in a boss salad bowl

They were the much lauded pioneers of the of the bubble-psych-folk scene, playing to packed houses from coast to coast, and inspiring scores of other bands. They were the one, the only...


The members of the legendary quartet met in San Francisco, where they attended the same junior college, during the Summer of Love. Shortly afterward, they departed Haight-Ashbury for swingin' Toledo, Ohio, claiming that the Glass City was more in tune with their creative vibes.


Sources disagree on whether the band took its name from one of lead singer Zelda's improvised dessert recipes (the official story) or if it referred to a potent form of LSD in vogue with the counterculture crowd at the time. Proponents of the latter theory cite the band's unusual and eclectic lyrics (which featured lines like "We're so hungry we could eat a mountain or a city") as proof of a hallucinogenic influences, though it should also be pointed out that Nelson, who wrote the lion's share of the Mirage's material, had the reading comprehension skills of a ten year old.

In any case, the band quickly made a name for themselves in the local scene, earning them a residency at the Kaleidoscopic Zoo alongside heavy funksters The Soular System and giving birth to a host of similarly-themed acts. For a short time it seemed that Toledo was poised to displace both London and Los Angeles as center of the pop music universe. As big as The Marmalade Mirage was in the Great Lakes region, the release of the the band's debut single in 1969 rocketed them to nationwide fame within days of the record hitting the stands.

"The Marmalade Is Made," written by Nelson and crisply produced by Phil Spector, perfectly captured the band's unique style and electrified a nation with its deeply insighful examination of the social, cultural, and political upheavals of the time.


"It's the song I've always wanted to write, but never could," said Bob Dylan at the time, and John Lennon stated that it inspired him to write "Imagine."

Unfortunately, the runaway success of the single exacerbated the simmering resentments that had arisen between the band members. It also didn't help that they found themselves rushed into recording a full length album by their label, which sought to capitalize on their newfound fame, despite the fact that they had only four songs in their repertoire. The other three members of the Mirage saw this as an opportunity to secure some publishing revenue, which angered Nelson and led to material such as this...


Suffice to say, the album tanked. The bad news that the Mirage had been dropped by their label arrived during the middle of their "Spread the Marmalade" tour, and caused a full-on brawl between the bandmates. Morris had to be stopped from braining Zelda with a microphone stand by Valerie Brown, the bass guitarist of opening act The Pussycats, who broke the guitarist's arm in four places, ending the tour and putting the band on permanent hiatus.

So ended The Marmalade Mirage's brief moment in the sun, reduced from legends to footnotes in the space of a few short months. Zelda moved to an artists' colony in Taos, New Mexico, changed her name to "Galadriel Starshine," and supplements what she earns teaching at a local Montessori school by making high-end dreamcatchers and selling them to celebrity clients such as Dennis Hopper. (She even made an uncredited appearance in Hopper's self-indulgent 1971 flop, The Last Movie.)

Nelson left the music business and entered politics. A protege of Bob Dornan, his effectiveness as representative for California's 46th Congressional District has been slightly diminished after he was videotaped in a motel room with two horses, a donkey, $500,000 in unmarked bills and an empty case for transporting weapons-grade plutonium from Scandia Labs. Calling the allegations and evidence a "left-wing smear job," Nelson has vowed to fight the vote of censure and $50 fine levied on him by the House Ethics Committee.

After Morris's solo career as a singer-songwriter failed to take off, he cycled through a number of engagements with various bands, including a three day stint with Red Rider and a gig filling in for Rick Parfitt for the last few shows of Status Quo's Japanese tour in 2000. His efforts to take a new line-up of The Marmalade Mirage onto the summer reunion concert circuit have been held up by litigation from the band's other original members.

Charlie took the small sum he made from the band and opened an auto repair business in Lorain, Ohio. He never bothered telling his wife or kids about his brief life as a rock star, saying to friends in the scene "that's all behind me now." He served as a proud member of the Rotarians and played a vital role in organizing their annual charity pancake breakfasts. He died in his sleep of a massive heart attack in the winter of 1997.

As I was unable to locate copies of The Marmalade Mirage's actual recordings (which go for nearly a grand on eBay), I've decided to go with a couple of spiritually similar tracks by some of the Mirage's fellow travellers. Diabetics be warned; things are going to get rather syrupy sweet 'round here in a moment...

The Pop Corn Generation - Kitchy Kitchy Koo (from a 1968 single)

The Tingling Mother's Circus - Positively Negative (from The Tingling Mother's Circus, 1968)

(Blame it all on Harvey Pop Comics #2; November 1969)