Canadian rock band
Martha and the Muffins
are a Canadian
rock
band
, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international
hit single
"
Echo Beach
" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and internationally as
M + M
.
Career
[
edit
]
Formation and early years (1977 – 1978)
[
edit
]
The group's initial line-up came together in Toronto in 1977, when David Millar asked his fellow
Ontario College of Art
student Mark Gane to help him start a band. Millar recruited
Martha Johnson
to play keyboards; Johnson brought in a friend from high school, Carl Finkle, to play bass; and Gane's brother Tim signed on as the drummer.
[1]
With Millar and Mark Gane as guitarists, and Johnson as lead vocalist, this is the line up that debuted at an Ontario College of Art Hallowe'en party in October 1977.
They chose the name "Martha and the Muffins" to distance themselves from the aggressive names adopted by many punk bands of the era. According to Mark Gane: "We decided to use it as a temporary name until we could all agree on something better." The name ended up sticking for the next seven years.
Saxophone
player Andy Haas began performing with the band in early 1978 (initially, as a guest artist). Founding-member Millar left the band shortly thereafter, preferring to work as the band's sound engineer for live shows. He was replaced by
Martha Ladly
, who had attended high school with the Ganes. She became the group's second keyboardist/vocalist named Martha, although Martha Johnson remained the group's primary lead singer.
[1]
In 1978, they released their first independent single "Insect Love".
[1]
This and a demo tape recorded in June 1978 quickly garnered them a recording deal with the
Dindisc
offshoot of
Virgin Records
.
[1]
International success (1979 – 1982)
[
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]
In 1979, the band travelled to England to record their first album
Metro Music
, which was released in 1980. The album was produced by
Mike Howlett
and recorded at
The Manor Studios
in
Oxfordshire
.
This album gave Martha and the Muffins a major international hit single with "
Echo Beach
".
[1]
Although the album did not spawn any further hits, "Paint by Number Heart" did get some airplay on Canadian radio while "Saigon" and a further single "Suburban Dream" were played on
BBC Radio 1
. In addition, both songs appeared on the American dance charts.
[2]
In October 1980, the band released their second album,
Trance and Dance
, which was less successful and did not give the band any hit singles.
[1]
Ladly left the band after the album was recorded (but before it was released) to pursue an art scholarship.
[1]
Jean Wilson briefly replaced Ladly on tour in the latter part of 1980, but never recorded with the group.
In 1981, bassist Finkle left the band and was replaced by
Jocelyne Lanois
, the sister of then-unknown record producer
Daniel Lanois
.
[1]
After Jocelyne introduced the band to her brother, they figured Daniel was an ideal candidate to produce their next LP. However, in order to utilize his services as a co-producer, the band had to agree to Virgin Records' demand that, if they were going to insist on working with an unknown producer, they would also have to work with a lower recording budget.
Martha and the Muffins' 1981 album
This Is the Ice Age
, produced by Daniel Lanois and the band, was recorded in Toronto and
Hamilton, Ontario
. More experimental than previous efforts, it also gained significant Canadian radio airplay from the singles "Women Around the World at Work" (a No. 24 hit in Canada, peaking on November 7 of the same year on the
RPM
national singles chart)
[3]
and "Swimming". Shortly after the album's release, Tim Gane decided he did not want to tour, and left the band; he was replaced by new drummer Nick Kent.
Despite critical acclaim,
This Is the Ice Age
did not spin off any hit singles outside of Canada, and Virgin dropped the band from their roster.
[1]
The M+M years (1983 – 1986)
[
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]
After the tour for
This Is the Ice Age
, Haas left the band over creative differences in a public spat carried out in the "letters to the editor" column of Toronto's
NOW
. The band, now a quartet (Martha Johnson, Mark Gane, Jocelyne Lanois, and Nick Kent), signed to Canadian indie label Current Records, distributed by RCA.
1983's
Danseparc
was produced by Daniel Lanois, Gane, and Johnson. Gane, eager to drop the name "Martha and the Muffins", proposed that the group be now called "M + M". In a compromise, both names were used for a time, and the
Danseparc
album cover had both "M + M" and "Martha and the Muffins" printed on it.
[4]
Johnson would later explain that the name change just never stuck, because "our legacy was Martha and the Muffins."
[4]
The album's title track was another top 40 single in Canada and, for the
Danseparc
tour, the group was augmented by auxiliary players including guitarist
Michael Brook
. At the end of the tour, Gane and Johnson (now a couple) announced that, although they wanted to continue as a recording act, they also wanted to branch out in new directions by using new collaborators. In essence, Gane and Johnson decided that "M + M" was now Martha + Mark, along with studio musicians and sidemen.
[1]
The duo's 1984 album
Mystery Walk
was again co-produced by Daniel Lanois with Gane and Johnson, and it featured a large sticker crediting the band as "
M + M o/k/a Martha and the Muffins
". Guest players included drummer Yogi Horton, bassist Tinker Barfield, and the Brecker Brothers on horns.
