Marcus - Marcus (1976)

Marcus - Marcus ( 1976 )
Genre: Hard-Rock | EAC-CUE-FLAC+LOG + Covers ( 300 Mb's )

An interesting outfit, if not for the sheer talent on display, and for the fact this album missed its intended audience much like Bill Gates appearing at a Linux Users Convention!! Marcus Malone, a black performer in the rock industry, was in the same category as Mothers Finest. Originally from Detroit, Marcus found a home in L.A, and went on to carve a niche for himself in the hard rock scene, rather than the perceived genres of disco, funk, and soul, a la Rick James. By the time his album came out, it was already being pigeon-holed in the R&B sections, but the fact that Marcus had three guitarists playing with him, plus esteemed bassist Tim Bogert onside, it seemed not to make a difference to the general ignorant populace. The album cover probably didn't help much either, as it appeared to be a Rick James cast-off. The music however is a different kettle of fish. It has been described as one of the most obscure, yet incredible hard rock releases of 1976, and yet, only the hardened trainspotters have any idea as to its existence. Yesteryear rags such as Sounds and Kerrang (when it was worth reading.. lol) rated the Marcus album as an out and out 70's hard rock classic, and I ain't gonna complain when it's coming from highly paid scribes such as those guys.

The Songs
The album takes a dig at Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and the bluesy 70's raunch of Aerosmith. Having three guitarists onboard certainly adds weight to precedings, while the Prince like vocal delivery of Malone takes his version of hard rock in a different direction to most. You certainly can't complain when you hear wonders such as 'Pillow Stars', an absolute rebel rouser (already a guaranteed 5K klassik from the pens of Kerrang), the Queen or Touch like spiralling of 'Dream Wheel', or the 6 minute undulation of 'Salmon Ball'. The latter track is stylistically similar to the band Ozz, featuring black guitarist Greg Parker, who appeared a few years later on Epic Records with their great LP 'No Prisoners'. One of the tracks ('Black Magic') ended up on the Striktly For Konnoisseurs Double LP in 1984 by the Music For Nations label, though by this time, it was more of a memoriam, as the band hadn't been together for many years. Life after this album proved lucarative for some of the band members. Gene Bloch went on to a career playing in Holly Knight's band Device under the name Gene Black, plus he was one half of the hi-tech duo Scarlett And Black. Dandy Holmes later became a member of Paul Sabu's band.

In Summary
Marcus himself is still out there, though now ploughing the blues circuit, both in Europe and in North America. I am sure he is highly amused by all the myth, mystique and dirth regarding that one-off album from 1976. To see what Marcus is up to now, check his website www.marcusmalone.com
A must have album for all 70's hard rock fans. Good news, the album was released on CD in 2001 by Zoom Club Records, so should be relatively easy to track down now. Go to it.