Marcus Montana

Marcus Montana was the stage name of an Australian pop performer, who was arguably a one hit wonder. While he is only remembered for one song, it was not a commercial hit. He has been long remembered in the Sydney area, being extensively covered in the local papers during and long after his debut [1] and the subject of a long retrospective in 2005 in the Sydney Morning Herald.[2]

Marcus Montana's real name was Marcus Lagudi, the son of an Australian-Italian immigrant greengrocer from Sydney's eastern suburbs. Lagudi was the middle of three brothers; all attended the prestigious private eastern suburbs school, Waverley College.

Poster Campaign

Montana is largely remembered as an early example of viral marketing, as the launch of his brief career in 1989 was preceded by a poster campaign in Sydneymarker, Australia, which covered thousands of walls, billboards and telegraph poles with posters which said "Marcus is Coming".

The campaign, as it was intended, generated discussion on radio and expectation in the media and community. While the campaign itself was successful in making the debut of Montana a talking point, his subsequent music career was a near-total failure.

Debut Single

Lagudi had recorded his debut single, "Tell Him I'm Your Man", in secret at Music Mill Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The single peaked at number 146 on the Australian ARIA singles chart. [3] During his brief pop career Marcus worked with a number of respected music industry figures including Michael Vidale, the bass player with Jimmy and the Boys, and Tim Freedman, who would later be in the iconic band, The Whitlams.

Criticism

The release of the single in Australia - heralded by a second poster campaign that said "Marcus is Here!" - provoked a barrage of criticism from music reviewers. Respected rock paper On The Street described the song as a "sack of shit."

Largely because of the poster campaign and his apparent inexperience, Marcus Montana quickly became a figure of ridicule.

Appearances

Lagudi played a series of gigs in Sydney - an outdoor concert at Darling Harbour and a series of performances in Westfield malls - but they were noteworthy more for the audience heckling Montana than anything else. His final gig was at the respected pop bar Selina's, in Coogee.

References
  1. Jurman, Elizabeth (15 March 1991), "Today's People", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, p. 22 Cockington, James (4 December 1989), "Today's People", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, p. 28 Cockington, James (23 October 1989), "Today's People", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Holmes, Peter (10 June 1994), "And the Bands Played On and On", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, p. 3 Cockington, James (28 November 1989), "Today's People", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, p. 26 Cockington, James (30 August 1989), "Today's People", The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, p. 36
  2. The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 May 2005 http://blogs.smh.com.au/radar/archives/2005/05/the_star_who_ne.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Week commencing 16 October 1989". bubblingdownunder.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
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