Mystery Walk
album gave M + M/Martha and the Muffins their biggest hit in years with "
Black Stations/White Stations
". The song was an anti-racist anthem whose first verse took radio stations to task for refusing to play a song about mixed-race romance, a story that Martha Johnson had heard related on the radio while driving in her car.
"Black Stations/White Stations" was a hit in Canada;
[1]
in the United States, it reached no. 2 on the
dance music
charts,
[2]
but was banned by many radio stations.
[
citation needed
]
"Cooling the Medium", the second single, was also a significant hit in Canada.
In 1985, Johnson and Gane started work on their next album in Montreal before heading to
Bath, England
to work with producer
David Lord
, resulting in the album
The World Is a Ball
(1986).
[5]
Although the lead single, "Song in My Head", garnered them some airplay (and was another top 40 hit in Canada), the album sold poorly. Gane and Johnson spent some time living in England.
[1]
Martha and the Muffins revived (1987 – 1992)
[
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]
Johnson and Gane took several years to record a follow-up to
The World Is a Ball
. Recording started in Bath, where the couple had moved to in 1987, and it continued in Toronto when they moved back to their home city in 1989. In 1992, they released the album
Modern Lullaby
.
[1]
For these and all future releases, the duo revived the name "Martha and the Muffins", although the only other original Muffin to participate in the making of this album was Tim Gane (on "additional percussion"). The lead single "Rainbow Sign" made RPM's "CanCon to Watch" chart at no. 4 but did not cross over into the top 100, and the parent album similarly failed to chart. The same year, Martha and the Muffins contributed a cover of
Joni Mitchell
's "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" for the Mitchell tribute album
Back to the Garden
.
In 1992, Johnson and Gane's daughter Eve was born. After the disappointing sales of
Modern Lullaby
, and a new family situation to consider, Johnson and Gane essentially shut down the band and moved to other projects for the next several years.
Side projects and reunions (1993 – 2008)
[
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]
In 1995, Johnson released an album of children's music entitled
Songs from the Tree House
.
[1]
Credited simply to "Martha", the album was an M+M/Martha and the Muffins project in all but name, as the record was written, arranged and produced by Gane and Johnson.
Songs from the Tree House
won a 1996
Juno Award
for best children's album.
In 1998, Johnson and Gane recorded a single new bonus track ("Resurrection") for the 1998 Martha and the Muffins/M+M compilation album
Then Again: A Retrospective
. The following year, another new Martha and the Muffins recording ("Do You Ever Wonder?") appeared on a various-artists compilation called
The World According to Popguru
.
In May 1999, Martha and the Muffins performed a live version of "Echo Beach" on the show
Open Mike with Mike Bullard
. In addition to Mark Gane and Martha Johnson, the band included Jocelyne Lanois and another Gane brother, Nick.
In 2003, the Johnson/Gane duo (augmented by session players) performed at the
CFNY
Reunion as Martha and the Muffins. Then in 2005, they performed a number of reunion shows in Toronto, including a double bill with the also-reunited
Parachute Club
on 14 May. A later concert that year also included Jocelyne Lanois on guitar. However, no other former Martha and the Muffins members participated in these 2005 'reunion' shows, which were the first full-length Martha and the Muffins concerts since 1987. Around this time, one of their later songs, "Paradise", became popularized when the Canadian TV show
Paradise Falls
used the song as its closing-credits theme.
In 2007/2008, Martha and the Muffins had both
This Is the Ice Age
and
Danseparc
reissued on CD. The latter was billed as
Danseparc: 25th Anniversary Edition
, and was digitally remastered by Peter J. Moore. Both albums featured bonus tracks.
Delicate
(2010)
[
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]
In June 2008, Martha and the Muffins began work on a new album, to be called
Delicate
, in collaboration with producer
David Bottrill
. In December 2009, the first single from the album
Mess
was made available on
YouTube
.
[6]
The album was released on February 2, 2010, on their own label Muffin Music. It was Martha and the Muffins' first album of new material in 18 years.
[7]
Two additional non-album singles were also released in 2010. The first was a new acoustic studio version of "Echo Beach", dubbed the "30th Anniversary Edition". It was released digitally as well as on a physical CD, in both cases with the additional bonus track "Big Day".
Towards the end of 2010, the band issued the digital-only holiday single "Santa's Gift of Love".
Martha Johnson:
Solo One
(2013)
[
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]
In early 2013, Martha Johnson announced she would be recording a solo album, and raised money for the recording using
Kickstarter
. The album
Solo One
was billed as her solo debut, even though she previously had released a solo kids album. Johnson's M+M/Muffins partner Mark Gane was involved in every stage of the album, co-producing all 11 tracks, playing on nine, and co-writing seven. Other contributors to the album, which was released in the autumn of 2013, included
Ron Sexsmith
and Ray Dillard.
Recent activity (2020)
[
edit
]
After another long layoff from being an active performing entity, Martha and the Muffins released a video and downloadable song in May 2020 called "Stay Home and Dance". A reworking of the 1984 M+M track "Come Out and Dance", the new song and video was released in response to the stay-at-home orders surrounding the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
[8]
In 2021 they released the compilation
Marthology: In and Outtakes
, collecting rarities and demo versions of past songs.
