The Smiley Smile Message Board

Spare a thought today for Markus, lost in the great tsunami ten years ago.

I remember Brian being on Larry King talking about Markus.

This day 10 years ago was so surreal. Can't believe it's been 10 years.

I was able to get to know the Stockholm Strings gang a little bit during the week when I videoed dozens of hours of backstage material for the Smile DVD concert in Burbank. He was a quiet and serious gentleman, usually the first musician to appear onstage to start practicing his (familiar) riffs. Starting at about 4:30 in this clip, you can see Markus alone, practicing, and then the rest of the Strings start coming in, and then they "accompany" my little silent portrait of Brian doing a lighting check and getting himself ready to perform. Nice moments right before the start of the first show at Burbank. My fan life with Brian had come full circle that week, being able to spend so much time with the band and seeing Brian finally realize the Smile dream that we fans had also been having all those years. Never thought I'd see the day, and never thought I would be able to have what was essentially a private experience with the making of that music right in front of me. The Stockholm Strings were really a lovely part of that whole mellow vibe that made Smile live possible for Brian Wilson and his band.

https://vimeo.com/24367561

Andrew , many thanks for starting this thread.
I was only thinking of Markus a few days ago when the media mentioned that the 10th anniversary of the tsunami was coming up (phew those 10 years have gone so so quickly)
Thoughts for all people effected by those horrid events.

What a shock and what a sorrow-filled startler that news was.  So many of us had been to see Brian and his AWESOME crew perform 'Smile' here, there, and everywhere and then came the news that Markus was gone!!! :(

Smile ... Markus.  It didn't make any sense.  It still doesn't.

Good call Andrew.

Amen

Brian singing "Love and Mercy" for Markus in 2005.
Beautiful, emotional performance.  My eyes got watery watching it.
http://youtu.be/1dRI1TpdoxE

Thanks so much for remembering Markus.  I hope I'm not out of line here, but what many of you may not know is that Brian and family, brokenhearted, did everything they could to help the family and his fiancee find or recover Markus...Sadly, when a massive tsunami is involved even the full resources of governments can only do so much...

I remember they sent someone out to search for him. Hopeless quest, of course, but a wonderful gesture.

Yes, they went to unbelievable lengths.  They called in every resource, and money was no object.  So you're no longer, yon?

The Stockholm Strings brought a lot to those magnificent Smile performances.  Playing with the vegetables, wearing the fire hats, their relatively youthful enthusiasm...I always get a big kick out of them when I watch the videos.

Yes rest in peace.  The enormity of the Tsunami makes me think about the old Brian post-Smile quote on "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."  That a fire didn't have be raging, you could light a candle.  Conversely, this water wasn't in a glass.  Nature is beautiful and terrifyingly powerful....

I wasn't entirely sure - my memory isn't the best - so I checked and it was announced on June 1st 2005 that Markus had been found. He was buried in his hometown of Norrfjärden in Sweden on June 16th.