1971

January - Writing and rehearsing sessions.

January 9 - Performance at Deering High School, Portland, ME.

January 23 - Performance at Gloucester High School, Gloucester, MA.

January 30 - Performance at The Hyde School, Bath, ME.

February 12 - Performance at Deering High School, Portland, ME
with two other bands (names not recorded).

February 13 - Performance at Notre Dame High School, Berlin, NH.

February 19 - Performance at Bath High School, Bath, ME.

February 20 - Performance at Gardiner High School, Gardiner, ME.

February 20 - Mark decides to leave Love, Inc.

He is replaced by Mike and Bill's brother Ron,
and the entire complexion of the group is changed.
Dale and Bob also pick up instruments, and the group
continues in this configuration until it disbands in June.
It is a terrible blow to the entire band.

March 4 - Marc establishes Marco Polo Music.
All his future titles will be published under his new company.

March 13 - Performance at Newcastle High School, Newcastle, ME.

March 13 - Mark announces he will play his first solo gig at
Westbrook High School on March 20.

March 20 - Mike, Ron, and his wife Cathy to New York City
for a 3 day vacation.

March 20 - Mark performs his 1st solo gig at Westbrook High School
to a warm reception. Marc and Billy attend the performance.

March 26 - Performance at YWCA, Portland, ME.

Original newspaper clipping of the March 26 Dance.
From the scrapbook archives.

March 27 - Performance at St. Francis College, Biddeford, ME.

April 1 - Marco Polo Music officially affiliates with BMI.

April 5 - Marc celebrates his 20th Birthday.

April 16 - Mr. Mailhot on vacation in Boston.

April 17 - Performance at Sheraton Ballroom, Portland, ME
for the State CYO Convention.

May - Marc officially affiliates with BMI as a Writer and Publisher - Marco Polo Music.

May 5-6 - Marc up to EAB to remix "Mary Beth" and "Somewhere Went My Sunshine"
for the group's 3rd and final Single release. He becomes the first artist in Maine
to use the new 8 track board owner Ed Boucher recently installed.

May 14 - Performance at YWCA, Portland, ME.

May 22 - Performance at McAuley High School, Portland, ME.

May 24 - Love, Inc. celebrates their 3rd anniversary and announces
it will disband after the June 12 performance in Gloucester, MA.

June 4 - Performance at Gould Academy, Bethel, ME.

June 7 - The group rehearses new material for their final
performance in Gloucester.

June 12 - Performance at Blackburn Annex, Gloucester, MA.
Final public performance by Love, Inc.

Final performance in Gloucester June 12, 1971.
To R: Mike, Ron, Marc, Bob, Bill, and Dale.
End of the original era for the band.

Photos from the final performance. Top: Bob, Bill, and Dale.
Middle: Marc. - Bottom: Dale, Mike, and Bill.

Manager Philip Mailhot watches the boys at their Finale
in Gloucester, June 12, 1971.

June 13 - Mark and Patti announce their engagement.

June 14 - Single: "Thank You Mary Beth" - "Somewhere Went My Sunshine".

"Thank You Mary Beth" - "Somewhere Went My Sunshine" Single.
Marco Polo did not have a label, so it was released on
Brownstaff Records, a local label.

July 26 - Highest chart position at #16 for Thank You Mary Beth,
with no promotion from the band. All 3 of their Singles make
the Top 20, truly a "First", for a band from Maine.

The original Press Release for Marco Polo
in the Portland Evening Express, June 26, 1971

POSTSCRIPT

After Love, Inc. disbanded, the boys took their own
interests to heart, and went on to other projects.

Mike and Bill joined a Chicago-style band called Flagstone.
After that, they played with a band called Red Snapper.

In 1972 Mike joined the Army and served his Country until 1975,
and then studied at the University of Maine in Augusta.

After their one-off in 2006, the boys started writing new music,
and have done some new recordings.

Mike completed construction of his "Swell Studios" in Westbrook - Summer 2009.

He has since sold Swell Studios, and has moved to Florida to spend his retirement.

Bill continued to pursue music, and played with a number of bands.
In the mid 1970's he rejoined Mark and Marc with Peter Albert
to play in a Beatles cover band called "Rain".

In 1997 they reunited for two shows at the now closed Raoul's in Portland
as the band "Get Back", and packed the house for both occasions.

Bill and Marc played for a time together in "The Ed Lester Band"
in the late 1990's, and in 2000, Bill and Kathy moved to Nevada.

After the one-off in July of 2006, they moved back to Maine, and he
is again active in the music community here, writing and recording,
and playing again with "Captain Ray and The Castaways".

