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Martine Girault

martinegirault

About Me


I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V3.6 !
Martine hails from Brooklyn, New York. At the young age of twelve she was already charming audiences, having taken over from Stephanie Mills in the lead role as Dorothy in Broadway musical The Wiz. This led to theatre and stage work all over the world. Martine had been touring in the UK in 1991 when she met Ray Hayden from Opaz Productions during a recording with Amii Stewart. A documentary featuring footage taken during the making of her 1991 debut LP is currently being compiled.

It's been over a decade since Martine Girault's debut single Revival hit the charts, and in every sense it is a true urban classic. In 1992 it was voted best soul record of the year at the world DMC music awards, having entered the charts at number 1. Her performance at the Royal Albert Hall was broadcast live on Kiss FM. DJs like Bob Jones, Giles Peterson and David Rodigan played a major role in breaking the record.
Revival found its way onto numerous film soundtracks including Bullet with Mickey Rourke and legendary rapper Tu Pac Shakur, and more recently featured in Meg Ryan's controversial In The Cut. Nescafe added flavour to their TV advertising with Revival and it has featured on over thirty compilation CDs.

Following the independent release of Revival on Opaz records, a new home was found for Martine at BMG. It got off to a good start. Ray flew out to New York where his reputation had grown. Kirk Burrows, then CEO of Bad Boy and a huge Martine fan, set up the first Bad Boy remix of a UK production for Revival. A new video was shot in Times Square and everything was looking great until changes at BMG left Martine, along with label mates Omar and Take That, without a deal.

The Revival LP got a limited release but was immediately deleted. The impact on Martine was devastating, Martine had been working towards this deal her whole life and to be dropped and her LP deleted after such an amazing debut was too much to bear. Her first encounters with drugs had started in her teens, on the road with a seasoned touring band who should have known better, far from her family and as she puts it, "Too young to know no!"

Drugs were in her life, a social extravagance, but when her career faded it was all she had left. Opaz was at first shocked but sympathetic, and Martine was given a chance to clean up. But six months later, she turned up at Ray's house after a confrontation she had been hit so hard in the face that she couldn't open her left eye and had a split lip. This was just two days before an important live show. Martine's ability as a performer, and a large pair of sunglasses, meant the performance went ahead. Somehow Martine managed to pull off what would be her last live performance for many years.

The road to recovery has also been a road of discovery and what has emerged is an unstoppable spirit with a renewed hunger and a voice that has matured, tempered by the deepest of experiences.Martine is a recovering addict but she has done more than help herself.She is in the last year of advanced counselling skills at college and has been mentoring a young person in the hope to show her a better way. She has also lent her support to various associations for whom she has also performed at conferences, and is writing a book about her experiences.
When Ray Hayden got a phone call out of the blue he was delighted to hear how Martine was in recovery having lost touch all those years ago. When they met she showed him her memoirs and Ray asked if she would consider telling her story through an LP.The result is the new LP If.
Martine has written the lyrics on 'If' herself, working with producers Ray Hayden and D-Vibe.
'If' reflects the tragic effects addiction has had, on her as a person, on her career, and on her life as a whole, but also talks about hope, friendship and love.Her writing comes from the heart and will touch the heart. Ray Hayden's production on this masterpiece, featuring the best musicians in London, is impeccable!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/4/2006
Band Website: martinegirault.com
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Martine Girault returns

Well if you read the profile you'll see I got a bit distracted for a minute, but I'm back with a new LP to finish what I started in 92. This is my new page and I will be checking it every few days so ...
Posted by Martine Girault on Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:25:00 PST