Martin Newell (born 4 March 1953) is an English singer–songwriter, poet, columnist and author who leads the Cleaners from Venus, a

guitar pop Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The "jangly" guitar sound is characterized by its clean, shimmering and arpeggiated tone, often created using 12-string elect ...

band with

jangly Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble (sound), treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly twelve-string guitar, 12-strings) played in a drone (music), droning chord (music), chordal style (by strummi ...

, upbeat arrangements. He is also regarded as a significant figure in the history of cassette culture and

DIY music Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

Musical career

1973–1979

In the summer of 1973, a 20-year-old Newell joined

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

Plod as their lead singer, replacing founder member Steve Greenfield. Plod was signed to London-based indie label Banjul Records in early 1975, and quickly began recording tracks for an album. However, contractual irregularities and financial problems at the label prevented the album from being finished or released, and the band broke up within a few months of being signed. In 2003, one track from the sessions ("Neo City") was released on a '70s glam-rock compilation CD titled ''

Velvet Tinmine ''Velvet Tinmine'' is a compilation album consisting of 20 obscure, yet high quality, British pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more empha ...

''. This track was credited to ''The'' Plod, and remains the only officially issued work by the band. Newell then joined Gypp, a pop-oriented

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band, as lead singer. Gypp also played abroad and became popular in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia area thanks to their live performances. Gypp issued one three-song 7-inch EP in 1978, but their music was out of step with the punk-oriented trends of the UK music scene at the time and the EP received a negative review in the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

.'' Demoralised, Newell left the band. By his own account, he then became a "musical recluse", staying in the studio and creating new songs but not playing live gigs for many years.

1979–1992

In the late-70s, Newell led a four-piece rock combo called the Stray Trolleys. They recorded material in 1979 and 1980, but it was not released until after the band had broken up. In the meantime, Newell issued his first solo single ("Young Jobless" b/w "Sylvie in Toytown") on vinyl in 1980. By the end of 1980, he was collaborating with Lawrence "Lol" Elliot as the Cleaners from Venus, a band that mostly released their work on cassettes outside the traditional music distribution channels. By 1983, the Cleaners from Venus had evolved into a band with a floating line-up that featured Newell as its only constant member. The band still primarily issued material on cassette, got signed to the West German independent label Modell Records for one vinyl album (''Under Wartime Conditions'') and ultimately to the German subsidiary of

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, which released two albums (''Going to England'', ''Town and Country''). Giles Smith joined Newell as the only other official member of the Cleaners from Venus between 1986-1988, and in 1987, Newell returned to performing live under the Cleaners from Venus banner. As well, while regularly releasing the Cleaners from Venus material on cassette, through the 1980s Newell also occasionally released cassette singles and albums under his own name. On these solo releases he was usually the only musician. In the spring of 1988, Newell and Nelson (Peter Nice) formed the duo, the Brotherhood of Lizards, self-releasing the

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

''The Brotherhood of Lizards'' that year, followed by the album, ''Lizardland,'' released on

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

Deltic Records in 1989. To support ''Lizardland'' the duo embarked on an

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

promotional tour, cycling over 1000 miles across southern England between October 1989 and February 1990 making local radio appearances and doing local newspaper interviews, while also

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

and performing gigs. The uniqueness of this "green tour" caught the attention of the

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...

with the duo making half a dozen television appearances, and interviews with them appeared in the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...

'' and '' Time Out''. On completion of the tour, Nelson was recruited as the replacement bass player for the band

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

and the Brotherhood of Lizards disbanded.

1993–present

In 1993, Newell began working primarily as a solo artist with more conventional production values. His first non-cassette solo album, '' The Greatest Living Englishman'', was produced by

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer best known for co-founding the band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing a ...

, and was a critical success. Commercially, it remains his most popular and successful album. It was followed by three more albums (''The Off White Album'', produced by

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

, ''The Spirit Cage'' and ''Radio Autumn Attic'') and an EP (''Songs from the Station Hotel'') that continued to explore the same subject matter as ''The Greatest Living'' ''Englishman'', including the charms of rural or small-town English life and portraits of characters and scenes. Newell has also made live appearances with the Cleaners from Venus and the Stray Trolleys in the 1990s and beyond, and has issued several post-1993 live recordings with these bands. However, studio releases credited to these groups post-1993 are actually all CD reissues of pre-1993 material previously released only on cassette. In addition, Gypp played reunion gigs in 1996, and live Gypp material – as well as Gypp demos recorded in the late 1970s – have now been officially issued on CD. In 2004 Newell released an album of light jazz songs, ''The Light Programme''. The album was not particularly successful commercially but his next album, ''A Summer Tamarind,'' returned to his usual style and was much more warmly received. In late 2005, the British singer Richard Shelton released a jazz vocal album called ''Top Cat'' with five Newell compositions. Newell's songs have also been recorded by Miki Huber, the Jennifers, Kerry Getz, R. Stevie Moore and Alphaville. In 2011

MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...

covered a Cleaners From Venus song on their '' We Hear of Love, of Youth, and of Disillusionment'' EP. Since 2010, Newell has returned to making lo-fi, self-released music under the Cleaners from Venus moniker. In 2022, he formed the Light Music Company with former

Dolly Mixture Dolly Mixture were an English rock band, formed in 1978 by the bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist and vocalist Rachel Bor, and drummer Hester Smith. They had a taste of top 40 success performing backing vocals for the Captain Sensib ...

member Rachel Love.

