Martha and the Muffins

Martha and the Muffins – formed in Toronto, Canada in 1977 – is a new wave / post-punk group best known for their 1979 single “Echo Beach.” Founded by singer and keyboardist Martha Johnson (born December 18, 1950), the group brought together high school friends Mark Gane (guitar), his brother Tim Gane (drums) and Carl Finkle (bass) to form the earliest version of the group. This line up was soon joined by Andy Haas (saxophone) and Martha Ladly (guitar), and the band began gaining attention. This line-up recorded their first single, the independently released "Insect Love" (1978), and then signed with the Dindisc label. Their next single was a re-recording of “Insect Love” (1979) followed by “Echo Beach,” which became an international hit, reaching Number 5 in Canada and hitting the Top 10 in Australia and the UK. “Echo Beach” won the Juno Award for Song of the Year in Canada. The group’s debut album, Metro Music, was released in 1980 and featured the previous singles along with “Saigon” and “Paint by Number Heart.” Martha and the Muffins released their sophomore album, Trance and Dance, in 1980, but it was not a commercial success. At this point, the original line-up began to splinter. Their third album, This Is the Ice Age (1982), was produced by then-unknown producer Daniel Lanois, who was the brother of the group’s new bassist Jocelyne Lanois. After more line-up changes, the group was down to a quartet and recorded their next album, Danseparc (1983) under the new group name M+M. The next album, Mystery Walk (1984), was recorded as a duo (Martha Johnson and Mark Gane) and included “Black Stations/White Stations,” their biggest hit since “Echo Beach.” The duo relocated to England and released The World Is a Ball (1986), their final album as M+M. After a long hiatus, the duo returned as Martha and the Muffins for the 1992 album Modern Lullaby. The group’s legacy was rediscovered by a new generation with the release of the 1998 compilation album Then Again: A Retrospective. Martha and the Muffins continued to play live but did not return with a new album until 20120’s Delicate. Martha Johnson released the album Solo One in 2013 before returning to Martha and the Muffins and releasing the remix album Where Blue Meets Green (The Balearic Edits) in 2017 and the compilation Marthology: In and Outtakes (2021).

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