "We Are Music", "We Built This City", "You Got Me Into This")
G♯3 ("Broken Heart", "Coloured Kisses", "Cross My Heart", "Destiny", "Everybody Have Fun Tonight", "Human Nature", "Liar", "Magic", "Message in a Bottle", "Possession Obsession", "Release Me", "Rock Us Anna", "Safe in the Arms of Love", "Say Anything", "Spirit", "This Lonely Life", "Toy Soldiers", "Water")
G3 ("Careless Whisper", "Don't You (Forget About Me)", "Easy to Be Hard", "If You're Tarzan, I'm Jane", "It's a Mystery", "Martika's Kitchen", "Never Surrender", "See If I Care", "Take Me to Forever", "Why", "You Can't Hurry Love", "You're the One That I Want")
F♯3 ("Fade Away", "Flow with the Go", "It's Not What You're Doing", "Love... Thy Will Be Done", "Mad About You", "A Magical Place", "Pride and Prejudice", "Since You've Been Away", "That's Just the Way It Is", "This Lonely Life", "Upside Down")
F3 ("Broken Heart", "I'm in Love with Someone Else", "Misery", "Release Me", "See If I Care", "Spirit", "Temptation")
E3 ("Flow with the Go", "So", "Martika's Kitchen", "No Escape", "Toy Soldiers")
E♭3 ("Don't Say U Love Me", "Since You've Been Away", "That's Just the Way It Is", "Upside Down")
D3 ("Don't Say U Love Me")
..................................................................
• Bold marks notes or passages that are particularly outstanding (relative to the singer).
• Italics mark non-melodic notes.
• Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.

American singer, teen pop idol and Prince protégé, one would hardly assume that a stint on Kids Incorporated would lead to a breakthrough hit like "Toy Soldiers", though this is exactly what happened with Martika. With her songwriting often paying tribute to her Cuban heritage, she stood out from her contemporaries because her music - while still undeniably pop - had her own personal touch, defined by her emotive voice and metaphorical lyrics.

Undeniably a soprano because of her light tone and comparatively weak low notes, Martika's earlier songs focused primarily on her emotive mid-range and potent fifth octave belting. Though her lower range was limited, her '00s output has so far showcased her singing more frequently in the third octave. Martika's voice isn't necessarily one renowned for technical finesse (as evidenced by her occasionally pitchy live performances), but her blissful upper register will definitely tug at your heartstrings.

SPOILER: Click to show

{A Few Examples of Her Voice}
Her best vocal performance.


A more reserved vocal performance but still a lovely one.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
E♭6 ("See If I Care"^[1])
C♯3 ("Flow with the Go"^[2])
...................................................................
1. Questionable exclamations.
2. Questionable low dips.
...................................................................
Questionable notes are any notes of questionable significance. In short, this spoiler acknowledges notes that I am aware exist, but do not want to contribute to the singer's range. These involve (but are not limited to) notes of questionable identity, notes of questionable legitimacy and notes of significantly poor quality.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Notewatching Credits & Other Info}
Alex61
Solo:
Martika (1988): E3 – D6
Martika's Kitchen (1991): D3 – B5

Kids Incorporated^[1]:
Season 1 (1985–1986): G3 – G♯5
Season 2 (1985–1986): G3 – G♯5
Season 3 (1986–1987): F♯3 – F5

Oppera:
Violince (2003): E♭3 – F5
Violince (2005): Eb3 – E5
...................................................................

SPOILER: Click to show

{Kids Incorporated Songs}
The following songs were performed on Kids Incorporated - some songs are performed on more than one season. I included the season ranges because I felt enough songs were performed on the series to be deemed a significant section of Martika's career.
Season 1:
"The Belle of St. Mark"
"Cool Places"
"Dancing in the Dark"
"Dancing in the Street"
"The Glamorous Life"
"Go Insane"
"Human Nature"
"Kids Incorporated"
"Let's Go Crazy"
"Livin' in Desperate Times"
"Out of Touch"
"Sunglasses at Night"
"Twist of Fate"
"The Warrior"
"You Can't Hurry Love"
"You're the One That I Want"

Season 2:
"All Tied Up"
"Bad, Bad Trouble"
"Careless Whisper"
"Dancing in the Street"
"Dare Me"
"Dead Giveaway"
"Don't You (Forget About Me)"
"Forever"
"I'm Coming Out"
"(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"
"Kids Incorporated"
"Magic"
"Masquerade"
"Material Girl"
"Message in a Bottle"
"Never Surrender"
"No Looking Back",
"Possession Obsession"
"Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid"
"Souls"
"That's Dancin'"
"Thunder Road"
"Time Is On Our Side"
"Time Machine"
"You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"

Season 3:
"20/20"
"Auld Lang Syne/Tomorrow Morning (A Brand New World)"
"Celebrating You"
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
"Give Me a Shot"
"How Will I Know"
"It's a Mystery"
"Kids Incorporated"
"Magic"
"Manic Monday"
"Move Away"
"Never"
"Nothin' At All"
"Secret"
"Singing Machine"
"We Built This City"
"When the Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going)"
"You Can't Hurry Love"

Notewatching of other performances not listed above done by Alex61.