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Saucers Biography (below taken from the liner notes to Saucers “What We Did” cd on Grand Theft Audio Records) Craig Bell moved from Cleveland, Ohio to New Haven CT in 1976. After the break-up of Rocket From The Tombs he wanted to continue playing music and placed ads in the local papers for musicians who were influenced by the Velvets, the Kinks, and Eno. One of the early respondents was Malcolm Doak, a keyboardist and synthesizer player living at the time in Westport. Mark Mulcahy, who was attending Southern Connecticut State University at the time, inquired about the drummers position. Rounding out the group was Malcolm Marsden on guitar, who at the time was attending Yale University in New Haven. The group found a space to practice and set about learning songs Craig had written along with various covers of eclectic variety. After some months of rehearsal, which would draw crowds on the street below their space of concert goers heading to nearby shows at New Haven Coliseum, Saucers were offered, by Tom Hearn, an opening spot at the Shandy Gaff, in Devon, CT with local band The Survivors. From there the group began playing regularly at the Shandy Gaff and The Oxford Ale House in New Haven. New songs were constantly being added to the bands repertoire and they were constantly trying to get up enough money to go into the recording studio to begin putting some of their songs on tape. Finally enough money was set aside for the band to go into Trod Nossel Studios in Wallingford CT to make a demo tape to get their name out and attract more opportunities to play live. Done in the dead of the night, the six song tape included Malcolm Marsden’s song Orpheus, Craig’s songs Muckraker, Frustration , Slow Down, Annie and a version of Final Solution, which had been recorded by Pere Ubu, but Craig had co-written while he was with Rocket From The Tombs in Cleveland. Until the release of this cd, most of these songs have never been released except for Muckraker, which was on the 1982 Gustav compilation “It Happened But Nobody Noticed”, a 13 song album of Connecticut bands. Shortly after the recordings were finished, Malcolm Doak left the group and a search was undertaken for his replacement. For a very short period of time, and for only one live performance, Fred Smith, another student at Yale and friend of Malcolm Marsden, was the bands lead singer. This configuration was not what the Saucers was looking for and after more ads in the musicians listings, Seth Tiven was recruited on guitar and the second incarnation of Saucers began. Saucers went back to the studio in 1979, now with a two guitar attack, to record again. From these sessions came their first single What We Do, written by Malcolm, and a re-recorded Muckraker plus I Didn‘t Get It, both penned by Craig. The sessions were financed by Malcolm’s parents, Cy and Ethel Marsden. The other songs recorded at this time were Roadmaster, Frustration (again), and Take A Chance, another Malcolm composition.What We Do received respectful local airplay and was used as Saucers calling card to get more jobs outside of New Haven, such as in New York City, Boston and Providence RI. Malcolm Marsden graduated from Yale in the spring of 1979 and left New Haven to return to his home in New Jersey. His place in the band was filled by Katherine Cormack on guitar and keyboards. In early 1980, Craig and Bill Murphy started Gustav records along with the financial backing of Phil Weinberg. With Bill producing, they went into Presence studios to record Saucers second single, A Certain Kind Of Shy and She’s Alright. Mark made his singing debut on the A-side. This recording received quite a bit of local and regional airplay and sold the majority of it’s pressing of 2000. The band continued playing up and down the East Coast from New York to Boston. After the release of the A Certain Kind Of Shy/She’s Alright single, Saucers went to Audio West Studios in West Haven, CT and recorded more songs. This time contributions came from Seth who brought Looked Into A Mirror and Katherine with Quiet Boy. Craig added Hypnotized and I Need Drugs, a Ron’s Place favorite at the time. Along with most everything else on this CD, except for the previously mentioned singles and album cut, this is the original release of this material. Ron’s Place at the corner of Park and Chapel Sts in New Haven became a regular haunt for Saucers and other popular local bands from 1979 until around 1981 when it was shut down. Ron Milum, the clubs owner welcomed the growing original music scene with open arms and because of this the bands were able to play other larger venues in town due to their loyal audiences that would pack Ron’s Place during the weekend shows and support up-and-coming bands during the week. Ron’s Place closed for good on Halloween 1981 after a police raid brought about because of the expiration of the lease on the building. Ron’s Place is gone but anyone who hung out there will never forget it. One of the more infamous stories of the Saucers involves Mark and “the water trick”. During the intro to the last song of the evening, (usually Final Solution), Mark would pour water on his floor tom and when the song broke into it’s full blown chorus, he would slam the floor tom and a shower of water would shoot toward the ceiling. Of course, the resident soundman would go balls off nuts at this event and in a couple of instances the band would have it’s pay for the night withheld until the next day when everyone would get together and find that the microphone the soundman would claim to have been ruined by the water turned out to be perfectly fine, because right as Mark was pouring the water on the drum he was also moving the mic out of harms way. Saucers always walked away with the money. Saucers played their last show together at Ron’s Place in late 1980. Before they parted ways, they were joined on stage by many musicians from other Ron’s Place regulars including members of The Poodle Boys, No Music, and The Obvious. Discography: 1979 - “Saucers” 7” EP Orange Recording What We Do/I Didn’t Get It/Muckraker 1981 - “A Certain Kind Of Shy” 7” single Gustav Records A Certain Kind Of Shy/She’s Alright 1982 - “It Happened But Nobody Noticed” LP Gustav/Aim Records Muckraker 2002 - “What We Did” CD Grand Theft Audio Records Muckraker/Orpheus/Annie/Frustration/Slow Down/Final Solution/Roadmaster/Muckraker?Frustration/I Didn’t Get It/What We Do/Take A Chance/A Certain Kind Of Shy/She’s Alright/Mirrors/Quiet Boy/Hypnotized/I Need Drugs/Why Me Line-up 1977-1978: Malcolm Doak - keyboards/vocals Craig Bell - bass/vocals Mark Mulcahy - drums/vocals Malcolm Marsden - guitar/vocals Line-up 1979: Seth Tiven - guitar/vocals Mark Mulcahy - drums/vocals Craig Bell - bass/vocals Malcolm Marsden - guitar/vocals Line-up 1980: Craig Bell - bass/vocals Seth Tiven - guitar/vocals Katherine Cormack - guitar/organ/vocals Mark Mulcahy - drums/vocals
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