On The Rocks
ON THE ROCKS, the second music album from Marc Cushman and WHATSTHEIRNAME, is a fast-moving collection of catchy melodies and thoughtful lyrics in an assortment of pop music genres.
About the Album
Marc Cushman’s long-hidden music finally surfaces.
After more than 50 years locked away, award-winning screenwriter and author Marc Cushman has begun releasing the songs he wrote as a teenager. Last month came Lost in the Crowd, his first album: 16 tracks written and first recorded in 1972 when he was just 17. A concept album that channels the late 1960s and early 1970s, it moves freely through folk, rock ’n’ roll, country, rhythm & blues, and psychedelic rock—like a Top 40 station from a parallel universe, playing hits that never quite existed in ours.
Now arrives On the Rocks, his second album with WHATSTHEIRNAME. Thirteen songs written across eight months in 1972–73 while Cushman finished high school on the Big Island of Hawaii and turned 18. The recordings span decades—from his original home demos to later collaborations and final 2026 masters—capturing everything from mosquito-bitten island life and racial friction to youthful ambition, overpopulation fears, tentative first love, and sharp-eyed social observation. The styles range just as widely: indie rock, rockabilly, folk, R&B shuffles, and lilting ballads, all delivered with catchy melodies and a wry, mature sensibility far beyond his years at the time.
More albums are already lined up for monthly release, drawing from a catalog of hundreds of songs written long before Cushman became known for his books and screen work. The floodgates are open.
After more than 50 years locked away, award-winning screenwriter and author Marc Cushman has begun releasing the songs he wrote as a teenager. Last month came Lost in the Crowd, his first album: 16 tracks written and first recorded in 1972 when he was just 17. A concept album that channels the late 1960s and early 1970s, it moves freely through folk, rock ’n’ roll, country, rhythm & blues, and psychedelic rock—like a Top 40 station from a parallel universe, playing hits that never quite existed in ours.
Now arrives On the Rocks, his second album with WHATSTHEIRNAME. Thirteen songs written across eight months in 1972–73 while Cushman finished high school on the Big Island of Hawaii and turned 18. The recordings span decades—from his original home demos to later collaborations and final 2026 masters—capturing everything from mosquito-bitten island life and racial friction to youthful ambition, overpopulation fears, tentative first love, and sharp-eyed social observation. The styles range just as widely: indie rock, rockabilly, folk, R&B shuffles, and lilting ballads, all delivered with catchy melodies and a wry, mature sensibility far beyond his years at the time.
More albums are already lined up for monthly release, drawing from a catalog of hundreds of songs written long before Cushman became known for his books and screen work. The floodgates are open.
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Where to Listen
Learn More About the Music
Track List
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1. Something New
2. Free Man 3. Gasoline 4. Answers 5. Man With a Gun 6. School Daze 7. Being Free 8. Hangover |
9. No Reason
10. Deep in My Hole 11. In the Library 12. You Can Follow (I'm Giving You Hell) 13. Uncle Sam 14. Lost In the Crowd 15. Take a Risk (Lay Your Love Down) 16. Fade Away |
