Working
as a singer and musician in the entertainment business brought Mark
relative success, however he felt that there could be something missing
in his life that could not be filled with fame, money or materialism.
In
June of 1989, he attended a TV link hosted by the American Evangelist,
the late Billy Graham. Billy spoke about a faith and a personal relationship
with God. The message he voiced made sense spiritually
and gave Mark a different
song to sing.
In
April of 1994 he underwent a major operation for cancer. His left tonsil
was removed which was found to be hosting a 3.5cm tumour. Extensive
radiotherapy combined with a program of preventative treatment followed
to remove a second tumour that had grown on the left hand side of his
neck inside the lymph gland. (Squamous cell carcinoma). He was informed
by the specialist that because of the amount of radiation required to
address the cancer he may never sing again. This news was devastating
and for some reason the reality of not being able to sing ever again
seemed worse news than being told he had cancer.
The
news of his illness and subsequent treatment spread and he received
many telephone calls from friends offering support and prayer. Halfway
through the radiotherapy treatment, he completely lost his voice. However
he committed himself to singing at two concerts in aid of the Roy Castle
“Cause for Hope Foundation” appeal. The first concert was
held at the Fairfield Police Club in Liverpool, followed by a spectacular
variety/cabaret show held at the Liverpool Empire. Fortunately, he was
able to fulfil his commitment and sang at both shows.
Since
then he has continued singing to his best ability although the radiotherapy
has caused a number of long lasting side effects, (constant dryness
in his throat combined with a lack on saliva etc)
Mark and his wife Alison have both shared their joint testimony on BBC
Radio Manchester, Radio Merseyside, and U.C.B Radio Stoke on Trent.
Mark was
also involved in street outreach while
regularly visiting many northern prisons to sing
and share his personal testimony to the inmates. He found this to be
a very humbling experience.
Between
1990-95 he wrote, produced and released three Gospel albums which indirectly
resulted in him appearing on the
U.K. Dream Television channel, performing one
of his own original compositions called "In This World Of Sorrow"
The
recording was broadcasts and transmitted via satellite and cable to
television audiences across the whole of Europe and North Africa.
https://youtu.be/jw7twBp3dCo
"In This World Of Sorrow"
He
recently decided to re-release two edited videos of ten of the most
popular songs chosen by friends from the three albums.
The
videos are also a tribute to the late Ray Kelly (1965-2022)
who
was one of the most knowledgeable and talented musicians Mark had ever
worked with. Ray engineered the mixing, editing and mastering on all
of the albums whilst also playing keyboards. The two videos which Mark
has called “Mark’s Gospel Song Files” is a dedication
to Ray and can be heard on YouTube (Click on the links below)
https://youtu.be/Lo60L1No_tI
Mark's Gospel Song Files
https://youtu.be/8WMsZ4HDPlM
Mark's Gospel Song Files Part Two
After
a relatively dry period Mark started writing again in
2014 and to date he has released two secular EP's and four singles available
for download or streaming on all the major platforms.
New
original songs and videos can be seen onYouTube:
"My Battle Scars"
https://youtu.be/xH6QJPBkL1Q
chrismarkmusic.com
In
2020 Mark teamed up with fellow songwriter and singer Chris Morris (ex
Paper Lace guitarist and singer) together they have written a number
of new songs and are presently applying their individualism to each
other’s back catalogue of original compositions. One of their
latest uploads "My Battle Scars" is receiving lots of interest
across the social media platforms. It is an emotional and very poignant
song dealing with homelessness portrayed through the words of an ex-soldier.
All of their joint compositions are available for streaming and download
from all the major music platforms, Spotify,YouTube, Deezer, iTunes
etc.
Attached
below are the links to Mark's latest uploads available for streaming
and download on Spotify
Please click on the song name
Un
Blagueur Seul
My
Battle Scars
What's
Happened To Christmas
Through
A Strangers Eyes EP
Bully
Boys and Girls
Angeline
la reine de la danse
Tyranny
Slain
Lockdown2020
The
Sombre Statesman EP
Almara Music Productions
chrismarkmusic.com
markaynsley@almara.co.uk
almara@almara.co.uk
markhay@orange.fr
