10,000 Maniacs
Along with R.E.M., 10,000
Maniacs were perhaps the most important
band of the eighties. They formed in the cold, upper regions of New
York State in the autumn of 1981 and by end of the decade they had risen
to superstar status performing in the most exclusive halls in the world.
As of the summer of 2003 they were on the road with the 3rd incarnation of the
group. Their history is long and tangled... but for now I offer you some photos, articles, reviews, and
interviews. John Lombardo, by the way, was the very first interview to
ever run in Cottage Views Classic Rock News. Some of that interview is included here.
The original band: Natalie Merchant (vocals) and John Lombardo (guitar) on steps
Steve Gustafson (bass), Rob Buck (lead guitar), Dennis Drew (keys), Jerry Augustyniak (drums) in foreground
Group Discography at Bottom of Page
April 7, 1993 - Cottage Views: What artists have been a major influence on you?
John Lombardo: I'm a fanatic for Ronnie Lane. He's a big influence in my life. Gram Parsons is really influential to me. Iain Matthews, and a lot of the Fairport people, some of the early Dave Cousins, Sandy Denny, all of those people have been a big influence. There are some English bands of that Folky style that I really like. A group called Lindisfarne, I'm very into them.
As far as American groups, I'm very influenced by the Byrds, early Buffalo
Springfield, that kind of thing. I like Bob Dylan, and the Band. All those
groups that create this musical identity for themselves and they can sort of
take you into this other world that they've created. Fairport; you don't know
what century it is, it just takes you to their world.
That's not to say I'm not influenced by other things. I mean, the Clash were a huge group. Before we formed 10,000 Maniacs we were like a Clash tribute band. In the early days we were doing covers of the Clash, Gang of 4, a lot of the English groups no one knew too much about. Things like Television Personalities, Delta 5. We were doing a lot of covers, but I was always influenced by Joe Strummer in particular. His solo record is brilliant.
I'm a huge record collector ant there's a lot I listen to. I listen to a lot of reggae music. Mostly vocal trio stuff; Mighty Diamonds, Gladiators, Meditations, that kind of thing. I was never into Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, or Jimmy Cliff - the ones that people associate as the king-pins of reggae.
You know who was a big influence as well was Ray Davies, in the early period. Right up until about 1971, '72. After that I haven't really liked too much he's done. But that whole period of Village Green Preservation Society, Something Else, where he was writing about this dream world and what could have been or should have been. I'm into people that are very sentimental. I'm attracted to writers that are sentimental, films that are sentimental. I like a good cry. I like songs about dying, about ghosts appearing in the middle of the night.
Sold Out: Radio City Music Hall, NYC June 28-29, 1989 (right) Natalie as a "happy puppet"
above photos courtesy of Michael Cimino Archives
10,000 Maniacs Next Chapter
(originally published in Cottage Views - December 1997)
Love Among the Ruins (Geffen), the latest CD from upstate New York's 10,000 Maniacs is a low key comeback worthy of major attention.
With violist Mary Ramsey taking over the lead vocal
chores from the departed 
Natalie
Merchant, the group have progressed past the topical issues of the eighties
with a more cohesive, breezy sound.
"I don't know why the world expected the band to shrivel up and fade away," says guitarist John Lombardo, of the backlash following Ms. Merchant's decision to quit the group. "Right now we've got five out of six of the original musicians. What we do is make music."
Resembling a modern day Fairport Convention, the Maniacs have returned to their roots and taken stock in well crafted songs void of any political preachiness.
Of the Maniacs' former trademark stance, Lombardo explains, "At the time the band started out even groups that weren't considered political had a political dimension to them. It was a nice juxtaposition; soothing music with unsettling lyrics. After a while that became the band's biggest strength and biggest weakness."
Fifteen years after their debut, 10,000 Maniacs are enjoying the change and ready to write their next chapter. Having already lodged a single in the Top 40, a remake of Roxy Music's "More Than This," the Maniacs have proved their credibility and staying power.
Confident that the future is as bright as ever, Lombardo says, "There's a really good feeling in the band right now. It's us against the world again."
10,000 MANIACS' JOHN AND MARY - THE COTTAGE VIEWS INTERVIEW
(previously published in Cottage Views June 2000) Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Five years after 10,000 Maniacs regrouped with founder John Lombardo and violist Mary Ramsey taking the helm the duo talk openly about the music industry, how they feel the industry regards them, and how one of Americas favorite bands almost fell between the cracks.
Cottage Views: John, a few issues back you had a very good comment about the Maniacs not going to go away just because Natalie Merchant left. How many years now has the band actually been around?
John Lombardo: We're going on 19 years. The bands that came out at the same time we did, the new wave bands or whatever you call them, there are only 4 of them still around. REM, the B 52s, us,
and, to a certain extent, the Violent Femmes. But those are the only American bands that are still together.C.V.: What is your approach to keeping the band together?
