Question Mark & the Mysterians

? and the Mysterians
Origin	Bay City, Michigan, United States
Genres	Rock and roll Garage rock Proto punk
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Cameo-Parkway Records
Associated acts	Grand Funk Railroad
Website	96tears.net
Members
? (most probably Rudy Martinez) Frank Rodriguez Bobby Balderrama Robert Martinez Frank Lugo
Past members
Larry Borjas Mel Schacher Richard Schultz Eddie Serrato (drums, 1965 - 1970) Timothy Reed

Question Mark and the Mysterians (rendered ? and the Mysterians on the record label) are an American rock and roll band formed in Bay City, Michigan, in 1962.

The group is best known for its song "96 Tears", a garage rock classic recorded in 1966 that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and would sell over one million copies and receive a BMI award for over three million airplays. Question Mark and the Mysterians was perhaps the first band to be described as punk rock, and also may be the first Latino rock group to have a mainstream hit record in the United States. The group named itself after the 1957 Japanese science fiction film The Mysterians, in which aliens from the destroyed planet Mysteroid arrive to conquer Earth.

The band's frontman and primary songwriter was ?. Library of Congress copyright registrations indicate that his birth name is Rudy Martinez.

History

Lineups

In 1962, the band Mysterians formed with an original lineup of Larry Borjas on bass guitar, Borjas's cousin Robert Balderrama on guitar, and Robert Martinez on guitars and bongos. Shortly after their forming, Martinez switched to drums. The Mysterians played instrumental music inspired by surf music groups and artists like Link Wray. Rudy Martinez, Robert's brother, joined the band shortly thereafter as Question Mark, the lead singer. The band was now called Question Mark and the Mysterians. These Mexican-American musicians came from the Saginaw, Michigan except for Rudy Martinez, who was from Flint, Michigan.

Just before the band was scheduled to start recording, Robert Martinez was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces and Borjas decided to enlist with him. The band then recruited Eddie Serrato to replace Martinez on drums and Frank Lugo to replace Borjas on bass guitar and Balderrama switched from bass guitar to guitar. The band also added fourteen-year-old Frank Rodriguez on keyboards, forming the classic "96 Tears"' lineup.

"96 Tears"

Rudy Martinez wrote the band's first and biggest hit, "96 Tears", with essential riffs and styling contributed by the other band members. The song began as a poem called Too Many Teardrops, written four years before the band was formed. The song was notable for its plaintive chorus and Rodriguez's catchy Vox organ riff. "96 Tears" was recorded on March 13, 1966 on a house porch in Bay City, Michigan. The band had originally decided to use the song "Midnight Hour" as the single A-side with "96 Tears" as the B-side. However, at the insistence of Rudy Martinez, "96 Tears" became the A-side.

"96 Tears" was released as a single by Pa-Go-Go Records, owned by the group's manager, Lillian Gonzales. Rudy Martinez visited numerous local radio stations to promote the single, and the song quickly became a regional hit in the Flint and Detroit areas. When Cameo-Parkway Records released "96 Tears" nationally, it became a number one hit single. "96 Tears" sold over one million copies and received a gold disc. Over the ensuing decades, "96 Tears" became part of the standard classic rock repertoire, and was recorded in dozens of different versions.

More charters

The next two singles for Question Mark and the Mysterians, "I Need Somebody" and "Can't Get Enough of You Baby," also charted, but were nowhere near as successful as "96 Tears". In 1998, the cover version of "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" by Smash Mouth would eventually reach number 14 on the US record charts.

Question Mark and the Mysterians second album, Action, featured the band at the peak of its musicianship, but the album was not a commercial success. The band then briefly recorded with Capitol Records, Tangerine Records and Super K. The band lineup changed as the original members left for other projects. Mel Schacher, future bass player for Grand Funk Railroad, briefly became the bass guitarist.

In 1969, bassist Richard Schultz replaced Schacher and co-wrote numerous songs with Rudy Martinez; one song was "She Goes to Church on Sunday," which is owned by musician Paul McCartney's publishing company.

New lineup

In the early 1970s, Question Mark and the Mysterians reformed with a different lineup consisting of two guitars and no keyboards. The band attracted the attention of rock critic Dave Marsh, who coined the term "punk rock" in a 1971 Creem Magazine article about Rudy Martinez.

