Away", both recorded at Trixieland. Around this time Melanie moved off of the Isle of Wight, and TBRM disbanded. Mark contributed one song "Once I've Seen Him", and played guitars on an EP by Sarah Goes Shopping, a band formed by Twa Toots leader Sarah Brown. The TBRM song "That's the End of That" was covered by the New York band The Poconos. Mark Litten died on 21 September 2015. Trixieland Trixieland was a 7'x7'x7' box-room in the Littens' house in Shanklin, Isle of Wight. It was used for recording TBRM's first single and demos. It was also Mark's bedroom. Recording equipment consisted of a TEAC 1/4" reel to reel tape recorder and an Aiwa tape to tape cassette recorder. There were no mixing facilities. The microphone stands were handmade from broom handles. Most tracks were created by first recording the drum machine, guitar and vocal together, then adding instruments one by one; bouncing between the two machines. The instruments were very inexpensive: a simple drum machine, a Westbury electric guitar, a non-Fender precision bass, and various percussion instruments. The sound resulting from this set-up was variable in quality, and should probably be described as lo-fi. Interviews and reviews In 1982 TBRM were interviewed by BBC producer John Walters in Shanklin. Writing in Honey he said "Melanie sings as if doing her fingernails at the same time", and called them "talented". They were interviewed by Alvin Smith for the St Albans fanzine "Wally's Dog" in summer 1983. Their flexidisc was issued with this fanzine. In "Caught in Flux" magazine Mike Appelstein wrote that TBRMs songs were "among the sweetest, breeziest songs I've ever heard, complete with minimal instrumentation, thin/understated vocals, and melodies to die for." In Plan B magazine in 2008 the influential British music critic Everett True described the band as "so twee they were beyond twee". Career TBRM signed a publishing deal with Twist and Shout Music, and received enquiries from several independent record companies. However, they never had a recording contract, a manager or an agent. A combination of shyness, lack of business acumen, and a determination to stick to the DIY punk ethos of the time caused them to miss opportunities again and again. Physical isolation from the centres of the music industry was also a problem. Their first two records were sold by mail order, and in the pre-internet early 1980s, most of their contact