R.I.P. Martin Mull. The day you posted your piece I was visiting family in an unfamiliar city, and the next day had the opportunity to check out a local record store where lo & behold I found a *mint* white label promo copy of "Fabulous Furniture" complete with promo hype enclosed for $5! Needless to say I bought it and of course when I mentioned that he had just passed to the young clerk at the counter they just stared at me blankly. . . No matter, I've been enjoying the record since and did a deep dive on Youtube recently to watch (and re-watch) "History of White People In America", a few "Fernwoods" and TV talk show appearances. The man was unquestionably an underrated master, right up there with the highly rated Steve Martin and George Carlin - a smart, incisive comic and such a great musician as well. Thank you for your excellent remembrance.
If you'll pardon a little shameless self promotion, may I suggest you check out my newly-launched Substack "The Record Store Years"? An upcoming chapter discusses WLPs at length. . .
I'll remember him for his records (especially the first 3 Capricorn albums) and, to a lesser extent, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman. Everything else passed me by after I moved to Europe in the late 80s. (I did catch him on Roseanne but also thought his talents were wasted there.)
Fernwood 2 Night (and thanks and God be praised for the videos you posted--I haven't seen them since they first aired) and America 2 Night were part of my Holy Trinity of 70s TV comedy, along with SCTV and Monty Python (not even by SNL, which is a distant 4th, 5th, 6th...?) And could bits like the guest Jew in the second episode make it on air today? What would that horrid Elise Stefanik say?? Or the various university presidents? Or the NYT? Or the Israel lobby? Or all the pathologically oversensitive? I loved that about the 70s. (I first heard Tom Waits on Mull's shows. Those interchanges will never be topped.
But Mull's music will always be most important to me. Listen to Martin Mull, the album with Dancing In The Nude. His goofy, subtlely stoned and often surreal (but intelligent and sophisticated) lyrics, themselves brilliant, set to spot-on pastisches (NOT parodies!) of various musical styles. That work COMPLETELY as comedy AND as music. Which also means you can listen to it regularly (like, say, Dylan album) unlike albums of stand-up or sketch comedy (even Monty Python). Dancing In The Nude is a real big band number. Miami is genuine cheesy Bossa Nova.
Martin Mull is an essential part of America's comedy and cultural heritage. What more can I say?
I thought I'd leave my little rememberies of Martin here, Michael. It'll last longer than for the 1/2-a-day on Notes! I first saw your Note, and immediately reacted....then, I saw it was your article link! Then, I saw your piece in my inbox! Needless to say, I was a bit rattled by the news. And, you're right....SO underrated, underheard (as a recording artist) and under-appreciated, just all over!
One of my favorite acting turns of his was on "The Golden Girls" (late '80s?) as Tim, the isolationist who had hidden away in his apartment for, like, 20 years! Dorothy (the Bea Arthur character) befriended him to try to get him to step outside and re-join society. He made it one step out into the hallway and said, "I'd forgotten how much I love to travel!"
He, quite literally, did it all: Actor, comic, guitarist, songwriter, singer, recording artist.
Plus, he was a longtime painter who once held an exhibit of his works in the men’s room of a local museum. He called it, “Flush Against the Walls, or I’ll Be Art in a Minute.”
Sometime around the decade change of the ‘60s/’70s, he teamed up with Steve Martin on a short-lived radio show called, “The Steve Martin Mull Show.”
I saw him in Houston in the ‘70s, and got his autograph on a CREEM Magazine “centerfold pin-up”: He was completely nude, with his back to the camera, looking over his right shoulder to camera.
He was holding a large loaf of French bread on his shoulder and wearing a beret. On the pic, he wrote,
…and thanks for reading and the kind words!
