Maria Del Mar (singer)

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Maria Del Mar
Birth nameMaria Morales
Born1965 or 1966 (age 57–58)
Spain
OriginToronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1985 to 1996
LabelsCapitol Records, EMI
Formerly ofNational Velvet, Hässenpfeffer

Maria Morales[1] (born c. 1966),[2] known professionally as Maria Del Mar, is a Canadian rock singer.

She was the lead vocalist of the 1980s and 1990s rock band National Velvet.

Early life[edit]

Del Mar was born in Spain, where she lived until 18 months of age.[2] As a child she danced in Spanish cultural shows and enjoyed holding public singing performances in her neighbourhood.[3] At the age of 15, she dropped out of high school and moved to Vancouver.[3] She later worked as a cigarette girl at Toronto nightclubs, such as RPM and The Copa.[3][4][5] She also worked as a coat-check girl at The Diamond, where fellow National Velvet band member, Tim Welch, once worked as well.[6]

Career[edit]

Del Mar met bassist Mark Storm in 1984 in a Toronto alleyway outside of party, where the two had a heated discussion about music.[2][3] Storm asked Del Mar to be a backing vocalist in the band that he was part of at the time.[7] The following year Del Mar and Storm formed National Velvet along with drummer Gary Flint, and guitarists Mark Crossley and Tim Welch.[3]

Del Mar was noted for her energetic performances and goth-like image.[2][8] She had a powerful presence, bolstered by her height, and was often dressed in black, sometimes in leather, with jet-black hair.[2][9] She would dance wildly, often kicking into the air, sometimes climbing into the audience.[9][10][11] Del Mar's strong, deep, vocal style was compared to artists such as Patti Smith, Carole Pope, Siouxsie Sioux and Nina Hagen.[10][12][13][14][15] Journalists referred to her by such descriptions as a "raven-haired vamp", "Amazonian vamp', "gothic Cher", "post-goth vampirella" and "6-foot-tall dominatrix."[2][4][8][12][16]

Del Mar provided backing vocals on the track "Blonde in the Bleachers", a Joni Mitchell cover song featuring the musician, Squiddly, from the 1992 tribute album Back to the Garden.[17] After National Velvet's dissolution, Del Mar joined the all-female indie rock band, Hässenpfeffer.[16][18] In 1996 they released the album, "Songs of Convenience" on the label MaGaDa Int'l.[18][19]

