The group later known as Mars came together in late 1975 through a chance meeting of those involved. Common obsessions led directly to the music. We started out jamming on Velvet Underground songs in a loft with Sumner Crane on piano, China Burg on acoustic guitar, myself on bass and Nancy Arlen on paper bags. This rapidly led to abstract expression far from the source. China and Nancy started playing their instruments at the first rehearsal. Sumner and I were self-taught. We all were ready for an adventure. After a year of cooking up a sound, we played our first gig at GBGBs (under the short-lived name China) in January ’77 with Sumner, China and I alternating on Silvertone guitars and bass through tube amps, and Nancy on drums. All the words were from Sumner, the music furiously collective. The first single (‘3E’ / ‘11,000 Volts’) was produced by Jay Dee Daugherty under the impulse of Lenny Kaye for their label with Patti Smith, Mer. It was in September ’77, but not much is remembered of the actual session except that JayDee was very sweet and nudged us to be clear about the songs. The single itself never came out on Mer, having been passed over to a French label, Rebel, when Patti decided they would all be too busy touring to put it out. It was finally released in March ’78 as a 7 on Rebel and about a year later on a ZE 12. Mark Cunningham