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| Latest revision May 1999 Reviews derived from postings to Gleb's original M+M email list. Also below, my deejay homage When they played New Wave on Maine Public Radio |
Inspired by my re-acquaintance with the ongoing music of Martha and the Muffins, I set out in 1995 to dig up some early vinyl by the band, hoping to discover some unheard (by me) treasures. In one of those used music stores near Harvard Square, I came across the 7" vinyl "Saigon" with b-side "Copacabana".
The first time I heard "Copacabana", I did not think it was much of a B-side treasure. It' a D. Millar composition with no vocals, and played for barely 1:15. It sounded like an experiment with an odd stuttering beat and percussive elements that seemed like they were recorded and played backwards. At least that's what I was hearing every time I listened to it on the cassette on which I recorded my only spin of the vinyl.
Sometime later I decided to record it on another cassette, and I discovered that "Copacabana " sounded much different than I remembered. In fact, it was a bouncy little instrumental riff with a number of pleasing embellishments. Not the best M+M B-side, but a worthy member of the cavalcade.
So what went wrong with my original assessment? Well, it turns out that "Copacabana" is a double-groove pressing, and depending on which groove your needle lands, you get the forwards or backwards version of the song.
So, belatedly discovering the real "Copacabana" was a nice surprise.
The A-side
is a killer version of "Saigon" which I like a *lot* better
than the album
cut. The 45 is more dramatic and raucously energetic. Makes you want to jump
up and dance!
Summary:
One of their best seven-inchers. Two (or three, if you will) song versions
not to be found elsewhere. Very collectible vinyl item with a nice sleeve
design.
I had never been to this store before, and so I had some fun scrounging around.
I turned up some other Martha gems: the aforementioned EP with the long remix
of "Cooling the Medium" on one side and a dub-style version of the same on the
other, along with the album cut "Come Out and Dance". It was a bargain for $1.
Also $1 was a 7" promo ("not for sale"), with a shortened version of the
"Cooling the Medium" remix on both sides. A bit redundant but the price was
right.
Then a real find: the "Echo Beach" single (DIN 9) with an early version of
"Teddy the Dink" on the B side for $6. The sleeve is a map detail showing a
west-facing beach on a little bay protected by a jetty. "EB" is imprinted on
the map near the beach, and the placement of the titles would
seem to imply that
this is "Echo Beach" (in reality or in fantasy?). It is interesting, I
think, that so many "wet" versions of album cuts wind up on the early singles:
"Suburban Dream", "Saigon", and "Teddy the Dink" are all harder-edged than
their album counterparts.
I obtained the disk via my Internet Wantlist bid. I posted a bid of $12 ($10 being the minimum for a vinyl single), and that produced an offer from Forever Vinyl in N.J. which with postage summed up to $18.50. It was offered as "mint or near mint", and I could not pass up the opportunity. Unfortunately, the disk that arrived was quite scratched up, the worst condition of any vinyl that I have encountered in my quest for Martha B-sides. Oh well, the foibles of vinyl...
Even through the veil of scratchy noise, "Twenty-Two in Cincinnati" is a remarkable work. Mainly instrumental with secondary vocals, it evokes a mood of mystery and unworldliness.
Sounds which I can barely describe arise as if in an immense space. Off in the distance a piano plays in moody isolation. The sounds swell and mix. It feels like the eerie kind of space where the Boy Without Filters might live between his earthly rendezvous. Martha's voice whispers: "You should know by now that the world sees things differently than you." Soon a rolling drum cadence fades in to carry the music rhythmically home. The tones and rhythm dance in this nether space. Martha says a few more things which I can't quite make out. One of them starts: "Guilt is only a part of..." Martha and Mark lightly chant to the rhythm: "Where did the rhythm go, the rhythm go." And: "Turn out the lights, turn out the lights, we're all too white, we're all too white." Mark adds some of his patented whoops. Throughout the music, odd elements clang, buzz, and whistle in the weave. Too soon, we reach the fadeout.
