Mary Prankster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mary Prankster | |
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| Country | Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
| Years active | 199? – 2005 |
| Genres | Cowpunk |
| Labels | Fowl Records Palace Coup Records |
Mary Prankster was a U.S. singer-songwriter from Baltimore (now residing in New York) who played an intriguing blend of alternative/indie music and extremely frank lyrics. The name is a reference to Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. After over 1,000 live performances the Mary Prankster character was retired over "Pranksgiving Weekend" (November 25–28, 2005).
The musicians who have played in her band include Phil "The Machine" Tang, Jon E. Cakes, Dave E. Rockets, Mike Lackey, Cord Neal, Matt Collorafice, Terry Kloth, Andy Mabe, Sam McCall and Michael Smith.
Her first radio single was "Tits and Whiskey" off of Blue Skies Over Dundalk, a 1:40 song which she called "my attempt at writing the most obnoxious song ever", and which contains the word "fuck" thirteen times. This did not stop local radio station WHFS from playing the song daily for several weeks. WHFS also arranged for her to play a free roadside show on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway that was quickly shut down by the police due to the traffic back-ups that it created[1] and landed her a spot opening for They Might Be Giants at a sold-out show.
Following the release of Roulette Girl she left Fowl Records to create Palace Coup Records (PCR). Roulette Girl was re-released by PCR, while Blue Skies Over Dundalk was combined with the Mata Hari EP and a bonus track to create the album Blue Skies Forever.
The Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) has nominated her for nine Wammies, two of which she won. Like Tom Lehrer, P. D. Q. Bach and "Weird Al" Yankovic, her music has been promoted by Dr. Demento. [2]
Her logo is based on that of National Bohemian, a Maryland beer. The cover of Blue Skies Over Dundalk is based on can designs of "Natty Boh", and Roulette Girl contains a track named "Rational Bohemian".
Mary Prankster performed at the legendary HFStival in September 25, 1999 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C., and again the following year, May 28, 2000 at FedEx Field, Landover, MD.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Blue Skies Over Dundalk, Fowl Records (May 1998)
- Roulette Girl, Fowl Records (November 24, 1999) — Re-released by Palace Coup Records (2001)
- Tell Your Friends, Palace Coup Records (September 7, 2002)
[edit] Other
- Mata Hari EP, Self released cassette (1996)
- Blue Skies Forever, Palace Coup Records (July 31, 2002)
- Lemonade: Live, Palace Coup Records (April 1, 2004)
[edit] See also
[edit] Related links
- Official Site
- Mary Prankster on Allmusic.com
- Mary Prankster on MySpace
- Mary Prankster at MusicBrainz
[edit] References
- ^ Gaudiano, Nicole (Jun. 1, 1998). "Radio stunt backs up B-W Parkway Traffic". The Capital (Annapolis, MD.), p. A12
- ^ http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/drd05.1009.html
