David Marks & The Marksmen

April 12, 1946 – July 29, 1988

View Mark’s Art gallery here

Born Eugene Marcus Groseclose, we knew him as “Mark.” Painter, designer, print- maker, silk-screener, free-lancer, musician, songwriter and poet, Mark was a man with many talents.

Mark lived his childhood in Hawthorne, CA and attended Eucalyptus Elementary and Hawthorne Intermediate schools. In 1964, he graduated from Hawthorne High where he was voted by his classmates as “Most Talented.”

From a very young age, according to our mother, Mark liked to pull out pots and pans from the kitchen cupboards and bang on them with wooden spoons. He eventually moved on to leather stools in our living room so it was not surprise when Mark began to play the drums in a series of local bands.

As a teen, Mark earned a reputation around the South Bay for his innovative approach to percussion. He would cut and pound out big oil drum can ends, turning them into steel drums. He did this with a process of a hammer and a blunt type metal object to get just the right sound. When it was right, he would add liquid solder into the grooves that he pounded out, filled in the solder lines with silver paint, painted the drums, and played them. Originally developed in Trinidad, our family thought Mark might have been the first one in the US to use this technique. One drummer who banged on a Groseclose Steel Drum was Future Beach Boy, Dennis Wilson.

Dennis wasn’t the only Wilson brother who believed in Mark’s talent. Classmate Carl Wilson was a close friend and often joined Mark in his garage. Among the other neighborhood kids to exploit the surf-music craze in the Groseclose garage was another Beach Boy, David Marks. In early 1963 the Beach Boys were riding high until Dennis was injured and unable to play the drums. Mark Groseclose was brought in to save the day and played several shows with the band before Dennis returned.

During his time in the Beach Boys, Mark drew the attention of Brian Wilson, who hired Mark to play drums on a series of side projects he was producing while the Beach Boys were on tour. Mark played session for both the Survivors and the Honeys, which included sister’s Diane and Marilyn Rovell (the future Mrs. Wilson) and their cousin Ginger Blake.

When not busy with the Beach Boys, Mark formed his own band, the Jaguars, which was named after the Fender guitars they played. The Jaguars played local dances, but mostly stuck to the garage until David Marks left the Beach Boys and adopted the Jaguars as his band. Renamed The Marksmen, the Jaguars of late 1963 consisted of Mark on drums, Bill Trenkle on bass and Ed Gauntt and Gene Fetco on guitars.

David brought the band into American Recorders in Hollywood where they recorded a demo with famed producer Richie Podolor that grabbed the attention of independent promoter, Russ Regan, who had actually named ‘The Beach Boys.’ Regan shopped the band and they were quickly signed to the newly formed A&M Records by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. The following year, Dave and the Marksmen would record on the Warner Brothers label. (For the Full Marksmen story, check out The Lost Beach Boy)

Mark and David quickly developed a life-long friendship that was demonstrated in the music they wrote together. From the quirky and fun Food Fair to the melancholy, That’s Why, the songwriting team of Marks and Groseclose produced an incredible catalog for a pair barely old enough to drive. Ramona King recorded a song written by Mark and David, titled “Blue Roses” which was the ‘B’ side of her hit “You Say Pretty Words.”

The personnel of the Marksmen changed, and eventually broke up, but Mark and David stayed together. Next they teamed up with Eddie Haddad and joined Casey Kasem’s Band Without a Name, where the acted a back up band for the hit acts of the day.

Realizing music wasn’t paying the bills, Mark went off in the direction of art where he had a very successful career, working for several art production companies in Southern California. For a time he worked for t-shirt companies as a silk-screen designer, designing many of the popular designs seen on t-shirts in the 1980’s. He was an accomplished commercial artist whose traditional painting you’ve most likely seen in hotels and offices. Mark’s abstract paintings appeared in numerous design and decorating magazines as they were displayed in featured room designs. From 1968-1975 he entered designs and oil paintings in the annual Catalina Art Festival and won several 1^st, 2^nd and honorable mention awards.

While impressive as that is, Mark’s greatest accomplishments were in the field of animation. He worked as a production designer for The Wallace Berry Company (applause), home of the SMURFS, where his work included preliminary sketches through final art and children’s items such as plush toys, Smurf figurines and play sets.

Mark Groseclose’s last art adventure was working for Filmation, a Disney affiliate, as a background painter on the cartoon series Bravestar where he copied from key scenes and painted long pans and still backgrounds which the animated characters and special effects animation worked over.

Mark’s other passions included philosophy, writing poetry, cooking, film and photography, but most of all he loved making people laugh. One of his biggest hobbies was collecting sci-fi memorabilia and attending annual sci-fi conventions to collect autographed pictures of movie stars. He developed a very warm and close friendship with Ann Robinson from the original “War of the Worlds”. In 1981 Mark made his onscreen debut as sewer dweller in the movie “Escape from New York”. He also became a “Clear” as a member of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, California.

For me, his adoring sister, he was my best friend. He meant more than the world to me. He was always there for me. When I asked him deep questions about life’s issues he gave me very detailed answers with great love and attention. He protected me with his life. Mark was one of those one-of-a-kind people- genuine, sensitive, kind-hearted, sincere, honest and very real person who you rarely see in life. He raised me and taught me all of the most valuable things I that I needed to know to get through life. Forever in my heart. He called me a survivor but it was he who taught me how to survive. He told me that whatever I did in life, to always be honest and do my best, no matter what. He carried a card in his wallet that I carry with me to this day. It reads, “I shall find a path, or make one”. It is how he lived his life, and has great impact on mine today.

I dedicate Mark’s bio to David Marks, his best friend and life-brother. They had a very rare friendship that no matter where they were, or where they had been, they would always be able to take up where they had left off and start to share life again.

Without David, Mark’s life would not have been as fulfilled as it was. These two were truly, two peas in a pod.

- Kathy Groseclose Michael