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Martha and the Muffins

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
Formation and early years (1977–1978) 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. In 1978, they released their first independent single "Insect Love". 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. 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. Johnson would later explain that the name change just never stuck, because "our legacy was Martha and the Muffins." 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. 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. 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) 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) 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. In 2021, they released the compilation Marthology: In and Outtakes, collecting rarities and demo versions of past songs. At the same time they indicated that they were working on a new album, tentatively slated for release in 2022. ==Careers outside Martha and the Muffins==
Careers outside Martha and the Muffins
• 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. 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. • Andy Haas became a security guard in an art museum, 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==
Discography
Studio albums Compilation albums Singles ==References==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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