Lucky to love (Margaret Cox)

Margaret Cox, a Marshall and Free School alum who has been my friend since she was 11, retired from music last year. She was one of the rare performers whose sole profession had been music. She and I were part of the first version of the Southeast Free School Band when she was in Junior High School. She went through several bands after our working band Perception parted ways, including Sweet Thing, Raggs, Doug Maynard Band, and TC Jammers to name a few. She eventually got a recording deal with A&M Records with Jesse Johnson as her producer and songwriter. She had a top 40 hit in in 1986 with “Everybody Dance” using the name Ta Mara & The Seen. From there she worked with Prince for several years. In Minneapolis she is best known for her role as the lead singer for Dr. Mambo’s Combo, a position she retained for over thirty years. The Combo has played at Bunkers Bar in Downtown Minneapolis since 1987. She used to sell a CD of her original songs from Bunkers’ stage she titled “Margie’s Little Demo” that she recorded with a number of musicians and friends at several studios around town. I was privileged to have recorded three of those songs at my home studio. “Lucky To Love” features Combo member Steve Cherewan (RIP) on piano. Margaret played flute and created the program of drums and bass. I played the guitars, some percussion and organ, and did backing vocals with Margaret. From the early 2000s.