''Metro Music'' is the debut album by Canadian
new wave band
Martha and the Muffins. It was released in 1980 on
Dindisc, the first album release for the label, and contains the international hit single "
Echo Beach".
The cover image design by
Peter Saville is a map of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, the band's hometown, and is based on a map from the
National Topographic System
The National Topographic System or NTS is the system used by Natural Resources Canada for providing general purpose topographic maps of the country. NTS maps are available in a variety of scales, the standard being 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scales. T ...
of Canada.
The entire ''Metro Music'' album also formed the first part of Martha and the Muffins' 1987 compilation ''
Far Away in Time''.
Release
The album's first single, "
Echo Beach", became a hit in several countries, reaching number three in Canada, number one in Portugal, number five in Australia and number 10 in the United Kingdom in March 1980. It also reached number 37 in the United States on the
Club Play Singles chart.
[ "Saigon" was released as a follow-up single in the UK a few months later, but failed to chart. In Canada, the follow-up single was "Paint by Number Heart" — it climbed to number 69. The album itself was certified gold in Canada (50,000 units) on September 1, 1980; "Echo Beach" was certified gold there (5,000 units) on the following October 1.]
Track listing
Personnel
* Martha Johnson – keyboards, vocals
*Martha Ladly
Martha Jane Ladly is a Canadian academic, designer and musician. She is a professor of design at OCAD University. Ladly also has had a long career as a musician and achieved international fame as part of rock band Martha and the Muffins. She ha ...
– keyboards, trombone, vocals
*Mark Gane – synthesizer, guitar
*Carl Finkle – bass
*Tim Gane – drums
*Andy Haas – saxophone
Chart performance
Album
Singles
References
{{Authority control
1979 debut albums
Martha and the Muffins albums
Albums produced by Mike Howlett