Marcus is here!
May 16, 2005 3:12 PM   Subscribe

The star who never was. Part rock and roll history and part cautionary tale, the story of Marcus is too compelling to ignore. Well.... maybe not, but it's worth the read.
posted by elwoodwiles (11 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yes, well worth a read. Thank you!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:19 PM on May 16, 2005


Something isn't quite right about this. He's never been heard from again? Weird shit. Looking at some other message boards, people say they remember the posters so I guess it's real but I'm still skeptical.

Great link and great read, btw.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 4:35 PM on May 16, 2005


Thank you e-wiles that is great. I love the part where Marcus was openly mocked by air guitarists onstage in his final gig.

Similar "tease" marketing took place in my dorm in the
cheesy early eighties - the committee in charge of fun
planned a show in the quad featuring a group called "Jett".
for weeks there were hand-lettered signs saying "Jett is coming!" in the elevators, stairwells, etc. It wasn't too hard to figure out that Jett was a band who were to provide a superexciting show at some point.
Jett never came. We later learned that they got a better
offer and blew off the show, keeping the advance money.

Good times.
posted by longsleeves at 4:43 PM on May 16, 2005


He's never been heard from again? Weird shit.

Yeah, that is pretty odd. I took it in a weak sense, as in, he's never been heard of again in the rock scene context. I figure after he "retired" he became Dad's vice-president of the fruit wholesale business.
posted by elwoodwiles at 5:19 PM on May 16, 2005


[this is good]

Man, you Aussies are an odd lot...
posted by mkultra at 6:18 PM on May 16, 2005


Great story - thanks for the link!
posted by Dr. Wu at 6:20 PM on May 16, 2005


Totally interesting. That ad campaign must have been rather surreal.
posted by ddf at 10:41 PM on May 16, 2005


Fantastic! Thanks for the memories!

I had totally forgotten all about Marcus, but I can assure you all that it *was* real. The Lansdowne gig story rings a strong bell, too...mighta known people who had gone to it. The Lansdowne remains a heavily university / young alternative / punky sort of place, and the idea of tricking this guy into playing there and showering him with mock adulation was delightfully devilish, when everybody knew or had guessed by then that he was some kinda daddy's-boy being bankrolled into failed stardom.

There were plenty of smutty jokes going around, too, because we had been told for ages that Marcus was coming, but where on earth was the money shot?
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:13 PM on May 16, 2005


Man, you Aussies are an odd lot...

Throw a poseur on the barbie, mate!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:28 AM on May 17, 2005


Good story.

Would love to hear 'the ballad'. Maybe some mp3 blogger will come up with the goods?
posted by the cuban at 6:56 AM on May 17, 2005


Someone should ask him to come back. People would pay to see him. Where is he?

There's a Marcus Lagudi listed under "Private Donor Gifts over $1000" in the 2001 annual report (pdf) of a children's hospital. If that's him, he gives to the right charities.

I think this must be the family business. Someone could write to them, but I have the feeling they wouldn't want to hear from anyone about this.
posted by pracowity at 11:28 AM on May 17, 2005


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