Miracle Legion Portrait of a Damaged Family Rar

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At the end of this month, alt-stone outfit Miracle Legion are playing their final dates together, including a engagement this Fri at New York's Bowery Ballroom and two closing dates on April 28-29 in California. Information technology seemed right to shine a fiddling light on a ring that, without warning, has come to mean a keen deal to me.

Similar nigh tardily twentysomethings, my exposure to Miracle Legion and its frontman Mark Mulcahy came in the form of another band: Polaris, three-fourths of Phenomenon Legion which came together to record original songs for the cult classic Nickelodeon serial The Adventures of Pete & Pete. (It is they who lodged the jangly earworm of a theme, "Hey Sandy," in every millennial'south cerebrum.) A recent wave of Pete nostalgia led me to take hold of a Polaris show a few years ago, where I was taken aback past how solidly fun the songs notwithstanding were (as evidenced on a 1999 anthology the group released, recently issued on vinyl for Record Store Twenty-four hour period) and what a vital frontman Mulcahy was.

When Phenomenon Legion (Mulcahy, guitarist Mr. Ray Neal, bassist Dave McCaffrey and drummer Scott Boutier) reformed in support of a reissue of their final album, 1996's Portrait of a Damaged Family, I caught two shows (an intimate Mulcahy-Neal duo show at the defunct Block Store and a full band gig at Brooklyn'south Bong House) and was but dazzled past their performances. The New Haven-raised quartet, feted past '80s alternative pop geeks, are most oft cited for their jangly, R.E.M.-esque sound and influence on a sure sort of introspective, opaque songwriter (importantly Thom Yorke of Radiohead, i of the biggest names on a Mulcahy tribute album released a decade ago). But those honorifics just tend to tell part of the story.

Miracle Legion, similar Polaris after them, spun carbohydrate-sweet melodies tinged with reckless, youthful carelessness and married them with lyrics of deep wonder and longing--the sonic equivalent of a terminal, wistful summer with a partner or a fun if emotionally panged, idle flip through an old yearbook. With Mulcahy gamely playing the office of mystic frontman--punctuating his lyrics with unpredictable onstage jigs or blasts of harmonica while singing in a clear tone that time has non aged--and co-pilot Neal precisely picking his way through the gorgeous melodies he often co-wrote, I've constitute Miracle Legion shows to be a transformative experience, and volition mourn their end (though not without the enjoyment of a live album, Annulment, culled in part from the Bell House show I was lucky to witness).

While Miracle Legion may be mothballed, Mulcahy remains agile as ever, releasing his latest solo album, The Possum in the Driveway, this calendar week (with a vinyl version role of this year'southward Record Store Day festivities). As is so frequently the case, I believe the best fashion to call back the band is through a good for you catalogue presence--and here, as a fan, I notice myself wanting more than.

Not long after Portrait of a Damaged Family was released, Miracle Legion (through Mulcahy's Mezzotint label) put the balance of their back catalogue--the 1984 EP The Backyard, studio albums Surprise Surprise Surprise (1987), Me and Mr. Ray (1989) and Drenched (1992), plus Drenched sampler We Are All Lost--on Bandcamp for stream or download. Unfortunately, the offering exterior of Bandcamp is more meager, with only The Lawn, Surprise Surprise Surprise and Portrait of a Damaged Family gracing iTunes or Spotify. And even Bandcamp is incomplete, with 1983's self-released cassette debut A Simple Thing and 1988'south studio-plus-live EP Glad missing in action. CD lovers, too are left out in the common cold: only Miracle Legion'southward concluding three studio albums have ever been released on the format in America (Surprise Surprise Surprise got a CD release in Japan).

For a band on the way out, it may be also much to ask at present for a reset on their discographical offerings. (Mulcahy said every bit much in a recent interview.) Just someday, 1 can only hope this well-kept secret of a band gets some sort of expanded offering to entice current and future fans with. In that spirit--in tribute to a ring that'due south made me very happy over the past few years--I've put on our Reissue Theory helmet and imagined 4 releases that would put the band'due south pre-Damaged Family unit output on the right track.

A Simple Thing / The Backyard

The first Phenomenon Legion releases featured Mulcahy and Neal alongside bassist Joel Potocsky and drummer Jeff Wiederschall and were released by Bridgeport, Connecticut-based indie Incas Records. Cassette debut A Uncomplicated Thing featured early on versions of "Stephen, Are You There?" (re-recorded for The Backyard) and "All for the Best," a standout favorite later heard on Surprise Surprise Surprise. The championship track of The Backyard, by happy accident, earned attending from college radio and a low-budget video was put in MTV'south nascent rotation, setting the stage for more than highs.

An ideal reissue would come across both EPs combined onto one release, with three non-LP cuts including a two-sided Christmas single that became their outset release for a rising indie label, Rough Trade Records.