Del Mar is sometimes confused with Canadian television and film actress Maria del Mar who was in the cast of the Canadian television series Street Legal, a popular series whose original run coincided with National Velvet's tenure.[20][21] Del Mar (the vocalist) also played a role in the 1991 film The Events Leading Up to My Death, furthering the confusion.[1][22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kennedy, John R. (February 26, 2018). "Singer Maria Del Mar Lashes Out At Actress Maria Del Mar". iHeartRadio Canada. Bell Media. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Mayes, Alison (April 19, 1990). "National Velvet". Calgary Herald. p. H1. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Lead singer Maria Del Mar, a raven-haired vamp with a black wardrobe and a wickedly aggressive stage manner, is the focal point of National Velvet's post-punk frontal attack. . . The 25-year-old Del Mar has been working toward that goal since 1984, when she and bassist Mark Storm founded the band after meeting in a alleyway outside a Toronto party. . . When the London recording session for Courage concluded, Del Mar visited relatives in Spain, where she was born and lived until the age of 18 months.
  3. ^ a b c d e Metella, Helen (April 20, 1990). "Dark and emphatic, National Velvet brings rock to Whyte". Edmonton Journal. p. C7. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. She launched her career, dancing in Spanish cultural shows when she was 5. As a child, she often held impromptu performances in neighborhood garages and also remembers finding, "a public place with good acoustics", where she'd launch into song. At 15, she quit school and moved to Vancouver with a progressive rock band. . . She was working as a cigarette girl in several Toronto nightclubs, an idea she "got from The Flintstones", when she met bass player Mark Storm, who with Mark Crossley, Gary Flint and Tim Welch form National Velvet. . . Storm and she decided to collaborate after an unpleasant argument about music that occurred when they were introduced.
  4. ^ a b Potter, Mitch (May 4, 1990). "They called this bash Maria". Toronto Star. p. D12. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Del Mar, who brings the group to RPM for a headline (all-ages) concert Sunday night, says the Queen's Quay club was very much the springboard for the group's success to date. "I sold cigarettes there for several years, and made more record contacts that way that through the regular channels.
  5. ^ Barr, Greg (March 30, 1990). "A voice that sets fire to music". Ottawa Citizen. p. D3. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Maria Del Mar's first meeting with Mark Storm was rather brief. "I was an outright bitch", the towering vocalist with National Velvet said in a phone interview. "I bumped into him after I left this party and we started talking about bands and music, but I was in this real argumentative mode. I was really rude." But a week later, Storm came to see her at Toronto's Copa club, where Del Mar sold cigarettes. She liked the fact that he still wanted to talk about putting a band together despite her outburst.
  6. ^ Benson, Denise (October 21, 2014). "Then & Now: The Diamond Club". Then & Now Toronto. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  7. ^ O'Connor, James (September 1, 1989). "Velvet in shades of grey". Winnipeg Sun. p. F9. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. National Velvet's origins match the band's dark moods. A chance back alley meeting in 1984 led to Storm asking Del Mar to work as a backing vocalist in a band he was operating at the time. Soon after the pair decided to form Velvet, with the intention of not overworking the Toronto scene, relying more on word of mouth. . . In 1987, the band's aggressive stage show and gothic-based, post punk sound landed it a deal with Capitol Records-distributed Intrepid Records label.
  8. ^ a b Potter, Mitch (March 30, 1990). "The Box closes lid on Canada's two solitudes". Toronto Star. p. D18. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Like a gothic Cher, Maria Del Mar dominates National Velvet with bruised, tenacious wail and monotone vamp attitude. It is a voice, at first listen, governed by pure venom, the voice of an amazon who'd just as soon drive her stiletto heel through your hand as take you to bed.
  9. ^ a b Lepage, Mark (April 1, 1990). "Female vocalists produce marked contrast in styles". Montreal Gazette. p. F5. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Maria Del Mar of hard rock band National Velvet was howling at the moon from the Club Soda stage. . . Now gather your cloak about you and flap on up to Club Soda, where Maria Del Mar was stomping through the gothic power-chording of Toronto's National Velvet. . . The feral Del Mar turned the tables on the "metal boyz" in attendance, coming on like a female version of the leather-clad heavy breather. . . Del Mar's trip into the crowd, as the band laid out the punkish 68 Hours, climaxed in a Vampirella hug for one dancing male fan.
  10. ^ a b Barr, Greg (February 10, 1989). "Rough as velvet: Take-charge vocalist carries the show". Ottawa Citizen. p. B3. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Fortunately, they managed to stay out of Del Mar's way as she spun, kicked and danced her way around the stage, preaching her alternative-lifestyle creed. . . Del Mar, who is not unlike Patti Smith in her delivery, doesn't mind borrowing liberally from '60s tunes.
  11. ^ Krochak, Gerry (April 7, 1990). "No sophomore jinx for National Velvet". Regina Leader-Post. p. C15. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Del Mar's unique stylings -- she sounds like she's yelling at you, but it's curiously interesting and very effective -- are the backbone of the sound. . . Del Mar is a whirling dervish on stage.
  12. ^ a b Barr, Greg (April 2, 1990). "National Velvet singer Del Mar soon goes banana". Ottawa Citizen. p. D9. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. They came out of nowhere about five years ago, mainly on Del Mar's ability to satisfy teenage lads' need for a Carole Pope-like disciplinarian. . .the band was more than a 6-foot-tall dominatrix. . .
  13. ^ Brown, Donna. "National Velvet: Much hype, little substance". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware, United States. p. D4. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Much is being made of fetching lead vocalist Maria Del Mar, who sounds - no kidding -- like the unimaginable offspring of Siouxsie (of the Banshees) and Rush's Geddy Lee.
  14. ^ Anft, Michael (January 27, 1989). "Canadian band goes for 'gothic' and beyond". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Del Mar's angular, edgy alto recalls Siouxsie Sioux, and influence she denied. "I'm more into the Stranglers", she said.
  15. ^ "National Velvet Courage". Winnipeg Sun. April 6, 1990. p. F8. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. By matching Del Mar's Nina Hagen-like voice with simple, churning hard-rock riffs, the group hits upon a winning combination.
  16. ^ a b Lepage, Mark (January 13, 1995). "Post-goth vampirella is ideal gig for 13th". Montreal Gazette. p. C9. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. It isn't every day this place plugs a Toronto act above the local kids, but not every day is Friday the 13th and not every Torontonian is Maria Del Mar. The not unimpressive woman once fronted National Velvet, and front is most certainly what we mean in connection with the imposing post-goth vampirella of a singer. Her new act is Hass En Pfeffer and if it isn't exactly the same bat-time, it's probably the same bat-channel, making it a perfect gig for the 13th in the Cathouse (328 Mayor St.)
  17. ^ Davitt, Patrick (December 14, 1992). "What's On Albums: Back to the Garden; A Tribute to Joni Mitchell". Regina Leader-Post. p. C13. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Halifax band Sloan gives "A Case of You" a solid grunge reading, and Squiddly does a great heavy rock take on "Blonde in the Bleachers", with dense sound, heavy riffing by guitarist Rod Black and a fine backing and harmony vocal by National Velvet's Maria Del Mar.
  18. ^ a b "Hassenpfeffer - Songs Of Convenience (MaGaDa Int'l)". The Medium. Vol. 22, no. 20. Erindale College, University of Toronto. February 12, 1996. p. 10. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  19. ^ Songs Of Convenience (Album). Hässenpfeffer. Magada International. 1996. 7 76715-0028-2 9. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ Atherton, Tony (May 29, 1993). "Hometown Hero; Street Legal's Maria del Mar dreams of coming back to Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen. p. H1. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. Born [Maria del Mar] del Castillo, she dropped her last name when casting directors kept tripping over the syllables. She is no relation to that other Maria del Mar, the raunchy lead singer for the band National Velvet whose newspaper photos and ACTRA cheques keep getting mixed up with hers.
  21. ^ Zekas, Rita (December 30, 1994). "Will the real Maria please say cheese?". Toronto Star. p. C2. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. There are a lot of Marias around these days. Even two named Maria Del Mar. We knew that. We knew that one was a singer, who fronted National Velvet, no relation to the 1944 Elizabeth Taylor horsey movie but a hard-core rock band. And we knew that one was an actor, who played Laura Crosby on Street Legal and who co-starred in the movie Eclipse.
  22. ^ "Film review: The Events Leading Up to My Death". The Globe and Mail. June 5, 1992. p. C3. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via ProQuest. That it does not is tribute to Robertson's directing talents and the skills of his exceptional cast, including relative acting newcomers O'Hara and, as Angus's girlfriend, Maria Del Mar (lead singer of the band National Velvet, not the Maria Del Mar who co-stars on Street Legal).
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