? & the Mysterians
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? & the Mysterians were an American garage rock band from the mid 1960s, originating in Saginaw, Michigan. The group is best known for their song "96 Tears", a classic garage rock record from late 1966 which also made #1 on the pop chart. The frontman of the band was Question Mark, real name is believed to be Rudy Martinez, but who later legally changed his name to ?. ? & the Mysterians were the first band to be described as punk rock.Template:Ref
?'s somewhat eccentric behavior helped establish the group in the national consciousness for a period. He claimed (and still claims) to be a Martian who lived with dinosaurs in a past life, and he never appears in public without his sunglasses. He also claims that "voices" told him he would still be performing "96 Tears" in the year 10,000. The group named itself after the 1957 Japanese science-fiction film The Mysterians, in which aliens from the destroyed planet Mysteroid arrive to conquer Earth.
Musically, the Mysterians were one as one of the first major Latino rock groups. The original lineup was Larry Borjas (bass), Borjas' cousin Robert Balderrama (guitar) and Robert Martinez (drums) formed the band in 1962, soon adding Frank Rodriguez (organ) and ? (vocals), who was Robert's brother, Rudy. The Mexican musicians were born in Texas but grew up in Michigan and began playing in 1964. Borjas and Martinez were soon drafted, and Frank Lugo (bass) and Eddie Serrato (drums) replaced them. ? soon wrote the song that would become their first and only hit.
With Rodriguez's catchy Vox organ introduction and its plaintive chorus, "96 Tears" broke out rapidly and strained the limited facilites of local Pa-Go-Go Records which had originally pressed only 750 copies. The song became a regional hit in the Flint and Detroit area. ? licensed the record to Cameo-Parkway Records because their label was his favorite color, orange. The song was quickly a huge hit, as was their debut album, 96 Tears. (According to ?, Rodriguez did not play the Farfisa organ as was widely reported.) "Action", the group's follow-up, was not as successful and the band briefly recorded with Capitol Records, Tangerine Records and Super K, all to little avail. In the meantime, "96 Tears" became part of the standard garage rock band repertoire.
In the early 1970s, ? & the Mysterians reformed but once again was unable to attract much attention. ? worked as a dog breeder until the band reconvened in 1978, playing a reunion concert in Dallas, Texas. Still unable to attract much attention, the group disbanded again until "the voices from the future" supposedly told ? to reform the band in 1997. This time, though, they found more success with a whole new generation of music fans who had discovered the garage punk records of the 1960s through reissues such as the Nuggets series of albums, and the many modern-day bands playing in the same style. The reformed Mysterians gigged sporadically throughout 1998 and 1999 and made two visits to Europe where in November 1998 they wowed a capacity crowd at the "Wild Weekend" garage rock weekend in London, followed by a second longer tour in summer 1999 and a somewhat bizarre appearance at the Royal Festival Hall classical music venue as part of the "Meltdown 1999" music festival.
Unable to secure the rights to their own recordings, the rights to which now belong to Allen Klein, the Mysterians re-recorded their original 1966 album and released it again on a new label in 1997. Do You Feel It Baby?, a live album, was released in 1998 with moderate success. There was also a new studio album, More Action, in 1999. Meantime, in 1998, the band Smash Mouth had a hit with a cover of the Mysterians' "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", which appeared in the Can't Hardly Wait movie soundtrack.
The Mysterians still play live in and around their home state of Michigan, and a documentary film about them is slowly being assembled. Titled Are You For Real, it will include footage from their 40 years in the music business - from 1966 thru to the 1997 reformation and to the current day.
The name of the group provided inspiration for naming an important new branch of the philosophy of mind (New Mysterianism).
Syndicated prognosticator Dr. Quentin Mark Mysterian almost certainly named himself after the band.