In 1984, the original lineup of Question Mark and the Mysterians held a reunion concert in Dallas, Texas. Robert Martinez had replaced Eddie Serrato on drums after Serrato became ill with muscular dystrophy. The Dallas concert did not lead to a full revival for the band, but the concert was recorded and released by the New York record label ROIR, 96 Tears Forever: The Dallas Re-Union Tapes.

In 1992, Rudy Martinez collaborated with rap artist Saltine aka The Mad Rapper on a hip hop remake of "96 Tears". The single was released on Pandisc Records following a huge industry buzz on radio. Billboard Magazine gave the single a thumbs up.

In 1997, Question Mark and the Mysterians reformed again. They collaborated with New York promoter Jon Weiss, who made the band headliners at his CaveStomp garage rock festivals. The festivals featured many revived 60's garage and psychedelic acts. The newly revitalized band quickly established themselves as one of Weiss' strongest acts and toured a number of mid-sized concert venues.

In 1998 and 1999, Question Mark and the Mysterians played sporadically and made two tours to Europe. In November 1998, on their first European tour, the band impressed a capacity crowd at the "Wild Weekend" garage rock weekend in London. In Summer 1999, on their second tour, the band played at the London Royal Festival Hall as part of the 1999 Meltdown music festival.^{[citation needed]}

Re-release of 96 Tears

During the 1990's, Question Mark and the Mysterians wanted to re-release their now out-of-print albums 96 Tears and Action , but unable to because the song rights now belonged to record executive Allen Klein. In 1997, the band re-recorded their original 1966 album and released it on the Collectables Records label.

In 1998, Question Mark and the Mysterians released a new live album, Do You Feel It Baby?, on Norton Records and achieved moderate sales. In 1999, the band released a new studio album, More Action, produced and recorded by Jon Weiss in New York City^{[citation needed]} with the album design by Michael Calleia at Industrial Strength Design. Coinciding with the album release, Rudy Martinez dissolved his business relationship with Weiss, allegedly due to dissatisfaction with the record and other business issues. At this point, Question Mark and the Mysterians went on hiatus from performing.^{[citation needed]}

Collaborations

In 2000, Rudy Martinez began a collaboration with New York guitarist and rock promoter Gary Fury. This collaboration led to a series of live concerts featuring Martinez with a backing band led by Fury, featuring musicians from other garage bands in the New York area. The first backing band lineup included Jim "Royalle" Baglino of The Casino Royales and later Monster Magnet on bass, Sam Steinig of the Philadelphia band Mondo Topless on keyboards and original Mysterians drummer Robert Martinez. The new group billed itself as Question Mark and the Mysterymen and played the Limelight in New York and Washington DC's Black Cat nightclub.

In 2002, Rudy Martinez returned to New York to headline a two-night garage bank festival at the CBGB club. The band lineup featured Rudy Martinez, Fury, Robert Martinez, Keith Hartel on bass and former Pat Benatar band keyboardist Charlie Giordano. This new band was billed as Question Mark and The New Mysterians. The new band created a multi-track recording in CBGB's studio, which is still unreleased.

On January 10, 2007, a fire destroyed Rudy Martinez's house on his farm in Clio, Michigan, destroying all of his memorabilia and killing the Yorkshire Terrier dogs that he bred as his business. [1]. To help Martinez, his friends held several benefit shows for him, with Martinez performing at some of these events.

In May 2007, Rudy Martinez and Gary Fury revived their musical collaboration for a benefit show at New York's Highline Ballroom. The backup group, known as The Playthings, featured Fury on guitar, Jim Baglino on bass, Jimi Black of Cheetah Chrome and Sylvain Sylvain on drums, and Brian Leonard on keyboards. The concert encore featured CBS Orchestra leader Paul Shaffer on keyboards and Robert Martinez on drums. Many well-known rock musicians came to the concert to pay tribute to Rudy Martinez, including Tommy Ramone of The Ramones, Joe Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult, John Hawken of Strawbs, and Gary Lucas of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.^{[citation needed]}

Guitarist Dennis Dean Lack joined the band in 1985 and was Martinez's main guitarist and music director, and still collaborates on new songs with Martinez into 2010. Lack has been active in the band for over 13 years; he now resides in Northern Michigan, currently working on a solo album due to be released sometime in 2011

The originals

In between these shows, Rudy Martinez was still occasionally active with the original Mysterians. In 2001, Martinez and the original Mysterians returned to New York City to play guitarist Steven Van Zandt's Underground Garage live event, selling out the Village Underground venue. In 2003, the band played the final Cavestomp show, co-headlining with The Vagrants in the Polish National Home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Question Mark And The Mysterians were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Online Hall of Fame. In 2007, their biggest hit, "96 Tears", was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.

