Riders of the Mark 20th Century Fox 45 Gotta Find Somebody

The Riders of the Mark and John Hill

Riders of the Mark 20th Century Fox 45 Gotta Find Somebody

In November 1967 a single by the Riders of the Mark came out on 20th Century Fox Records 45-6694. One side is the very accessible “Gotta Find Somebody”; the flip is the wild two minutes of “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”.

Teen Beat Mayhem lists locations of Moorestown, New Jersey which is east of Philadelphia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, over an hour’s drive to the west. 


Riders of the Mark 20th Century Fox 45 The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion that Make Up Herr Dokter KriegThe Riders of the Mark may have been a real group, but the credits on their 20th Century Fox single don’t support that idea, and instead point to John Hill, Don Cochrane and their associates.

John Hill wrote “Gotta Find Somebody”; John Hill and Don Cochrane wrote “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”. Blackwood Music published both songs, and the Blackwood connection features in the lead for news items on the recording in Cash Box and Record World. Tony Luis and John Hill produced both sides, and Hill arranged “… Herr Doktor Krieg”.

Riders of the Mark Record World 1967 November 4
Record World, November 4, 1967

John Hill and Don Cochrane composed “Love, Love, Love, Love, Love” for the Nite People, also done by Wool, and John Hill released it under his own name on a Columbia 45 backed with “I’m a Bear”.

Hill produced and played guitar on Margo Guryan’s 1968 LP Take a Picture, and produced the sessions that would be released as Susan Christie’s Paint a Lady. Studio musicians included Kirk Hamilton on bass and Jim Valerio on drums. These were done at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, but since that studio opened in 1968, I have to assume the Riders of the Mark single was recorded elsewhere.

In 2009, Finders Keepers Records released some of his 1970 sessions at Sigma Sound as John Hill’s 6 Moons of Jupiter.

John Hill Riders of the Mark Cash Box 1967 December 2
Cash Box, December 2, 1967

One thought on “The Riders of the Mark and John Hill”

  1. Thank you for this research. There are many John Hills out there on the music scene, but I’ve been looking for info on this one. I have “Love x 5” which I like, but my favorite record that I know is his is credited to The Bag, “Incubatin’ Middle of the Night Gyratin’ Blues” [Jerden 45-769, 1965, produced by Jerry Dennen. It’s a Dylan pastiche, way discordant, and maybe funny/maybe not which is its magic for me. Obviously, it landed without a splash, but what a fun record! Thanks again for your work on his guy’s history.

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