Listening to Mary’s Danish “There Goes the Wondertruck” is an album from 1989 that still sounds just as cool as it did back then. Recommended!
Purchase Mary’s Danish “There Goes the Wondertruck…” on Amazon
BAND: Mary’s Danish
ALBUM: there goes the wondertruck
DURATION: 30 Minutes
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1989
1 Don’t Crash The Car Tonight 3:20
2 Can I Have A Smoke, Dude? 1:59
3 Ashes 3:09
4 What To Do 3:01
5 Blue Stockings 2:39
6 Well Well (Home Is Where The Heartbreak Is) 2:18
7 DVB 1:42
8 Shanty Pig 2:59
9 Hey There Man 3:14
10 It’ll Probably Make Me Cry 3:24
11 Mary Had A Bar 2:26
12 Dodge City 3:42
The late ’80s, it was a great time of Los Angeles garage bands.
It was an exciting time as many garage bands were gaining attention, from Jane’s Addiction, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone and there was a band called Mary’s Danish.
The band consisted of vocalists, Gretchen Seager and Julie Ritter with David Archbold King and Matt Colleran on guitar, Christopher Scott “Wag” Wagner on bass and Nick Zeigler (followed by James Oliver Bradley Jr.) on drums.
I first discovered the band through a compilation titled “LA ONE” back in 1988 showcasing bands such as Mary’s Danish, Sixteenth Parallel, The Rebel Pebbles, The Leonards to name a few.
And for Mary’s Danish, the song featured was “Don’t Crash the Car Tonight”. I was instantly hooked and was looking forward to hearing more of the band.
I just remember how the song would gain airplay through KROQ 106.7 in Los Angeles (the legendary radio station of the ’80s and ’90s for new wave, alternative rock and songs typically not played on mainstream radio) and it did so well that the song ranked No. 21 of the “Top Songs of KROQ 106.7 in 1989”.
The band would eventually gain some steam from KROQ, the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Hilburn choosing the band as “1989’s brightest newcomers” and also listed by Rolling Stone as one of their “Top Five New Faces”.
Mary’s Danish was a band you would see as opening acts for Janes Addiction, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bananarama. But these bands had a camaraderie that you would even see vocalists Gretchen Seager and Julie Ritter singing backup on the Red Hot Chili Peppers album “Mother’s Milk” for “Good Time Boys” and “Higher Ground” in 1989.
But Mary’s Danish’s debut album “There Goes the Wondertruck…” was one of my favorite albums of 1989.
I don’t even know how many times I would listen to the songs from beginning to end on cassette over and over. In fact, I had to purchase “There Goes the Wondertruck…” twice because I wearing out the cassette from overplaying so much. And I even purchased it over 25 years later, this time, digitally.
Their music featuring a blend of rock, funk, country and soul and they had a distinct sound, courtesy of vocalists Seager and Ritter. If there was anything that I could compare it to is Los Angeles punk band X’s sound, especially with their 1982 album “Under the Big Black Sun”.
As I have listened to punk and new wave, the second wave and watched and listened to the shift of music start to transition to alternative rock from electronic synth pop and seeing the Los Angeles rock scene start to progress, while Seattle grunge in the ’90s was starting to emerge.
But 1989 was a year dominated by The Cure’s “Love Song”, The B-52’s “Love Shack”, U2’s “Everlasting Love”, Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”, Tears for Fears “Sowing the Seeds of Love”, REM’s “Stand” and The Pixies “Here Comes Your Man” and Mary’s Danish was in good company being in the top 25 with those bands.
From the catchy “Don’t Crash the Car Tonight” and the funky bass slapping on “Can I Have a Smoke, Dude?” and “Shanty Pig”, the rock driven “Blue Stockings”, “DVB” and “Hey There Man”, the acoustic driven “Well Well (Home is Where the Heartbreak Is).
If anything, the 12 tracks on Mary’s Danish debut album “There Goes the Wondertruck…” received a lot of replays during 1989. This was no doubt one of the top albums I listened to that year.
For me, it was different, it was fresh and it was just so darn cool to hear a melding of different genres, but music that you typically don’t hear on the radio, let alone the many hours of listening to music all over the world played on KROQ.
Unfortunately, Mary’s Danish disbanded in 1992 with a total of three studio albums and a live album having been produced in those four years.
While band with two female vocalists that I”ve listened to during the ’80s and ’90s such as Fleetwood Mac, The B-52’s and Shakespears Sister (which reunited briefly in 2019) are still releasing music, even to this day, 25 plus years later, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone coming close to having a similar music style to Mary’s Danish. They were no doubt a band with a sound that was a rarity and I loved that.
Listening to Mary’s Danish “There Goes the Wondertruck…” is an album from 1989 that still sounds just as cool as it did back then. Recommended!
Purchase Mary’s Danish “There Goes the Wondertruck…” on Amazon
