August 14, 2002

Imagine John Lennon: Staycer performs Beatles tribute

Former local DJ looks, dresses, sings and speaks the part as he mimics musician

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Imagine_suspend your reality for an hour and you could believe that John Lennon still lived, still sang, still played.
      Making Lennon's music live again is the mission of musician and disc jockey Mark Staycer of Traverse City, who brought his tribute to John Lennon to the Traverse Area District Library Wednesday evening. Songs included "Ticket to Ride," "Nowhere Man," an acoustic version of "Revolution" and "Norwegian Wood."
      In a thick Liverpool accent with the cadence of Lennon's speech, Staycer introduced "Here Comes the Sun" as, "Here's one for little George," drawing tears around the room.
      An enthralled, standing-room-only audience sang along, cheered and even cried, enticing Staycer to give two encores.
      "It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful," said John Bentley Fillmore of Traverse City. "There was a real good feeling about the whole thing and I just totally enjoyed it."
      Fillmore's sister Diane Sharnowski also attended the show with her two young children. The whole family sang along with Staycer, who played songs from early Beatles days as well as later years and solo Lennon offerings.
      "I was awestruck and it brought tears to my eyes and I cried during 'Imagine,'­" Sharnowski said. "I've tried to teach my children about the Beatles and the loss of the Beatles. To me, this was just like John Lennon was right there, Staycer really did his homework."
      Staycer provided a compelling illusion, from the voice and music to the clothes and the tableau - which included an Persian rug, a rattan table with flowers, a book about Lennon and a long stemmed water glass.
      His banter with the audience was strictly in Lennon's Liverpool accent as Staycer maintained a constant theme of wry humor woven around Beatles and post-Beatles anecdotes.
      When asked by an audience member how he stayed looking so young at 63 (the age Lennon would be if he were alive today), Staycer replied:
      "I had a plastic surgeon give me a new face; I leave it in a jar by the door when I'm not using it."
      Commenting on how people ask where all the ideas come from, he made muted reference to drug use.
      "The press was right, there were pills in Hamburg," Staycer said. "Then there were these rolled up things that were shared very greatly."
      Years of study as a musician lay the foundation for Staycer's act. He continues to perfect the accent and banter by intensively studying audiotapes, videotapes and rare outtakes of the both Beatles and Lennon performing and giving interviews.
      "I've been doing Beatles songs since they came out when I was 25 years old," Staycer said. "This act has been coming on for years and when the DJ door closed this door suddenly opened."
      "Plus I have a God-given talent for mimicry," he noted.
      Staycer spent more than 20 years as a disc jockey in town, most recently for an oldies radio station. He is currently working full time with his Lennon act, cutting a demo tape for promotion and rehearsing and perfecting his performance.
      When playing, Staycer is aware that his rendition of Lennon strikes a deep chord with the audience. He knows of two other musicians who have a Lennon tribute but said one performs an early Beatles set and the other concentrates on the Sergeant Pepper era. Staycer concentrates on Lennon style from after the Fab Four broke up.
      "I do have aspirations of taking this nationally," said Staycer, who completed a six-gig set last weekend in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "I want to spread the Beatles and John Lennon's music around to young and old - to keep the memories of John and George around, to keep that in people's minds."
      However, Staycer said he is thrilled by the local support he has received and Wednesday's audience was sprinkled with friends and acquaintances who came to hear and cheer. Even a former landlord he hadn't seen in decades came and stayed to talk afterward.
      "If this were my last performance ever, it would be enough to make it in my hometown," he added. "I am overwhelmed by the support, number one that Beatles fans came to check this out. I find it hard to put into words, the true friendship there."