Quick Facts
Biography
Mark Radice is an American singer/musician and producer, who has worked with a variety of different artists and achieved minor success with his own material in the 1970s. Having worked with Jim Henson on several tunes for The Muppets TV show in the mid-1980s, he has recently been more associated with Sesame Street, as he has been writing and recording material for this series.
Career
Radice has been a professional musician and songwriter since 1964. From a very young age, he has provided keyboards, vocals, guitars, production and songs for himself as well as many well-known artists. With well over 4,000 original songs to his credit, he is one of the most prolific songwriters alive.
Radice's father, Gene Radice, was a well-known recording engineer who worked with artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Velvet Underground, Lovin' Spoonful, Janis Ian, the Four Seasons, Cowsills, Mamas & the Papas, The Tokens, Vanilla Fudge and many more.
In 1964, at age of seven, Radice was signed to RCA Records. His single "Natural Morning" was later covered by Frankie Valli. In 1967 while signed to Decca Records he released "10,000 Year Old Blues", which featured 20-year-old Steven Tyler. Radice later toured and recorded with Aerosmith in 1978. He released his first full-length LP in 1971 with Paramount Records. The song "Hey My Love" was later covered by Dion. In 1973 Radice was asked to back Donovan on his "7 Tease" tour.
In 1976, through United Artists Records, he released Ain't Nothin' But A Party which featured Brass Construction and included the hit single "If You Can't Beat 'Em Join 'Em."
As a writer for EMI Publishing he collaborated with artists such as Michael Bolton, Eddie Money, Dave Edmunds, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, Helix, Cheap Trick, Aldo Nova, Deodato, Phyllis Hyman, Jetboy, Box of Frogs, Gene Simmons, Shark Island, Jennifer Rush, and The Muppets. He toured with Aerosmith playing keyboards and performing backing vocals in 1978.
After touring with Cheap Trick in 1985, Radice was introduced to Jim Henson and collaborated on many songs for The Muppets. Radice collaborated with the group Vesica Piscis (band) and producer Jack Douglas and Engineer Jay Messina (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Kiss, etc.).
More recently, Radice has self-produced several albums which include a variety of previously unreleased material. With a catalog of over 3000 songs that are still unreleased, you can expect to see more of such albums. Radice also currently writes and records for Sesame Street. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2008 for his work with the Elmo character [1]. In 2008 Radice also collaborated with the Septimus Orion project.
Discography
Solo Material
Albums
- Mark Radice (1971) Paramount PAS 6033 (re-issued on CD 2004 with different cover)
- Ain't Nothin' but a Party (1976) United Artists UA-LA629-G
- Intense (1977) United Artists RS-LA 788-G
- Store in a Cool Dry Place (1993) Bottom Up Records 122593-2
- Generation Why (2004) Self Produced
- Stay Tuned (2007) Self Produced
45's
"Natural morning" / "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" (1968) Decca 32349
"10,000 Year Old Blues" / "Three Cheers (for the Sad Man)" (1968) Decca 32411
"Richest Man in the World" / "Girl by the Meter" (1969) Decca 32525
"Save Your Money" / "Wooden Girl" (1972) RCA 47-9420
"Your Love is Like Fire" / "Hey My Love" (1972) Paramount 0170
"Hey My Love" / "Your Love is Like Fire" (1972) Paramount PARA 3024 (UK)
"New Day" / "Take Me to the Park" (1972) Paramount PARA 3025 (UK)
"If You Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em" / "The Whole Wide World Ain't Nothin' But a Party" (1976) United Artists UA-XW840
"The Answer is You" / "Monkey See Monkey Do" (1976) United Artists UA-XW897-Y
"It's You My Love" / "Love is Free" (1977) United Artists 5C 006-60377 (Holland)
Miscellaneous
- Aerosmith Live Bootleg! (1976) Columbia Records