I like this B-side a lot. If the gods of the music industry be kind and "This is the Ice Age" ever makes it to CD, "Twenty-Two in Cincinnati" would be a worthy addition to the record.
Before talking about the B-side find "1 4 6", I have to talk a bit on "About Insomnia". Based on the version released on the "Trance and Dance" album (and re-released on the "Faraway in Time" CD), I've always considered this to be a "classic single". Great melody and lyrics buoyed by a solid arrangement. Particularly important to this, I thought, was Andy Haas's terrific work on the baritone sax, adding punch to bassline and delivering a transcendent solo that tilts mightily toward classic Motown, setting us up for the dramatic and satisfying conclusion. So...it came as quite a shock to me to find that the version that actually became a "single" is quite different. The bari sax is either absent or mixed way back, and now Haas delivers a tenor sax solo which seems rather offhand and much less inspired. Rather disappointing!
On the B-side "1 4 6", Andy's advant-garde aspirations come off a lot better. The playful cacophony of his tenor sax adds interesting texture to the B-side jam. A loosy-goosy vamp, it reminded me a little bit of Frank Zappa's early "Help I'm a Rock!". Weird vocalizations and effects (including Martha Ladly's trombone) add mystery and humor to the pastiche. "1 4 6" settles into a rolling groove that would fit just fine into a mix of more recent techno-industrial music.
"Was Ezo" seems to be the same arrangement as released on the "Trance and Dance" album, but the mix is noticably altered. The chorus takes on a more echo-y, distant sound, as if they are singing down the hall in a vast choir chamber. A nice variant on Martha Ladly's most singular contribution to early lexicon. The B-side appears to be the same version of "Trance and Dance" that was released on the album.
I might not have arrived at all except for the saving grace of a very
unusual public radio show. In the early 1980's when I lived up there
in rural Maine, purposefully without television, public radio became my
main source of information about the greater world. And while there is
no doubt that this was a most excellent source of news, it
was not the greastest source for hearing new music. There were always
the classics, of course, and a pleasure to have them there, though
they dominated the hours (as--I imagined--demanded by well-heeled
conservative contributors). Maine Public Radio was, I daresay, even
more ensconced in musical stoginess than. let's say, more urban public
stations to the south. Jazz, with as great a claim to intellectual
legitimacy, was forced into the late hours,, and even there it was
not quite freely joined, as one particular not-so-humble deejay
regularly ridiculed Anthony Braxton and other avant garde musicians.
The commercial stations, by the way, were very convential country
music and your standard rock-n-roll.
It was in this atmosphere that Sound Express opened a door during a
two-hour 11:00pm to 1:00am show (I forget if it was Friday or Saturday).
I think it was originally conceived as a way of loosening up the jazz
horizon to include pop jazz like Pat Methany and jazz fusion like the
Mahavishnu Orchestra. When Jane Cowan took over the hosting of this
show, she bravely steered to new horizons, broadening the vision to
include an amazing variety of popular stylings that were about at the
time.
The show might start off jazzy but before too long it could be
perking up to Joan Armatrading, the Rumour, Jules and the Polar Bears,
the Motels, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Slow Children,, and on, and on.
Now, of course, even in rural Maine, I did not always spend my
weekend nights in. But I would rig up my stereo to record at least
some portion of the show. Listening to those tapes these days, they
still display a range and sense of adventure that made the music
exciting. Thanks forever to Jane, and to whatever back-scenes people
who permitted her to pusue her vision.
Oh and by the way, did I mention that I first heard Echo Beach on
Sound Express?
Author! Author!Who is to blame for this travesty?
Feedbackis always welcome.
When they played New Wave on Maine Public Radio
Okay, I wasn't there at the start. I wasn't at legendary performances.
I came in a few steps behind...
© 1999 Ken Hamilton All rights reserved