Mark Gable is a performer who has lived a life and a half. As the original front man of enduring Australian Rock band, Choirboys, Gable has spent the best part of the last four decades, thrashing away at the guitar, writing songs and belting them out as the lead vocalist for the Oz rock-music icon, which has been responsible for both some of the biggest hits of the eighties and the happiest years of Gable’s own life.
He is as quirky as ever and unashamedly complex, revealing that it’s the pursuit of happiness that actually seems to be at the core of everything he has ever done. The lively, yet perennially consummate musician may still exhibit bouts of the liveliness that has for years, fuelled both his musical creativity and hard partying days, but his focus seems to have shifted a tad.
It would be a pretty safe bet that this wasn’t what Gable was thinking back in 1979 basking on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, when he was one of four young guys with their “own special way of seeing the world … (and their) own weird style of humour”. Guys who were also hell bent on creating their “own brand of kinky Pub Rock”. For Gable, those early days remain unforgettable as being “the beginning of so much fun, laughter and the joy of not knowing what would happen next”.
Back then the Choirboys could never have predicted the trajectory of their initial successes, when only a couple years later, in 1983 Never Gonna Die, would not only be hailed by industry guru Molly Meldrum as “destined to become an Aussie classic” but would also herald international accomplishments well within that decade. Their massive hit of 1987 Run to Paradise reached No. 3 on the Australian charts, became one of the highest selling singles of the eighties and earned double platinum record sales for the album Big Bad Noise. When released in the US, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 33 on the Mainstream Rock chart of 1989.
Eleven albums and several huge hits later, including Boys Will Be Boys, Struggle Town, Empire, Never Gonna Die and Rendezvous, Gable is still doing what he does best – juggling Choirboys, a solo career, hosting the occasional radio show, as well as being father to five young adults, deadlines and life with his sweetheart, singer/songwriter Melinda Schneider and their boy Sullivan. It’s a lot to ask of a guy who claims to be “the laziest person in the world”.
With the arrival of 2020 and COVID Mark and Melinda did a parody of Run to Paradise, ‘Stuck in Paradise, Melinda reweighting the lyrics ‘pointing out that Australia is not a bad place to spend in ISO. It has been released as a single and the video viewed over 2 million times!
So, with all that spare time that COVID has brought, Mark is focusing on writing his new one man show, ‘Great Australian Rock & Roll Stories’, recording some new material with Choirboys whilst contining to live stream from his home studio. 2021 is shaping up to be one of Mark’s most creative years yet!
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