From an early age it was the voice of Elvis who Mark use to listen too and Franki Vaughan,two singers whos songs Mark would eventualy end up singing himself.As Mark embarked on his new found talent it was Bobby Darin who became his idol.He was a fantastic singer with an amazing talent,so adaptable and brilliant to listen too...
Mark Hodgson was born on the 8th January 1969 and was brought up by his mother Christine Carter in the small historic market town called Barnard Castle in County Durham.
Most of Marks life had been spent being involved in football,through coaching,playing as goalkeeper and forming a number of his own teams.
Mark retired playing football at the age of 33 and has never looked back.
All his life Mark has loved music and dancing and apart from the odd messing about in the house Mark had never taken singing seriously.
Mark had sang karaoke here and their when on a night out but never thought anything of his voice,it was just a bit of fun to him.
In August 2003 on a night out with a friend he was encouraged to enter a karaoke competition.
mark was told he had a very good voice but he just laughed it off because to him,his voice was just his voice.
After entering another karaoke competition he was approached by an agent as he thought Mark had a very good voice and wanted to take him on.
To cut a long story short he basicaly messed Mark about and was a bit of a time waster and later Mark found out he had gone bankrupt.
Mark was very let down but it set his mind thinking.
Someone mentioned a local organisation called Teesdale Community Resources (T.C.R) and said they had a recording studio.
Mark made enquiries and thought he would record a couple of songs for one of his close friends.
While he was singing in the studio a man called Keith Jones (Joe) nodded his head to acknowledge his singing and later asked Mark to get involved with T.C.R as they were putting on a charity show in May 2005, which involved a number of local singers.
Mark was more than happy and on the night sang three songs which the audience loved.
Joe advised him to send a demo cd to the north easts biggest singing agency as he thought he had talent.
Mark recorded 3 songs and sent them away with fingers crossed.
He heard nothing and basicaly thought to himself that if he was that good then they would have been in contact.
At the time Mark was very unhappy in his job as a warehouseman lifting heavy furniture for the last 13 years and desperately needed to get out of their.
Mark had always had a burning feeling inside since leaving school that he was better than just a general dogs body working for other people, but just didnt know what it was that was burning away inside him to break him free.
In the summer of 2006 Mark applied for a salesmans job at a well known mobile phone company and was successfull in his application.
In September 2006 he had to go to London on a training course and the day before he was due to travel he recieved a phonecall out of the blue.
It was the singing agency,almost a year to date,they were very apologetic for not getting back to Mark and said they were just so inundated with work and had been making a lot of changes to their offices that Marks demo cd had been mislaid,thats why it had taken them so long.
They invited Mark for an audition at Town End Farm Working Mens Club in Sunderland where their would be other acts auditioning too.He was over the moon as this was his big chance to do something with his life.
In one sense he was also disappointed because a whole year had passed him by and because he had not heard a thing from them he had basicaly given up any hope and just went about everyday life as normal and just did the odd karaoke here and their.
It was panic stations now and realised he had to learn and practice a whole load of songs... He bought his first set of equipment to gig with from an x professional singer and for the next 6 months all his dance cds were put to one side and he concentrated very very hard on learning the songs he loved and songs that his audience would love too.
Mark went to the audition night and the audience were very rowdy and he was about the 6th act on.
There were some good singers but when they sang there was a lot of talking amongst the audience.
Next it was Marks turn and he had chosen 5 songs.
To say he was nervous was an understatement.
This was it and he knew it was make or break time.
He opened with a very powerfull song called Tower Of Strength by Franki Vaughan and it silenced the audience.
They just seemed to stop talking and were focused on his voice.
He sang a few other sixties songs and finished with Cant Help Falling In Love by Elvis.
The reception and applause he got were amazing and he got such a buzz out of it.
In between songs he also played the audience and had banter with them, it all just came so natural to him.
The agency were impressed and told him to get a nice suit and nice shirts.
They compared Mark to their highest paid artiste who had been on their books for years and that in itself was an honour.
Mark had done it and he was so proud of hiself and those around him who had given him the confidence to do it,especialy his friend Anne,his mother and of course Joe.
His new sales job had also helped with his confidence, he was working 9 til 6,straight home,equipment in the car and down the club most nights practicing til 11 pm and not getting his tea til almost midnight.
He knew it was something he had to do to build up his repertoire.
He wanted his show to be a mixture of the old 60s tracks with a bit of swing,country and a few up to date ballads.
He has always said the 60s was the best era for music and no matter what generation you sing to, they all love that style of music, because its passed on from generation to generation.
Although the opportunity was there with the agency Mark decided to gig on his own as the agent wanted him to be in venues at times he just could not make due to having his day job.
The desire inside burned away at Mark and eventually he was told about another agent.He explained his situation with work and he was brilliant with Mark.
Since June 2007 he have been with Dave Carr Management Agency and in November 2007 went full time professional having packed in his day job.
The biggest thing for Mark is watching others have a good night out and enjoying what he does.
He continues to learn more and more songs and recorded his first album called "Now Aint That A Kick".it sold out in a few months and he was amazed it sold so quick.
Mark is now working on a new album called "It's My Turn" which is in the process of being finalised and should be available early 2009.
With each gig he is just loving it more and more and getting stronger and better.
He only wished he had been spotted when he was younger.
He has gone from being just someone who had wondered through life to someone who has belief in what he does and has a whole new career ahead.
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Hi ya, luuuv - How are you, The Official Mark Hodgson Myspace? x
My new book is now avaliable on my myspace at a very special price exclusively to my myspace friends until my book launch on the 21st Nov when you will be able to buy it at Watersones, Amazon, Tesco & Borders + many more... I'm more than happy to personally sign your copy of my book called 'Living with BDD' You can purchase it via paypal on myspace...
Hey whats up I hope everythings going good... Our New York show is almost here. Im kinda scared of the plane ride, so wish me luck... Thanks xoxo K62Bitch
Many many thanks to everyone who has shown me their support. It has been the most amazing year of my whole life and the comments and thanks have been second to none.Please continue to show your support as it is always welcome. Thanks again,Mark
Over this weekend I have spent my nights along side Mark Hodgson, both showing my support and help and also performing alongside him. I have really enjoyed the whole weekend, Friday night was an average night in my opinion, it started with hardly anyone in but ti picked up as the night went on. Mark put on a very powerful performance and the place was full of dancers. INFACT, mark was singing in the corner because the dancers had taken over his performance area! Last night (Saturday) was excellent. The audience changed through out the night but it was a great night. People were dancing on chairs, waving there arms etc. Again, another great performance from Mark. Thank you mark for a great weekend, when mark is in town, the place is rockin!
I'll have to come through with you again bud. Anything you want a hand with etc just give me a call. Hope the new CD is going well and will keep in touch with you!
Thanks for the request. Welcome to the Doo Wop Stop. Stop by anytime. Please check out our artist of the week and trivia question of the day. Have a great week. Katie and Gary