1. Fight to Fight
2. Little Human
3. All for the Best
4. Stephen, Are You At that place?
5. Loyalty
6. The Heroes Calling
7. The Backyard
8. Butterflies
9. Closer to the Wall
10. Simply Say Hello
11. The Heart is Fastened
12. Stephen, Are You In that location? (Second)
13. Little Drummer Boy
14. Blue Christmas
15. Until She Talks

Tracks ane-6 released asA Simple Matter - Incas Records cassette, 1983
Tracks 7-12 released equallyThe Lawn- Incas Records EP ML-one, 1984
Tracks 13-14 released as Rough Trade/Incas Records single RTUS-007, 1985
Runway fifteen released on "The Centre is Attached" single - Closer Records CL-0751, 1985

Surprise Surprise Surprise / Glad

A successful U.K. bout earned the attending of Crude Trade Records (best known equally the dwelling house of The Smiths) and a stronger distribution system on 2 sides of the Atlantic. The group, which traded Potocsky for Steven West, recorded their first full-length, punctuated by killer cuts like "All for the All-time," "Mr. Mingo," and "Country Boy." Another EP, Glad, featured a embrace of punk poet John Cooper Clarke's "A Heart Disease Chosen Love" and a portion of a set at The Ritz in New York, the gem of which is an all-out version of The Backyard cut "Closer to the Wall" with Pere Ubu joining the group onstage. This imagined reissue combines those two releases with bonus tracks including ii cassette-just bonus cuts and a alive version of "Glad" from a flexidisc.

1. Mr. Mingo
2. All for the Best
3. Paradise
4. Truly
5. Storyteller
6. Country Boy
7. Kleptomaniacal Path
8. Everyone In Heaven
9. Wonderment
10. Little Human being
11. Will You Wait
12. University Fight Song
13. A Heart Disease Called Beloved
14. Glad
15. Hey, Lucky
16. Collywobbles (Alive @ The Ritz, New York City - 11/7/1987)
17. Mr. Mingo (Live @ The Ritz, New York City - eleven/7/1987)
18. Wonderment (Live @ The Ritz, New York Urban center - 11/7/1987)
19. Closer to the Wall (with Pere Ubu) (Alive @ The Ritz, New York Urban center - 11/vii/1987)
20. Glad (Live!)

Tracks 1-10 released asSurprise Surprise Surprise - Rough Merchandise LP ROUGH The states-27, 1987
Tracks xi-12 released as bonus tracks on Rough Trade cassette Crude United states of america-27C, 1987
Tracks 13-nineteen released asGlad - Rough Trade EP Crude US-34, 1988
Track 20 from The Bob Magazine issue #33 flexidisc, 1988

Me and Mr. Ray

After Glad, West and Wiederschall left Miracle Legion, leaving the group to a duo. Far from a disaster, though, the songs on Me and Mr. Ray, recorded at Paisley Park Studios, are some of their strongest works, with the wistful "Ladies from Town" and the devotional "You're the I Lee" particular favorites. This flow was likewise fairly prolific, with extra tracks galore from 12" singles, a Byrds tribute anthology and a collection sponsored by U.K. zine Bucketfull of Brains.

1. The Ladies from Town
2. And So?
3. Old & New
4. Sailors and Animals
5. If She Could Cry
6. Pull the Carriage
7. You're the One-Lee
8. Even Better
9. Common cold Shoulder Balcony
10. Giant Transatlantic Trunk Phone call
11. Mr. Space Human being
12. All the Things
13. Johnny's Dilemma
14. You're the Only
15. xxx-06

Tracks i-10 from Me and Mr. Ray - Crude Trade LP ROUGH U.s.-136, 1989
Tracks xi-12 from Time Between - A Tribute to The Byrds - Communion Characterization COMM-11, 1989
Tracks xiii-fourteen from "Y'all're the 1 Lee" U.K. 12" unmarried - Rough Trade RTT-226, 1989
Rails 15 from Time Will Show the Wiser - The Bucketful of Brains Collection - Imaginary/Triad Records TRI-001 (U.M.), 1989

Drenched

The early '90s were a one-step-frontward, one-step-back time for Miracle Legion. They added a rhythm department (McCaffrey and Boutier) just lost a label (Rough Trade declared defalcation in 1991), then gained a label (Morgan Creek Records, offshoot of the burgeoning flick production company behind the hit Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) which endured its own financial issues that kept the band in considerable limbo (a limbo buoyed by the Polaris project for Nickelodeon). It'south a shame that Drenched, produced by John Porter, didn't get a wider audition, with "And so Adept," "Out to Play" and the peppy "Snacks and Candy" highlights on an album total of them. Extra tracks abound, as well, including covers of David Bowie and Mission of Burma plus an early on version of "Homer," from the group's concluding studio album, heard here on the soundtrack to the college comedy A Affair of Degrees.

1. Sooner
2. Sea Hag
3. Snacks and Candy
4. And then Good
5. Everything is Rosy
6. With a Wish
7. Fiddling Blueish Light
8. Out to Play
9. Velvetine
10. Waiting Room
11. Maybelline
12. Over to Hell
13. Ziggy Stardust
14. Downward, Down, Down: So Good Gone Bad
15. Homer (Original Version)
16. Academy Fight Song (New Version)

Tracks one-xi from Drenched - Morgan Creek Records CD 2959-20006-2, 1992
Tracks 12-14 from "Out to Play" promo EP - Morgan Creek Records MCPRO 0023-2, 1992
Tracks 15-16 from A Affair of Degrees: Original Move Picture show Soundtrack - Atlantic 82245, 1991

Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the start sites to focus on all reissue labels great and modest. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, Metropolis Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an e'er-expanding collection of music.

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Source: https://theseconddisc.com/2017/04/19/reissue-theory-miracle-legion/

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