A tribute act with plenty of Spark!

Mark Stelfox: 30 years on...

Chronicle music man Simon Smedley talks to Mark Stelfox of popular Oldham tribute duo Spark...

FANS of one of Oldham’s best-known and talented tribute duos, Spark, can relax safe in the knowledge that they have no intention of easing out of the local circuit any time soon.

So says half of the guitar-driven, new wave-influenced outfit, wacky Mark Stelfox from Lees, who is clearly loving every minute of his time wowing crowds alongside Mike Greatbanks on club and pub stages across the region.

It is 30 years since Stelfox, now 44, first picked up a guitar, but stelfox dismisses suggestions that he’s about to take things a bit easier.

A prolific and exciting player, Stelfox has been close to much bigger times - particularly as a target of record companies with Hey Now Now back in the late 1980s. But the more close-knit adulation continues to appeal.

Stelfox said: “I realised from quite an early age that I didn’t want to be famous. Once you get sucked into bigger bands your life changes beyond recognition. Things can never be normal again.

“It’s great with Spark. We don’t live in each other’s pockets. He lives in Prestwich so we only really see one another when we’re gigging, at least twice a week.

“We’ve got a big repertoire, there’s probably 120 or 130 songs between us, and then when it comes to a gig we just look who’s in the venue really.

“We’ve never worked out a set list before a show and I don’t think we ever will. People ask us for songs and if we don’t know them we’ll just give them a go. I love it, I love playing, and especially playing live.”

Stelfox began in music as an eight-year-old drummer, but after being dazzled by the Electric Light Orchestra in the late Seventies, guitars became his new love.

Completely self-taught, his first band was the Verge which played at Delph Youth Club and various other local parish halls before he switched to Hey Now Now. commercial success so nearly followed.

Stelfox lost no sleep after losing out on a London Records contract, and 14 years ago he teamed up with Greatbanks to form Spark.

That bond continues, though he also enjoys playing for another hugely-popular tribute outfit, 10ft Fez, and has featured on recordings alongside Denshaw-based singer/songwriter Paul McGladdery.

Stelfox is also an open-mic night host at the Delph club on Tuesdays and Springhead’s Dog and Partridge on Wednesdays: “I get a lot of satisfaction from the open-mic nights because both are child-friendly venues and it’s great to be in a position to encourage young kids.

“There’s 15 and 16-year-olds turning up and they’re great, some of them are doing really well.

“Some of them have been coming a long time, so to see how they’ve developed and got better is great too.”

See Facebook for the band’s latest gigs.

LISTEN to Simon Smedley’s exclusive, extended audio interview with Mark Stelfox at:

https://audioboom.com/playlists/1262527-oldham-musician-mark-stelfox-speaks-to-oldham-chronicle-journalist-simon-smedley