Mark Eric

L.A. native Mark Eric was leading the Southern California dream life in his teens — surfing by day and writing songs about girls by night — before his musical talents drew him to Hollywood. He was 16 when he met Russ Regan, then at Warner Bros., but his first break came while waiting in the lobby of label honcho Lou Adler's office. There he met Bob Raucher, an engineer at local KHJ radio station (who wondered why Eric wasn't in high school). Raucher took a liking to the suntanned surfer/songwriter, and, under his "personal management," Eric was soon recording at Gold Star studios in Hollywood. One of his songs was later recorded by the Four Freshmen, who were by then on Liberty. Subsequent sessions by Eric, backed with studio musicians, led to another meeting with Regan, now heading up UNI (owned by MCA), who signed the promising soft pop singer to the label. Eric only recorded one album, A Midsummer's Day Dream, which was released in 1969 on UNI's R&B subsidiary, Revue Records. Eric eventually left music behind and began working as an actor in Hollywood, appearing on numerous TV sitcoms and several commercials. One of his songs, "Fly Me a Place for the Summer," was later recorded by the Mike Curb Congregation for an airline commercial.