mad things

To get you in the mood for St. Patrick’s Day, this week’s Mary song is from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It’s a fun little ballad entitled Red-haired Mary.

r.i.p. Liam Clancy, 12-04-09

Your famous Mary this week is Mary Robinson, President of Ireland during most of the 90s.

She is credited by many as having revitalised and liberalised a previously conservative political office. She resigned the presidency four months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the United Nations. Robinson has been Honorary President of Oxfam International since 2002, she is Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is also a founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. Robinson is also one of the European members of the Trilateral Commission. Robinson is the twenty fourth, and first female, Chancellor of University of Dublin.

Your Mary song for this Monday is brought to you by this awesome video from the 80′s. How on earth did Robert Palmer keep a straight face? Enjoy Johnny and Mary by Robert Palmer.

Your famous Mary, in anticipation of next week, is Irish singer Mary Black.

Here’s a bonus, Song for Ireland, from Ms Black.

This week’s Mary song is from Zwan

PLAY Jesus,I / Mary Star of the Sea.

Keeping with the religious theme, your famous Mary this week is Mary Baker Eddy

Mary Baker Eddy was an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader, noted for her groundbreaking ideas about spirituality and health, which she named Christian Science.

This week’s Mary song is from Supergrass:

Your famous Mary for the week is Mary Anderson, inventor of the windshield wiper. This photo has nothing to do with Mary Anderson but it is a photo of my favourite windshield that needs wiping.

This week’s song, Mary the Ice Cube, is from Primus:

And your famous Mary this week is the wonderful and talented Mary Wilson

of the wonderful and talented Supremes. They had the best outfits!

This week’s song is Mary of Silence by Mazzy Star.

To go along with the gloomy atmospherics of Mazzy Star, your famous Mary of the week is Mary Shelley.

Here’s the trailer for Ken Russell’s Gothic, starring Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley.

This week’s Mary song is from Bruce Springsteen.

I’m not a fan of Mr. Springsteen although I can sing along to any of his popular songs that are played on the radio. However, Thunder Road is my favourite Springsteen song 1) because it mentions me, Mary and 2) I have always considered the line about said Mary “You ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright” to be an accurate description of how I think I look.

So you get an added bonus song this week.

Your famous Mary for the week is Mary “Tipper” Gore. I had no idea her name was Mary.

You can thank Mrs. Gore for these stickers appearing on your cds (that is, if anyone other than me buys cds anymore):

According to wikipedia:

In 1985, she co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) with Susan Baker, wife of then United States Secretary of the Treasury James Baker, because Tipper heard her then 11-year-old daughter playing Darling Nikki by Prince. According to an article by NPR, Gore went “before Congress to urge warning labels for records marketed to children.” A number of individuals including Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, John Denver, Joey Ramone and Frank Zappa criticized the group, arguing that it was a form of censorship. In response, NPR further stated that according to Gore, she “wasn’t out to censor the objectionable material” and quoted her as stating that she is “a strong believer in the First Amendment” who is calling for greater “consumer information in the marketplace.

I’m sure Mrs. Gore has done many good things, but as a music fan, she will always be the face of the PMRC to me.

This week’s song is Crazy Mary by Pearl Jam.

Your famous (or rather, infamous) Mary this week is little Mary Bell.

According to wikipedia:

Mary Bell strangled Martin Brown on 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday. She was believed to have committed this crime alone. Between that time and the second killing, she and her friend Norma Bell (no relation), age thirteen, broke into and vandalised a nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the Brown killing. The Newcastle police dismissed this incident as a prank.

On 31 July 1968, the two took part in the death, again by strangulation, of three-year-old Brian Howe. Police reports concluded that Mary Bell had gone back after killing him to carve an “N” into his stomach with a razor; this was then changed using the same razor but with a different hand to an “M”. Mary Bell also used a pair of scissors to cut off bits of Brian Howe’s hair and to mutilate his genitals. As the girls were so young and their testimonies contradicted each other, what happened has never been entirely clear. Martin Brown’s death was initially ruled an accident as there was no evidence of foul play. Eventually, his death was linked with Brian Howe’s killing and in August, the two girls were charged with two counts of manslaughter.

This week’s song is Mary Mary from Rhonda Stakich

And because the Ms. Stakich is Canadian, I’ve selected Mary Pickford, as the famous Mary this week.

According to wikipedia:

Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Known as “America’s Sweetheart,” “Little Mary” and “The girl with the curls,” she was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood. Her influence in the development of film acting was enormous. Because her international fame was triggered by moving images, she is a watershed figure in the history of modern celebrity.

This week’s Mary Monday is all about Mary Whitehouse. She’s not all that famous here in the U.S. but those in Britain know her name well as a campaigner for the moral right.

Whitehouse criticised adult entertainment like Goodfellas, the work of Dennis Potter and A Clockwork Orange. She claimed that Doctor Who had nightmare qualities, saying it “Contains some of the sickest, most horrible material” and describing it as “teatime brutality for tots”. Needless to say, we would not have gotten along.

Your Mary song is Mary Long by Deep Purple.

Added bonus song – Pink Floyd’s Pigs (Three Different Ones)