Plain and Fancy: Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush - World Anthem (1977 canada, loud and pretty guitar psych rock)

Friday, August 8, 2025

Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush - World Anthem (1977 canada, loud and pretty guitar psych rock)

'World Anthem' consisted of all self-penned material. The outstanding cut for many fans was the opening 'Requiem For A Sinner', with its stately, memorable guitar riffing, while 'Hey Little Lover' possessed a slinky, sexy (and, dare one say, Hendrix-y?) charm all its own. But it was the instrumental title track that had special meaning for its composer, who reveals that it was inspired by the 1976 Olympics. He decided to write an anthem for it and submitted it to his label with the lyrics written in many languages. "I kept the music instrumental so it could be sung in all languages, but the record company trimmed off most of the languages when they printed the cover. They said it took too much space ... "

The fact that Columbia left out Russian demonstrated to Marino that they had a different agenda. "Those were the days that Russia was the 'Evil Empire'. I guess they thought it would be too politically incorrect to include that 'Empire" in a call to peace. They even released some copies with the complete lyric sheet conveniently "forgotten" ... I had to fight to get them to put the sheet back in subsequent copies, but I couldn't get Russian included." The mid Seventies were indeed Mahogany Rush's commercial peak. But Marino, then as now a committed Christian, was unprepared to make compromises that would have cemented his success. The 'World Anthem' furore was another straw that broke the camel's back. "It's things like that that finally made me quit the scene."

Columbia also insisted on one Mahogany Rush album a year, a schedule Marino could not support. "I prefer to take whatever time I want and only make an album when I feel like I have something I'd like to record." He was managed by David Krebs, who with partner Steve Leber, also guided the careers of Aerosmith, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, the Scorpions, Def Leppard and Michael Bolton. "David used to tell me that he thought I was more like a novelist than a rock musician, and I agree with that." Not that such an attitude made superstardom more likely ...

The link with CBS would last for seven years and as many albums, with Frank's brother Vince joining the ranks in 1980 on rhythm guitar. But the dual blows of new wave and disco had knocked the stuffing out of the rock market, and, as high as Mahogany Rush had flown as a live act, they were not immune to getting burned. Marino's relationship with Columbia deteriorated and it took two years of legal wrangling to obtain his freedom.

by Michael Heatley, 2008