"Martha's Harbour" is a song by English
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
All About Eve
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit ...
. The acoustic ballad
reached 10 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and helped the group's
self-titled debut album reach No. 7 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. The song features only
Julianne Regan
Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...
's voice, acoustic guitars played by
Tim Bricheno
Tim Bricheno (born Timothy John Bricheno, 6 July 1963, Huddersfield, Yorkshire) is an English guitarist, songwriter and music teacher. He was a member of several notable English indie bands, including All About Eve, The Sisters of Mercy, XC-NN ( ...
, and sound effects of ocean waves.
Background
On its creation, Julianne Regan has said, in an interview on BBC radio, "This song happened by accident when we were recording the first album. It was one of those things when we had the day off and we were sat in this very idyllic setting beneath a willow tree besides a stream by this beautiful residential recording studio and it just came out so naturally. It was a miracle of a little song and it's very dear to us because of that, because it was very pure, a really happy accident. Everybody went to the pub and we put it down and by the time they got back Martha's Harbour was committed to tape. Martha's Harbour is a fictitious backdrop for this happening."
Although Andy Cousin is credited as a co-writer, he does not perform on the recording nor was he involved in the writing.
''Top of the Pops'' performance
The song is well known for an incident on the popular
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', when the group, ready to do a mimed (as was BBC policy at the time) performance of their hit, were not played the backing track through their monitors, so they sat motionless while the television and studio audience could hear the song. Due to this error on the part of the BBC, the band were invited back the following week and insisted on playing the song live.
:A. "Martha's Harbour"
:B. "Another Door"
UK 12-inch single
:A1. "Martha's Harbour"
:A2. "Another Door"
:B1. "In the Meadow" (live)
UK and European CD single
# "Martha's Harbour" – 3:10
# "Another Door" – 3:26
# "Wild Flowers" – 3:51
# "
" – 5:21
UK cassette single
# "Martha's Harbour"
# "Another Door"
# "Never Promise (Anyone Forever)" (live)
# "In the Meadow" (live)
European 5-inch
# "Martha's Harbour" – 3:07
# "Like Emily" – 5:16
# "Another Door" – 3:26
# "She Moves Through the Fair" – 5:05
# "Martha's Harbour" (video) – 3:23
Credits are lifted from the UK 7-inch single sleeve.