new york bands from velvets to the new wave...free jazz...primitive musics...bukka white....bela bartok....kierkegaard, proust, raymond roussel and other literary, musical and mental obsessions.
THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO SUMNER CRANE 1947-2003 AND NANCY ARLEN 1949-2006....................................NEWS FLASH....NO MORE RECORDS WILL SOON RERELEASE THE MARS COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS CD WORLDWIDE..............................................................................................
Static transmissions from a distant dark star. Taking up and tripping out further than the Velvet Underground’s Black Angel Death Song , MARS punished not with blunt force, but with a propulsive agitation which signalled a neurological insanity. A crippled tension swathed in nervous friction. A cavernous musical universe riddled with eerie sound storms whose poisoned atmosphere seduced and threatened. Obtuse and unforgiving. Sickly sexy. Red noise redefining bass urges, forcing the listener to question their own sanity by drilling into ear holes using electroshock guitars as saw blades trepanning into grey matter. MARS unleashed a choking cacophony illustrating the body as machine in disrepair fuelled by the impending repulsion and disintegration of a perverse romance with one’s own demons. Demons who once wrenched free, made mimicry of the jangling nerve centers, and given voice as song, turned schizophrenic and howled these testimonials to the unbearable.-
Lydia Lunch....
THE BAND
The group later known as Mars came together in late 1975 through a chance meeting of those involved. Common obsessions led directly to the music. We started out jamming on Velvet Underground songs in a loft with Sumner Crane on piano, China Burg on acoustic guitar, Mark on bass and Nancy Arlen on paper bags. This rapidly led to abstract expression far from the source. China and Nancy started playing their instruments at the first rehearsal. Sumner and I were self taught. We all were ready for an adventure.
After a year of cooking up a sound. We played our first gig at CBGBs (under the short lived name China) in January 77 with Sumner, China and I alternating on Silvertone guitars and bass through tube amps, and Nancy on drums. All the words were from Sumner, the music furiously collective.
In the following two years we played approximately 30 gigs and recorded 11 songs, 32 minutes of madness now available in its entirety on the Complete Studio Sessions CD and LP(spookysound/g3g 2004, Important 2005), chronologically sequenced, all recorded live in the studio with no overdubs.
As Sumner once described it, it was a regression from ten to one, and so we reached an end.
THE RECORDS
The first single (3E, 11000 volts), was recorded and mixed by Arden Delarco and produced by Jay Dee Daugherty under the impulse of Lenny Kaye for their label with Patti Smith, Mer. It was in September 77, but not much is remembered of the actual session except that Jay Dee was very sweet and nudged us to be clear about the songs. The single itself never came out on Mer, having been passed over to a French label, Rebel, when Patti decided they would all be too busy touring (?) to put it out. Released finally in March 78 as a 7”on Rebel and about a year later on a ZE 12”.
The spring of 78 found Brian Eno prowling around downtown New York looking for action and encountered the scene by then referred to as No Wave. His enthusiasm led to the compilation No New York featuring Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, The Contortions, DNA, and Mars. He brought us into the studio in June 78 to record Helen Fordsdale, Hair Waves, Tunnel and Puerto Rican Ghost, captured live with a max of two takes each. Eno then mixed, using a very hands on experimentation with compressors and such. We resisted as we were a bit purist about not using effects outside of the amps but in the end we were happy with the results.
The Mars EP was incited by Charles Ball, another one either seduced or crazed into believing in us, for his label Lust Unlust. The recording for this session, in December 78, was literally the last time we played together, recorded as a performance in an empty theatre, using binaural headphone mics placed in the center of the stage surrounded by the group and amps. Arto Lindsay was “executive producer”, basically a spectator as there was no way by this time to “produce” us. There was no real mixing involved as it was binaural two track, but when we finally came to master it a few months later we found the tape had been in a flood and lost some frequencies, resulting in a murkier sound than intended. For the Complete Studio Recordings CD , we used as a master a cassette copy that had been made directly from the binaural master after the session. Recently discovered forgotten in a box, it had a superior sound to the vinyl edition. The binaural effect is fully appreciable with headphones.
THE SONGS - THE VERSIONS OF THESE SONGS INCLUDED ON THIS PAGE EXCLUSIVELY ARE FROM A LIVE SET AT ARTIST'S SPACE IN SOHO IN MAY 1978. THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN RELEASED. MORE TRACKS WILL APPEAR PERIODICALLY, ADD US TO FRIENDS AND WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED.....
3E
Sumner was reading Swann's way when he wrote this and the lyrics are about a contemporary Marcel Proust , in apartment 3-E
Mother said I don’t like the way you always want to stay in bed
I don’t mind the service
But I think you’re getting overfed
I said Mama, this is better than a girl —
Because from this standpoint I can understand the world
You’re not suppose to break your toys
Drop the papers — make the noise
It’s too much mystery to always only see half a face
Out on the street marching unrestrained the human race
All this ceaseless motion takes all my might
Close the curtains give up the light
Take the file smooth me down
Drop the bodies on the town
The wall cries out:
“Hey pal I’m starving how about something to eat”
Opens up his lips tunnel tongue regurgitates the street
Mother unbondaged mouth wakes up the hand underneath the steps —
trips down the stairs drops the milk gets the sheets all wet
Mother don’t abuse your child
It’s not the time to make the smile............
11,000 VOLTS
about a sadomasochistic relationship between an imprisoned robot and its cruel keeper. Sumner wrote the lyrics, but its one of the few songs that I gave the musical direction. The idea was to alter the song’s time signature – both the instruments and the vocals – without altering the song. (China Burg).......
11,000 volts and you break down
have your breakdown
X one, X two and X two squared
fall on the floor and learn to ...
in cripple your brain is a wrist watch
don’t say I’ve got no heart
what I put together, I can take apart
eating garbage
old cookies in the garbage can
the letter will never come, the letter will never come
HELEN FORDSDALE
Helen Fordsdale was written after Sumner had spent a week upstate in the Catskills and was blown away by the insect sounds and wanted to recreate those sounds. So we started playing the guitars beyond the fret board - I used a slide, I believe he did too. We were satisfied with insect guitars and then Mark created that bass line that made it a song. (CB).....
you don’t have to go too far before you’re stuck inside a jar with no clothes you don’t have too far to go before you’re stuck inside a jar with no clothes screaming screaming on my shelf you have to keep it to yourself why resist you why not fist you throw your fit see who cares your hair on cars your arms detach your eyes fly by your torso in wax
HAIR WAVES
about a Japanese housewife listening to the radio. The static in the song was the poor reception of the radio. I was once again entranced with altering the tempo within the song. (CB).........
fly me to let me are you so soon open up I know you’re circle round the lint feel the scratch of dust in my hair-waves order order order order hurling the dog order order life in order hurling the dogs jaws in my waves—hair..........
Notes and page set-up: Mark Cunningham..........
MARS LP - The Complete Studio Recordings CD and vinyl can be found or ordered at specialist shops - if you have any problem contact me here. All tracks will soon be available for download at the usual spaces. MC...... I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
