Ignored Obscured Restored
Martin Mull passed away on June 27th. He held a warm place in my heart. I enjoyed his snarky sense of humor and his amusing songs. I had a copy of his self-titled debut album (1972) that included some of my favorite titles like “Livin’ Above My Station”, “Eggs”, and “Partly Marion”, all of which had Levon Helm on drums. (Helm’s partner at the time, Libby Titus, supplied backing vocals.)
I fondly remember seeing him live in the fall of 1975 at Paul’s Mall on Boylston Street in Boston.
The show was probably a lot like this:
Martin Mull – Soundstage 4/24/1976
Later he became a regular on the late-night soap opera parody, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, playing the character Garth Gimble. My friends and I made time nightly to catch the show in college. That role led to a couple of offshoots, Fernwood 2 Night (1977), America 2 Night (1978), where Gimble (Mull) was in the lead role.
All this led to dozens of television and film roles in a career that kept him busy up until now.
Today’s SotW is a duet he did with Melissa Manchester called “They Never Met.” It’s the story of two aging virgins whose destiny could have been different, but “they never met.”
But they never met
Not even briefly
I know what you thought
You thought that they might
Now, what was the problem?
Thе problem was, chiefly
She workеd the day shift
And he worked the night
A few years ago, I went to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. The ticket included a pre-show featuring a concert by Manchester. When her performance ended, she hung around for a “meet and greet.” When my turn came to say hello, I sang her the chorus to “They Never Met.” I clearly caught her by surprise. She seemed to recognize the song but also had a quizzical look on her face – like she couldn’t quite place it. Her reaction was priceless!
Enjoy… until next week.