Discography

ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS

This is the first collection of songs from Mark Urgent. The original line-up included Steve Smeltzer (drums and lyrics), Denny Geiger (guitar, lead and backing vocals), Steve Lethwaite (bass and backing vocals), John Forbing (guitar and backing vocals) and Barry LaBov (keyboards, saxophone, backing and lead vocals). The song that started it all off, On a Night Like This, was recorded during a blizzard in a friend’s attic (Jeff Stone played bass guitar for us that day). After that, we officially formed the band and jumped into creating original songs with Steve writing lyrics; Carol LaBov writing lyrics; and Barry writing music and some lyrics.

A highlight for us was being chosen as the opening act for John Mellencamp when he visited Fort Wayne and performed a charity event after our city flooded. Local video producer Mark Bontrager then created a music video that was featured on numerous networks, ultimately helping On a Night Like This be recommended on the Billboard charts. Many of the songs were produced in our basement studio and then later re-engineered at Chuck Surack’s home studio, Sweetwater Sound.

Liner notes

  • This is the song that started it all. Steve Smeltzer wrote most of the lyrics, then I created it first as a ballad. After a New York publisher listened to it, he suggested we turn it into an upbeat Queen-ish rocker. Carol LaBov then added some great lyrics and suddenly, we had our most popular song. Recorded in the middle of a blizzard, “On a Night Like This” launched the band.

  • Steve wrote the lyrics and I decided to try to create a midtempo piece in the style of the band, The Cars.

  • This is a comedic song with some fun lyrics and a little bit of paranoia sprinkled in. “You give me dial tone and all I want is facts” sets the mood for the message.

  • The band was evolving and starting to get its own unique sound when we recorded this. Denny’s singing was outstanding, and the lead guitar playing from John was incredibly creative. Steve’s lyrics are clever beyond words.

  • I presented a basic synthesized song demo to Steve, who then turned it upside down with some crazy ideas about how we should arrange the song. It turned out phenomenally well. He also wrote the lyrics and again, Denny sang brilliantly. On top of all that, Chuck Surack of Sweetwater added a crazy middle section with some bizarre sounds of a phone and broken glass that you have to hear to believe.

  • A Billy Joel-ish-style song. I sang lead and John played a blazing slide guitar solo. A great song to play live, lots of fun and celebration about a lousy relationship.

  • I wrote this as a Bob Seger-style song. Denny as usual, sang brilliantly and the guys sang some tremendous background vocals.

  • A 10cc-type of song with a lot of dynamics. I sang the softer part, and Denny belted out the high stuff.

  • Steve and Carol wrote the lyrics, and I took care of the music. A very dynamic song with a powerful chorus. We added a saxophone section that I played. The guys sang together in the chorus and crushed it.

  • Written about the new wave rockers with their short hair, this is all about a guy who works at a bank and plays gigs on the weekend. Denny sings with inspiration and John plays melodic solos. Steve then added a marching band drum cadence to top it off.

  • Genuis lyrics from Steve that are ominously relevant to today. The band really jelled in this track.