James

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Mack

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Mark Morrison

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Mark Morrison (born 3 May 1972) is a West German born English R&B singer. His single, "Return of the Mack", became a number-one or Top 10 hit in several European countries in 1996. The song peaked at number 2 in the United States the following year.

Early life

Born in Hannover, West Germany, to Barbadian parents, he lived in Leicester, England and attended Rushey Mead School, before moving to Miami, Florida. At age 19, he moved back to England.

Career

Early career

Mark Morrison's first official recording was the 1993 vinyl release, Where Is Our Love, pressed on his own private Joe'Mel label.

Main career

In mid-1995, Morrison released his debut single, "Crazy", which became a Top 20 hit in the UK. The follow-up single, "Let's Get Down", also entered the Top 40. They were followed in the spring of 1996 by "Return of the Mack" which became a smash international hit, spending two weeks at No. 1 on the UK charts.

His debut album, also titled Return of the Mack, followed and became a multi-platinum success. It reached number four in the UK chart and sold 3 million albums worldwide. It spun off several more hit singles over the next year: "Crazy (Remix)", "Trippin'", "Horny", and "Moan & Groan" would all reach the UK Top 10, making him the first artist in British pop history to have five Top 10 hits from a debut album.

The Mack

The Mack is a 1973 blaxploitation film starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. Although the movie was produced during the era of such blaxploitation movies as Dolemite, its producers do not label it a true blaxploitation picture. They believe it to be a social commentary, according to Mackin' Ain't Easy, a documentary about the making of the film, which can be found on the DVD edition. The movie is set in Oakland, California and was the highest-grossing blaxploitation film of its time. Its soundtrack was recorded by Motown artist Willie Hutch.

Plot

Oakland, California 1967: John "Goldie" Mickens, (Max Julien) a small-time black drug dealer and his best friend Slim (Richard Pryor) are in the middle of a shootout in a salvage yard after being set up during a botched drug deal. Realizing that they're outgunned, Goldie orders Slim to flee the salvage yard. Goldie crashes his car as he attempts to escape and is apprehended by Hank (Don Gordon) and Jed (William Watson), two corrupt, racist white police detectives. Goldie is tried in court and sentenced to five years in the California State Penitentiary. In prison Goldie almost becomes stir crazy and struggles to maintain his sanity.

Mack the Knife

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists, including a US and UK number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959.

The Threepenny Opera

A moritat (from mori meaning "deadly" and tat meaning "deed") is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In The Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (who was in turn based on the historical thief Jack Sheppard). The Brecht-Weill version of the character was far more cruel and sinister, and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero.