This was a favorite song of the Program Director who had a short-lived tenure before me. I know the station surely never received any sort of promotional copy of the single, much less album, leaving me to assume Diane, the briefly-serving program director, brought in her own copy.
The practice of bringing in outside music was generally frowned upon by the faculty advisor and thus usually championed by the leading student managers. Our issue was that people who brought in outside music usually played only their music – and the prepared playlist went by the wayside. Management's concerns was that it wasn't fair to other DJs that they didn't have the option to play those songs; also, since these outside songs had not been cleared by the music director, the music might not have fit the format or that prerequisite "sound of the station" ideology, or there could be a potential issue with lyrical content. Already short a number of then-popular songs, to suddenly have something popular in rotation, like Merril Bainbridge, meant you wanted to have the option to play it at any time, not just when Someone Special was spinning discs for three hours. In short, management said if you wanted to play your music you had to donate your music. Few people were that generous; those that did usually passed along a compilation or greatest hits disc, only to remove it from rotation at the end of the semester. Hence why we had the Doobie Brothers for only one semester of classic rock.
Anyway, I really never had anything against Merril Bainbridge, but her mouth – and the words she sang from it - seemed to garner airplay only on Diane's shifts and, more so, during those first three hours of the rock format (again, the historically lightweight pop hours). I guess it wouldn’t have given me such a problem but Merril Bainbridge seemed to come out of nowhere and then as quickly as she opened her mouth, she was gone. Poof. Just like Kiser Sosa. If anything, I'm always reminded of Diane when I hear this song – which isn’t that often anymore.
For those keeping score at home, Bainbridge's The Garden featured another popular single, "Under the Water," in her native Australia. Her second, and to date, last album, was Between the Days in 1998; she has since spent her time writing and composing music for other musicians in her native country.
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Mouth
(Bainbridge)
Merril Bainbridge
From the album The Garden
1996
I feel like I've been blown apart
There are pieces here
I don't know where they go
I don't know where they go
Kiss me on my salty lips
I bet you feel a little crazy
But for me
We'll be famous on TV
Chorus
Would it be my fault if I could turn you on?
Would I be so bad if I could turn you on?
When I kiss your mouth, I wanna taste it
Turn you upside down, don't wanna waste it
I jump on you, you jump on me
You push me out and
Even though you know I love you
I'd be inclined to slap you in the mouth
When I kiss your salty lips
You will feel a little crazy
But for me
I'll be famous on TV
Chorus x2
Now, will it be my fault if I
Take your love and throw it wide
You might restrain me
But could you really blame me
And you will feel you're blown apart
All the pieces there
Will fit to make you whole
And I know where they go
Chorus
When I kiss your mouth, I wanna taste it
Turn you upside down, don't wanna waste it
x2
