Mark Nevin is a songwriter and guitarist originally from Ebbw Vale in Wales. He co-founded Fairground Attraction with singer Eddi Reader in the mid-1980s and wrote their number one hit Perfect, which topped the charts in the UK, Australia, Ireland and South Africa. Their debut album went double platinum and won two Brit Awards in 1989 for Best Single and Best Album. After the band split, Mark went on to collaborate with Morrissey, scoring four hit singles, and with Kirsty MacColl. His songs have been covered by David Bowie, Joe Cocker and Ringo Starr. He has released seven solo albums. In 2024, Fairground Attraction reformed and released a new album and toured the UK.
One of my favourite albums ever is the first Fairground Attraction album which I got on vinyl when it came out in 1988. I went to see Eddi Reader in Edinburgh and Dunfermline in recent years and was very thrilled to hear there was to be a new Fairground Attraction album as well as a UK tour. I got tickets to see them in Edinburgh and to hear Allelujah for the first time live was amazing, as I had been hoping to hear it at Eddi’s solo gigs.
I posted a clip of Allelujah on my my tiktok and was happy to see Mark Nevin, the songwriter, like it. Before I knew it I was having some dialogue with him in the comments and after a while I thought I’d chance my arm and ask him for an interview as I thought it would be an interesting chat given the nature of the lyrics in his songs, which always have an interesting point of view or insight.
I was delighted he agreed and arranged it for when I returned from my holiday to Turkey. I asked him on the Thursday after I returned and he suggested we do it on the Friday. I didn’t have much time to prepare but was very happy he still wanted to go ahead with it and I think we had a really good chat. It was kind of surreal hearing him describe where he was when he wrote the words to Allelujah and the story behind it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I didn’t know Mark has been releasing music in his own name for some considerable time so I will now have to order a few of his cd’s to catch up with it but from the few songs I played on youtube, I am sure they will be great.
You can check out his website at www.marknevin.com and follow him on his socials from there.
Cheers!
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