PHIL NEE - June 25th - ? and the Mysterians

Today from the archives we go back to a fun interview I had the chance to conduct back in the mid-90's with Rudy Martinez (Question Mark).   We talked about the fact that no one influenced him and he made several claims including the fact that he believes he was born on Mars.  The song '96 Tears' still gets requested often. 

The Mysterians put out some good records including 'I Need Somebody' and 'Can't Get Enough Of You Baby,' which should have been a monster hit. (It was much later for Smash Mouth.)  Several artists were inspired by the tracks that they recorded. 

 

 

Question Mark has been a dynamic performer through the years. When we did the interview in 1995, he was looking forward to getting out with some oldies package shows.  He was hoping to show his singing and dancing skills again.

 

Rudy Martinez is a strange bird!  And he has REMAINED a strange bird, even all these years since his big #1 Hit!  Your conversation with him in 1995 is FAR more normal than any from my own experiences!

Still, "96 Tears" is a garage band classic. (In fact, ? and the Mysterians placed fourth in our Top Garage Bands poll several years ago.)

Their follow-up hit, "I Need Somebody," made The National Top 20, but other great songs like "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" and "Do Something To Me" failed to make much of an impression.

I last talked to Question Mark (Rudy Martinez legally changed his name to that!!!) after he lost most of his personal belongings in a house fire.  We were trying to help take up a collection to get the guy back up on his feet again.

I honestly don't know if he is still performing or not ... but from what I've heard, he was quite the wild man on stage!  (kk)