Filmography

Newell is the subject of Graham Bendel's 2019 documentary ''Upstairs Planet: Cleaners from Venus & the Universe of Martin Newell'', the 2022 documentary ''The Jangling Man: The Martin Newell Story'' and the 2022 animated documentary short ''A Man for Our Time''.

Literary career

Newell is better known to some as a poet and author; he has released several volumes of poetry (often in collaboration with the illustrator James Dodds) and a memoir, ''This Little Ziggy'', about his youth and his days in Plod. In 2007, he released a volume of reminiscences, anecdotes and historical information about his beloved Wivenhoe. He is also a weekly contributor of poetry to '' The Sunday Express,'' He now writes a weekly column for the

East Anglian Daily Times The ''East Anglian Daily Times'' is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. History The newspaper began publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the ''Ipswich Express'', which had been published since 13 August ...

(for which he won columnist of the year in the EDF/ East of England Media Awards in January 2010), performs annually at the Essex Book Festival and occasionally issues spoken word recordings of his poems.

Personal life

Newell said that he has

dyspraxia Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental dyspraxia, or simply dyspraxia (from Ancient Greek ''praxis'' 'activity'), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impair ...

and

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

. Newell attended the Elliott School (now Ark Putney Academy) in Putney, southwest London, for two years as a teen. One of his classmates was future actor

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

(nicknamed "Irish"), and he alludes to "the next James Bond" in the 2022 song "Baby Space-Cakes", from the Cleaners from Venus album, ''That London''.

Discography

Bibliography

Books

*''I Hank Marvinned...'' ("Martin Newell, c/o The Essex Festival, Department of Literature, University of Essex"; no publisher stated.) 1991.) 16-page booklet of poems. . *''Under Milk Float.'' Colchester: The Greyhound Press, 1992. Illustrated by Barry Woodcock. . 60-page book of poems *''The Illegible Bachelor.'' Colchester: Festival Books, 1996. . Poems *''Poetic Licence: The Best of 1990–1996.'' Ipswich: Jardine Press, 1996. . Poems *''Wild Man of Wivenhoe.'' ivenhoe:Jardine Press, 1996. Illustrated by James Dodds. Long poem *''New Top Poetry.'' Off Licence Books, 1999. . Poems *''Black Shuck: The Ghost Dog of Eastern England.'' Hadleigh: Jardine Press, 1999. Illustrated by James Dodds. . Long poem *''Late Autumn Sunlight: East Anglian Verses.'' ivenhoe:Jardine Press, 2001. Illustrated by James Dodds. . **2nd edition. ivenhoe:Jardine Press, 2007. . *''This Little Ziggy.'' Thirsk, North Yorkshire: House of Stratus, 2001. . Memoir **2nd edition. ivenhoe:Wiven Books, 2008. . *''The Song of the Waterlily: The Building of a Boat.'' Jardine Press, 2003. Illustrated by James Dodds. . Long poem *''Return to Flanders.'' Jardine Press, 2004. Illustrated by Andrew Dodds. . Long poem. *''Spoke 'n' Word.'' Jardine Press, 2006. Illustrated by Charlotte Bernays. . 19 poems about Essex. Supposedly inspired by bicycle rides in the county. *''A Prospect of Wivenhoe. Snapshots of an English Town.'' Wiven Books 2007. . *''Selected Poems.'' Wivenhoe: Jardine Press 2008. With a foreword by

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

. . *''Horses Seen Through Trees.'' Wivenhoe: Wivenhoe Bookshop, 2010. . Illustrated by Charlotte Bernays, foreword by Andrew Phillips. *''The Stars on a Tray: Martin Newell's Saturday Columns.'' Autumn Girl, 2011. . From the "Joy of Essex" column in the ''

''. *''The Green Children.'' Wivenhoe: Jardine Press, 2015. . 18-page booklet. *''Wife of '55.'' Bungay, Suffolk: Nasty Little Press, 2015. . Poems *''The Greatest Living Englishman.'' Autumn Girl, 2019. . Memoir *''The Home Recording Handbook.'' Wivenhoe: Dunlin Press, 2025. Memoir

Contributions

*''Pioneer: Last of the Skillingers'' (One poem, "The Ballad of the Pioneer".) 2002. Revised and enlarged ed. Jardine Press, 2004. *''Shipshape'' 2001. (hardback) (paperback) *''Est: Collected Reports from East Anglia.'' Dunlin Press, 2015. .

References

External links

* * * *
Martin Newell interviewed about reissue of the first 3 records by The Cleaners from Venus as well as his current life in Rocker Magazine 2012
a poem by

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet and comedian who styled himself as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk ...

* edited by Paul Wilkinson, with news, poems, mp3 files, etc.
The Mighty Plod
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newell, Martin 1953 births Living people English rock musicians English male singers English pop guitarists English male guitarists English male poets English male songwriters Jangle pop musicians 20th-century English poets 21st-century English poets 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English memoirists Cherry Red Records artists RCA Records artists Liberty Records artists Captured Tracks artists People with Asperger syndrome Cassette culture 1970s–1990s