MARCUS - SELF-TITLED (1976)

Jesus fuck this album has been melting my brain lately.
Marcus takes a little time to get going -- starting off with the lazy "Space Truckin" rip-off "Black Magic" -- but once it gets moving, this fucker COOKS. From track two, the semi-misogynistic, life-on-the-road sexcapade "Salmon Ball" ("Sweet taste in my mouth / I'll go to your place / I'll love you in outer space"!!!) to the vaguely funky "Gypsy Fever" to the ZZ Top worshipping, so-wrong-it's-brilliant "Highschool Ladies Streetcorner Babies" (quite possibly my new favorite song), MARCUS delivers pure 1976-flavored dudeswagger, heavy on tasty riffage and saucy double entendres.

Oddly enough, this record was a one-off vanity project of one Marcus Malone (right - photo is obviously NOT from 1976), who culled the talents of no less than three guitarists to assist in the creation of this monumental masterpiece. According to what little information I can procure on the internet, Malone proceeded to a career in funk and blues immediately after the release of this album, refusing to so much as entertain any further thought of working in the "hard rock/proto-metal" genre ever again. What the fuck?
Although it can be a bit off-putting at first, Malone's smooth, Prince-y crooning adds just the right note of creepy bonerism to this otherwise gritty riff-fest, creating an entire package that is complex, heavy, horny, and ultimately satisfying. Fuck. This album is fucking awesome.

In the words of Marcus himself (again from "Salmon Ball"):

"Thanks for last night / you did alright / I'll see you next time we're in town..."

Download HERE

(Album was reissued in 2000 although I can't locate a copy anywhere...?)


Marcus Malone on Last.FM (bogus)