It's always refreshing when somebody who has achieved widescale success after his days playing in a teen band so willingly shares details of his '60's group. That happens to be the case with Billy Aerts. Former bass guitarist for The Mark V, Aerts has really done it all musically--and more--after moving on from the local St. Petersburg, Florida music scene. He still, however, considers his time spent with The Mark V as the most fun he's ever had in the music business.
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| The Mark V, left to right: Tom Stovall, Sammy Bond, Donny Vosburg, Chris Wells and Bill Aerts |
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An Interview With Billy Aerts
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Billy Aerts (BA): When I was very young, maybe four or five, I used to lay down on the floor and put my head close to the speakers in my parent's record player and listen for hours to the old records they had. I just loved the music.
60s: Was The Mark V your first band?
BA: Yes.
60s: Where and when was The Mark V formed?
BA: In St. Petersburg, Florida around 1965 by just a group of high school buddies that wanted to play music. I played bass, Chris Wells played lead guitar, Sammy Bond played rhythm guitar, Tom Stovall was the front man and occasional keyboard player and I don't remember the (original) drummer's name. We had several drummers over the time we were together but the one in the photograph is Donny Vosburgh.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
BA: We sounded like the British bands of the time with a lot of harmonies. Of course, we were influenced by The Beatles, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Searchers, The Animals, and The Zombies.
60s: What was the St. Petersburg rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
BA: There were a lot of great bands around at that time in the St. Pete and Tampa Bay areas, including The Tropics, The Tempests, The Blues Image, and Iron Butterfly (Note: The Los Angeles band did spend time in Florida, and even appeared in the low budget film Musical Mutiny). Everyone loved the music--and cared only about the music--so much that we never thought of trying to make money at it. We used to play around and make a few bucks but that was never the driving force. There was rivalry, of course, but for the most part we all just dug each other and had a great time.
60s: Where did The Mark V typically play?
BA: We started out playing at a little youth place called Patritian Point. We played pretty much every weekend there. We also played at the high school a couple of times and parties around town at some people's houses. Later we started to play at Moose’s Showcase, which was at the Italian American Hall on the Southside. We got very popular there playing every weekend. A lot of the national acts like The Turtles, The Association and others played there as well and we were the opening act for them. We also played at the National Guard Armory on the Southside.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
BA: We only went on one tour to Warner Robbins, Georgia.It was one show for one time. Wow..what a tour, huh? We used to go over and play some clubs in Cocoa Beach and that’s when we also played on the Cocoa Beach pier. There was a battle of the bands there one time and we won. The pier was where Ron Jon Surfboards got started.
60s: Did The Mark V have a manager?
BA: Moose Vosburgh sort of tried to manage us, but it was just a local thing and we pretty much played his club so he never really got us much other than the big tour to Warner Robbins.
60s: How popular locally did The Mark V become?
BA: Very popular. We were very good and probably could have gone on to do other things but we were young. Most of the guys in the band wanted to go on to college after high school so that pretty much ended it all. I think I was the only one who didn’t go to college. I started playing in another band called Me And The Other Guys and subsequently got drafted into the army out of that band.
60s: Why didn't The Mark V record?
BA: I really don’t know why. We had some pretty good original songs, too. I wish we had them now so I could listen to them. We got together for a Northeast High School reunion and someone made a video tape of that.
60s: Who was the band's primary songwriter?
BA: Like I stated before, we had some really good songs. I was probably the primary songwriter, along with Chris Wells.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
BA: No.
60s: What year did the band break up?
BA: Maybe around 1968.
60s: What keeps you busy today?
BA: I moved to Nashville 28 years ago and have been writing songs and producing ever since. (Note: See below for more on Bill's prestigious career.)
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Mark V?
BA: I would probably say that being in The Mark V was the most fun I have ever had in the music business. It was a time when we were not striving, so to speak, to become something other than what were and we all played and enjoyed the music for what it was--not what it could get us, other than girls, of course. The movie That Thing You Do came very close to how it felt for us except for hitting "the big time."
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Some of what Billy Aerts has achieved since his days in The Mark V:
PROJECT PRODUCER / WRITER:
*Rock, country, pop and Celtic music soundtracks for national and international radio and network television including Saturday Night Live, CSI Miami, CSI New York, NFL Football, Survivor, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Emmy Awards, Big Brother, Ghost Whisperer, ABC Sports, NBC Sports, ESPN, A&E Network, "E" Television and others.
*Several hundred library music tracks and jingles for BRG, a division of Premiere Radio Networks, a Clear Channel Company.
*EXXON wildlife conservation film score.
*Record albums for Lobo on WEA and Pony Canyon Records, Paul Overstreet, Susie Luchsinger, and various artists for Canadian labels and independent labels including children’s album projects.
*Seven-time Dove Nominee for production or songwriting.
*Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fight Song (recipient of Golden Pyramid and Addy awards).
*Radio and television commercials including International Toyota and Honda commercials and Simplot Television commercial (recipient of "Rocky" Advertising Federation Award for Best Regional TV, 1992)
*Congressional campaign themes.
*Songs written and recorded by Joe Cocker, Kenny Chesney, Holly Dunn, Paul Overstreet, Susie Luchsinger, Lobo, Judy Rodman, Blue County and others...
*Finished in the top 5 in the 2007 American Idol songwriting contest. The song is featured in a new movie coming out called Fuel.
*Working with a lot of young artist songwriters including Miley Cyrus before she got her huge break as Hannah Montana.
*Aerts Enterprises LLC works teaching young people the ropes of the music business, how to write great songs, and how to sing in the studio. We are always open for business, so if anyone is interested they can contact me. You can rely on our integrity.
PUBLISHING:
*Achieved success in the country and pop/rock and Christian music fields. Responsibilities included creating original songs for exploitation, producing demonstration recordings, and marketing outside copyrights.
*Publishing credits include staff writer/Producer and project poordinator for Mary Tyler Moore, MTM Publishing.
*Publishing Director for Scarlet Moon Music. Responsible for overseeing day to day operations including song plugging, demo production, general administration, copyright exploitation, etc.
*Owner of active copyrights in catalogs in Aerts Songs (ASCAP) and Stormey Music (BMI).
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