Martha And The Muffins Bake Up A Reunion
Ever read a Best Canadian Albums Ever list and say, "Huh?" when you 
invariably reach Martha And The Muffins somewhere in there?
That's right - after Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, but before The Guess Who 
and the Hip, falls our country's best contribution to the new wave movement 
of the early '80s. And just in case you were too young to know them at the 
time, Martha And The Muffins are getting back together. Well, sort of.
"It's only going to be Mark [Gane, guitars/vocals] and me so I'm trying not 
to think about it until the day of," laughs vocalist/keyboard player Martha 
Johnson, referring to her group's upcoming reunion show at Toronto's Drake 
Hotel, February 18. "We haven't played together live in 17 years!"
Since releasing their last studio album, 1992's Modern Lullaby, as Martha 
And The Muffins, Johnson and Gane essentially changed their life priorities 
in order to raise their daughter. They didn't completely give up their 
musical careers, though. Rather, they took it in a completely different 
direction - children's music, and won the 1996 Juno for Best Children's 
Album for Songs From The Tree House.
So why resurrect their old group and old songs now, you ask? With the new 
wave revival almost reaching its best before date, you'd think the last 
thing the buying public wants is another old band reuniting to taste a piece 
of their glory days (Duran Duran, we are looking disapprovingly at you).
But things are a little different with Martha And The Muffins - people 
really want to see them again.
"We're very lucky in that we have a fairly decent-sized, loyal following," 
Johnson says. "I think people have a special place in their hearts for 
Martha And The Muffins and that may have to do with the international 
success we enjoyed."
The fact that the band's 1981 classic, This Is The Ice Age (produced by a 
very young, not-so-famous-yet Daniel Lanois), is finally being reissued this 
spring because the fans have been asking for it for years is certainly a 
testament to how loved Martha And The Muffins still are. And really, if 
bands like The Killers can be picked to play on prime time teen dramas, why 
can't music fans be reminded of how good one of the genre's seminal acts 
actually were?
"The plan is to hopefully record a new record at some point," says Johnson. 
"We have some songs, but they haven't even been demoed yet. We want to 
explore the interest level from labels. We'd like to try some touring, but 
when you have a 12-year-old in school it limits the time when you can be 
away."
Johnson and Gane's daughter, unsurprisingly, has discovered music. Just not 
Martha And The Muffins, yet.
"She is very musical and quite gifted, but she doesn't think our music is 
all that cool," says Johnson. "I think she thinks of it as her parents' 
music."
Give her another five years or so and she'll stumble upon a Best Canadian 
Albums Ever list and say, "Really?" when she invariably reads Martha And The 
Muffins somewhere in there. -Brian Pascual ChartAttack.com