|
Home
What Up?
Local Live Events
Where to Buy
Site Search
Live Sound
About Us
Links
Giza
One Ton of Ducks
Steve Harris & Friends
Bob Christensen
Tim Miller
Steve Harris
South End String Band
|
Some of Mark's old bands
The Plague
This band literally started in a garage, back
when I was in 6th grade. Originally, the band called themselves "The Manchesters"
before I joined, and actually made an 8mm movie that owed a lot to Beatles'
movies. It featured Chuck Bell and Kevin Francis wearing ruffled shirts,
blazers, and Beatles wigs, mostly running around Chuck's parents' property
acting goofy. We all thought it was pretty cool. We called ourselves "The
Zeppelin" for awhile, BEFORE we ever heard of that other crappy Zeppelin band
who started getting all the attention. I joined sort of as the drummer, because
I actually had a set that my cousin had given me, and because I could kind of
play "Wipeout," but ended up playing guitar a lot, too - especially when they
found out I could kind of play "Walk Don't Run" by the Ventures. We actually did
dress up in the ruffled shirts and blazers, and was one of the favorite pre-teen
acts at the local YMCA dances, where we would get paid $20 to play for three
hours.
Happy Scab
Bringing joy through song
This was a very significant year or so for me.
This band gets several pages of its own.
Brutus J. Badwater
& the Smoothies
I was kind of in this band, and kind of not. I
went to a bunch of practices (more like jams), but I can't remember if I ever
played in front of an audience with this group. It was a fun band, not too
serious about anything. (Looking for photos ...) Band members included Chris
Sipple, Jack Belczyk, John Konkol, and Pam Verity.
Calico
Here's a photo that David Greenberger sent me. It's Dave and I with Giles Ponticello, working out a tune in a band called
Calico with which we took Erie, PA by storm way back in 1972-73. OK, maybe we
didn't take anything by storm, but we did some very interesting original music and
performed a couple of good, sold-out shows at a local theater at one
point.
Above, left to right: Mark Dodge, David
Greenberger, Giles Ponticello
Here is a photo from 1981, when I came back to Erie for my
father's funeral.
Dave VanAmberg (on the right) at that time owned a successful local
database
and computer-services company. This was taken at the office.
It's the only photo I have of David.
Calico was David VanAmberg (guitar, flute, vocals), Drew DeCrease (guitar,
ukulele, vocals), Bill Weber (drums & percussion), Mark Dodge (guitar,
keyboards, vocals), David Greenberger (bass, ukulele), and Giles Ponticello
(guitar, banjo, vocals).
Spring Tonic
Spring Tonic was the first band to ever ask me to join them. They
actually asked both David Greenberger and I to join at the same time, which we
did. The three leaders were fraternity brothers who shared similar interests
in music (to a point) and did a nice job with three-part harmonies. We played a
lot of early country-rock, including tunes by The Band, Buffalo Springfield, and
Crosby, Stills & Nash. Spring Tonic was Ray Sammartino, Pete Osinski, Tom Duffy,
Bill Weber, Mark Dodge, and David Greenberger. (Looking for photos...)
The Electric Blues Band
Pam Verity emailed me to remind me I was in this band with her. I
frankly don't remember much, but I suspect her brain is, in general, clearer
than mine. I'll just let it go at that. Reportedly, the band members included
Pam and myself, Al Smith, Leann Dolan, and a drummer whose name escaped Pam, but
who was known to have liked Todd Rundgren. The band then changed somewhat to
become ...
Verity, Smith, Gorny, & Doe
This was the last band I would play with in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Pam Verity, one of the original members of Happy Scab, played violin and
sang, Smith played guitar, Gorny played drums and Doe (that was me) played
a Hofner Beatle bass. This band was very much a folk-rock act, with emphasis on the folk. We
played stuff like "Fishin' Blues." (Looking for photos...)
OK Chorale/Sleight of Hand Band
I met Bob Christensen in Snohomish, WA in 1975. We started playing as a
country-folk-rock duo for beers in a tiny local cocktail lounge, with an
electronic drummer. We later added a bass player, Tom Ferguson, and went as a
trio for a short while, until we added drummer Ray Schafer. Neils Nokkentved was
our sound engineer. We played for over three years, including a whirlwind tour
across Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, which culminated in a 6-week
engagement in a little place called Ducky's located midway between Pearl Harbor
and Honolulu. The location was significant because it was in the middle of sugar
cane fields (that are now probably gone) between the Navy base and the Army
base, and there always would be fights between the soldiers and sailors. So the
place was declared off-limits to both. Tough place to make a go of a club, since
the military represented the primary customer base in this particular area of
Oahu. To make matters worse, the club was not allowed to put out a sign
advertising the fact that it was a bar, in fact they couldn't even put the name
of the establishment on the building! (Dont ask me how this could happen - it
makes no sense.) So we slogged along for siz weeks, trying in vain to generate
an audience. I even decided to push the envelope a little by painting a huge
silhouette of a duck on the front of the building, just so we could at least
tell people to "look for the huge duck." Didn't help much. Ducky's and the Honolulu Marine base were the band's last gigs.
