Mark Ignatius Gillespie (20 January 1950 – 11 November 2021) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Gillespie studied architecture at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. He first became known as a performer in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

clubs in the mid-1970s. He also wrote poetry and short stories and co-founded Outback Press. His first recordings appeared on a compilation album, ''Debutantes'', prepared by Ross Wilson on Oz Records."Aussie singer-songwriter Mark Gillespie passes"
''The Music Network'', 16 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. His debut album, ''Only Human'', appeared in 1980 on the Wheatley label set up by

Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager and tour promoter. Career Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he became known national ...

. Gillespie played guitars, synthesisers, keyboards, piano and mandolin on the album and also used several of the best-known Australian

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s. It was widely played on

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

in Australia, reaching number 48 on the national album charts. Reluctant to promote his recordings, Gillespie made his first visit to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

around this time. He returned to Australia in 1982 to record a follow-up album, ''Sweet Nothing'', which reached number 33 and included the songs "River of Blood" and the prescient "Night and Day". He also toured in the 1980s with such performers as

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song "Midnight at the Oasis" and has ...

and Rodriguez. His third album, ''Ring of Truth'', was issued by Wheatley in 1983. The label also issued a compilation album of his recordings, ''Small Mercies'', in 1984. His early albums were later reissued on CD with bonus tracks from singles, B-sides and demos."Mark Gillespie R.I.P."
''Rhythms'', 15 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021."Australian Singer Songwriter Mark Gillespie Has Passed Away"
''Noise11'', 15 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. Disillusioned with the music business, Gillespie returned to Bangladesh as a volunteer worker. In 1992, he briefly returned to Australia to perform again and released his final album, ''Flame''. He gave up the music business thereafter and settled in Bangladesh, at first working in a children's home in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and then setting up a refuge for vulnerable women and children in Sreepur. He married a local woman named Morium and, according to one former associate, "lived in a typical rural village ... with none of the trappings of western life." After some years of declining health, and a few months after his wife's death, Gillespie died in hospital in Dhaka on 11 November 2021.

Discography

* ''Only Human'' (1980) * ''Sweet Nothing'' (1982) * ''Ring of Truth'' (1983) * ''Small Mercies (Best of)'' (1984) * ''Flame'' (1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Mark Year of birth missing 20th-century births 2021 deaths Australian male singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters Australian expatriates in Bangladesh Musicians from Melbourne