Mark met Patti at Marc's 17th Birthday party in 1968. They married
in 1973, and celebrate their 49th anniversary in July 2022.

Mark is guesting on Marc's Coral Sunset CD, and it will feature
at least one track the boys wrote together in late 1969.

After Rick left the band, he was in many other bands. After 20 years,
in 1988, he and Bill reunited, and were in a band called "The Mobb".

He also toured the country with a band called "Nightshift"
Since then, he has left the music business entirely.

Marc took the summer of 1971 off to rest, and in the fall of that year joined Pegasus.
In 1973 the band went to the Record Plant East in New York to record their only Single
with Dan Turbeville, who was involved with Don McLean's American Pie LP.
In the spring of 1973 he opened with Pegasus for Bob Seger and Edgar Winter.

Marc left Pegasus and went back to school at Lyndon State College, and is an Alumni.

Marc is President of Marco Polo Music, and keeps very active in the Maine
music community, and continues work on his Solo CD, "Coral Sunset".

In 2010 Marc celebrated 50 years of public performing, and continues
solo shows on piano and voice, plus an occasional drum gig.

Marc released his 1st new music in 40 years in April 2011, a CD Single "Sunshine"
and "Never Never Land 2007", a remake of his 1969 song with Love, Inc.
- Available online for download -

Wayne Sacco left the band in the summer of 1969 and
moved to Atlanta, GA. He passed away in 2007.

Bob Anderson became an Icon on Maine radio, and was
known as "The Duke of Portland" in the 1980's. He was
very instrumental in the group's radio airplay success.

Tragically, Bob died on the air from a heart attack on
March 29, 2003, at age 59.

After the one-off in 2006, the boys started writing again,
and have done some preliminary recordings and Demos.

They spent two weeks in August of 2007 in the Performance Hall at Starbird
Music in Portland rehearsing and arranging some of their new songs.
The name was also changed from Love, Inc. to BOTHN.
"Brothers Of The Holy Note"

Some new songs were written and basic tracks recorded.
Whether or not anything will ever be released is open to speculation
at this time, but the process of making new music has begun.

The Historic 40th Anniversary Photos

On May 25, 2008, 40 years and one day after their original debut
at St. Hyacinth Church Hall in Westbrook, Maine, Love, Inc.
returned to the Hall for a historic and nostalgic visit on the
very same stage where their careers began.

Amazingly, nothing had changed in 40 years. However, the timing was perfect,
as major renovations of the hall began during the summer of 2008,
including complete dismantling of the stage.

Another piece of their history, now only a memory.

During the renovations I had asked for 4 planks from the stage for each of us to
get a piece of history, but was told this was not possible, so all we have are photos.

In mid-December of 2008 I went back to the Hall to see the renovations
in progress, and did not recognize it. The stage and stairs leading to it,
the balconies on either side where we used to get a view of our equipment,
and the old high ceiling is gone, totally gone.

To enter the Hall now in 2011, one would never know what it was
like before. Ironically, our photo shoot was the last official function
in the old hall and on the stage.

Following are some photos from the shoot.

The Original Debut, Friday, May 24, 1968 St, Hyacinth Hall, Westbrook, Maine.
L to R: Bill, Marc, Mark, and Mike. This is also the "Official" Debut photo.

The Return, May 25, 2008 - L to R: Bill, Marc, Mark, and Mike.

Going back in time. - The Boys, with the retro photo!

Mike's "Golden Warrior", his 1968 Les Paul,
another piece of Vintage gear!

Bill and Mark one more time.

Mike and Bill onstage again!

L to R: Marc, Jane Mailhot, "Love, Inc. Wardrobe Mistress", Bill,
Philip Mailhot, "Love, Inc. Manager", Mark, and Mike, together one more time.

After the photo shoot

Mark with wishful thinking.

Two views of the stage area at the now empty St. Hyacinth Hall, January 2009.

Renovationsare complete in the Hall and include a new ceiling floor,
kitchen and restrooms. The Hall now includes offices on the newly built
2nd floor, and an elevator in the back which leads to the Church upstairs
where the storage area was.

A Chapel now occupies this area where the stage was.

Entrance to our dressing area next to the stage
now sits alone and elevated where the stage used to be.

She Don't Care About Me 40th Anniversary Commemorated

WBLM Radio in Portland, Maine commemorated the 40th Anniversary of
the release of the Boy's 1st Single by hosting Marc on Charlie Gaylord's
local music program "Greetings From Area Code 207" on June 24, 2009,
the actual anniversary.

Click on the link to hear the broadcast and Single.

CLICK TO HEAR

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