The Lawrence Welk Show was really popular in those days - Myron Floren was a great accordionist, and Dick Contino was a killer accordionist back in the ’50s. My dad was also crazy for the accordion, so he kind of made me get into that. I guess I was born with a musical ear, so before you knew it, I started playing on my own. I used to be enthralled listening to him play all the hits of the day, and when he left the room I’d kind of sneak over to the piano and start playing these one-fingered melodies.
He used to sit and practice, and he’d have sheet music up there - fake books - and he’d play from them. He had a console piano in the living room, and he was really good. He had a house right by the Newark Bay there. Mark Stein: I used to go to my Uncle Willie’s house in Bayonne, NJ - I must have been three or four years old at the time.
What attracted you to those instruments?Īdvertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info Spotlight Central: We understand you began playing piano at the age of four and later attempted to play the accordion. So, yeah, they were both musical and definitely both supportive of me and my music from a very early age. Back in those days when he was growing up, parents wanted boys to play the violin and girls to play the piano, but he always had a great affinity for the piano. She used to sing, and from what I’m told, when she was a teenager, she sang on the radio - that probably had to have been in the early ’40s, I guess. Mark Stein: Yeah, I’m a Jersey boy! Actually, my mom and dad both loved music. Spotlight Central: You’re a Jersey boy who was born in Bayonne, NJ. Spotlight Central recently caught up with Stein and asked him about his musical childhood, his rise to fame with Vanilla Fudge, his work with other celebrated musicians, in addition to what he’s been up to lately. Mark Stein is well-known as a lead vocalist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger for the influential ‘60s-era psychedelic rock band, Vanilla Fudge.
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