MARY MY HOPE

“It’s About Time”

(Atlanta 1989)

Anyone who says they can handicap their local rock scene is either lying or out of their mind.

In early 1988, you could ask anyone hanging out at Atlanta’s White Dot which band was Atlanta’s Next Big Thing; almost everyone would have picked Mary My Hope (with maybe a few stray votes for Rockin’ Bones).

No one in town took Mr. Crowe’s Garden seriously because no one knew much about the recordings they were making with George Drakoulias, songs that would be released the next year as Shake Your Money Maker.

Mary My Hope was the prohibitive favorite. They were the first signing to Silvertone, a new UK label started by Andrew Lauder of Radar Records fame. They traipsed off to Rockfield Studios in Wales to make a record with producer Hugh Jones, best known for Echo & the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes.

Museum was a fine album but somehow the band’s original combination of Bowie glam & Southern rock became very British and the songs lost a bit of their original groove.

That shouldn’t have stopped the album from becoming a hit. “It’s About Time” was a killer lead single and Mary My Hope embraced the glammed-up image that they thought the UK wanted.

Unfortunately, someone at Silvertone’s parent company signed a Manchester band called The Stone Roses and convinced Andrew Lauder to add them to his label’s roster. “I Wanna Be Adored” was a depth charge that changed the history of British rock and Mary My Hope quickly became a label afterthought.

Lead singer James Hall went on to a fascinating career as a solo artist and Rockstar Without Portfolio. Record companies (especially) and hardcore fans continue to rave about his live performances but I don’t think he’s ever again had material as good as the songs in Mary My Hope.

Guitarist Clint Steele (who wrote “It’s About Time) later played with the Swans and Sven Pipien ended up playing bass with the Black Crowes, the band no one in Atlanta would have picked to click.

Download: It’s About Time

(Silvertone Records ORE 3)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Rock, Georgia, 80s. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.