Mark Andrew White (born 1 April 1961) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician and record producer. Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, England, White first entered the music industry in the late 1970s as lead vocalist and keyboardist of the

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band

Vice Versa References

Additional references * * {{Latin phrases Lists of Latin phrases, V ca:Locució llatina#V da:Latinske ord og vendinger#V fr:Liste de locutions latines#V id:Daftar frasa Latin#V it:Locuzioni latine#V nl:Lijst van Latijns ...

. After releasing one studio album with the band in 1980, Vice Versa member

Martin Fry Martin David Fry (born 9 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician, and record producer. Fry's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the pop band ...

emerged as lead vocalist and the band opted to transform into a new band called

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. White resigned himself to composing ABC's music while also playing guitar and keyboards before retiring from music after the release of their sixth studio album, ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence ...

'', in 1991. As ABC's keyboardist he used a variety of instruments, including the

E-mu Emulator The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy disk storage, manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary mu ...

, the

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

and the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

. In 2014, White came out of retirement to reform Vice Versa with Stephen Singleton.

Music career

In the late 1970s, White was a member of ABC's predecessor band, the three-piece

band

Vice Versa References

. Other members of the trio were David Sydenham and future ABC saxophonist Stephen Singleton. After being interviewed by future ABC lead vocalist

for his fanzine, ''Modern Drugs'', the band members invited Fry to join the band as a keyboardist, and Vice Versa later evolved into ABC. With Fry in place as lead vocalist and songwriter, Vice Versa changed its name to ABC and changed its sound to a contemporary pop style that at that time led them to be categorised with bands like Duran Duran,

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European D ...

and

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

. Between 1982 and 1991, ABC recorded six studio albums, ''

The Lexicon of Love ''The Lexicon of Love'' is the debut studio album by English pop band ABC. It was released on 21 June 1982 by Neutron Records in the United Kingdom, by Mercury Records in the United States and Japan, and by Vertigo Records in Canada and Eur ...

'' (1982), '' Beauty Stab'' (1983), '' How to Be a ... Zillionaire!'' (1985), ''

Alphabet City Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...

'' (1987), '' Up'' (1989) and ''

'' (1991), and released a greatest hits compilation album, '' Absolutely'' (1990). Together with Fry, White co-wrote and produced a couple of songs on Paul Rutherford's sole solo studio album '' Oh World'' (1989), including the single " Get Real". During this time, the band went through numerous personnel changes, with White and Fry being its only permanent members.

Later years

ABC disbanded in 1992, with White retiring from music to pursue an interest in

reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which a " universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the ...

therapy. ABC reformed in 1997 without White, and Fry continued to tour under the band's name despite being its only official member. White declined to participate in VH1's ''

Bands Reunited Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

'' in 2004, when attempts were made to reform ABC for a one-off performance. In 2014, White, together with Singleton, compiled the Vice Versa box set, ''Electrogenesis 1978–1980'' which was released on VOD Records. This led to White coming out of retirement to reform the band. In December 2015 the duo released a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

single called "Little Drum Machine Boy", which was available to download for free on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

. They are currently writing and recording new material.

Discography

With Vice Versa With ABC

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Mark 1961 births 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians ABC (band) members British synth-pop new wave musicians English keyboardists English new wave musicians English pop rock singers English record producers English rock guitarists English songwriters Living people Mercury Records artists Musicians from Sheffield British pop rock musicians Sophisti-pop musicians Synth-pop singers Vertigo Records artists Reiki practitioners English male guitarists