Remember that John Cusack character in High Fidelity who explained in great detail about the finer points to consider when making a cassette mix for someone? I had a friend named James who was a master in that field. In fact, just about every six months he would come up with a new “mix” for me and my friends to get into, tapes made with care and careful research, featuring both new groups and obscure older groups,both made it onto the mixes carefully orchestrated for a complete “piece” of music!
I can’t begin to count all the different artists he introduced me to, but one of the most significant groups that he brought to my attention was a new folk / rock unit with the peculiar name of 10,000 Maniacs, with a powerful little tune called “Scorpio Rising”.
From the very first time I listened to the tape, the song stuck out for me and became a favorite, and that’s saying something when you consider that cassette also featured great groups like TSOL, The March Violets, Naked Raygun, and The Jesus and Mary Chain!
I immediately wanted to know more about them, and on my next visit to James’ house, was introduced to 10,000 Maniacs album The Wishing Chair. For the first time, I got to hear such wonderful songs as “Just as The Tide Was Rushing In” , “Can’t Ignore The Train”, “Back O’ The Moon”, and the incredible album closer “My Mother The War”.
I was also finally able to see just what the group looked like, and I’ll never forget standing in that living room, looking at the little thumbnail pic of the lead singer Natalie Merchant for the first time! They looked so cool- really like a little Bohemian Beatnik group, a look that fit nicely with the songs they were singing - In fact, I was happy to discover that The Wishing Chair was produced by Joe Boyd, the man who oversaw such artists as Fairport Convention, Cat Stevens and Nick Drake!
Fast forward a few years later, and I’m reading the latest Rolling Stone magazine, and glancing on the College Album Chart, I’m informed that the Maniacs have released a new album! I hurried down to the record store and picked up a cassette (yes! Cassette!) of their new release, a strange covered album called In My Tribe.
Shortly after falling in love with ABSOLUTELY FALLING IN LOVE with the album, 10,000 Maniacs appeared on Saturday Night Live (guest host: Judge Reinhold), and performed Like The Weather and What’s The Matter Here. Like the Weather was fun and breezy, but it was the performance of What’s The Matter Here that did it for me. THIS WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PERFS I’D EVER SEEN! There was no going back for me, and I beacme a rabid Maniacs fan from then on!
It was a great time to be a Maniacs fan. Soon came Blind Man’s Zoo, as well as a rather significant release called “Hope Chest”, which contained songs from the Maniacs first two LPs Human Conflict Number Five and Secrets of The I Ching. FANTASTIC!!!
These were SOOOOOO good, and before I could catch my breath, Elektra Records had released a VIDEO collection of the Maniacs!!! I cannot tell you how thrilled I was. There was a while there when Wishing Chair, In My Tribe, Blind Man’s Zoo and Hope Chest were (just about) the only CDs I was listening to, and those songs really remind me about that specific time in my life!
Speaking of the Wishing Chair on CD, When they released that album on CD, I was pleased to find that they’d given three bonus songs for the release, but was horrified to find that they’d actually mixed it into the order of the songs. The Original chonology was already perfect, and It was hard to listen to the songs in this strange new way, and worst of all, they’d placed”Arbor Day” at the end where My Mother The War was supposed to close the album!
By the time 10,000 Maniacs released Our Time In Eden, they had sort of changed into a different group (at least for me)… While I did love the album (and have some terrific live performances from the album, as well), I got a different vibe from the band, and I have to admit I wasn’t too surprised when they broke up shortly thereafter. From that point, Natalie Merchant would go solo, and the remaining maniacs would bring back original guitarist John Lombardo and his new partner Mary Ramsey as a new Maniacs of sorts. Both groups are fine in their own way, and I like that these new ventures are keeping the spirit of the group alive, But for me, the magic time for 10,000 Maniacs was those first few years…that stuff is priceless to me!