John: What we’ve tried to do is to figure out how to tour economically. We view it as our jobs. Basically, we go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and try to make a little dough. It’s the wise way to tour. You know, nobody pays you on a Monday night or a Tuesday night. You just can’t get guarantees and people don’t come.
Look at some of the people that you’ve written about in the magazine, some of our heroes - people like Roger McGuinn, Ray Davies - for years have toured solo. The money just isn’t there anymore, so you see a lot of groups having to downsize. We have six people in the band and we are able to tour efficiently, now.
Mary Ramsey: We’ve been doing a lot of big festivals and we’ve tooled ourselves to be able to adapt to smaller environments. For me it’s weird because the festivals seem more like they want to hear the hits and I become more like a cover band singer. I’ve written so much music and played and done so much that the smaller gigs are nice because I feel like I can explain who I am to people. Half the time they think I’m Natalie.
John: Like Mary said, we adapt. Tonight we’re playing at this small kind of folk club. Tomorrow night we’re actually playing at a theater that holds 1,200 people and then the following day we’re playing [to] 12 or 15 thousand. You have to be able to do all of those things and fortunately we can.
C.V.: You’ve gone from independent to major labels (Elektra, Geffen) and now back to independent. What is your view of the industry?
Mary: What I think about the record companies is that they have gone into this big business mentality and I think it’s going to collapse on itself at some point. They are just going for product that they know is predictable and they know the outcome.
John: What happened to Geffen is very characteristic. Geffen was sinking when they signed us. We didn’t know it but the handwriting was already on the wall. When Seagrams bought Universal four labels fell into their control; Mercury, A&M, Geffen, and Interscope. I blame Seagrams because they really didn't know anything about the entertainment industry. When they bought Universal they pulled the plug and Mercury, A&M, and Geffen all went down.
Mary: A lot of it also has to do with the times and how business is run in general. Any kind of business. There is a lot of greed in the world, now. There always was but I think it has gotten worse. There is now a bigger discrepancy between the poor and the rich - more than ever - and it’s really indicative of the way things are going.
John: Well, they’ve determined who the big buyers are, which is young kids between 13 and 18. If 40% of 8th graders in America have the same album, you're talking about 10-12 million in sales. For a short period of time every teenage girl in America had the Alanis Morrisette CD, just like in my day when every girl came to college with a copy of Tapestry by
Carol King, or a few years later everybody had Frampton Comes Alive! There are certain albums that everyone in a generation owns, but now they latch onto one particular album and the sales become totally exaggerated.Mary: That’s because more people are into buying Cds. There is so much media pumping ‘buy Cds’ as opposed to albums years ago.
John: There is a different view, too. Have you ever
noticed when people had albums it would be, ‘Don’t scratch my albums!’ There
was something sacred about them. I go to peoples houses now and there are CDs
like this (points to a disheveled stack of CDs on the table). Everybody I know
has a desk with about 18 CDs that they haven’t heard yet. There is a very sort
of throw away quality to it. And I’m guilty of it, too. I don’t digest CDs
anymore.
C.V.: Part of my job is to digest music and what I've been finding is there is a lot of glut in the marketplace. Do you think there is any quality stuff out there?
John: It must exist, but the thing is, unless you work in a record store and you hear everything you don't get to make these choices. Great albums come out but unless you're a music buff, who is totally into searching, it’s going to pass you by.
C.V.: If the opportunity was right, would you chase the majors again, or do you prefer to be on an independent label with more control over your material?
Mary: First of all, I think it would be a major accomplishment for us to get an album out that we all really love. All of us collectively. I think it doesn’t really have anything to do with what we want or not want. We could give an album to either group, major or independent, and who knows. I don’t think the major labels would give this band the time of day. They don’t know that there are people working, making music with integrity. I feel that we’re not wearing the right clothes to be accepted at the party.
C.V.: Do you feel that way because the band had it’s highest success with Natalie singing and now she’s gone?
Mary: Yeah. I don’t think they want to deal with it. Also, because it’s not new.
John: It’s something from another era. It’s nice to be there long enough so you can do what you want, and we can still get gigs. That's something to be proud of.
Mary: And therein comes the notion that record labels don’t understand about troubadour bands - like those old fashioned troubadours that went around and played and people responded because they understand it on a certain level. That's what I view we do. Record labels don’t want to sign bands that are like a troubadour band because we don’t sell albums.
John: Here’s a question that I’ll pose to both of you - name the last group that was signed to a major label where all of the members were over 35. (Awkward silence) There isn’t any.
C.V.: So what is next for 10,000 Maniacs?
John: We’re going to try and do something new. In November we’re doing a thing with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. We’re going to do our songs with an orchestra. We are definitely going to record it. It's going to be fun.
