JohnTem82387976

15 July 2008

Salad - Motorbike to Heaven



Label: Island Red
Year of Release: 1995


So let's get one thing straight from the start - to begin with, nobody liked Salad much. The music press were suspicious of them, the public didn't really snap up their records in any great quantity, and when I got a call from their promotional company asking if I'd like to interview them in 1995, I was told "Look, I know they used to be a bit shit, but they've really got good in the last year or so". Never have I ever heard less of a sales pitch for an act in my life.

To understand quite how they found themselves in this unfortunate position, you only really have to look at the previous careers of lead singer Marijne Van Der Vlugt, who had a history of being a successful model and an MTV presenter. In an interview from 1994, she states:

"I wanted to become a model, and I became a model. It was my determination that got me there rather than my looks. Sure, I'm tall, and I had the right figure, but I had to work to get that. More importantly, I wanted to do it and I wanted to be bloody good at it. I had the attitude, I was really bloody cocky. I worked in Paris for a year and, in a few months in Tokyo, I earned £20,000."

"Then I wanted to be on TV and I became an MTV presenter, just literally walked into the job. I was taking in a Merry Babes video and someone just asked me to audition there and then. So I made my decision, went for it and, I got the job."


Now, if the above doesn't make you want to vomit, you're a better person than I. The ridiculously charmed Marijne had seemingly walked into two very glamorous jobs through determination alone (which, contrary to her claims, wouldn't be enough for most of us however determined we were) and had now begun a career in a band with a string of distinctly average singles ("Kent", "Diminished Clothes", "On A Leash"). As much as it's tempting to whip the music press under most circumstances, at the start of Salad's career I have to confess I wasn't sold either. It all smacked of an It girl deciding she'd like to front a scratchy indie band.

Then something weird happened. "Drink The Elixir" came out, and was actually pretty damn good. This was then followed up by "Motorbike to Heaven" (above) which was actually, in my opinion, brilliant. Far from being just another model who had decided to have a career as a singer, Marijne's voice is actually fantastic on this track, changing from gentle purring to full-on rawk snarls. It's expressive, and suits the melodramatic, sixties cinematic feel of the track extraordarily well. Then the album "Drink Me" came out, and whilst it wasn't start-to-finish genius, it was nonetheless far stronger than similar works put out that year by other female fronted Britpop bands the press lumped them in with.

Nonetheless, the music press still weren't having any of it, and went for their jugulars on a weekly basis. It's a sign of how much things have changed. If a youth TV presenter went on to front a band who signed to a major label now, I have little doubt the NME would put them straight on to the front page without even asking any questions. For as much as I found myself getting frustrated by their continual lazy dismissals of Salad's work in the nineties, I do much prefer their cynicism of that time to their marketing-lead attitude of the present.

So then, I am forced to conclude that had Salad been around during this decade, they probably would have had more success - but that doesn't necessarily make the industry fairer or more interesting now than it was then. And contrary to what Marijne says, it's not all about confidence. You're usually a successful model because you're in some way beautiful as well as determined, which she most certainly was (and probably still is). In a fair world, your music would also sell by the shedload according to your talent, irrespective of your personal history, but sadly the music industry isn't necessarily as straightforward as that. Still, "Drink Me" managed to scrape the top twenty of the album charts, which isn't a bad score compared to many of the bands featured on this blog, even if it did deserve a hell of a lot more.

11 comments:

Lee said...

Pretty sure 'Motorbike To Heaven' had the excellent 'Diary Hell' as a b-side.

I loved Salad...and still do, despite their being lyrically awful at least 60% of the time.

Marijne said...

I absolutely love what you have said here and thank you for hitting the nail on the head on so many levels....that stuff about the Modelling and TV career....groan.....I'm not surprised you wanted to vomit....how hilarious to think about that now...as a mother...enjoying life...being a tad more grounded I hope. ....anyhow...keep up the brilliant work and thank you again. Marijne

23 Daves said...

Thanks so much for commenting, Marijne, it's been a real bright spot in an otherwise gloomy week for me!

I didn't think your comments about becoming a model/ presenter because you wanted to be were in any way embarrassing, just overly modest. The usual "If you want something hard enough, you'll get it" line which sadly doesn't always end up working out for mediocrities.

Anyway, I really hope some Salad stuff is re-issued on CD at some point, although knowing the way the music industry works I won't hold my breath.

Marijne said...

Well....i'm hoping to organise a release of al sorts of unreleased demos in 2012 which is when we actually get the publishing to our songs back...and we'll have to engineer getting the other stuff re-issued then as well....hey maybe we'll even get the band together (not likely). Marijne

23 Daves said...

I really look forward to that. It's time the band were given some sort of reappraisal, and a good series of reissues would certainly get the ball rolling on that.

Lee said...

I'd certainly rebuy 'Drink Me' and 'Ice Cream' if they were repackaged with all the period b-sides and other stuff.

I wonder how much live stuff there is, if any? I saw Salad three times (maybe four) and have such happy memories...

Unknown said...

Hi Real Gone...that's good to know...there is certainly talk of releasing in 2012 sometime, B-sides and previously unreleased demos recorded in the time between 'Ice Cream' and being dropped from Island. I do have some live CDs that fans have sent me, so it's worth seeing if anything from those is worth releasing also. For anyone who may be interested...I am releasing an album with my new musical project "Cowboy Racer' on Jan 3rd 2011 on iTunes....you can find more details here www.cowboyracer.com. Thanks! Marijne

Paul said...

Marijne, is there ANYWHERE I can get an mp3 of the Merry Babes song "My Life's Crown" ?? I remember seeing it on MTV around 20 years ago and still love the track to this day but all I have is a cassette rip off the VHS. I love that song soo much!!

Eddie C said...

Paul (if you're still subscribing to this!) - My Life's Crown is on YouTube. Actually been there since 2013 but I've only just seen it myself

Todd said...

Marijne commenting on this makes my day, even if I'm only finding out years later.

Anonymous said...

I bought a couple of the singles, Elixir and Motorbike, because I heard them somewhere and liked the sound, I also bought Drink Me on cd, because I wanted to hear what else they had done.
I read the music press religiously in those days(the 90's) but I wasn't particularly guided by a critics opinion about anything, my ears guided me about what I liked and didn't like.
Still play the music when I'm feeling nostalgic, because i still like it, that's the only thing that matters.

David Thomas