M+M MAKE GAINS IN THE U.S.
notes by Ashley Collie (Canadian Musician, 1984)

Nothing like taking the bull by the horns and giving a not too gentle push to your record company.

M+M's latest LP, Mystery Walk, was getting great support from RCA in the U.S. especially in the colleges and clubs, but the LP's lukewarm response on radio was disconcerting to manager Gerry Young.

"I basically told the radio promotion department to fuck themselves, and I hired an independent U.S. record promoter, Brad Le Beau, to get us airplay on some top eastern dance-oriented stations." Several black stations, including New York's WBLK and Detroit's WHYT, picked up the single, "Black Stations/ White Stations," and it climbed to number two on Billboard's dance charts as well as getting onto its Hot 100 chart.

Young says, "After that I think RCA said 'these guys aren't fucking around.' It gave them impetus and may have even scared them a bit." The band did two high profile gigs in the New York area in August - opening for the Eurhythmics and playing NY's Ritz - and the buzz of these successes extended over to Britain where the LP rocketed up the Gallup U.K. chart and the 12" remixed single debuted at number 15 on the Gallup Top 85 chart. The band's previous success in Britain was five years ago with "Echo Beach".

Young adds, "We'll continue to work the LP till December but even if a Thompson Twins-like tour comes up for the fall (the band doesn't want to do the club scene), Mark Gane, himself, already has six hours of tape ready for the next LP and we'll be ready to go back to the studio!"