It’s been more than two years since Chapter 63 of this series. I could blame writer’s block, but it’s really down to me forgetting about it!
Today’s story of an unwanted pregnancy is a really sad one, and yet it is set to an upbeat tune that could be danced to at an indie disco.
mp3: 10,000 Maniacs – Eat For Two
It dates from 1989 when Natalie Merchant was the lead singer with the band. It can be found on Blind Man’s Zoo and was the second single to be lifted from that particular album.
The other three tracks on what was a 4-song EP were all very obscure cover versions.
mp3: 10,000 Maniacs – Wildwood Flower
mp3: 10,000 Maniacs – Don’t Call Us
mp3: 10,000 Maniacs – From The Time You Say Goodbye
The first of these was written and recorded in 1928 by The Carter Family, an American folk group who came out of Virginia in the 1920s and are widely regarded as the first vocal group to become country music stars.
The second song is ridiculously obscure. It dates from 1981, and the composers are Arwin Thomas and Graham Blanch. It was a ska single credited to a band called Digital Dinosaurs and recorded at Cargo Studios in Rochdale, before being released by Yucca Records, based in Wrexham in north Wales. But the main participants were youngsters from a school in Wales for disadvantaged and handicapped children. I was only able to gleam all this from the fact that John Peel aired the single on his show in October 1981. I have no idea how 10,000 Maniacs came to be aware of its existence.
The third and final track dates from 1952 and was written by Leslie Sturdy, and the online info indicates it was first recorded by Vera Lynn, the English singer whose recordings became particularly popular with British servicemen during World War II, and was the b-side of a 78rpm single called Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart.
You can learn something almost every day here at TVV.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I have the 12″ which for tracks 3 and 4 has an acoustic version of Gun Shy and a lovely version of John Prine’s Hello In There.
I checked out the Digital Dinosaurs original of “Don’t Call Us” and what a delightful discovery for a cold Thursday morning! Cheers!
As it is Thanksgiving over here, I do plan to eat enough for two today. Big fan of early 10,000 Maniacs, particularly The Wishing Chair and In My Tribe.
Nice pickup for your Jays with Dylan Cease.
Wait, that band is still together?
I approve of this post!
Steve M
Early 10KM stuff had a lot of Ska about it.. you could probably say they were a ‘ska band’ in a middle class US college way… So I’d imagine they came by the song in the same way northern soul fans did.
Steve M