"Echo Beach" is a song by Canadian musical group Martha and the Muffins. Written by band member Mark Gane, it was released as a single from their album Metro Music in 1980 and went on to reach number five in Canada, number six in Australia, and number 10 in the UK. It was certified gold in Canada on October 1, 1980, a month after Metro Music achieved gold status, and also won the Juno Award for Single of the Year. "Echo Beach" was the band's only significant international hit, although they had other popular singles in Canada
Background
Echo Beach, as mentioned in the song, does not refer to a real beach, but rather a symbolic notion of somewhere the narrator would rather be, somewhere "far away in time". The song was created while Gane was working checking wallpaper for printing faults. He found the work rather dull and his mind drifted to times he would like to live over again. One such time was an evening spent at Sunnyside Beach on the shoreline of Lake Ontario in Toronto in summer. 'Echo Beach' was a reference made to a faded time and place gone in the lyrics of the song "Hiroshima Mon Amour" by the band Ultravox.
The map shown on the cover of the Canadian and US version of the single is of the eastern part of Toronto, including the Beaches neighbourhood, the Leslie Street Spit, and a portion of the Toronto Islands. The UK version of the single shows the north-western end of the Fleet Lagoon and the bar of Chesil Beach, the location of Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset. It has been modified to show Chesil Beach being named as Echo Beach.
In 2010, the band released a 30th anniversary version of "Echo Beach". A commentator described the new version as "definitely a different song compared to the previous version; it's slower and the famous guitar riff that introduces the song is acoustic. [The original] was also good to be danced to, whereas the new one is darker and languid." Mark Gane explained, "We wanted to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the song, by not trying to replicate the version that we originally recorded, but as musicians who've experienced three decades of living. We'd like to refer to the new recording of 'Echo Beach' as our 'grown-up' version."
In June 2011, concert promoter Live Nation opened a 4,000-person outdoor concert facility in Toronto and named it after the song.
In 2003, Q magazine listed "Echo Beach" among the 1001 best songs ever. In 2005, it was named the 35th greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks.
Track listing
7-inch single
A. "Echo Beach" – 3:38
B. "Teddy the Dink" – 3:32
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Toyah version
British singer Toyah covered "Echo Beach" on her 1987 album Desire. The song was released as the lead single from the album and reached number 54 in the UK Singles Chart. It is Toyah's last charting single in the UK to date.