Louisa Mark

Louisa Mark (born January 11, 1960 in London , † October 17, 2009 in Gambia ) was a British singer . She became known in London from the mid-1970s and, despite her not particularly extensive work, is considered a pioneer and one of the most important singers of the rock lover .

Life

Louisa Mark was born the second daughter of an immigrant family from Grenada who settled in Ladbroke Grove, in west London. Her father worked in construction, her mother worked as a factory worker and later as an elderly care assistant. Mark was still in secondary school when she took her first steps in the music scene. In 1973 she was a guest singer with Dennis Bovell's sound system Jah Sufferer , then at the Metro Club in Westbourne Park. The young singer impressed the audience with a surprisingly strong and distinctive singing voice for her age. In 1974, Lloyd Coxsone , who was also a sound system operator and music producer, invited Mark to appear in Star Search , a weekly talent contest held at the Four Aces Club in Dalston. She won first place there ten weeks in a row.

In November 1974, Coxsone brought Mark to Gooseberry Studios to record a reggae adaptation of Robert Parker's R&B song Caught You in a Lie with her and Bovell's band Matumbi . The song was immediately well received, the single sold 10,000 times in the first 14 days. The piece sung by the then 15-year-old Mark is usually regarded as the first song by the rock lover.

Shortly thereafter, a reggae version of the Beatles song All My Loving followed , then Mark split up with producer Coxsone in an argument. In the following year and a half she did not produce any records, but first graduated from school.

In 1977 Mark joined Trojan Records , where he worked with producer Clement Bushay and songwriter and arranger Joseph Charles . This collaboration resulted in Keep It Like It Is . Mark then left Trojan again because she was unsatisfied with the marketing of the single through the label, and subsequently worked with the newly founded Bushay label. The reggae cover version of Michael Jackson's Even Though You're Gone and Six Sixth Street , a song written by Charles, were hits and made 1978 a very successful year for Marks. In the same year she was named Artist of the Year at the British Reggae Awards . Another single came out in 1979 with People in Love , then Mark retired from the music business for some time.

It wasn't until the early 1980s that she started working again with Bushay and Charles. In 1981, Breakout Mark's first album came out, which included some of their already successful songs as well as new ones. However, she was disappointed with the design and found it was published too early and unfinished. Since then, she has always remained vigilant towards the music industry and only sporadically recorded new songs, none of which could match her great successes.

In the mid-2000s, Mark moved to Gambia, where she devoted herself to charitable projects. She died there on October 17, 2009.

Discography (selection)

Albums:

• Breakout (1981)

Singles:

• Caught You in a Lie (1975)
• Keep It Like It Is (1977)
• Even Though You're Gone (1978)
• Six Sixth Street (1978)

Web links

• Louisa Mark obituary - Obituary by David Katz, The Guardian, November 5, 2009
• Trojan Records on the death of Louisa Mark