THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

748-Martha and the Muffins-Echo Beach.

1980-Number 10 single.

Best Bit-At 1,58. There are blueberry muffins, apple muffins, cornmeal muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and if you venture in to the ‘Urban Dictionary,’ the meaning of ‘muffin’ may make you blush.

Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian Rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1977, by Mark Gane, (synthesizer, and guitar) and his fellow art student at that time David Millar (vocals.) They were soon joined by Martha Johnson, (keyboards, and vocals) with the initial lineup being completed by Mark Gane’s brother Tim, (drums) and Carl Finkle (bass.) Millar left the group before the recording of ‘Echo Beach,’ with both Martha Lady, (keyboards, and vocals) and Andy Haas, (saxophone) joining the group. In total there have been nine different members come and go, with Mark Gane, and Martha Johnson who are married, being the only two remaining members. The name ‘Martha and the Muffins’ was chosen to distance themselves from the aggressive sounding names adopted by many ‘Punk’ bands of that era. In 1983 when the group were a quartet they decided to change their name to ‘”M + M,’ but it never really caught on, with Martha Johnson saying,’The name change just never stuck, because our legacy was ‘Martha and the Muffins.’

The discography of Martha and the Muffins includes eight studio Albums released between 1980-2019, and 18 singles issued between 1978-2010, there are also two official compilation Albums available. In their native Canada, five of their singles have reached the Canadian top 40 singles chart, with ‘Echo Beach’ peaking the highest at Number 5, while in the UK, only ‘Echo Beach’ has charted, when reaching Number 10, and in America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, their only entry to date remains ‘Black Stations/White Stations,’ which peaked at Number 63 in 1984. Martha Johnson has also released two solo Albums, in 1995, and 2013.

‘Echo Beach’ was the first of three singles released from ‘Metro Music,’ the debut Album by Martha and the Muffins, from February 1980, it was written by Mark Gane, and produced by Mike Howlett. Echo Beach is the groups only international hit to date, finding success in the UK. and also Australia, where it reached Number 6. The songs producer Mike Howlett was born Michael John Gilmour Howlett, on April 27th, 1950, in Sydney, Australia. Howlett settled in England in the early 1970’s, and joined the ‘Progressive Rock’ group ‘Gong,’ with whom he remained a member until 1977, when he then formed the short lived ‘Pop/Rock’ group ‘Strontium 90,’ with Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, who would later go on to form ‘The Police’ (see also best songs 1020 and 727.) In the early 1980’s Mike Howlett became an in-demand music producer, with a string of hit singles and Albums, including ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, ‘Enola Gay.’ (see also best songs 720 ) and ‘A Flock of Seagulls,’ ‘Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You’) (see also best songs 996.)

‘Echo Beach’ was written by Mark Gane when he was a student at the ‘Ontario College of Art. He had a very dull part time job, where he had to check wallpaper for printing faults, and his mind would wander to a ‘happier place.’ Gane has said that ‘Echo Beach’ is a place that he made up, but it is based on ‘Sunnyside Beach,’ on the shoreline of ‘Lake Ontario,’ in Toronto, where he had spent time. Mark Gane has also said,’The lake and beach could have been in the middle of nowhere, while the city behind became a surrealistic sight.’ ‘Echo Beach’ is probably influenced by the lyrics to song ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour,’ by the British band ‘Ultravox,’ whose lyrics include,’Riding inter-city trains, dressed in European grey. Riding out to echo beach, a million memories in the trees and sands.’ Basically ‘Echo Beach’ is a place to escape to, when you let you’re imagination run wild.

‘From nine to 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 someday.’