[REPOST] Echo Beach

The Martha and the Muffins classic

It’s been a crazy few days as I finalized a new chapter in my life. Enjoy this 80s classic Canadian tune! And no, I still haven’t made it to Echo Beach.

With the unseasonably summer weather my city has been experiencing, let’s go to the beach! Echo Beach, that is. I've always loved this jazzy up-beat song - that wailing sax! Try not to sing that chorus. I dare you.

"Echo beach, far away in time."

The song captures the feeling of wanting to escape. The inspiration was Sunnyside, which gave the songwriter Mark Gane a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere (this was the late 70s) with the city almost surreal behind them. At that point, there really wasn't anything near Sunnyside and it was the forgotten beach of the city at that point. My dad spent a lot of his childhood at Sunnyside so I find this connection really cool.

As the original video is just a live clip, I’ve chosen to post the remaster so you can really hear the sonic clarity of the song.

Here’s the band slowing it down for its 30th anniversary.

And for the song’s 40th anniversary, they invited a bunch of people to create remixes. You can hear them all here.

In 2011, Live Nation created a concert venue called RBC Echo Beach, which is located in an inlet at Ontario Place. (Save Ontario Place!) One could argue it's an attempt to bring back the feel of the Forum, which was a legendary free concert venue on the island which unfortunately was destroyed to create the Amphitheatre. I've never heard of it before researching this song, so I'll have to try and see something there at some point and give feedback. As far as I know they have never said it was inspired by the song, but come on!

Enjoy your song of the day!