Before there was New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and other popular boy bands, there was Paul Revere & the Raiders. Co-founded by lead singer Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere & the Raiders was one of the many pop bands to come out of the 1960s pop-rock era with catchy hits like “Kicks” and “Hungry.”
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Paul Revere & the Raiders were known for their wartime costumes and Lindsay’s signature ponytail and high leg kicks. Lindsay eventually split from the Raiders and embarked on a solo career. At the ripe age of 81, Lindsay is still kicking and maintaining his active fanbase. So what is he up to now?
Where is Mark Lindsay Now?
Lindsay currently hosts American Revolution, a radio show on SiriusXM that’s packed with nostalgia. The show has Lindsay putting together playlists featuring songs by some of his favorite artists. He also does a deep dive into 1960s pop culture, ranging from an oral history of “Louie Louie” to sharing the history of a popular teen nightclub chain in Cinnamon Cinder, where acts including the Beach Boys and the Drifters performed.
The Raiders’ music returned to the forefront when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Director Quentin Tarantino incorporated “Good Thing,” “Hungry” and “Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon” into the 2019 film and soundtrack. Writing the film from the perspective of celebrating Hollywood’s golden age in the ’60s, as well as spotlighting the horrific murder of Sharon Tate, Tarantino invited Lindsay to appear with him at a press event in Los Angeles to promote the film in 2019. Lindsay once lived with record producer Terry Melcher in the house in Los Angeles where Tate and five others were murdered by members of Charles Manson’s “Family” in 1969.
“Those two years were my golden years,” Lindsay said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I remember drinking rosè in the garden with Terry outside in that liquid sunshine and saying, ‘It doesn’t get better than this’ and thinking it’ll never get worse. It didn’t until 1969.”
“Paul Revere & the Raiders was exactly the kind of band that would have rocked my little socks off,” Tarantino praised. “And the reason Manson knew of Terry Melcher was because of Paul Revere & the Raiders.”
In 2021, Lindsay served as host of the 12-part documentary, Where the Action Was, which examines the impactful music and pop culture of the 1960s through the lens of Dick Clark’s popular variety show Where the Action Is and features interviews and archival footage from the era.
Over the past several years, Lindsay has toured on and off as part of the Happy Together Tour. Named after the Turtles’ hit 1967 single, the tour has a rotating lineup that’s featured the Turtles, Little Anthony, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, The Buckinghams, Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night and more. He was slated to perform during the 2021 and 2022 Happy Together Tour, along with the 2022 Flower Power Cruise, but had to back out due to degenerative issues in his ankles.
“I need to be able to allocate my remaining miles the most logical way possible for the long term, and adrenalized stomping around on stage most every night for weeks isn’t the best way to do it,” he explained in a 2021 Facebook post. “I’ve exhausted every option other than dialing back the miles I put on my ankles. I may potentially take a limited number of one-off live dates in the future, but only after evaluating each one carefully to determine if I can do it without creating more problems for myself… Don’t worry…I’m definitely not retiring!”
Lindsay’s solo hit “Silver Bird,” which reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, can be heard in the 2022 Netflix film, The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.
Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns
