 Born into a musical family, Mark "Sharkey" McEwen began learning to play the electric guitar from his older brother from the age of 11.In the mid to late 1970s, he performed in a number of rock and roll groups around his home turf of northern California, and was performing professionally by the age of 17.In 1980 McEwen moved to Hollywood, CA and in 1981 was a founding member of the LA based group Boy along with Freddy Moore, who released the EP "Boy Next Door" in 1983.