MEMORABLE MONDAYS: 10,000 Maniacs

 You probably at some point heard Eat For Two, or maybe you heard Trouble Me? 10,000 Maniacs maybe have started in 1981, but their impactful music still has a following today. While their vocalist change definitely affected their output, their core original group with Natalie Merchant is a very worthwhile dive in. 

Formed as Still Life, they began in Jamestown, New York. The original core group was Dennis Drew on keyboard, Steven Gustafson on bass, Chet Cardinale on drums, Robert Buck on guitar, and Terri Newhouse on vocals. Gustafson invited Natalie Merchant later, at a mere 17 years old, to do some vocals. John Lombardo, who was in the Mills, was invited to join the band permanently as well. Newhouse and Cardinale left, and Natalie Merchant became the lead singer. They struggled to keep a drummer in the band. They first adjusted their name to Burn Victims, and then to 10,000 Maniacs. The band name stemmed from the 1964 horror movie Two Thousand Maniacs. 

Their first performance as 10,000 Maniacs was September 7th, 1981. The line up at this time was Merchant, Lombardo, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, and Tim Edborg on drums. They grew tired of playing cover songs, so they began writing their own music. Merchant usually wrote the lyrics while Lombardo wrote the music. Drew's mother helped them finance their first EP, Human Conflict Number Five, released in 1982. They also moved to Atlanta, Georgia for a period before moving back to Jamestown due to a lack of gigs and frustrations over barely scraping by. 

In 1983 they finally obtained a permanent drummer in Jerry Augustyniak. He was originally in punk band The Stains. With this began the recording of their debut, independently released album Secrets of the I Ching. Critics saw the album as a bit experimental, but sonically anemic. It was trying too hard to blend with the hip genres of the time. Merchant retrospectively laughs at her pretentious 17 year old lyricism, saying at the time she was upset but now just laughs. This recording however caught the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. "My Mother the War" became a minor hit in the UK, helping the band get more gigs to keep going. This eventually lead to the band getting signed by Elektra in 1984. 

In 1985, they released their major label debut, The Wishing Chair. It did not receive the same commercial success as other albums, but it received positive critical reviews and brought the band visibility. The album includes some re-recorded versions of songs seen on their previous independent releases as well, such as Tension Makes a Tangle, My Mother the War, and Daktari. 

Frustrated with the struggles of the band, Lombardo left the band during a rehearsal in 1986. The remaining members chose to stay and continue forward, recording a new album in Los Angeles. Their next release, In My Tribe, released in 1987, took a more pop-rock direction. It received better critical reviews. Although some mentioned the songs seeming too familiar to prior work or lacking in invention, they heavily praised Natalie Merchant's improved lyricism. The album faced a controverst due to their cover of Cat Stevens' Peace Train. A few years after the album release in 1989, Cat Stevens, at the time known as Yusuf Islam, made comments perceived to be in support of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. On US copies of In My Tribe, the cover was removed. 

In 1989 came their third album, Blind Man's Zoo. It increased their following immensely and hit number 13 on the charts. Trouble Me, a dedication to Merchant's father, became a very memorable hit for the band. While Merchant had limited knowledge of politics, the album had a pessimistic tone overall compared to their prior releases. Merchant says this more centered around feelings of betrayal rather than true politics. Eat for Two references teen pregnancy, Please Forgive Us references in Iran-Contra affair, and The Big Parade references the Vietnam War legacy. The world was in disarray and Merchant happened to have written about it. The album received positive reviews mostly, although some felt the politicism fell flat or was too heavy handed. 

In 1990, Lombardo worked with them to remaster their early independent releases for the compilation Hope Chest. During this time, Lombardo and Mary Ramsey opened gig sfor the Hope Chest Tour. They took a bit of a break in 1991 from touring, and Merchant spent a year working with homeless youth in Harlem. She notified the band she planned to leave for a solo career in two years time. 

1992 brought the next release, Our Time in Eden. This is the last album with Natalie Merchant as their lead vocalist. These Are Days would become the main hit from this release. It was met with good reviews as well. The tour for this album led to the MTV Unplugged, which was released in 1993. She announced her departure from the band that year also, stating she no longer wanted art by committee.

Merchant's departure led to her being signed as a solo act, and 10,000 Maniacs being dropped by Elektra. The remaining members asked John & Mary to join the band. They began performing new material near immediately. They had to regain legal control of the 10,000 Maniacs name. They also worked with a new label, Geffen Records. Their first release with Mary Ramsey as the lead was Love Among the Ruins. Released in 1997, the album sold moderately and their cover of "More Than This" by Roxy Music became a moderate hit. Despite this, Geffen dropped them 3 months after release. 

In 1998, Buck took time away from the band to focus on a supergroup called League of Blind Women. Michael Lee Jackon from band Animal Planet stepped into the lead guitar role during this time. In 2000, they played with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. This would be the last concert with Buck, who died of liver failure on December 19th of the same year. After his death, the band took another break to pursue other projects. Gustafson and Drew worked with Jeff Erickson to form band The Mighty Wallop. Augustyniak joined a band named Only Human. 

In 2002, Gustafson, Drew, and Augustnyiak wanted to continue 10,000 Maniacs with a new lead. Lombardo came to the first practice, but seeing they had hired Erickson to play lead guitar and Oskar Saville of Rubygrass to sing, he quit the band. This line up toured sporadically between 2002 and 2006. 

In 2006, John & Mary formed a folk-rock band the Valkyries. Mary Ramsey ended up rejoining the band for several date in 2006, and when Saville left in 2007, she regained her lead vocalist position. They remained playing shows throughout the United States. They released the EP Triangles in 2011, via its own label. Their new album would not come until 2013, in "Music From the Motion Picture". It was their first album of original material in 14 years. It did not chart. In 2015, they released an album of traditional British Isles cover, Twice Told Tales. 

In 2023, it was announced Mary Ramsey and Erickson would be pursuing other interests and Leigh Nash would be the new lead singer. Matt Slocum would join on guitar. Both were founding members of Sixpence None the Richer. This fell through as they decided to focus their time on Sixpence None the Richer's revival, and Mary Ramsey returned as the lead singer. For their 40th anniversary, Natalie was asked if she'd be willing to perform with them again. She stated due to Beck's death, she could not see herself performing with them as a band again.

This band is rich in history and ideas. Despite the odds being against them, they always found a way above. Definitely try this out! If nothing more, to hear and see where Merchant began and the story of a band that refused to give up.