The Mark & Clark Band -

The Mark & Clark Band were an American piano-rock duo comprised of twin brothers Mark and Clark Seymour. The pair issued the album Double Take on CBS in 1977, scoring a major hit in the Netherlands with “Worn Down Piano (Part 1) / Worn Down Piano (Part 2).” The brothers concurrently led the band Carnegie, recordings of which surfaced on Shroom Productions in 2001.

Members: Clark Seymour (piano, vocals), Mark Seymour (piano, vocals)

Background

Mark and Clark Seymour were born on July 31, 1947, in Columbus, Ohio, to William Seymour and Julia Barkey Seymour. The twin brothers began piano study at age four. Their parents bought a second piano when the brothers were sixteen, and Mark and Clark built a two-piano act around that setup. The brothers studied performing arts at Ohio State University.

Mark and Clark worked through college at the Jai Lai, a Columbus club where the act held a yearlong engagement. The brothers next played a Canton club, where Ed Pucci saw the act and sent them to Joey Bishop in California. Bishop booked Mark and Clark for The Joey Bishop Show. The brothers later appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Joe Franklin Show.

From the Inside Out

Mark & Clark released their debut album, From the Inside Out, in 1968 on Twin Co. Records.

The album presents two-piano readings of screen themes and late-sixties pop songs by the Seymour twins. Mark & Clark wrote “Distant Eyes” and otherwise drew the program from eleven outside titles by writers associated with film, stage, and pop repertory.

A1. “Love Is Blue” (2:14) – Popp, Cour
A2. “Look of Love” (3:00) – Bacharach, David
A3. “The Joker” (2:18) – Newley, Bricusse
A4. “Theme from ‘Valley of the Dolls’” (3:25) – Previn, Previn
A5. “Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious” (1:30) – Sherman, Sherman
A6. “Distant Eyes” (3:35) – Seymour, Seymour

B1. “I Say a Little Prayer” (3:00) – Bacharach, David
B2. “Gold Finger” (2:17) – Barry
B3. “Free Again” (4:05) – Canfora, Baselli, Jourdan, Colby
B4. “Goin’ Out of My Head” (3:40) – Weinstein, Randazzo
B5. “Tara’s Theme” (4:10) – Steiner
B6. “Something in Your Smile” (4:00) – Bricusse

Mark & Clark Seymour produced the album with production assistance credited to General Holding Corp. The credits list John Hall for audio and Gene Kerrigan for jacket work. Rite Records Productions in Cincinnati pressed the LP under side numbers 22195 and 22196.

From The Inside Out appeared in a Gene Kerrigan jacket whose front image shows Mark and Clark Seymour in red suits amid two open grand pianos.

Interim Activity, 1969–76

After From The Inside Out, Mark and Clark Seymour continued as a two-piano club act and moved from Ohio bookings into national television. Joey Bishop booked the twins for The Joey Bishop Show, and the act later appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Joe Franklin Show, and network television specials.

Mark and Clark made their first Las Vegas appearance at the Frontier in the Circle F Theatre. The twins hired drummer Buddy Charles and singer Bonnie Valentine for the monthlong Frontier engagement. The act played the nighttime bill beside Jackie Leonard, Vic Damone, and Frank Sinatra Jr., then added later Las Vegas work at the Tropicana, the Dunes, Maxim’s, and the Desert Inn.

Mark and Clark also operated Florida rooms before the Columbia period. The brothers owned three clubs in Florida, including the Keyboard Cabaret in Pompano Beach, where the act held a five-year run and received Florida Association for Entertainment News awards for Top Nightclub Act and Entertainers of the Year.

Double Take

The Mark & Clark Band released their second studio album, Double Take, in February 1977 on Columbia.

Double Take presents a two-piano rock format performed by the Seymour twins with bassist Will Lee, drummers Allan Schwartzberg and Jimmy Young; percussionists Errol “Crusher” Bennett and Jimmy Maelen; guitarists Elliott Randall, Hugh McCracken, and John Tropea; and keyboardists Kenneth Bichel, Frank Owens, and Paul Shaffer.

Mark and Clark Seymour wrote or co-wrote seven titles; Ron Dante and Leida Snow wrote “Jigsaw Woman,” and Dan Foliart and Tom Shapiro wrote “When It Comes To Love.” The text of “Worn Down Piano” follows an auction narrative, and the track shifts from 6/8 to 4/4 at the instrumental middle.

A1. “Worn Down Piano” (8:10) – Mark Seymour, Anthony Masino
A2. “Jigsaw Woman” (3:03) – Ron Dante, Leida Snow
A3. “When It Comes to Love” (3:30) – Dan Foliart, Tom Shapiro
A4. “Sidestreets” (3:51) – Masino, Seymour, Seymour

B1. “You Will Make It Someday” (3:42) – Masino, Seymour, Seymour
B2. “Cold Corporate Dealings” (4:10) – Masino, Mark Seymour
B3. “Your Point of View” (3:13) – Mark Seymour
B4. “Double Take” (3:30) – Leida Snow, Mark Seymour
B5. “A Drinking Man’s Concerto” (4:36) – Masino, Seymour, Seymour

Ron Dante produced the album. The credits list Ron Frangipane for arrangements and Mark Seymour and Clark Seymour for acoustic-piano arrangements. The LP appeared in a color photo and lyric sleeve.

Columbia lifted “Jigsaw Woman” as a February 1977 single (b/w “Sidestreets”).

CBS issued “Worn Down Piano” as a May 1977 single (b/w “Worn Down Piano – Part 2”). The single reached No. 8 on the Nederlandse Top 40 chart. “When It Comes to Love” became an August 1977 single, followed by “A Drinking Man’s Concerto” that December.

Carnegie – Rock and Roll Symphony

In 2001, Shroom Productions issued, Rock and Roll Symphony, an archival 1977 recording credited to Carnegie, a mononymic alias for the Mark & Clark Band.

The disc presents extended two-piano rock pieces performed by the Seymour twins with keyboardist Scot Seymour (Mini-Moog, Poly-Moog, Mellotron, vocals), guitarist Craig White, bassist Jack Storts, drummer John Bebbs, and backing vocalists Chrissie Faith and Miss Cheryl. Three titles run past eight minutes, and the closing sequence places “Worn Down Piano” before the title piece.

1. “A Drinking Man’s Concerto” (5:34)
2. “Variations” (9:50)
3. “Never Give Up” (10:13)
4. “Storybook Girl” (8:07)
5. “Worn Down Piano” (8:38)
6. “Rock and Roll Symphony” (6:40)

Shroom Productions issued Rock And Roll Symphony as catalog number SP-2112. The credits list Chuck Wheatley as engineer and Mark & Clark, Inc. as publisher.

Discography: