Mark Eitzel
(born January 30, 1959, Walnut Creek, California) is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.
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MARK EITZEL TICKETS
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History
Eitzel spent most of his formative years in a military family traveling to different areas of the world, including
Ohio and the
United Kingdom. He is
openly gay.
[1]
His first bands were formed while he was in Columbus, Ohio. His first band was a punk band called the Cowboys. They released one
single in 1980. His second band was called the
The Naked Skinnies and they released one single in 1981. He moved to San Francisco with
The Naked Skinnies in 1981 where they disbanded in 1982. Eitzel formed
American Music Club (AMC) in San Francisco in 1982. The band performed and created albums for twelve years, never very stable as a group. At one point, Eitzel also sang with San Francisco's
Toiling Midgets, and often recorded solo work while involved in AMC.
American Music Club disbanded in 1994, and Eitzel focused on his solo career, releasing
60 Watt Silver Lining
in 1996. It was a surprisingly smooth, jazz-pop departure. Following this, he released
West
in 1997 co-writing all of the songs with
R.E.M. guitarist
Peter Buck, with whom he also toured. He followed up with
Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby
, assisted by
Steve Shelley of
Sonic Youth and
Yo La Tengo bassist
James McNew.
Eitzel released more music in 2001, beginning with a more electronic turn in
The Invisible Man
. This was followed by two covers projects in 2002:
Music for Courage and Confidence
, which was material written by other songwriters, and
The Ugly American
, an album which included reinterpretations of
American Music Club songs performed with a band of Greek traditional musicians.
American Music Club reformed in 2003, released two albums and toured both the United States and Europe several times. Eitzel released new solo material in 2005,
Candy Ass
.
Discography
Cowboys
- ''Supermarket / Teenage Life (7") Tet Offensive Records - 1980
The Naked Skinnies
- All My Life / This Is The Beautiful Night
(7") - Naked House Records - 1981
American Music Club
- The Restless Stranger
(LP) - Grifter Records (January 1985)
- Engine
(LP) - Frontier Records (October 1987)
- California
(LP) Frontier Records (October 1988)
- United Kingdom
(LP) - Demon Records (October 1989)
- Everclear
(CD) - Alias Records (October 1991)
- Mercury
(CD) Reprise Records - (March 1993)
- San Francisco
(CD) Reprise Records - (September 1994)
- Love Songs for Patriots
(CD) Devil in the Woods Records - (September 2004)
- The Golden Age
(CD) Merge Records - (February 2008)
Toiling Midgets
- Son
(CD) Matador Records - 1993
Solo
- ''Mean Mark Eitzel Gets Fat (Self-released Cassette) - 1981
- Songs of Love
(CD) - Diablo Records - 1991
- ''60 Watt Silver Lining (CD) - Warner Brothers - 1996
- ''Words and Music (CD) - 1997
- West
(CD) - Warner Brothers - 1997
- Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby
(CD) - Matador Records - 1998
- The Invisible Man
(CD) - Matador Records - 2001
- Music for Courage and Confidence
(CD) - New West Records - 2002
- The Ugly American
(CD) - Thirsty Ear Recordings - 2002
- Candy Ass
(CD) - Cooking Vinyl - 2005
References
- Music Club time at Academy