Current

The Mysterians, without Rudy Martinez, still play shows in Michigan and around the country. A documentary film about the band is slowly being assembled by longtime friend and photographer Terry Murphy, who runs the official Question Markand the Mysterians website. The working title for Murphy's film is Are You For Real?.

On February 24, 2011, former Mysterians drummer Eddie Serrato (born Eduardo Serrato, December 5, 1945) died from a heart attack at age 65.

Discography

Singles

Pa Go Go Records

• 96 Tears / Midnight Hour (1966, Pa - Go - Go 102)

Cameo-Parkway Records

• 96 Tears / Midnight Hour (1966, C428A/B) - #1 on US Billboard Pop chart, #37 in UK
• I Need Somebody / '8' Teen (1966, C441A/B) - #22 on US Billboard Pop chart
• Can't Get Enough Of You Baby / Smokes (1967, C467A/B) - #56 on US Billboard Pop chart
• Beachcomber / Set Aside (1967, C468A/B) - released as 'The Semi-Colons'
• Girl (You Captivate Me) / Got To (1967, C479A/B) - #98 on US Billboard Pop chart
• Do Something To Me / Love Me Baby (Cherry July) (1967, C496A/B) - #110 on US Billboard Pop chart

Capitol Records

• Make You Mine / Love You Baby (Like Nobody's Business) (1968)

Tangerine Records

• Ain't It A Shame / Turn Around Baby (Don't Ever Look Back) (1969)

Super K

• Sha-la-la / Hang In (1969)

Chicory Records

• Talk Is Cheap / She Goes To Church On Sunday (1972)

Luv Records

• Hot 'N Groovin' / Funky Lady (1973)

Are You For Real?

• Let's Go Crazy / Loose (2007, RYFR?96A/B) - Question Mark solo 7" vinyl single, limited to 550 copies. Sold via the official web site

Magic Records

• 96 Tears E.P. (2008) - Four track CD E.P. - '96 Tears', 'Midnight Hour', 'I Need Somebody' and '"8" Teen'

Original albums

• 96 Tears (1966, Cameo Parkway, SC2004) (#66 on US Billboard Pop chart)
• Action (1967, Cameo Parkway, SC2006)

Reissues

• 96 Tears Forever - The Dallas Reunion Tapes '84 (1995, ROIR) - Live album, recorded in 1984
• ? & The Mysterians (1997, Collectables, COL-CD-2004) - New versions, recorded July 1997 at Bull Frog Recording Studios, Bay City, MI
• Do You Feel It Baby? (1998, Norton Records, CED-262) - Live album, recorded at 'Cavestomp '97', Coney Island High, NYC in 1997 and January 1998
• More Action (1999, Cavestomp! Records, CS! 5002-2) - Enhanced 2CD set of new tracks and versions, recorded at Krisy-Kreme Recording, NYC, in 1999
• Feel It! The Very Best Of ? & The Mysterians (2001, Verese Sarabande, 302 066 263 2) - Enhanced single CD reissue of selected 'More Action' tracks, together with two additional songs
• The Best Of ? And The Mysterians - Cameo Parkway 1966-1967 (2005, Cameo-Parkway/ABKCO, 001877192322) - The original 1966-1967 recordings made for the Cameo Parkway label, including two unreleased demos

Bootleg information

Bootleg CD copies (mainly of European origin) of both the original Cameo-Parkway albums, '96 Tears' and 'Action', were made. Also available in 1995 was '30 Original Recordings' which contained the Cameo-Parkway recordings together with the later singles on Capitol, Tangerine and Super K. All are sourced from original vinyl copies and suffer poor sound quality as a result. These later singles have yet to have an official CD release.

External links

• Official site
• Official site at My Space
• ? (Question Mark) & The Mysterians: MYSTICISM (in Spanish & English, 2005 ABKCO CD details, Fun Sons, Semi Colons, Mad Rapper)
• Biography & discography (in French)
• Discography at Soulful Kinda Music
• Biography at Classic Bands
• Biography at Norton Records