Discography

SHATTER THE IMAGE

The band shuffled its line-up and added Dick Swary on guitar and vocals, moving Denny over to bass guitar (replacing Steve Lethwaite). We traveled numerous times to New York City and Los Angeles, trying to secure record deals. While there was some strong interest, it was a time of great hopes, but few realistic opportunities. The title song, Shoot Your Gun Off, was created when a friend of John Forbing played a cassette of On A Night Like This and the tape accidentally twisted, performing the song backwards. All of a sudden, when we sang On a Night Like This, it sounded like Shoot Your Gun Off. Using this as inspiration, we finished off the new song.

Performing in the northeast Indiana region, the band honed its chops while members still had their “day jobs.” Toward the end of this era, both Steve Smeltzer and John Forbing left the band.

Shatter the Image
Mark Urgent
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Liner notes

  • A song that was part Tom Petty and part Police. Denny and I shared lead vocals and John added an insane guitar solo. A truly dynamic song with lyrics that proclaim, “Nobody owns the gingerbread man.” How can you beat that?

  • I wrote this after hearing Foreigner and their amazing songs. Steve and Carol wrote the lyrics and turned it into a power ballad.

  • The first girl I had a crush on was named Celeste. We were three or four years old. I always thought her name was beautiful. I sang the song and hit some of the highest notes I could ever reach. I believe the band performed with extraordinary passion on this track.

  • Carol and I wrote this song together. Her lyrics were incredible, and they inspired me to write this ballad. The band Heart later released a song eerily like it.

  • John told me a couple kids he knew listened to our song, “On a Night Like This,” but a weird thing happened…the cassette player twisted the tape, and it sounded like we were singing, “Shoot Your Gun Off.” I then listened to the twisted tape and wrote this song as a backwards version of “On a Night Like This.”

  • This was a very emotional song with enchanting background vocals. I sang lead and played saxophone while Dick played the recurring lead guitar part. Kudos to Denny for his arranging of background vocals. It was a difficult but rewarding performance for us.

  • I asked John to write a song with me and this is what happened. A sort of Led Zeppelin meets The Who kind of song. A tour de force by Denny on vocals backed up by John’s guitar

  • I like this song, but it’s not a real Mark Urgent song in my opinion. It’s a sort of a Hall and Oates-style piece. Fantastic background vocals and super-catchy melody.

  • I got to the point of wanting us to produce a song with a basic, uncluttered sound, and this was the result. It features Denny’s fantastic singing and John playing great guitar.