November 04, 2007
maudit artist #4: mark robinson
The year is 1997.
The place is Arlington, Virginia.
I am a woman with a mission. I am 21 years old, and it is spring break. I took the Metro to Ballston and turned left at the Office Max, in search of a tiny, ramshackle green house marked 715. There is an orange van in the driveway. I am a spy in the house of indie rock (literally). I knock on the door. This man answers:
Mark Robinson is the impresario of Teenbeat Records. If you are the sort of person who thinks "cheesecake photos of N'Sync" when you hear "teenbeat," then stop reading now, this ain't for you. Teenbeat was part of the triumvirate of prominent indie labels from DC in the early '90s. MR was the head dude in the oft-mentioned band Unrest, which provided east coasty indie kids with their daily requirement of spare chord arrangements set to poppy beats. They were a Cute Band Alert in Sassy way way BITD and enjoyed much airplay on WOZQ thanks to me.
I had a pretty serious Teenbeat obsession back in '97, which lead me to the REALLY EASY TO FIND Teenbeat house. Mark was nice enough to let me in and have a look around and talk to me and sell me a few CDs and 7"s. Mark dedicated quite a bit of creative energy to his obsession with Factory Records star Cath Carroll, so with that knowledge, I ventured forth.
For years I was horrified that I did that. I was never comfortable with my role as loopy fan girl, and I still have a hard time mustering that energy, although these days its all authors and the dudes from 3 For All.
In general, though, the Robinson opus has many enduring qualities and still provides me with occasional, nostalgic listening enjoyment. Six Layer Cake is still one of my most favorite songs ever, and even though these days Teenbeat has sort of simmered down in terms of output (Mark's a dad and has a day job, from what I've heard), they're still knocking out the (Teen)beats.
Posted by Zerd at November 4, 2007 11:11 AM