? Mark in Time Out NY...

Benefit for Question Mark


Photograph: Terrence Murphy 2006

In January, a fire swept through the Michigan home of the musician known as ? (phone solicitors would ask for Mr. Mark), killing some of his pets and destroying his uninsured possessions. Unlike those artists felled by health issues, Question Mark at least has the advantage of being able to sing for his supper, and the musician’s appearance at his own show lends an immediacy that many fund-raisers lack. Personal devastation aside, Question Mark’s performance should prove alluring in its own right. His band, ? and the Mysterians, is a one-hit wonder—yet their hit was “96 Tears,” the 1966 chart topper whose monstrous organ drone presaged the Velvet Underground. The group’s influence is evinced in the colossal lineup of artists gathered tonight, which extends from Paul Shaffer and Tommy Ramone to Langhorne Slim and the Paul Green School of Rock Music. — Jay Ruttenberg