Mark Johnson and Steve Sanders ("Pops")

On July 4th we all lost a very talented  musician, husband, father, brother and dear friend Mark Johnson. Mark Johnson was the Bass Player for The New Fender Benders. While words sometimes cannot take away the pain we all feel for the loss of someone dear to our hearts and lives, they can be a comfort. Mark was the peacemaker, he brought people together as  a family from all across the states. Mark had a sense of humor that could not be surpassed by another human being. If he thought you were down or upset he would just break out in a joke or prank you to get you to laugh.

I had the honor of knowing Mark Johnson online for a couple years and calling him “uncle”, chatting with him in the chat room and his constant teasing me about ribs. He knew I loved ribs and every chance he got either in the chat room or on Facebook he would pop in and say “Hey Bek want some ribs….” I could just hear his belly laugh over the internet.

This show is dedicated to a man that was near and dear to so many people. The first hour and a half we play all The New Fender Benders past and present tunes that we had on our hard drive. Without Mark, as Mo will tell you, there would be no The Mo and Bek Show. I will forever be grateful for having known Mark for as long as I did and having met him in person at the Vet Jam in June. He was a very special man.

Mo shares personal stories and pranks that Mark had pulled on her over the years and shares a very special poem that she felt was given to her from Mark to share with all his family and friends.

The last 30 minutes of the show we interviewed Anthony from D’Amato. We talked to him about D’Amato trying to win a spot to open for KISS in Philadelphia, PA on August 6, 2010. Anthony also talks to us about his passion about the Gulf Oil Spill and we listen to two of our favorite songs “Edge of Disaster” and “Speak No Evil”. I encourage you if after listening to D’Amato’s music to go over to http://eventful.com/competitions/kiss2010/philadelphia and DEMAND D’Amato to open for KISS in Philadelphia.

Mark Johnson, Chris Mitchell and Mike Wilson

Before signing off on this show for today I would encourage all of you who loved Mark Johnson to please feel free to leave your own comments and stories in the comments section below….we all loved Mark and I feel that by all of us sharing our own stories of love and fun we can honor Mark’s memory in the way that would make him proud.

Testimonial From Mark Johnson:

(As stated above without Mark Johnson there would be no The Mo and Bek Show. He wrote us this beautiful testimonial a few months back and while doing updates on the site I found it…I felt led to post it here…-Bek)

What can I say about the Mo & Bek Show?? Well, they are a godsend for unsigned artist like myself and the bands I play in!! We have reached so many more people with this show then we have in the 20 years of The Fender Benders!! We are truly blessed to be one of the first feature bands on the show and are still being played every week!!

Mo and Bek are also great together!! They will have you laughing so hard at times!! You can tell they both love what they are doing and bring it across in the show and invite you to join along in the chat room every show!! I have met some really cool people in the chat and always have a great time during the show chatting with the hosts and people from all over!! So many different kinds of people come around since it is an all inclusive radio format!! You can hear some soul one minute, then rock the next, then country and even a little rap once in a while!! You don’t hear shows like this and I am so happy to be a part of the show!!

Keep up the great work Mo & Bek and if you haven’t listened to the show yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??????

Much love and respect to these ladies,
Mark Johnson/Bassist
The Fender Benders

Share it