Copyright 1992 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe

March 20, 1992, Friday, City Edition

SECTION: ARTS & FILM; Pg. 38

LENGTH: 716 words

HEADLINE: Bostonians Mann, Wolf strike common chord;
Rock Notes

BYLINE: By Steve Morse, Globe Staff

BODY:
    Whatever happened to Boston singer Aimee Mann of 'Til Tuesday? She scored the Top 10 hit "Voices Carry" in 1985, but has lately been in the same limbo as Peter Wolf, ex-singer of the J. Geils Band. That means record company delays and hassles. So it's perhaps fitting that the two Bostonians have recently been writing songs together.
 

"Yes, he's a sort of kindred spirit," says Mann, whose band headlines the Paradise tonight. "We've certainly had our share of ups and downs."

The association began after the recording of a Christmas cassette compiled this winter by local producer Barry Marshall. Mann and 'Til Tuesday sang "Chestnuts Roasting by the Open Fire." Wolf heard it and liked it. He stopped by Q Division, the Boston studio where it was made, and invited Mann out to "have some tea," she notes. "Peter said, 'I've got this song, but I can't come up with words for it. What do you think?' "

Mann came up with some lyrics and has since co-written several tunes for possible use on Wolf's next album. The two worked on another that she hopes to perform tonight. Called "Forty to One," it's about the odds that sometimes apply to relationships.

The odds have also been stacked against Mann's career lately. "We've had legal problems for so long, which is the whole reason we haven't had a new record out," says Mann, who recently succeeded in getting out of her contract with Epic Records, only to see another deal fall through with Irving Azoff's Giant Records.

"I'm still an eternal optimist. And I've enjoyed making this new album without record company interference. The music goes all over the place. There's one song with a string quartet; another with 20 screaming rock guitars."

Tonight's show will feature holdover 'Til Tuesday drummer Michael Hausmann, along with three mostly new faces - keyboardist Mike Deneen (also an engineer at Q Division), guitarist Clayton Scobel and guitarist Greg Porter.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Aimee Mann of 'Til Tuesday.

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