Mark James Morriss (born 18 October 1971) is an English singer and songwriter from Hounslow, best known as the frontman for the Bluetones. He is the older brother of bandmate and bass player/illustratorScott Morriss. He has released four solo albums, two solo EPs, worked with Matt Berry's band the Maypoles and sung lead vocals on The Helicopter of the Holy Ghost project. Since 2008, when not touring with the Bluetones, he regularly plays solo acoustic shows across the UK and in 2023 started touring with bandmate and guitaristAdam Devlin.
Early life
Morriss was born in Chiswick, split between the London Borough of Hounslow and Ealing. He attended Cranford Community College. His mother worked as the manageress of the bar at Shepperton Studios.[1] In 1983, Morriss' father left home and had relationship issues with his step-father, writing "A Parting Gesture" about it.[citation needed] Similarly, he wrote "The Fountainhead" about not wanting to seem a disappointment to his grandfather.[2]
Morriss in concert at the Rochdale Feel Good Festival in 2009
At a young age, Morriss had always shown an interest in football and considered Kenny Danglish as his hero.[1] He was the captain for his school football team for five years and had trials for Crystal Palace at age 10. He played until he was 15, feeling it was becoming too competitive. After an injury from a tree accident, he was temporarily unable to play and in that time started going to the school's music department more often, leading him to befriend founding members of the Bottlegarden, a group Morriss was involved in that formed in 1989 and disbanded, with its lasting members rebranding as the Bluetones.[3][4]
Biography
Mark Morriss released his debut solo album Memory Muscle in May 2008. A folk-tinged record, it featured five re-recorded tracks which had previously been released under the name Fi-Lo Beddow, a rephrased name of the protagonist from the 1978 American action comedy film Every Which Way but Loose, Philo Beddoe,[5] as a self-released EP in February 2006. The strings on the record were arranged by film composer David Arnold, who became a fan of the Bluetones' debut album Expecting to Fly whilst scoring Independence Day.[6]
In 2014, Morriss released his second solo album A Flash of Darkness via Acid Jazz Records.[7] This was followed by another Acid Jazz release in 2015, The Taste of Mark Morriss, an album of cover versions. Morriss has also recorded the theme music for all of the children's audiobooks written by David Walliams. Morriss is also currently a member of Matt Berry's live band, the Maypoles, and regularly tours the UK with this outfit as a rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist.[8]
In November 2021, allegations of emotional and physical abuse against Morriss were made by his ex-wife, Anna Wharton.[12] Morriss disputed the claims, telling The Guardian: "I may have been thoughtless and selfish in some of the dealings in my personal life of late, but these allegations of abuse and gaslighting are wholly untrue, and I refute them completely."[12] Following these allegations, Morriss was dropped from The Big Britpop Family Party in London and dismissed from The Helicopter of the Holy Ghost project,[13] and the short-lived supergroup he had formed with Nigel Clarke of Dodgy and Chris Helme of the Seahorses' ending coincided with this.[14]
On 2 March 2022, Morriss issued a statement on his website in response to his ex-wife's allegations made against him.[15]
