Martin Newell (born 1953), also known as "the Wild Man of Wivenhoe", is an English rock and roll musician, poet and author. He grew up in an army family in various parts of England and the Far East. His music is guitar pop with clever lyrics and jangly, upbeat, guitar-centric arrangements. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Location within the British Isles Wivenhoe Park, John Constable, 1816. ... England is a made up country where psychologists convince schitzofrenic people they are currently living while they are in fact in a mental asylum. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... The word author has several meanings: The author of a book, story, article or the like, is the person who has written it (or is writing it). ... The classical guitar typically has 3 nylon and 3 nickel-wound strings. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

During the 1980s he led a band called The Cleaners From Venus, who mostly released their work on cassettes (see Cassette culture) outside the traditional music distribution channels (in other words, independent music). In the 1990s he began working as a solo artist with more traditionally professional production values. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Cassette culture was in part an offshoot of the mail art movement of the 1970s and 1980s. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ...

Newell's songs have also been recorded by Miki Huber, Kerry Getz, R. Stevie Moore and Alphaville. Alphaville is a German synthpop music group that gained popularity in the 1980s. ...

He is better known to some as a poet and author; he has released several volumes of poetry (often in collaboration with James Dodds) and a memoir called This Little Ziggy, about his youth and his days in The Mighty Plod, a Colchester-based glam band in the 1970s. Glam rock (less commonly glitter rock), a style of rock music popularized in the 1970s, was mostly a British phenomenon and confined to larger cities in the U.S., such as New York and Los Angeles. ...

Discography

• Blow Away your Troubles as Cleaners from Venus, 1981 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes) No catalogue number (Cassette release)
• On Any Normal Monday as Cleaners from Venus, 1982 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes) No catalogue number (Cassette release)
• Barricades and Angels as The Stray Trollies, 1982 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes)- catalogue number POW 003 (Cassette release)
• Secret Dreams of a Kitchen Porter, 1982 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes) - catalogue number NOW 004 (Cassette release)
• Midnight Cleaners, 1982 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes)- catalogue number MAO CO5 (Cassette release)
• In the Golden Autumn as Cleaners from Venus, 1983 (Man at the Off-Licence Tapes) - catalogue number FRAU 006 (Cassette release)
• Under Wartime Conditions as Cleaners from Venus, 1984 (Man at the Off-Licence) - catalogue number TAO 008
• Mind How You Go as Cleaners from Venus, 1987 (Jarmusic) (EP)
• Going to England as Cleaners from Venus, 1987 (Ammunition)
• April Fool 1987) (Jarmusic) (EP)
• Town and Country as Cleaners from Venus, 1988 (Man at the Off-Licence)
• Winter as Cleaners from Venus, 1988 (Jarmusic Pink Lemon) (LP)
• Lizardland as Brotherhood of Lizards, 1989 (Deltic), reissue 1995 (Long Play)
• Number Thirteen as Cleaners from Venus, 1990 (Man at the Off-Licence)
• Golden Cleaners as Cleaners from Venus, 1993 (Tangerine)
• The Greatest Living Englishman, 1993, featuring Andy Partridge of XTC, (Humbug, Pipeline) CD and cassette. Reissued with bonus CD of poetry recorded live as "The Greatest Living Englishman: Very Limited Edition, 1993 (Humbug); also in 1995 and 1996 (Jarmusic) and 1996 and 2000 (Cherry Red)
• Live 1987 as Cleaners from Venus, 1993 (Jarmusic Pink Lemon)
• Let's Kiosk, 1995 (Humbug) EP
• Live in Japan as Cleaners from Venus, 1995 (Jarmusic Pink Lemon)
• The Legendary 13 as Cleaners from Venus, 1995 (Jarmusic Pink Lemon) (EP)
• Back from the Cleaners as Cleaners from Venus, 1995 (Tangerine)
• The Off White Album, 1995 (Jarmusic)
• Martin Newell, 1996 (Jarmusic) promotional CD
• Box of Old Humbug, 1996 (Humbug) double CD with the content of The Greatest Living Englishman, The Off White Album, and Let's Kiosk
• Don't Step on My Rainbow as Cleaners from Venus, 1996 (Jarmusic) box set of five 7-inch singles
• The Wayward Genius of Martin Newell, as Martin Newell, Cleaners from Venus, and Brotherhood of Lizards (Cherry Red) compilation CD
• Mind How You Go / The April Fool 1999 (Jarmusic) cassettes rereleased on CD, with extra material
• Wild Man of Wivenhoe and Black Shuck 1999 the poems recorded
• My Back Wages: A Collection of Cleaners Rarities as Cleaners from Venus, 2000 (Jarmusic)
• The Spirit Cage, 2000
• Barricades and Angels + Secret Dreams of a Kitchen Porter as the Stray Trolleys (Jarmusic)
• Songs From the Station Hotel, 2002 (EP)
• Radio Autumn Attic, 2002
• "Live at the Greyhound", 2003 (vinyl EP, Jarmusic), spoken word
• Living with Victoria Grey': The Very Best of the Cleaners from Venus, 2004 (Cherry Red)
• The Light Programme, 2004

An off licence is a shop that sells alcoholic beverages in the United Kingdom, for consumption off the premises. ... XTC is an innovative new wave band from Swindon, UK. They are considered the forefathers of the Britpop movement of the 1980s and are one of the most influential bands still working today. ...

Bibliography

By Newell

• I Hank Marvinned... ("Martin Newell, c/o The Essex Festival, Department of Literature, University of Essex"; no publisher or year stated; no ISBN.) 16-page booklet of poems
• Under Milk Float. The Greyhound Press, 1992. Illustrated by Barry Woodcock. ISBN 0-9519100-0-0 60-page book of poems
• The Illegible Bachelor. Festival Books, 1996. ISBN 0-9519100-5-1 Poems
• Poetic Licence: The Best of 1990-1996. Jardine Press, 1996. ISBN 0-9525594-2-0 Poems
• Wild Man of Wivenhoe. Jardine Press, 1996. Illustrated by James Dodds. ISBN 0-9525594-3-9 Long poem
• New. 1999. ISBN 1-85215-078-5 Poems
• Black Shuck: The Ghost Dog of Eastern England. Jardine Press, 1999. Illustrated by James Dodds. ISBN 0-9525594-8-X Long poem
• Late Autumn Sunlight: East Anglian Verses. Jardine Press, 2001. Illustrated by James Dodds. ISBN 0-9539472-3-8 Poems
• This Little Ziggy. House of Stratus, 2001. ISBN 0755102673 Memoir
• The Song of the Waterlily: The Building of a Boat. 2003. Illustrated by James Dodds. ISBN 0-9539472-4-6 Long poem
• Return to Flanders. Jardine Press, 2004. Illustrated by Andrew Dodds. ISBN 0-9539472-8-9 Long poem

With contributions by Newell

• Pioneer: Last of the Skillingers (One poem, "The Ballad of the Pioneer".) 2002. ISBN 0-9539472-5-4 Revised and enlarged ed. Jardine Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9539472-7-0
• Shipshape 2001. ISBN 0948252103 (hardback) ISBN 094825209X (paperback)

External links

• Martin Newell a poem by John Cooper Clarke
• martinnewell.co.uk edited by Paul Wilkinson, with news, poems, mp3 files, etc.
• Jangly the Martin Newell mailing list
• Martin Newell discography
• The Mighty Plod yes, a site about the Mighty Plod
• Jardine Press Publisher of a number of Newell's books
• Martin Newell at Cherry Red Publisher of a number of his CDs
• Martin Newell at Jarmusic Publisher of other CDs and vinyl
• Martin Newell at Falling A Records The DIY years, compilations and rare single.