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Mark Tulin, Electric Prunes and Smashing Pumpkins Bassist, Dead at 62

Mark TulinAmanda Edwards, Getty Images

Mark Tulin, the bassist for early psychedelic rock innovators the Electric Prunes and later for Smashing Pumpkins, has passed away at 62. Tulin, who spent recent years as a trained deep-sea diver, collapsed after assisting with an underwater clean-up in Avalon, Calif., outside Catalina Island. The news was announced by the USC-CHC, an emergency medical facility for the treatment of scuba accidents.

Fans of '60s mind trips will no doubt remember Tulin's bass work on Prunes numbers like 'Get Me to the World on Time' and 'I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night),' both early psychedelic hits and indicative of the band's sound. Tulin played with the group until it dissolved in 1971 and was part of a reunion during the 2000s that yielded a well-reviewed comeback album, 'Feedback.'

In recent years, Tulin was also a frequent collaborator with Billy Corgan in his revamped Smashing Pumpkins lineup. He held down the low-end on that group's 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' and performed with the band on a 2010 episode of 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.' A devastated Corgan penned a personal obituary on his website.

"Mark was part of a movement of suburban kids in the mid to late '60s that changed the world with their dark musical dreaming, and of course their Anglophile obsessions," Corgan wrote. "From their imaginations sprang so many technicolor daydreams and all manner of wishing; wishing that we were often what we are not. Professor Psychedelic was his nickname, and he wore it proudly ... Some bands just have the 'it' factor, and to those in the know, the Electric Prunes had it in spades before the blueprint was cast in cliched stone."

The Electric Prunes Perform 'I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)'


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Leonard Los

May God Bless Your Soul Mark, Rest In Peace.

April 03 2011 at 1:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Harri Maki

I spoke with Mark last week as my partner Polo Jones and Mark's new band with Merrilee Rush,Richard Moore,Michael Lewis,Duane Waider,Terry Rangno were finishing up their latest video and tour schedules.
I know his energy will comfort these "Road Warriors",
(The Troggs,Quicksilver Messenger Service,We Five and Mark's Electric Prunes
and of recent Smashing Pumpkins) for this next chapter.
Stay tuned as Love is stronger.

March 01 2011 at 1:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply