99Xpress
1995
By: Jeff Clark
It seems appropriate, given the rather subdued strains of absurd British humor frothing through Martin Newell's music and literary endeavors, that his career should take a few equally absurd turns. For instance, two years ago Newell had effectively given up on the cruelties of the music business and resigned himself to a much quieter and conventional life as a small town poet and gardener. But in about the time it takes to plant a begonia, he had been badgered into making his first solo album by one of his more outspoken fans -- namely XTC's Andy Partridge. The enthusiastic response to The Greatest Living Englishman, no doubt bolstered by the fact that Partridge produced the album and played all over it, set in motion a career revival that has seen to date: tours of Japan and France with a band featuring Dave Gregory (also of XTC) and Captain Sensible (formerly of the Damned); English dates opening for his better-known contemporary Robyn Hitchcock; a poetry tour of Iceland; the British release of a compilation CD from his first band Cleaners From Venus; and the American release, on Atlanta's Long Play Records, of Lizardland, a collaboration with New Model Army bassist Peter Nelson he recorded and released in England in 1989 under the name Brotherhood Of Lizards. So here is Newell, at 42 years old, still gardening and writing poetry in the town of Wivenhoe in eastern England, doing an interview with a journalist in the United States -- a country he's never even visited -- about an album he released six years ago.
"I thought everyone had just forgotten about it," Newell concedes, referring to the brilliantly poetic and whimsical Lizardland. "I was getting on with what I was doing. I left music altogether after the Brotherhood Of Lizards for a little while I used to be a professional gardener, and, uh, its rapidly heading that way again! But there's always been this art thing getting in the way of it."
Newell's "art thing" goes back to the early 1980s, in the midst of the anything-goes attitude of new wave. But while much of that movement tended to deconstruct or ignore the pop song format, Newell -- like Hitchcock, XTC, and a few others on that side of the Atlantic -- wholeheartedly embraced it. Newell's inspirations were the psychedelic pop creations of the Beatles, Syd Barrett, the Small Faces, and the Move. With the Cleaners Of Venus -- which started as Newell (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Lol Elliot (drums) -- he set out offering his own version in 1981, when the first of a series of home-recorded cassettes was issued.
The Cleaners lasted through seven years, eight tapes, three vinyl albums (selections from which make up the wonderful Golden Cleaners import compilation, mentioned above), and several new members, one of which was bassist (and drummer, guitarist, mandolinist, etc.) Nelson, who then became Newell's "busking" partner in the Brotherhood Of Lizards (named after the title of one of the Cleaners' cassettes - confused yet?) Originally released in England on Sensible's Deltic label, Lizardland did receive quite a bit of press coverage, although as Newell recalls, "not so much for the music, but because of the unique way we promoted it." In short, they did a tour of England completely on bicycles. Not for the publicity, mind you, but simply because Newell and Nelson, who were both from the same town of Colchester, loved to ride bikes. In the reissued CD's liner notes, Newell describes the response:
"Unbeknownst to us, Britain and its media were on the brink of an uncharacteristic wave of eco-conscience. The press and TV seized upon us like hungry wolves. We had so much publicity we couldn't believe itxBy the time we finished the tour, a large chunk of Britain knew who we were. At one point Eurythmics' Dave Stewart rang up our record company to ask, 'Are those two lunatics on bikes anything to do with you?'"In the United States, however, Newell remained a relatively unknown figure, and the Lizards split up in 1990 when Nelson accepted an offer to join New Model Army. Newell set about writing poetry (two books of his poems have been published, "Under Milk Float" and "I Hank Marvinned") and doing spoken word performances, until The Greatest Living Englishman came out on Pipeline Records in America (for a sample of Newell's spoken word talents, search out the a limited-edition import version of the CD that comes with an extra disc of Newell reading at a local pub in England. "And it was a bloody good gig as well!" he insists. "Lots of laughter, lots of rudeness."), which introduced Newell to a whole new string of fans, including Steve Pilon and Jill Kalish, owners of Atlanta's Long Play Records.
"I'm not sure who approached who," Newell remembers, "but I do know that my music publisher in England, I think he'd met Steve...and he expressed an interest in the Brotherhood Of Lizards. He said, 'There's this chap I met, and he's quite a genial guy, and he's interested in releasing the Brotherhood Of Lizards,' and I said, 'Well, why?' And he said, 'Well, because its good.' [Afterwards,] I was so impressed with what he had done to the sleeve of the record, and the way he remastered it, I actually took the uncharacteristic step of writing back and saying 'Thanks for the wonderful job.' Because you have to understand, it's a few years down the road for me, and it wasn't initially a big deal."
Newell has already completed a followup to The Greatest Living Englishman, produced this time by Gregory. The album is due out later this summer, and Newell is contemplating making his first trek to the United States.
"I haven't ruled out coming to America," he promises, "but I've never really forgiven you all for Bunker Hill! I'm not really too keen on touring. I'm past 40 now, I mean I've got a lot of energy, but I'm more into writing and gardening. That's how I think of meself, a quiet sort of bohemian writer who comes out with funny poems about older rock stars. I can't believe that legions of fans want me to go flock my tired old mutton 'round the stage."
Still, touring the States might give Newell a chance to meet his current favorite American songwriter: Tom Petty. "I think he's brilliant," he testifies. "He's smashing. I'd like to meet him, and there's very few people I could say that about. His songs have all the classic ingredients of good pop songs, especially the stuff he was doing around about You're Gonna Get It, "I Need To Know," "American Girl." He is an American songwriter like I am an English songwriter."
And it is in the British pop tradition where Newell clearly is most at home. "It's all I know how to do," he admits. "When I was younger I was listening to the Beatles, and the psychedelic Rolling Stones, that's what I liked. And I'm still hoping we'll see a revival in the fortunes of English pop musicians. I'll probably get overlooked, it doesn't really matter, but you know, we're good at doing pop songs. It's one thing I get really patriotic about. We came up with the best pop group in the world. The Americans probably came up with the second one, which was of course the Beach Boys, but the Beatles came the closest to doing a kind of universal music. They were rather simply very good."
Go back to Jangly Press Clippings.
Originally collected by the kind folks at the now-defunct Long Play Records.