Tucker, Mark
Band members Related acts
- Mark Tucker (aka T. Storm Hunter) -- vocals, keyboards
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- none known
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Genre: real person / bizarre Rating: 3 stars *** Title: In the Sack Company: Tetrapod Spools Catalog: EDS-64009 Year: 1982 Country/State: Laurel, Maryland Grade (cover/record): VG / VG Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4964 Price: $70.00
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Wow, I'll readily admit to having a soft spot for the bizarre and weird. That said, this early 1980s obscurity is in a category all by itself ...
The late 1960s found Mark Tucker's family living in Oak Park, Illinois. I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to believe it or not, but Tucker's musical career supposedly began in 1968 when he lifted $10 from his father's wallet and used it to cut a direct-to-acetate set of piano solos at a neighborhood studio. With buddy Louie Easley Hanley he founded the Tetrapod Spools label, the pair originally focused their attention on obscure/experimental releases; issuing them on reel-to-reel and cassette format. Among those releases was Tucker's own bizarre 1975 debut "Batstew".
Apparently the man's second release, 1982's "In the Sack" was recorded after he'd suffered at least a couple of mental breakdowns, pulled himself back together and relocated to Encinitas, California (where he apparently still lives). Self-produced under the pseudonym 'T. Storm Hunter (in the mid-1990s he adopted that as his legal name), it's largely a one man show with Tucker/Hunter responsible for penning all eleven tracks, as well as handling all of the vocals and most of the instrumentation. With that background you probably won't be shocked to learn that musically this is one mixed up and messed up album. Supposedly a concept piece having to do with karma and the postal system (I have no idea what the plotline is), the album offered up an indescribable mix of spoken word segments, experimentation, instrumentals, and surprisingly commercial numbers. Finding a comparative baseline for this one is pretty touch - perhaps Jonathon Richmond had you put him on mood altering drugs for a year. 'Everywhere with Sally (Ride)' was a great slice of pop, except for the fact it was recorded backwards. Cool, but typically strange. The snippet 'Down the Pipeline' sounded like it was lifted from a video game. A mix of avant garde, tape manipulations and experimental ramblings, 'The Importance of Making Molehills One of Specks' could have been mistaken for a slice of musique concrete. Elsewhere the pretty, pseudo-jazzy instrumentals 'Shelly' and 'Can't Make Love' sound like they were lifted from a Peanuts cartoon. Clearly not for everyone, but there are enough of you out there who are either brave enough, or sufficiently damaged to give this one a shot ...
"In the
Sack" track listing: 1.) Sandbox-Upon-Storm (Mark Tucker) - 7:00 2.) Shelly (instrumental) (Mark Tucker) - 6:46 3.) Everywhere with Sally (Ride) (Mark Tucker) - 4:56 4.) Down the Pipeline (instrumental) (Mark Tucker) - 0:18 5.) The Importance of Making Molehills One of Specks (instrumental) (Mark Tucker) - 1:36 6.) Halfsearch (instrumental) (Mark Tucker) - 2:18
(side
2) 2.) Can't Make Love (instrumental) (Mark Tucker) - 6:31 3.) The Sale Is Made (Mark Tucker) - 0:26 4.) Attractive (Mark Tucker) - 8:16 5.) Sultry Summer Siren/More Than Just Friends (Mark Tucker) - 7:29
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