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Up Close & Personal with

QUESTION MARK

By Robert E. Martin

While he may not be the most prolific of Rock Stars, the name Question Mark

still looms large in the pantheon of 1960s Rock pioneers.

When ? & the Mysterians burst onto the scene in 1966 with their classic 96

Tears, followed by a string of early 'garage band' classics like Can't Get

Enough of You Baby,  the group forged a proto-punk archetype that drew

audiences to rival The Beatles, with an uncompromising defiance that

matched The Stones.

Intent on defining rather than copying trends, Question Mark even pre-dated

Prince in changing his name to a symbol, years before the 'Purple One'

changed his own name to an 'onk' in defiance of his record company.

Although management and legal hassles may have subverted the recording work

of Question Mark through much of the '70s and '80s, he came back in a big

way in the 1990s, releasing both live & studio recordings while landing

acclaim in Rolling Stone Magazine for a series of New York City club dates.

Finally, after all these years, Question Mark is poised to release a fresh

batch of new recordings, including a new album of original material, along

with a video of his latest 'anthem' to 9/11 entitled New York City.

Recorded in the studio of collaborator and songwriter Jim Garrison, the

song is both breathtaking and powerful in terms of its emotional clarity,

featuring stunning work from Mysterians keyboardist Frank Rodriguez.

? remains the epitome of rock attitude, maintaining that he was born on

Mars and that he lived with dinosaurs.  And with his new material, ? proves

that he refuses to fade away.

Long stifled due to legal battles upon discovering the rights to their

original Cameo label lay with ABKCO, after notorious businessman Allen

Klein took it over in 1967, today Question Mark is intent to release his

material independently.

Recently The Review caught up with Question Mark to talk about his new

music and the hassles that still haunt him from the past.

Review: So how did the new material and sound come together?

Question Mark: The group got back together in 1996 and in 1997 I went to

Atlanta. After playing with a symphony, I decided I wanted to add more to

the sound. Plus I met Jim Garrison, who's a talented songwriter and has a

great studio, and I'm always interested in working with people that have a

passion for music. He told me that he wrote songs and I said that I like to

listen to music, and everywhere guitarist Bobby Balderama went he was

showing up, so we started recording together.

We released a collectable album in '97 and the Live double album in New

York the following year so every album we put out is independent.

The reason they aren't selling millions is because the record clubs like

Columbia won't list it because they don't feel they'll make enough money.

I say, why worry about the money if you have the product. People relate to

the name and they'll buy it.  I don't care about making money anyway; I get

ripped off every day. But I do want to get in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

because I think we deserve that honor.

Review:  So how has your sound evolved on the new work?

Question Mark: It's still edgy and raw like 96 Tears, only more evolved and

varied.  I've always wanted to work with female singers. On our third album

that we recorded in 1968 with Ray Charles when on Capitol Records, I worked

with The Raylettes, but that was never released due to legal hassles.

I've always been into females.

I gave my  'Power of Attorney' to Lili Gonzales, who passed away a few

years ago. I trusted people and was naïve.  She told me that I should sign

it so nothing bad would happen to me again, but as soon as I did money was

out of the picture.  It's always been about the greediness of everybody

else, but those people are dead now and we're still doing Rock 'n Roll, and

that's the important thing. It's not about the money. Where did it get them?

We did a real mean version of The Midnight Hour on that album. 96 Tears was

committed to a certain 'sound', but on the new album I have horn sections

playing and do a lot of double harmony on the leads with our new singer - a

real talent - Mary McGregor. I have Mary doing 8 tracks.

Review: So how did your new anthem to '9-11' titled 'New York City' come about?

Question Mark: We were recording the album and then 9/11 happened a year

ago and all these lyrics came to me.  I'm into sound and this friend of

mine named Ed Bones came to me and said he had written some great music

that was inspired by the incident.  I told him I had some great lyrics that

just came to me while watching footage of the first plane hitting the Twin

Towers, so I just put the song together.

I told Bobby that I wanted some children on the chorus, so Bobby lined-up

the kids and the whole project came together.  I've got the 'Anthem'

version of New York City recorded, but I also want to do a hip-hop version

and a dance version.

But the work Mary does on the new recordings is truly inspired.

Review:  Mary, can you tell us a bit about your background?

Mary: I've been a singer since I was a small child. I started in church and

was so small I had to stand on the offering table to reach the microphone.

I started playing in clubs when I was 16 and got my first big break with

Danny Dotterey. After that I went to California and hooked up with Steve

Cohen, who sent me to Japan.  I've worked as a singer on cruise ships doing

the "Love Boat' thing, and then worked in a group called Cairo that was put

together by Ike Turner's son.  That was an awesome band, but the problem

was that when people heard Ike's name they thought he was like his father.

Review:  What's it like working with Question Mark?

Mary: I love it. He's a riot! Plus he is very down to earth, even though he

has a big head. He sits down and listens to your ideas. If I do something

and he likes it, he encourages me to do it again, so we work good together.

Question Mark: I want to get Mary going on her own with her own project.

We're all individuals and my goal is to get her started. She has a lot of

talent.

Review:  Do you intend to release 'New York City' and the new album

nationally or regionally?

Question Mark: We have a following so I'll release it here and in New York

on my own. I've never tried anything on MP3 because I still believe in the

music industry, but don't believe in how they handle artists.  I don't like

the Internet because too many people are ripping artists off on it.

This is how I make my living. I'm not gonna be washing dishes, even though

I wash 'em at my house every day!

Question Mark & the 'Expanded' Mysterians will be holding a CD Release

Party at White's Bar on Thursday, November 9th.

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