23 March 2012 - 10,000 Maniacs - More Than This

More than any other band, I have seen 10,000 Maniacs live.  I saw them twice with Natalie as lead vocalist - and met Natalie (you're missing nothing) - and twice with Mary Ramsey - and have met Mary (a lovely woman).   To be fair, I saw them once when they couldn't use the 10,000 Maniacs name, so they used John and Mary, Rob, Steve, Dennis & Jerry as their name.... but they were still 10,000 Maniacs.

I also saw John and Mary, John Lombardo's duo with Mary Ramsey and the reason she was associated with 10,000 Maniacs in the first place, twice - he's also really nice.  He remembered meeting me by name the 2nd time I did - truly remarkable.

So, when they started releasing albums as 10,000 Maniacs with Mary as vocalist, I was quite pleased.  This song was their first single without Natalie.  It is, to this date, their 2nd biggest hit, behind "Because The Night", their last single with Natalie and a cover of a song originally performed by Patti Smith. This song is a cover of a Roxy Music classic, from the 1982 album Avalon.

One more piece before you listen - Mary is also playing viola on this song.  She appeared as a violinist and backup vocalist on the 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged album, from where their biggest hit was culled.   I think the viola adds a new depth to this song that even Bryan Ferry could not provide.

 

(edit: 2 September 2020): The original video was removed from YouTube. The one ABOVE is a remix of the song.  The one BELOW is the original.