Mary Prankster is the moniker for an American singer-songwriter. She is primarily associated with

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(but now residing in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

), and played a blend of alternative/indie music with frank lyrics. The name is a reference to

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born ...

Merry Pranksters The Merry Pranksters were comrades and followers of American author Ken Kesey in 1964. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters lived communally at Kesey's homes in California and Oregon, and are noted for the sociological significance of a lengthy roa ...

. After over 1,000 live performances, the Mary Prankster character was retired over "Pranksgiving Weekend" (November 25–28, 2005); the woman behind Mary continues to work on other creative projects. The musicians who have played in her band include Phil "The Machine" Tang, Jon "E. Cakes" Seidman, Dave "E. Rocket" Vergauwen, Mike Lackey, Cord Neal, Matt Collorafice, Terry Klawth, Andy Mabe, Cliff Retallick, Sam McCall and Michael Smith.

Life and career

Her first radio single was "Tits and Whiskey" from the album ''

Blue Skies Over Dundalk ''Blue Skies Over Dundalk'' was the first studio album by Mary Prankster. The title refers to Prankster's hometown of Dundalk, Maryland. The album was later re-released as '' Blue Skies Forever'', where it was remastered and included the tracks ...

'' (produced by Steve Wright of Wright Way Studios in Baltimore), a 1:40 song which she called "my attempt at writing the most obnoxious song ever", and which contained the word "

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to ar ...

" thirteen times. This did not stop local radio station WHFS from playing the song daily for several weeks. WHFS also arranged for her to play a free roadside show on the

Baltimore–Washington Parkway The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a highway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 (US 50) ...

that was quickly shut down by the police due to the traffic back-ups that it created and landed her a spot opening for

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

at a sold-out show in Washington, DC, the singer having been banned from playing clubs in her hometown of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

due to controversial lyrics. Following the release of ''

Roulette Girl ''Roulette Girl'' is the second album by Mary Prankster. Track listing All songs by Mary Prankster # "Roulette Girl" – 3:36 # "The Bottle's Talking Now" – 1:57 # "The World Is Full of Bastards" – 1:54 # "Swan Dive" – 2:47 # "Rational Bo ...

'' (produced by Rennie Grant and recorded by Steve Wright), she left

Fowl Records Fowl Records was co-founded in 1994 by Jimi Haha from Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Richard James Burgess, the band's manager (Burgess Worldco Inc.) and Chris Keith, the band's agent ( Creative Booking International, Inc.) as a means to release Jimm ...

to create Palace Coup Records (PCR). ''Roulette Girl'' was re-released by PCR, while ''Blue Skies Over Dundalk'' was combined with the ''

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed ...

'' EP and a bonus track to create the album ''

Blue Skies Forever Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obse ...

'' in 2001. That same year she recorded the "Love Has a Rumble" single with Baltimore rock-reggae band Colouring Lesson. The single was released to international and domestic radio stations. In 2002 she recorded ''Tell Your Friends'' with producer

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as fron ...

(R.E.M., Pavement) at The Fidelitorium in

Kernersville, North Carolina Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County and the largest suburb of Winston-Salem. The town is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. A small portion of the town is also in Guilford County. The population was 26,481 at the 2020 census, ...

. The album was mixed by Shelly Yakus (Tom Petty, U2) and made the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

charts due to extensive nationwide college radio play. Prankster recruited North Carolina musicians Andy Mabe (Neko Case, Clare Fader) and Terry Klawth (Jodie Foster's Army, Mighty Sphincter) for the Tell Your Friends tour which culminated in a recorded performance at Washington, DC's 9:30 Club that became the 2004 release ''Lemonade: LIVE''. In 2004 the entire Mary Prankster catalog, including singles, became available on iTunes and other digital music sites. In 2005, she retired the name Mary Prankster, moved to New York and did voice-over work for TV commercials. She went back to school and moved to New England. In 2016, she reconnected with Baltimore producer Steve Wright, and they agreed to work on a new album, ''Thickly Settled'', released in November 2019. In 2017 she made her live return by playing two live shows for Pranksgiving weekend. Comedy Dynamics acquired and will release Mary Prankster's musical comedy special, ''Mary Prankster: LIVE at the Ottobar'', recorded in November 2017 in Baltimore. The

Washington Area Music Association The Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) is a regional music industry not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. WAMA's activity centers on highlighting the area's cultural contribution by assisting regional musicians with becoming ...

(WAMA) has nominated her for nine Wammies, two of which she won – Best Alternative Female Vocalist in 1999 and Best Alternative Rock Female Vocalist in 2000. ''Blue Skies Forever'' also won second place in the Just Plain Folks 2006 Music Awards Punk Album category. Her music has been promoted by

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

, and she has also enjoyed heavy rotation on the Red Peters show on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

. Her logo is based on that of

National Bohemian National Bohemian Beer, colloquially Natty Boh, is an American lager originating from Baltimore, Maryland. It was first brewed in 1885 by the National Brewing Company, but was eventually purchased by Pabst Brewing Company. Nearly 90 percent of ...

, a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

beer. The cover of ''Blue Skies Over Dundalk'' is based on can designs of "Natty Boh", and ''Roulette Girl'' contains a track named "Rational Bohemian". The cover of ''Roulette Girl'' features a plate-spinning performer from the People's Circus of China, the cover of ''Tell Your Friends'' is a vintage image of a telephone operator licensed from the Seattle Historical Society, and the cover of ''Lemonade: LIVE'' is an homage to

Country Time Country Time is a brand of non-carbonated lemon-flavored drink mix and soft drink. The powdered mix is produced by Kraft Foods. History Country Time lemonade flavor drink mix was introduced in 1975 by General Foods. Over the years various ot ...

lemonade.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'', Fowl Records (May 1998) * ''

'', Fowl Records (November 24, 1999) — re-released by Palace Coup Records (2001) * '' Tell Your Friends'', Palace Coup Records (September 7, 2002) * ''Lemonade: Live'', Palace Coup Records (April 1, 2004) * ''Thickly Settled'', Palace Coup Records (2019)

Others

* ''Mata Hari EP'', self-released cassette (1996) * "Angel", as "Neoverse
featuring Mary Prankster" (c. 1998) * "Love Has a Rumble", Palace Coup Records (April 14, 2001) * ''Blue Skies Forever'', Palace Coup Records (July 31, 2002)

References

External links

Official Site
* Mary Pranksterat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...