R.I.P. Martin Mull. The day you posted your piece I was visiting family in an unfamiliar city, and the next day had the opportunity to check out a local record store where lo & behold I found a *mint* white label promo copy of "Fabulous Furniture" complete with promo hype enclosed for $5! Needless to say I bought it and of course when I mentioned that he had just passed to the young clerk at the counter they just stared at me blankly. . . No matter, I've been enjoying the record since and did a deep dive on Youtube recently to watch (and re-watch) "History of White People In America", a few "Fernwoods" and TV talk show appearances. The man was unquestionably an underrated master, right up there with the highly rated Steve Martin and George Carlin - a smart, incisive comic and such a great musician as well. Thank you for your excellent remembrance.
As a former radio guy, WLP’s are close to my heart. What a score! He does belong in the pantheon with the greats, that’s for sure.
If you'll pardon a little shameless self promotion, may I suggest you check out my newly-launched Substack "The Record Store Years"? An upcoming chapter discusses WLPs at length. . .
Will do!
I'll remember him for his records (especially the first 3 Capricorn albums) and, to a lesser extent, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman. Everything else passed me by after I moved to Europe in the late 80s. (I did catch him on Roseanne but also thought his talents were wasted there.)
Fernwood 2 Night (and thanks and God be praised for the videos you posted--I haven't seen them since they first aired) and America 2 Night were part of my Holy Trinity of 70s TV comedy, along with SCTV and Monty Python (not even by SNL, which is a distant 4th, 5th, 6th...?) And could bits like the guest Jew in the second episode make it on air today? What would that horrid Elise Stefanik say?? Or the various university presidents? Or the NYT? Or the Israel lobby? Or all the pathologically oversensitive? I loved that about the 70s. (I first heard Tom Waits on Mull's shows. Those interchanges will never be topped.
But Mull's music will always be most important to me. Listen to Martin Mull, the album with Dancing In The Nude. His goofy, subtlely stoned and often surreal (but intelligent and sophisticated) lyrics, themselves brilliant, set to spot-on pastisches (NOT parodies!) of various musical styles. That work COMPLETELY as comedy AND as music. Which also means you can listen to it regularly (like, say, Dylan album) unlike albums of stand-up or sketch comedy (even Monty Python). Dancing In The Nude is a real big band number. Miami is genuine cheesy Bossa Nova.
Martin Mull is an essential part of America's comedy and cultural heritage. What more can I say?
His short-lived sitcom, Domestic Life, was great, too.
Thanks for the reminder!
I thought I'd leave my little rememberies of Martin here, Michael. It'll last longer than for the 1/2-a-day on Notes! I first saw your Note, and immediately reacted....then, I saw it was your article link! Then, I saw your piece in my inbox! Needless to say, I was a bit rattled by the news. And, you're right....SO underrated, underheard (as a recording artist) and under-appreciated, just all over!
One of my favorite acting turns of his was on "The Golden Girls" (late '80s?) as Tim, the isolationist who had hidden away in his apartment for, like, 20 years! Dorothy (the Bea Arthur character) befriended him to try to get him to step outside and re-join society. He made it one step out into the hallway and said, "I'd forgotten how much I love to travel!"
He, quite literally, did it all: Actor, comic, guitarist, songwriter, singer, recording artist.
Plus, he was a longtime painter who once held an exhibit of his works in the men’s room of a local museum. He called it, “Flush Against the Walls, or I’ll Be Art in a Minute.”
Sometime around the decade change of the ‘60s/’70s, he teamed up with Steve Martin on a short-lived radio show called, “The Steve Martin Mull Show.”
I saw him in Houston in the ‘70s, and got his autograph on a CREEM Magazine “centerfold pin-up”: He was completely nude, with his back to the camera, looking over his right shoulder to camera.
He was holding a large loaf of French bread on his shoulder and wearing a beret. On the pic, he wrote,
“To Brad…..I’m freezing! Martin Mull”
Rest in peace, Marty.
I found the article you're referencing in the archive. Needless to say, I won't be sharing that photo, for the sake of all of us.
Great story, though!