Mars was an American, New York City-based no wave experimental

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

band, formed in 1975 when China Burg (née Constance Burg; a.k.a. Lucy Hamilton) (guitar, vocals) and artist Nancy Arlen (drums) brought Mark Cunningham (bass) and vocalist Sumner Crane together to talk about music. They were joined briefly by guitarist

Rudolph Grey Rudolph Grey is a musician and the biographer of filmmaker Ed Wood. As an electric guitarist, Grey has recorded and performed with Mars, under his own name, as well as leading various ad hoc ensembles called The Blue Humans. His music draws on ...

. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars. They played a mixture of angular compositions and freeform

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

jams, featuring

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

lyrics and non-standard drumming. All the members were said to be completely untrained in music before forming the band.

History

Mars played live about two dozen times, all in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Their first show was at

CBGB's CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

in January 1977; their last one was at

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

on December 10, 1978. Their recorded debut was the ''3-E''/ ''11,000 Volts'' 7-inch single was recorded and mixed by

Jay Dee Daugherty Jay Dee Daugherty (born March 22, 1952) is an American drummer and songwriter most known for his work with Patti Smith. As a member of the Patti Smith Group, he has been nominated twice to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Biography Moving to N ...

and Brooke Delarco under the direction of Lenny Kaye and later released by Rebel Records/

ZE Records ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 in music, 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a British-born Oxford University, Oxford ...

. The group then released a single live EP in 1979 or 1980, though they had broken up in 1978. Both recordings were compiled by

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

's self-run label, Widowspeak Records, in 1986, as ''78''; the songs were slightly remixed and tweaked by

Jim Thirlwell James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other names, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles. ...

(a.k.a. Foetus). It was reissued by

Atavistic Records Atavistic Records is an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its no wave and free jazz recordings. Atavistic has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark, Pinetop Seven, Sw ...

on CD in 1996 as ''78+''. In 1978, Mars appeared on the influential ''

No New York ''No New York'' is a compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, some consider it to be a definitive single album documenting Ne ...

'' compilation LP produced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

, along with DNA,

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential American no wave band, based in New York City, who formed part of the city's no wave movement. Background Lydia Lunch met saxophonist James Chance at CBGB and moved into his two-room apartment. ...

, and

James Chance and the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

, which helped to bring the nascent No Wave genre into the foreground. An

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer wrote of their contributions: "Mars creates interesting music out of apparent chaos; the vocals are babbled and the guitars, bass and drums sound like they're weaving in and out of the song while going in several different directions at once, yet the band is oddly compelling in its crazed, cacophonous way."

Post-breakup

In 1985, China Burg collaborated with Lunch on the album ''

The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton ''The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton'' an album by Lydia Lunch and Lucy Hamilton. It was released in 1985 through Widowspeak. It is the soundtrack to the Richard Kern film ''The Right Side of My Brain''. Content ''Trouser Press'' wrote that the a ...

.'' Due to complaints about Thirlwell's modifications on ''78''/''78+'', the full studio recordings of Mars (totaling about 30 minutes) surfaced in 2003 on the Spanish labels G3G and Spookysound. Cunningham ran both Hyrax Records and Spookysound Records. (To clarify: ''78'', ''78+'', and ''Mars LP: The Complete Studio Recordings, NYC 1977–1978'' all feature essentially the same half-hour batch of music, but with very slight auditory differences.) After the breakup of Mars, Cunningham was part of the bizarre ''

John Gavanti ''John Gavanti'' is a 1980 no wave opera album by members of the bands Mars and DNA. It was written and played by Mark Cunningham (of Mars), Sumner Crane (of Mars), China Burg (of Mars), Ikue Mori (of DNA) and Arto Lindsay (of DNA). All were pr ...

'' "no wave opera" project with Crane,

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation ''No New York''. In ...

, and others. He has also worked with the band Don King, and with his current outfit, Convolution. The ''MARS EP'', on Charles Ball’s Lust/Unlust label, was recorded in December 1978 in one live session and was the last time the band played together. The songs included on the EP were: ''N.N. End'', ''Scorn'', ''Outside Africa'', ''Monopoly'' and ''Immediate Stages of the Erotic''. Crane died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

on April 15, 2003. Arlen died on September 17, 2006, following heart surgery.

Discography

*"3-E" (b/w "11,000 Volts") – 7", 1978 (Rebel Records, RB 7802) (later released as a 12" on ZE) *''

'' – LP, 1978 (Antilles/ Island) (split compilation with three other bands) *''Mars'' – 12" EP (live), 1979 or 1980 (Lust/Unlust/Infidelity) *''

'' – LP, 1980 (Hyrax) (CD reissue on Atavistic) (featured Crane, Cunningham, Berg) *''78'' – LP, 1986 (Widowspeak) *''Live Mars 77–78'' – CD, 1995 (DSA) (France) *''78+'' – CD, 1996 (Atavistic) *''Mars LP: The Complete Studio Recordings, NYC 1977–1978'' – CD, 2003 (G3G/Spookysound) (Spain; limited edition) (later released on LP by Important) (reissued by No More in 2008) *''Live at Artists Space'' – LP (live), 2011 (recorded May 6, 1978) (Feeding Tube/Negative Glam) *''Live at Irving Plaza'' – LP (live), 2012 (recorded August 4, 1978) (Feeding Tube/Negative Glam) *''Rehearsal Tapes and Alt-Takes NYC 1976–1978'' – 3-cassette box set, 2012 (recorded between Summer of 1976 and November 1978) (Anòmia; limited edition)

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

How Mark Cunningham Blitzed the Bowery With No Wave Icons Mars
(''Observer'', 2017)
LIFE ON MARS: The Surviving Members of the Earliest NO WAVE band Talk Muggings, Warhol, and 1977 an interview with Mark CunninghamClocktower - Radio
Mars is the second track on Clocktower's

Colab Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines. History Colab members came together as a collective in ...

Vinyl Mix (aired 5/9/16) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mars No wave groups American experimental musical groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 ZE Records artists Musical groups from New York City American experimental rock groups American noise rock music groups American post-punk music groups Rebel Records artists Musical quartets Atavistic Records artists