The Merry Thoughts profile picture

The Merry Thoughts

About Me

Originally formed in 1983 by Carsten Mainz (guitar, synthesizer) and Olaf Wollschläger (synthesizer, drum machine). Invited Marvin Arkham a.k.a. Marvo Zoo to play synthesizer at first, then persuaded him to do the singing. Sonja Jordan (synthesizer) made a most welcome addition to the group in late '83.The first line-up lasted nearly two years after which finding the right people became increasingly difficult.In 1991 Sonja (this time on guitar) and Marvin recorded a demo of 'Second Generation', a song from the band's very early days. It was later released as The Merry Thoughts' first single. Carsten joined them to record the second single 'Pale Empress' (1993). In 1994 the first album, 'Millennium Done I: Empire Songs', was finally released. 1996 the second album, 'Psychocult', followed and entered the German Alternative Charts' Top Twenty where it would stay for more than two months.But that was just a small consolation as the process of making that album basically destroyed the group. Up until 2000 Sonja and Marvin still played live with the help of some of their friends and continued to record and write new material. Personal reasons made it impossible for Sonja to stay and she left The Merry Thoughts in October 2000 immediately after what was to be the band's last live appearance.But we can't allow things to end this way, can we?

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 09/06/2006
Band Website: www.themerrythoughts.com
Influences: David Bowie - Siobhan Fahey - Iggy Pop - Syd Barrett - Conway Twitty - Johnny Cash - The Ramones - Pop Will Eat Itself - The Sex Pistols - P.I.L. - I Start Counting - Ideal - Paula - Wall Of Voodoo - Deutsch Amerikansche Freundschaft - early Queen - Philip Glass - The Velvet Underground - Keith Richards - Johnny Marr - The Adverts - Metal Urbain - The Normal - early Depeche Mode - early Thomas Dolby - Marianne Faithfull - Blondie - Promises - Gene Vincent - Leonard Cohen - Nitzer Ebb - TV On The Radio - Morrissey - early OMD - early Men Without Hats - The Faint - Franz Schubert - Frank Sinatra - FSK - Foyer des Arts - Stanley Kubrick - Joy Division - Lio - Philip K. Dick - Andrei Tarkovsky - T-Rex - Roxy Music - Donna Summer - Guns n' Roses - Blancmange - William Burroughs - Andy Warhol - early Yello - Yazoo - early Nick Cave - George Orwell - Max Beckmann - Hans Arp - Talking Heads - Grease - Malaria! - Orson Welles - Don DeLillo - R.E.M. - early Falco - George Lucas - Nichts - Thomas Pynchon - The Simpsons - Ludwig van Beethoven - Jim Thirlwell - The Ren & Stimpy Show - Lee Hazlewood - Blur - Andy Prieboy - Frank Tovey - Bob Kane - Gilbert Bécaud - Terry Gilliam - James Joyce - Motörhead - Frank Miller - Ezra Pound - David Lynch - early Heaven 17 - Pet Shop Boys - TS Eliot - Elsie Segar - The Kinks - Suicide - Bastard Pop - M - Hildegard Knef - Elaine Sturtevant ... etc, etc, etc
Sounds Like: counterpop
Record Label: SPV (European market)
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

artefacts retrieval part three

Here is the third part in our little series of songs from the past.You may, if you like, download any of these songs.The 'Trash Mix' of 'Boy Sinister' is slightly different from the version featured o...
Posted by on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:03:00 GMT

artefacts retrieval part two

Here's another old demo. 'Wires Hum' owes its name to my childhood memory of the nearby power lines coming sonically alive in the evenings.It was a live regular ever since 1990. This instrumental vers...
Posted by on Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:08:00 GMT

artefacts retrieval...

Here's a very rough demo of what was to becomeThe Merry Thoughts' next single back in 1997: areworked version of 'Chant', 'Chant 2.1'It is not entirely impossible that some sunny day aproper version m...
Posted by on Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:10:00 GMT