Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was an American hip-hop group led by Mark Wahlberg. The Funky Bunch consisted of Wahlberg (alias Marky Mark), Donnie Wahlberg, Scott Ross (alias Scottie Gee), Hector Barros (alias Hector the Booty Inspector), Terry Yancey (alias DJ-T), Dan Hartzman (alias Dan-o Fresh), and Anthony Thomas (alias Ashey Ace). The group's best known song is "Good Vibrations", which made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch released their debut album, Music for the People on July 23, 1991. The album was a huge success for the group, making it to No. 1 on the Top Heatseekers chart and No. 21 on the Billboard 200. The album's success was fueled by two top-10 singles, both of which were certified gold, "Good Vibrations", which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Wildside" which went to No. 10 on the Hot 100. The album itself first went gold on November 15, 1991 before being certified platinum on January 14, 1992. At the height of the group's success, they also had a video game released by Digital Pictures entitled Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch: Make My Video, but the game was not a success and has been considered one of the worst video games ever made.
After the success of Music for the People, the group quickly recorded a follow-up entitled You Gotta Believe that was released on September 15, 1992. However, the album achieved little success, only making it as high as No. 67 on the Billboard 200, as did the album's lone single also titled "You Gotta Believe" which went to 49 on the Hot 100. The group disbanded in 1993 with their last appearance being "I Want You", which was featured on the Super Mario Bros. movie soundtrack. After the group disbanded, Marky Mark continued his music career by teaming with reggae musician Prince Ital Joe. The duo released two albums in Europe and had a No. 1 hit in Germany with "United". Marky Mark continued to release music until retiring in 1998 and becoming a successful actor in the United States.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications
(sales threshold) |
|---|
| US | US R&B | US Heat | AUT | SWE | UK |
|---|
| 1991 | Music for the People
- Release date: July 23, 1991
- Label: Interscope Records
| 21 | — | 1 | 35 | 35 | 61 |
- CAN: Platinum
- US: Platinum
|
| 1992 | You Gotta Believe
- Release date: September 15, 1992
- Label: Interscope Records
| 67 | 66 | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications
(sales threshold) | Album |
|---|
| US | AUS | AUT | CAN | GER | IRE | NOR | NZ | SWE | UK |
|---|
| 1991 | "Good Vibrations" | 1 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 14 |
| Music for the People |
| "Wildside" | 10 | 28 | 26 | 30 | 33 | 26 | 10 | — | 22 | 42 |
|
| 1993 | "I Need Money" | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Peace" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You Gotta Believe" | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | 54 | | You Gotta Believe |
| "Gonna Have a Good Time" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | "No Mercy" | — | — | — | — | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album song |
| 1996 | "Hey DJ" | — | — | — | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album song |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles with Prince Ital Joe
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|
| AUT | BEL
(Vl) | DEN | FIN | GER | NED | SUI | SWE |
|---|
| 1993 | "Happy People" | 23 | — | — | — | 4 | — | 22 | 24 |
| Life in the Streets |
| 1994 | "Life in the Streets" | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | 5 | 36 |
|
| "United" | 6 | 23 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
|
| 1995 | "Babylon" | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | 35 | — | |
| "Rastaman Vibrations" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|
| 1993 | You Gotta Believe | Best Rap Solo Performance | Nominated |
MTV Video Music Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|
| 1992 | Good Vibrations | Best Dance Video | Nominated |
| 1992 | Good Vibrations | Best Rap Video | Nominated |
American Music Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|
| 1992 | Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch | Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist | Nominated |
Smash Hits Poll
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|
| 1992 | Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch | Best Dance Act | Lost |
Source : Wikipedia.
