The Merry Thoughts - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

History

Formed in 1983 by Carsten Mainz (guitar, synthesizer) and Olaf Wollschläger (synthesizer, drum machine) in Neuss, Germany.

Marvin Arkham joined and after first playing the synthesizer, he became the singer. Sonja Jordan was another add to the group in late ´83, she also played synthesizer first and took over the guitar later.

In 1991 Sonja Jordan and Marvin Arkham recorded a demo of 'Second Generation', one of the first Songs written by The Merry Thoughts. It was later released as The Merry Thoughts' first single.

After the second Single 'Pale Empress' (1993), the first album 'Millennium Done I: Empire Songs' was finally released.

1996 the second album, 'Psychocult', followed and entered the German Alternative Charts Top Twenty where it would stay for more than two months. Due to problems with their record company and the long process of recording, the band was basically destroyed after finishing 'Psychocult'.

Up until 2000 Sonja and Marvin still played live and continued to record and write new material. Sonja Jordan left the group in 2000 after their last concert at Albion New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

The band played a number of high profile shows throughout Europe during their career, including an appearance at the Wave Gotik Treffen

Wave Gotik Treffen

Wave-Gotik-Treffen is an annual world festival for "dark" music and arts in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds play at several venues throughout the city over 4 days...

in Leipzig in 1995, and the Whitby Gothic Weekend

Whitby Gothic Weekend

Whitby Gothic Weekend, often abbreviated to WGW or simply referred to by attendees as Whitby, is a twice-yearly festival for goths, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire who runs Top Mum Promotions.-Event history:...

in 1997.

Referring to Marvin Arkham, the influences of The Merry Thoughts are such as David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Queen

Queen (band)

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft.
The Merry Thoughts are often considered to be a gothic-rock band because of their great success in the 90s gothic-rock scene, the band describes their music as 'counterpop'.

In 2011 the band are ready to release a new single and album!

Albums

Millennium Done I: Empire Songs (1993)
Psychocult: The Interim Versions (1996)
Echotopia (2011)

Singles and EPs

"Pale Empress EP" (1993 - CD Maxi)
"Second Generation" (1993 - CD EP)
"Wires Hum" (2011 - CD Maxi)

External links

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