Infected by music during the formative years ...

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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.
 

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

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.

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.

From left to right, Matt Gallagher, Mark Dodge, Danny Hass, Kent Nybo.

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, Mark Dodge, Danny Hass.

BARK BASH: There is an annual "band reunion" party every summer, called BarkBash (guitarist Roger Bark); 2009 marked the peak participation year - seven band members for various incarnations showed up. And 2010 marked the first separate mid-year REHEARSAL, as well as A GIG on June 4, 2010! Presenting, live after a 30 year hiatus ... Click here for more pictures.
 

The second incarnation of Dalux, after Morgan quit. Left to right, Dan Blank, Shari Cox, Kent Nybo, James Clark, Mark Dodge.

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).

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. Nico 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.

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, filled in on bass with the great local party bands The Splinters and Shameless Hussy, played drums with local jazz phenom Tim Miller, played a couple of gigs on bass with Bob Christensen, performed several gigs with the classic rock dance band Ace Tomato, and with 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. You know, the rock star thing. But things actually turned out better than I could have envisioned. No fame, a taste of fortune. (Not as a musician, though, as a writer!) I was lucky enough to give up the day job. work seasonally, and spend more time doing things I actually like in between. We live on a LOT less money, but have the freedom to develop our art and music, and have time to give a little something back to the community. What more is there?