S1. EPISODE 4: Mark Nevin was born in Ebbw Vale in South Wales - number 6 of 8 children.
Upon seeing David Bowie perform ‘Starman’ on ITV children’s pop show ‘Lift Off With Aisha’ in 1972 he realised that it was his destiny to be a songwriter. He saved the £5 required to buy a friend’s brother’s unwanted guitar and set about learning his craft. He was 13 years old.
He left school at 15 and worked at a guitar shop until he was 18, when he left home(which by then was a village called Oldland Common near Bristol) and headed for London. His plans for songwriting glory were interrupted when he joined the religious cult - The Moonies (aka The Unification Church).
After escaping the clutches of The Moonies he continued on his path, playing in various bands, including Sandie Shaw’s backing band, until aged 28 when he formed Fairground Attraction with Scottish singer Eddi Reader and released his song ‘Perfect’, which went to the top of the UK charts be a hit in countries all over the world. It won the Brit Award for best single, while the album from which it was taken, ‘First Of A Million Kisses’ won Best Album of the same year (1988) - Fairground Attraction were the first band to win the coveted best single and best album awards at The Brits in the same year and have only since been equalled by Blur, Coldplay and Adele.
The band imploded shortly afterwards and Mark went on to co-write with Morrissey and Kirsty MacColl, scoring 4 top 40 hits with Morrissey. The Morrissey/Nevin song ‘I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday’ was also covered by his original inspiration David Bowie on the number one album ‘Black Tie White Noise’ produced by Nile Rogers.
Over the years Mark’s songs have been recorded by various artists including Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Mica Paris, Garry Tallant of the E Street Band among many others.
In 1999 he began recording as a solo artist and has since made 6 critically acclaimed albums:-
‘Insensitive Songwriter’
‘The Mighty Dove’
’Stand Beside Me In The Sun’
‘Beautiful Guitars’
‘My Unfashionable Opinion’
’Strike Up The Sally Ann’
He continues to write and record his solo material as well as collaborating with other artists and hosting a weekly radio show for Boogaloo Radio called ‘The Dad Pill’.
THE DAD PILL: https://boogalooradio.com/shows/marknevin/
Website: www.marknevin.com
