A.C. Marias

A.C. Marias was the name under which Wire collaborator Angela Conway released an album and several singles during the 1980s.

A.C. Marias
OriginLondon, England
GenresAlternative rock
Years active1981–1990
LabelsDome, Mute Records
Associated actsWire, Duet Emmo, He Said
MembersAngela Conway

History

The first A.C. Marias release was the "Drop" single, released in July 1981 on Wire's Dome label, and featuring the band's Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis.[1][2] Conway went on to work with members of Wire as Duet Emmo, releasing the Or So It Seems album in 1983 on Mute Records.[1] She subsequently signed a solo contract with the label.[1]

As well as providing vocals for Lewis's He Said project in the mid-1980s, Conway's first A.C. Marias release for over five years, "Just Talk", was released in October 1986.[1]

She was assisted by Gilbert on most of the recordings.[3] On the single "Time Was" (1988) and the album One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) (1989) she was also assisted by other Mute Records musicians, including Barry Adamson and Rowland S. Howard.[1][4] One of Our Girls was described by Allmusic writer Wilson Neate as "an intriguing collection of minimalist pop songs", while Trouser Press writer Ira Robbins described the album's first side as "a sheer pastel curtain of arty guitar figures, light synth strains, and dry, wispy vocals that never quite achieves song-ness".[3][5] The album's title track was released as a single in February 1990, the last A.C. Marias release to date.[1] The song was described by Simon Reynolds and Joy Press as "perhaps the ultimate expression of a female desire to be invisible", while Conway described the song's theme as "saying enough's enough...to be not present can be more powerful than actually being present and proclaiming your identity as 'woman'".[6]

Conway put the project on hold in 1990, and concentrated on her work as a music video director, which included making videos for Wire.[5][7][8]

She and Gilbert composed additional music for the Anna Campion film Loaded (also known as Bloody Weekend), under the name A.C. Marias.

Discography

Albums
  • One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) (1989), Mute

Singles
  • "Drop"/"So" 7" (1980), Dome Records
  • "Just Talk"/"No Talk", 7"/12" single (1986), Mute
  • "Time Was"/"Some Thing", 7"/12" single (1989), Mute – UK Indie no. 27[9]
  • "One of Our Girls Has Gone Missing"/"Vicious", 12"/CD single (1989), Mute

References
  1. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 193
  2. "AC Marias Drop/So", The Wire, Volumes 233-238, 2003, p. 85
  3. Neate, Wilson "One of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) Review", Allmusic. Retrieved 8 December 2018
  4. Kevin S. Eden (May 1991). Wire ... everybody loves a history. SAF. pp. 123–126. ISBN 978-0-946719-07-5.
  5. Robbins, Ira "A.C. Marias", Trouser Press. Retrieved 8 December 2018
  6. Reynolds, Simon & Press, Joy (1996) The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'N' Roll, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674802735, p. 337
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved on 2007-06-18
  8. Videography at MVdB
  9. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.


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