From nine till five I have to spend my time at work,
My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk,
The only thing that helps me pass the time away,
Is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach some day.
My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk,
The only thing that helps me pass the time away,
Is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach some day.
"Echo Beach"
Canadian new wave group most famous for the hit "Echo Beach". The two constant members have been singer Martha Johnson and guitarist Mark Gane, who are a long-term couple and have a daughter together.
Tropes associated with Martha and the Muffins:
- Interspecies Romance: Their debut single "Insect Love" is a particularly surreal take on this.
- New Sound Album: This Is The Ice Age moved away from their original new-wave sound to a more art-pop style.
- Danseparc was more dance-oriented.
- Modern Lullaby brought in folk-rock influences.
- Officially Shortened Title: Deciding the whimsy of "Martha and The Muffins" no longer suited them, the remaining original members abbreviated it to M+M - their fourth album Danseparc carried both the old and new names on the cover. They later decided this was a bad idea and reverted to the original name.
- One-Steve Limit: The one thing everybody knows about them is their aversion of this trope as they had two Marthas: Ladly (who later went solo and also made a name as a visual artist, working with Peter Saville among others) and Johnson.
- Protest Song: "Women Around the World at Work" (pro-feminist, anti-war); "Black Stations / White Stations" (anti-racist and against restrictive radio formatting)
- Record Producer: Daniel Lanois got his break producing their album This Is The Ice Age. His sister Jocelyn was the band's bassist at the time.
- Shout-Out: "Garden in the Sky" is about Paul Gauguin.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Mark Gane sang lead on a few songs, notably "Swimming".
- Title-Only Chorus: In fact, a title-only song, "Cheesies and Gum".
