Mark Spiro (March 28, 1957 – March 28, 2024) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist.Tribute to Spiro, giving Spiro's date of death as his (67th) birthday
mccartney.com. Accessed March 31, 2024.

Career

Originally from Seattle, Spiro relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career within the music industry in his early 20s. While in Los Angeles, he met German record producer/label owner

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, after which he spent several years in Germany working as a singer, songwriter, and producer (

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, Engelbert Humperdinck,

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, Hazell Dean,

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). Upon his return to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, he began building a reputation as a successful songwriter with his first major cut on the ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired ...

'' soundtrack and continued to write songs and produce for other artists. Spiro was one of the first recording artists to be signed by

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

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. Scheduling conflicts/politics resulted in Spiro leaving Interscope Records. He later recorded ''Care of My Soul'', a solo album released in Australia, Scandinavia, and Japan. In September 2012, his brand new '' Care Of My Soul. Vol. 2'' album was released by Sun Hill Production. At the same time an extended version of the '' Care Of My Soul Vol. 1'' album was released. Both CD albums are available in digipack packaging with 8-12 page booklets as well as found on all digital platforms and formats. In late 2012, Spiro co-wrote and produced the duet "Someday" with Julian Lennon and Steven Tyler. Spiro also produced for his daughters Ruby and Summer Spiro, who recorded for

Lyric Street Records Lyric Street Records was the Disney Music Group's country music record label, founded in 1997 by Randy Goodman. The label had its first successes in 1998 with singles by Lari White and Aaron Tippin, both formerly of RCA Records. Other artists w ...

as the duo Ruby Summer. In 2020,

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music (formerly Frontiers Records) is an Italian record label that primarily focuses on hard rock. The label was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is headquartered in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino began his care ...

released a compilation called ''2+2=5: Best of + Rarities'' which featured the best of his solo material starting from 1996's "Now Is Then, Then is Now", until "It's a Beautiful Life", which was released in 2012 on the German label AOR Heaven. Spiro announced a new solo album entitled ''Traveling Cowboys'' which was released on May 7, 2021, from Frontiers Records. The first single from the album is a duet called "7 Billion People" which featured

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and guitarist

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

Death

Spiro died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on March 28, 2024, his 67th birthday.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''In Stereo'' (1986, Germany) * ''Care Of My Soul'' (1994, Japan/Australia/Scandinavia) * ''Now Is Then, Then Is Now'' (1996, Europe & Scandinavia) * ''Devotion'' (1998, Europe & Scandinavia) * ''The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of'' (1999, Europe & Scandinavia) * ''King of Crows'' (2003, Europe & Scandinavia) * ''Mighty Blue Ocean'' (2005, Europe & Scandinavia) * ''It's a Beautiful Life'' (January 2012) * ''Care Of My Soul Vol. 1'' (2012, September 12. (World) * ''Care Of My Soul Vol. 2'' (2012, September 12. (World) * ''Traveling Cowboys'' (May 2021,World)

Collaborations

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David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

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Original music for television

* '' One Tree Hill'' – "Darling It Was You" * '' Marker'' – original music for thirteen episodes * '' Fame'' – "Man in the Mirror" * ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

'' – "Winds Of Change" title song for the episode Das Haus im Wald (1985)

Songwriter

– "Saltwater," ''Photograph Smile'' * ''

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'' soundtrack – "In Dreams" by

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* ''

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'' soundtrack – "Only Love" by

* '' Music from Another Room'' soundtrack – "Day After Day" by Julian Lennon *

– " Are You Still in Love with Me" * Lila McCann (Multi-Platinum) *

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– "Forget Me Not," "Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word," "Straight to Your Heart," "Pray for Rain," "Life at the Top" *

– "In Dreams," "How Did I Get By Without You" *

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– “I’ll See You in my Dreams” *

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Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

– "Cruel Tears" *

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– "Mighty Wings" (''

'' soundtrack), "Ride the Pony" *

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– "Half Way" *

Emmanuel Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...

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* Mr. Big – "Ain't Seen Love Like That," "Not One Night" *

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– "One Man, One Heart" * Camy Todorow/Kamelia Todorova – "Love is a War" *

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– "Broken Home" (originally a Kansas demo from 1986, previously unreleased) * Margaret Becker – "Light in the Darkness" (The Reckoning, 1988)

Production credits

In addition to eight of his own records, Spiro has produced records for: * Lila McCann (Produced 2 Records) *

* John Berry *

María Conchita Alonso María Concepción Alonso Bustillo (born June 29, 1955), better known as María Conchita Alonso, is a Cuban-born Venezuelan-American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who represented Venezuela at Miss World 1975 and placed in the t ...

(Produced 2 Records) * McAlyster (Produced 1 Record) * Ruby Summer (Produced 2 Records) * Leslie & Kelly (Produced 3 Records)

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiro, Mark 1957 births 2024 deaths Record producers from California Songwriters from Washington (state) Musicians from Seattle Musicians from Los Angeles Songwriters from California 20th-century American songwriters 21st-century American songwriters Deaths from lung cancer Place of death missing