Pok’s Memories

Pok’s memories of Mark Drower and the Everyones:

I first saw Mark Drower in September 1981 when he appeared in a classroom to teach 6th form religious bible studies. He was a lot younger than all the other teachers and caused quite a stir among some of the older pupils of the school. For the young heads he was a deep musical inspiration. Though I had set off on a course of my music already, Mark appeared and could SING AND PLAY GUITAR AT THE SAME TIME. He did it in the school hall once and the sight and sound of him rehearsing had a profound effect on the young musicnauts of Wud.

Come the school project week of 1982 he put on a play of Frederick Franck’s Everyone which was based on the medieval play Everybody. This was a low budget multimedia event with many memorable moments, such as Mark madly ripping up notes of fake money… though if he had enough real money he would have abused it too most likely. This to the tune of Breadfan by Budgie. All this and more would have been on video had Tony Langman set it up to point at the stage.

A scaffold was erected stage left upon which Mark would declaim his three-minute testimonies and parables with his sonorous voice and an acoustic Yamaha guitar. I sat next to him in a Rolling Stones t-shirt (borrowed) and played electric guitar with effects.

The songs you can hear were recorded in Torquay at Blaze Studios on the 2nd September 1982, which was just before term kicked in again. See, Mark at that time was quite extra-curriculum…

Present at Blaze that day were Dave Leech, Richard Rugg, Lisa Williams, Rachel Pettit, Caireen Toms, George, Pete Rippon, Mark(?) who was known as Bill, and several more, perhaps 17 in number, all teenage people who were attending The King’s Grammar School, Ottery St Mary in Devon.

Mark gave up music and smoking to become ordained as a priest (nearly). Nothing more has been heard of him since 1990 when I stayed in his Edith Grove basement. Mark did not even wish to look at my guitar.

In essential ways, Mark was our musical mentor who shone brightly for a short while, inspiring all heads within earshot with his gentle music that belied depth. To a certain few, Mark left an indelible legacy of the depths of feelings possible and how to access them through playing your instrument well… if simply.