[9]
At the same time they indicated that they were working on a new album, tentatively slated for release in 2022.
[10]
Careers outside Martha and the Muffins
[
edit
]
- Martha Ladly
moved to the United Kingdom where she sang backing vocals and played keyboards for the
Associates
1982 album
Sulk
and supporting tour. She also recorded two solo singles ("
Finlandia
," and "
Light Years from Love
") and went on to join
Robert Palmer
's band. However, she also continued her work in visual arts, including a stint at
Peter Saville
Associates, and suggested the album title "
Architecture & Morality
" to the band
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
. She later joined
Peter Gabriel
's Real World multimedia production team. She is now a professor of design at the
Ontario College of Art & Design
.
- Martha Johnson
recorded a children's album in 1995, which won a
Juno Award
for Best Children's Album. The album (credited simply to "Martha") was produced by Mark Gane and Martha Johnson. She most recently issued her album
Solo One
in 2013.
- Johnson and her partner Mark Gane also have scored several Canadian films and TV series.
- Jocelyne Lanois
returned to the Canadian pop charts in 1989 as a member of
Crash Vegas
.
- Carl Finkle briefly managed early 1980s Canadian new wave band
Spoons
at the time of their first hit single "Nova Heart". He later became an architect and swimming pool designer.
[1]
- Andy Haas became a security guard in an art museum,
[1]
and after a long layoff from recording, began issuing CDs of instrumental material beginning in 1997. Haas has released two instrumental solo CDs, and two collaborative CDs with other instrumentalists.
Discography
[
edit
]
Martha and the Muffins discography
|
---|
Studio albums
| 8
|
---|
Compilation albums
| 2
|
---|
Singles
| 18
|
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Studio albums
[
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]
Compilation albums
[
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]
Singles
[
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]
Year
|
Single
|
Chart peak positions
|
Certifications
|
Album
|
CAN
|
CAN CHUM
|
AUS
|
NZ
|
UK
[13]
|
US Hot 100
[14]
|
US Dance
[14]
|
1978
|
"Insect Love"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
?
|
1979
|
"Insect Love"
(re-recorded version)
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
1980
|
"
Echo Beach
"
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
?
|
10
|
?
|
37
[15]
|
|
Metro Music
|
"Saigon"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
"Paint by Number Heart"
|
69
|
20
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
37
[15]
|
|
"About Insomnia"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
Trance and Dance
|
"Suburban Dream"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
1981
|
"Was Ezo"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
"Women Around the World at Work"
|
24
|
10
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
This Is the Ice Age
|
"Swimming"
|
?
|
16
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
1983
|
"Danseparc (Every Day It's Tomorrow)"
|
31
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
Danseparc
|
1984
|
"
Black Stations/White Stations
"
|
26
|
11
|
?
|
49
|
46
|
63
|
2
|
|
Mystery Walk
|
"Cooling the Medium"
|
72
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
34
|
|
1986
|
"Song in My Head"
|
30
|
25
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
The World Is a Ball
|
"Someone Else's Shoes"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
"Only You"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
1992
|
"Rainbow Sign"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
Modern Lullaby
|
2010
|
"Mess"
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
|
Delicate
|
"?" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
Colin Larkin
, ed. (1997).
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music
(Concise ed.).
Virgin Books
. p. 800.
ISBN
1-85227-745-9
.
- ^
a
b
Whitburn, Joel
(2004).
Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003
. Record Research. p. 167.
- ^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from
the original
on 11 April 2012
. Retrieved
15 April
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Graham, Sandy (15 October 2021).
"Martha and the Muffins Celebrate New Release : Marthaology: In and Outtakes"
.
Cashbox
.
- ^
"SPILL FEATURE: THE WORLD IS A BALL - AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTHA JOHNSON & MARK GANE OF MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS"
.
The Spill Magazine
. 16 January 2017
. Retrieved
9 November
2020
.
- ^
[1]
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Adams, James (31 January 2010).
"A Miracle for Martha and the Muffins"
.
The Globe and Mail
.
- ^
Harren, Lindsey (5 March 2021).
"91X Indie Song of the Day ? Martha and the Muffins, Stay Home and Dance"
.
CJLX-FM
.
- ^
Gregory, Allie (7 October 2021).
"Martha and the Muffins Reunite for First New Album in 11 Years"
.
Exclaim!
.
- ^
Krewen, Nick (30 October 2021).
"Martha and the Muffins' fresh batch almost ready ? but in the meantime, their anthology lets them look back"
.
Toronto Star
.
- ^
"Search - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
. collectionscanada.gc.ca
. Retrieved
7 March
2013
.
- ^
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 193.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
a
b
"The Official Charts Company - Martha and the Muffins"
.
Official Charts Company
. Retrieved
3 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Martha and the Muffins > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums"
.
AllMusic
. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2013
. Retrieved
2 November
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Metro Music - Martha and the Muffins > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album"
. AllMusic. Archived from
the original
on 7 March 2013
. Retrieved
2 November
2011
.
- ^
"Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach"
.
bpi.co.uk
. Retrieved
4 October
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
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Compilation albums
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Singles
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Related
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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