© 2002 Cottage Views
Sadly, on December 19, 2000 guitarist Rob Buck passed away of liver failure in University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital. Rob, who had battled liver problems for years, was 42. The last full concert that Rob performed was with his band-mates and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Kleinhans Music Hall on November 3. Three days later the group performed a brief set at a campaign rally for Hillary Rodham Clinton at Buffalo State College. Contributions to help pay for his medical expenses can be sent to the Buck Family Medical Fund, Key Bank, 730 Foote Avenue, Jamestown, NY 14701.
Photo of John and Mary at the Cottage Views office courtesy of Michael Cimino Archives. Others courtesy of 10,000 Maniacs.
JOHN LOMBARDO INTERVIEW July 11, 2001
Michael Cimino: Has the band made a decision for what they will do in the future?
John Lombardo: No. We haven’t sat down at all. We haven’t done anything to terminate, but artistically, I think, everyone in the group has written songs that they may not have felt were right for 10,000 Maniacs. As a happenstance of Rob’s passing I think that out of honor to him we may never get back together again. Even if we did, or even considered it, it wouldn’t be right away. It’s almost like you wouldn’t want to hit the road with somebody new real quickly because it would make it seem like it wasn’t that big a deal but in actual fact it was a huge deal. He was a cornerstone of the band. He was responsible for the sound. And we love him, so I think we have to take a year or so and figure out if it’s best to let it lie, [or] is it best to carry on. I don’t know.
MC: Are you and Mary working on songs for a possible new John & Mary album?
JL: Yes. Yes, we are working on a new John & Mary record right now, with Jerry from the band, whose playing drums. I’m excited about it. We’ve kept it under wraps because nowadays, with the internet, if you perform the songs live you may get a bad critique and on the internet – ten minutes after the show is done… I’m trying to keep it like in the old days when it was like if somebody likes the band they would eagerly anticipate the release of the record and they bring it home and they’ve never heard any of the songs before. It was like going home with a surprise package. You don’t know if you’re going to like it or not, but it’s there and you deal with it. It’s a new thing. And that’s what I want do with this record. Enough of this filtering it out and having people react to something before it’s even ready. I think a song deserves to be taken artistically in the studio. Playing it acoustically is some little bar somewhere is not the way to debut a song.
MC: How did it go with the Philharmonic gig?
JL: We only got one full-blown rehearsal. The concert was on a Friday night and we had a Thursday rehearsal for it. Part of the deal that we got with the Philharmonic was that we weren’t allowed to tape it. They were very fucking adamant about it. They were saying that they might tape it and use it for some sort of compilation record but they didn’t. Three weeks later Rob was dead and it all kind of fell apart. We never did get paid and they prohibited us completely from recording it, which is a tragedy. It was Rob’s last show. That was our last full concert. Three days later we did a benefit for Hillary Clinton. She was running for state senator. The day before election day she flew into Buffalo, because it’s this pivotal area, and they had a rally at Buffalo State. We only played two songs. Doug Flutie, the quarterback, had a drum kit set up on stage with us and we had two drummers, like the Allman Brothers, and that was it. That was the last time. Sad.
Read Cottage Views review of Natalie Merchant's Motherland
ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY
Human Conflict Number Five [EP] (Christian Burial Music) 1982
Secrets of the I Ching (Christian Burial Music) 1983
The Wishing Chair (Elektra) 1985
In My Tribe (Elektra) 1987
Blind Man's Zoo (Elektra) 1989
Hope Chest (Elektra) 1990 re-issue compilation of Human Conflict Number Five and Secrets of the I Ching
Our Time in Eden (Elektra) 1992
M TV Unplugged (Elektra) 1993
Love Among the Ruins (Geffen) 1997
The Earth Pressed Flat (Bar/None) 1999
note: Several tracks were cut by 10,000 Maniacs over the years that have popped up on various releases. An abbreviated list includes the Paul McCartney penned Mary Hopkin hit "Goodbye" (released as the b side of the "Don't Talk" - 1987), John Prine's "Hello in There" (bonus track on You Happy Puppet EP), David Bowie's "Starman" and Jackson Browne's "These Days" (bonus tracks on These are Days EP), R.E.M.'s "Don't go back to Rockville" (bonus tracks on Candy Everybody Wants EP), and Lulu's "To Sir With Love" (bonus track on Few and Far Between EP).
Natalie Merchant (solo) John and Mary (solo)
Tigerlily (Elektra) 1995 Victory Gardens (Ryko) 1991
Ophelia (Elektra) 1998 The Weedkillers Daughter (Ryko) 1993
Live in Concert (Elektra) 1999 The Pinwheel Galaxy (2002)
Motherland (Elektra) 2001
House Carpenters Daughter (2003)
links
Official 10,000 Maniacs Website