In 1954 my mum named me "Mark" but in 2006 somebody on MySpace started calling me Modfather and so now I am also called t.h.e. Modfather.
I added the "periods" in t.h.e. as I knew of Paul Weller and Ian McLagen both being referred to by the nick name.
I'm not a Mod as defined by some purists, although I do ride a 50 cc motor scooter and grew up loving the music and fashion of the 1960s "mod era".
I am more of a muse than a musician but I hope my comic book opera"songs are as much fun for you to hear as they are satisfying to me to write, record and perform.
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I am, perhaps just a tad decadent, yet a most harmless, sort.
I love hanging out with my kids, dogs and creative sorts. If you go go my photo albums you'll see my many totally Mod-a-Site friends, family members and some pets I've known and loved.
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I'm sort of a hypocritical vegetarian -I don't eat meat, eggs or dairy products. I do wear leather, (but I'd never eat it.)
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I've got a most full quiver- 8 kids, although some have grown up and are out there surviving. And, Yes- (folks always ask) All by the same wife. My lovely wife Lyn and I have been married since 1973 and I truly believe that without her, I'd have died in my turbulent twenties. Check out the "fam" in my photo albums. Due to the darkside of the internet, we don't have pictures of the younger kids, but as they grow up (too fast, sez me) I'll get them on board. 5 of my top friends here on MySpace are my kids and they are all as unique as snowflakes.
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Back in 1969 I began playing m' own original music in a band we called the Banana Feedback. Basically, I started writing songs because I couldn't figure out how to play like the records, but soon I learned to love the creative vibe more than cover songs so I wrote.
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I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1973 and joined a (post)White Panther-Rainbow Party band called Uprising. I got kicked out of that band for mooning the audience at a concert held at some Catholic Girls School in Detroit (So much for the libertine era of the 70's)
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For a few years I played around in various bands and then started a unit called Hoi Polloi with my high school mate, Charles Hoeker. Nobody seemed able to say or spell the bands name but we stayed the course. it was the early 80s and the New Wave scene was happening and my retro styling was fitting right in.
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My fave places to gig were Lili's Club 21 in Hamtramck and Bookies and The Red Carpet in Detroit. We released a few platters and gigged around Michigan, Illinois, Canada and Ohio. It was a gig at the Red Carpet where a drunken ejected patron took a shot a me with his pistol. That incident inspired my song "Bullet Hole in a Jukebox. Then ego, stupidity, and lack of discipline took us down. That band and myself crashed and burned in 84. By now I had 2 kids and was becoming less of a mod-a-bout and more of a father.
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I then formed a group called The Lonely and to "my bad" I let many good chances slip by. I retired from active playing to family,and songwriting for 15 years.
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I was a state licensed boxing ring announcer in Michigan but got tired of the thuggery,guns and knives after the boxing matches so I hung up the microphone.
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In 1985 I helped connect New World Pictures with Detroit wrestler/promoter The Sheik so they could buy the rights and released the shelved movie "Ringside" flick on home video.
The original music providers (members of Michigans 60's garage legends-The Woolies) wanted to get real loot for their songs so I also contributed some tuneage to the final soundtrack. I still have the contract and my 1.00 uncashed check as a modmento and reminder to my "dedication" to art.
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In addition to writing and singing, I also play organ and piano but truly I'm mostly a song writer, shouter of lyrics and window dressing. (Curse of lots of beauty, imagination and limited musical ability)
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I'm a fop. I love to dress up for gigs, shows, a scooter ride and to go shopping.
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I miss my deceased brother, Tim, muchly (I hate being an only child). He died suddenly a few years back. He was a brilliant Doctor and only 50.
I also miss my deceased Rottweiller, Tuck and his friend and roommate of many years, Nicky.
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Life's losses create spirit and joy crushing voids. Family, music, faith, art, and a good laugh helps fill them and binds our wounds.Check out my picture albums and see how much modvelous fun we have.
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About 5 years ago I rediscovered pro wrestling as it occurs in what they call the "indies" (I think that is the grunt 'n groan equivalent of what the music industry calls alternative). It's way funner (and not as crass as) than the stuff on national TV and good therapy for me to "mark out" often with the boys.
It's mod-a-control stuff and the workers are good people and I love going to the shows.
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And don't ever pull my hair
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I've been doing ringside meddlesome managing for some of these wrestling promotions and if you want a good cardiovascular workout and an occasional female wrestler ass kicking, this is one way to get it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to the encouragement and help of others,(many who I've met or reconnected with through MySpace) I've started writing, singing and doing m' own shows again and am working on a new CD.
Life is like a drive in movie and we get to write our own script as we go.
Dream with your eyes open. Mod bless you.
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