Martha Jane Ladly is a Canadian academic, designer and musician. She is a professor of design at

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

. Ladly also has had a long career as a musician and achieved international fame as part of

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

Martha and the Muffins Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the c ...

. She had a solo career in the mid-1980s and then worked in design and education.

Musical career

A student at the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

in Toronto, Ontario, Ladly was invited to join new wave band Martha and the Muffins in 1978. She became one of two vocalists and keyboard players named Martha in the band. The other Martha was Martha Johnson, who sang lead on the majority of the group's songs, including their biggest hit, 1980's "

Echo Beach "Echo Beach" is a song recorded by the Canadian group Martha and the Muffins in 1979. Written by band member Mark Gane, it was released as a single from their album ''Metro Music'' in 1980 and went on to reach number 5 in Canada, number 6 in Aust ...

". Ladly played with the band from 1978 to 1980 and sang lead vocals on the group's seventh single, "Was Ezo", which she co-composed. Ladly left the band in August 1980 for an art scholarship. She subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, releasing two solo singles ("

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian ...

" and " Light Years from Love") the latter featuring

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

on bass. She concurrently worked in visual arts and design with designer Peter Saville. Her painting ''Factus 8'' was used by Saville for the sleeve of New Order's EP '' 1981 - Factus 8 - 1982''. During her time in England, while pursuing her twin interests in music and visual art, Ladly became friends with a number of popular British musical acts.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboar ...

credits Ladly for suggesting the titles of their 1981 hit album ''

Architecture & Morality ''Architecture & Morality'' is the third studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 6 November 1981 by Dindisc. Inspired by religious music, the group sought to broaden their musical palette by u ...

'' and their 1984 hit single "

Tesla Girls "Tesla Girls" is a song by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released as the third single from their fifth studio album, ''Junk Culture'' (1984). It peaked at No. 21 in the UK and Ireland, and No. 8 on the Dutch Top ...

". In 1982, Ladly provided backing vocals for

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

and joined cult Scottish

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

act The Associates appearing with them on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. She left The Associates in 1986 and subsequently worked with Robert Palmer's band. In 1991, during which time she was known as Martha Ladly Hoffnung, she managed Anta’s, ‘a trend setting design business’ in Portland Road,

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, London. Ladly was designer for the company which recoloured "authentic tartan patterns". From 1992 to 2001, she worked with

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

as the manager of Real World Design and editor of Real World Notes.

Solo discography

* 1981 - "

" * 1983 - " Light Years from Love"

Academic career

In 2012, Ladly was appointed as associate dean of graduate studies at the

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

. She is an associate professor of design where her specialty is interactive communication. She is a mentor with the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for pr ...

's Interactive Project Lab (IPL) and a faculty member with the Habitat Interactive Art and Entertainment Program. Before her appointment at OCAD, she was the creative director of HorizonZero, a bilingual internet publication in collaboration with the Banff New Media Institute and Culture Canada.Martha Ladly online CV 2008

Awards

*2007: SSHRC: Principal Investigator. ITST Mobile Nation Conference Grant *2007: Canadian Design Research Network: Co-Principal Investigator. Mobile Nation Publications, Workshops and Dissemination Grant *2006: Portage: Co-applicant, Canadian Heritage New Media Research Network *2005-06: The Mobile Digital Commons Network 2: Co-applicant, Canadian Heritage New Media Research Network *1996, 1982: British Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD): Silver Citation for Best Multimedia Packaging Design for 'EVE. Silver Citation for Best Record Sleeve Design for New Order single "

Everything's Gone Green "Everything's Gone Green" is the third single by the English rock band New Order, released in December 1981. As usual per New Order and Joy Division's releases, the recording date and location of the music is not disclosed on the original sleeve ...

" *1994: American Recording Academy: Grammy Award Nomination for Best Record Sleeve Packaging Design for Peter Gabriel "

Secret World Live ''Secret World Live'' is the second live album and tenth album overall by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 August 1994 in the UK. The album documents the concert experience of the Secret World Tour. A concert film of t ...

" *1981: Canadian

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

: for Single of the Year with

for the single "

References

External links

The Charmed Life Of Martha Ladly
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladly, Martha The Associates (band) members Canadian rock keyboardists OCAD University faculty Canadian designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian women artists Canadian new wave musicians Women new wave singers Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian women in electronic music Martha and the Muffins members