Martha and the Muffins – “Paint By Number Heart” b/w “Copacabana” (VS 1115)
“Paint By Number Heart” b/w “Copacabana” Virgin/DinDisc Records VS 1115 (Canada) Released probably in summer 1980 Produced by Mike Howlett Like the rest of the world outside the UK, Martha and the Muffins’ home country Canada took longer to embrace “Echo Beach” for the simple reason that Virgin proposed a wait-and-see approach and delayed the...
Martha and the Muffins – “Saigon” b/w “Copacabana” (DIN 17)
“Saigon” b/w “Copacabana” DinDisc Records DIN 17 (UK) Released on April 11, 1980 Produced by Mike Howlett Woe betide the band choosing a follow-up single to “Echo Beach,” the unexpected smash hit for Martha and the Muffins and a commercial breakthrough for their label DinDisc as well. “Saigon” didn’t repeat that success, and the band...
Martha and the Muffins – “Echo Beach” b/w “Teddy The Dink” (DIN 9)
“Echo Beach” b/w “Teddy The Dink” DinDisc Records DIN 9 (UK) Released on January 25, 1980 Produced by Mike Howlett As the new decade began, Martha and the Muffins had a debut album in the can when they released their second British single. Written by guitarist Mark Gane, “Echo Beach” is exactly the same recording...
Martha and the Muffins – “Insect Love” b/w “Cheesies and Gum” (DIN 4)
“Insect Love” b/w “Cheesies and Gum” DinDisc Records DIN 4 (UK) Released on November 3, 1979 Produced by Mike Howlett Once more, with feeling: Martha and the Muffins re-recorded “Insect Love” for their first release on DinDisc Records, a boutique label established by Carol Wilson under the Virgin UK umbrella. What a difference a producer...
Martha and the Muffins – “Insect Love” b/w “Suburban Dream” (MM 001)
“Insect Love” b/w “Suburban Dream” Muffin Music MM 001 (Canada) Released in February 1979 Produced by Martha and the Muffins This is a self-released single under the band’s DIY label, Muffin Music. The tracks were taken from a June 1978 demo of five songs (the other three recordings are “Teddy the Dink,” “Trance and Dance,”...
dance with me while they sleep: the 7″ singles of Martha and the Muffins
Let’s start with the obvious: Martha and the Muffins were never a ‘singles band.’ The musicians in Canada’s greatest new wave band came of age in the 1970s, a time when the rock album was the format of choice for mass audiences and (in the case of the young Muffins) adventurous listeners alike. The group...
favorite music of 2019
This year marks the first time that some end-of-year favorite albums were enjoyed on streaming platforms only. That probably tells you all you need to know about my old-man embrace of the contemporary listening experience. Cate Le Bon – Reward The daffy “it girl” from Wales finally recorded an album with deep emotional resonance,...
100 albums for the 2010s
Ranked in approximate order of what I would consider most essential listening, these albums comprise a decent playlist of what my decade of new music sounded like… at least from the perspective of the final year. (I see that at least one 2018 album included here didn’t make my end-of-year favorite music of 2018 list...
the shape of the Vassar College music scene: guest blog by Nicole Lipman
[Nicole Lipman has been my undergraduate research assistant for three years and has helped me immeasurably by transcribing interviews, scanning and indexing press clippings, and doing other work that my book project needed. Nicole is also a musician and music writer, so before she graduated in May, I asked her to update me on the...
the curious case of Mariya Takeuchi’s Plastic Love: guest blog by Thomas Calkins
[I’ve wanted Thomas Calkins to write something for this blog since well before I served as external adviser to his University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sociology dissertation on the life and death of urban record stores. While that project currently evolves into academic journals publications, he found the time to share some thoughts on a quite recent...
the story of DinDisc Records
OMD were a perfect fit for what I had in mind for DinDisc — they had a serious, artistic side with real depth, as well as a commercial, pop side. That duality was reflected in all the early DinDisc signings, like Martha and the Muffins, and then the Monochrome Set. – Carol Wilson, head of...
a place where people like us go: how the New York Times reports the Hudson Valley
[Note: Since the original 2019 post, I’ve updated this page with five additional years (2018-2022) of Times coverage, archived at the bottom of this page. An analysis of this period, inclusive of Covid-19 and its accompanying pandemic gentrification, is forthcoming. -LN] I’ve noticed that folks in the Hudson Valley can’t avoid taking the bait when...