These years were my introduction to life on the road.
 
Left to right, first picture, Bob Chrisensen, Mark Dodge; second picture, Tom
Ferguson, Bob Christensen, Ray Schafer, Mark Dodge.
Kittyhawk
Kittyhawk was a Seattle-area tavern band that played "southern rock"
in the late 70s through about 1980 (I joined in 1979). We played stuff by the
Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Lynrd Skynrd, and The Amazing Rhythm Aces. (Vicki
made the banner shown behind the band below.) This band had a LOT of fun.
From left to right, Matt Gallagher, Mark Dodge, Danny Hass, Kent
Nybo.
From left to right, Mark Dodge, Danny Hass.
The Morgan Whalen Group/Dalux
I met Morgan in Everett, WA in 1980, playing as a solo act in
Panama's - a small lounge. I started sitting in with him fairly regularly, and
he asked me to make it permanent. I had learned some about booking the college
circuit, where it seemed Morgan would be a natural, so I arranged a showcase and
a 6-school tour for the duo. We made a great video, and then decided to hire a
band, and a manager. Band good, manager bad. He turned our wonderfully eclectic
mix of original and obscure music into a top-40 act, because that's what he knew
how to sell. We spent a couple of years on the road, honing our skills,
but eventually Morgan got weary of the top-40 grind and quit. We hired a new
singer, Shari Cox, a great blues singer. But it was never the same. The
new band lasted only a year or so.
Dalux was Morgan Whalen - rhythm guitar/vocals (later Shari Cox
- vocals), James Clark - bass, Dan Blank - electric violin/keys, Kent Nybo -
drums, Mark Dodge - guitar/keys, and Neils Sparre Nokkentved - sound (later,
Dennis Davis, sound).
Left to right, first picture, Morgan Whalen, Mark Dodge; second
picture, Dan Blank, Kent Nybo, Morgan Whalen, Mark Dodge, James Clark. (I did all three of the logos at the
bottom of this picture, too; one for our manager, one for the band, and one for our booking
agent.)
This is the second incarnation of Dalux, after Morgan quit.
Left to right, Dan Blank, Shari Cox, Kent Nybo, James Clark, Mark Dodge.
Nico Wind
After the dissolution of Dalux, and weary of leading a group, I
looked for a band to join. As
it turned out, this was to be my last full-time band.
Sadly, I can't remember the names of the first two guys in this photo. The first
guy was our original drummer, later replaced. The second guy (I think his name was
Bruce) was the bass player/booking agent. Then it's Dan Blank, Mark Dodge, and Nico
Wind.
(I did the logo for this band, too.)
Nico Wind was the female vocalist in this band, who was
with with the bass player, our booking agent. He once told me that he kept his
giant Day-Timer close at hand so that he could "make sure I remember which
lie I told to which person." Another stellar example of music business
integrity. The couple-in-the-same-band issue, as many
veteran musicians will tell you, can be a very difficult situation for the rest
of the band members. Add the booking
agent aspect, and it gets even weirder. We had our moments though, and I was
forced to take on more of a "lead guitarist" role that I had in the
past. (I actually learned and used some Eddie VanHalen licks from
"Eruption" in solos. Fun, but not a high point in my creative
life.) On New Year's Day 1984, I quit this band and life as a professional road
warrior forever. No regrets.
The Random Brothers
This was a recreational band I got involved with in the mid 90's. Our slogan was
"Retro Rock and Random Roll." We practiced "classic rock"
tunes, one day a week for a year and a half, culminating in a weekend gig at the
Detour tavern in Renton, WA. Then we broke up. A familiar story. Again, no
regrets.
Left to right, Tim Longley, Rob Boucher, Paul Bowman, Mark
Dodge.
I did the logo (and photo, with Vicki's help) for this band, too.
Onward
Since moving to Camano Island in 1999, I have played with the rock band
Giza (who recorded a CD), played drums in a piano bar with
Rob Glide, played guitar with the great Papa Murat band,
played bass with the great local party band The Splinters, played drums with
jazz phenom Tim Miller, played a couple of gigs
on bass with
Bob Christensen, perform occasionally with the classic rock
dance band Ace Tomato, and sit in sometimes with the blues/classic rock
band Mark Bamber and Renegade Radio. I played regularly with
Steve Harris & Friends for a couple of
years there, and that band has morphed into One Ton of Ducks,
with whom I currently perform.
Admittedly, it didn't all work out the way I had planned when I
left Erie, PA on April Fool's day 1975. But things actually turned out better than I could have
envisioned, just different. No fame, but a small taste of fortune. (Not as a musician,
though, as a writer!) I was lucky enough to be able to give up the six-figure
day job in order to spend more time doing things I love. We live on a LOT less
money, but I'm making honest music, I have the freedom to pursue photography and other artistic
endeavors, and have time to give a little something back to the community. Yeah, it's too
late for the rock & roll hall of fame, but no complaints, no regrets.
|
