The Austin American-Statesman

January 10, 1991

LENGTH: 346 words

SECTION: Music

HEADLINE: Mann seeking new label

BYLINE: Nestor Aparicio

BODY:

It has been a while since anyone has heard from the once-popular band 'Til Tuesday.

Since the band broke out of Boston in 1985 with the huge hit Voices Carry, it has been a long, downhill ride for singer-bassist Aimee Mann's band.

'Til Tuesday had two follow-up albums, Welcome Home and Everything Is Different Now, but neither received much airplay or had nearly the gold success of the band's debut.

Since the third album flopped two years ago, Mann has been working diligently to get the band off of Epic Records and onto a label that she believes would better promote her music.

"It was to the point where DJs and critics weren't even getting the music from Epic," Mann said. "One DJ told me the only reason he got the last album was because his girlfriend found it at some record store."

Mann has since recorded another album with her group and is shopping it to various record companies in hopes of getting the right deal.

"I just couldn't get motivated to do another album for Epic that was destined to fail," Mann said.

The biggest problem now is that any company that would sign 'Til Tuesday will have to pay Epic a fee to have the band.

"That makes us sort of unattractive," Mann said.

But, for her, being out of the public eye has not been all bad.

"I'm just trying to keep a low profile," Mann said. "To be honest, when I was really successful it was so much damn work. Now I can write songs and play some shows when I want. It was also just so uncomfortable being recognized all the time. I'm glad that doesn't exist anymore."

Mann said that she still looks the same - "except that I wear glasses now and people only recognize me when I tease my hair" - and that her songwriting still tends to focus on stories about friends.

"The problem is that people always seem to think the songs are about me or my experiences even if they're not," she said.

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