Dear Rockers,
Don't miss out on our upcoming fall camps! These programs will feature some great Rock Stars: guitarist Dickey Betts (The Allman Brothers), Mark Farner (formerly of Grand Funk Railroad), Mark Hudson (Aerosmith producer/songwriter), Kip Winger (Winger), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy), Teddy Andreadis (Guns N Roses), Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters), Sandy Gennaro (Joan Jett) and more TBA.
For more information on our weekend programs, please click on one of the following links:
Philadelphia (The Trocadero): October 22-24
San Francisco (The Fillmore): November 5-7
Dallas (House of Blues): November 12-14
Chicago (House of Blues): November 19-21
In this newsletter, our spotlight is on the one and only Mark Hudson! Mark was featured in our VH1 Classic reality series, and will be a counselor at the weekend dates this fall! For more information on our weekend camps or to sign up, please visit www.rockcamp.com.
Have a great Fourth of July!
- David Fishof
Mark's Story: Born in Portland Oregon, Mark first came on the scene in a band with his brothers, the Hudson Brothers. The Hudson Brothers had two top-20 hits, "So You Are A Star" and "Rendezvous," and were frequent guests on the Sonny and Cher Show. In 1974 they became Sonny and Cher's summer replacement. In 1975 the Hudson Brothers Show evolved into the Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show. It was one of the first live-action variety shows on Saturday mornings and the brothers became one of the musical comedy delights of the 1970s.
In the 1980s, Mark and his brothers moved into film. In 1981 they made Hysterical. It has gone on to become a cult-classic in colleges. They then went on to make six film shorts for Showtime in the style of the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges. But all good things come to an end and The Hudson Brothers broke up.
After the break-up, legendary producer, Phil Ramone, took Mark under his wing and began schooling him in Production and successful song writing. Mark assisted Phil on Flash Dance and began to get cuts on albums by artists including Cher, Michael Sembello, and Bobby Caldwell.
Mark kept working with Phil Ramone and in 1987 he went to the new Fox network as the Band Leader for the Joan Rivers Show. The show ran for 1 1/2 years, and Mark made musical connections with artists ranging from Tony Bennett to Thomas Dolby. Exit Joan, enter Arsenio Hall, Arsenio and Mark hit it off and Mark was used as both musical and comedy director.
In 1990 Mark sold a show to Kingworld (Producers of Oprah and Wheel of Fortune) about a television pirate who breaks through the airwaves. "Off-Shore Television" was cutting-edge TV and Mark starred in and directed the series. After thirty-two shows, Mark was ready to again return to music, full-time.
In 1992 Mark was again working with Phil, but this time Phil felt that Mark was ready to fly solo, on a Ringo Starr album and so "Time Takes Time" was the first time that Mark worked with Ringo Starr.
John Kalodner, A&R guru of Geffen Records, offered Mark the opportunity to write with Aerosmith. His first writing session with Aerosmith resulted in the Grammy Award winning song "Livin' On The Edge".
He has written with and for multi-platinum artists ranging from Aerosmith to Carole King to Bon Jovi. His songs have appeared in many films, and as a producer Mark has inspired some of the best work from Aerosmith, Ringo Starr, Ozzy Osbourne, Hanson, Jars of Clay and many other artists.
Mark also appeared on the The X Factor in England, a Simon Cowell show which also stars Sharon Osbourne. Mark was the vocal coach and Sharon's partner for 3 years on the series.
