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Sg, sparked a memory in me while talking about Canadian accents.
I thought about one of my favorite bands the Raving Mojo’s, I knew Blair Martin (singer) was doing time in the slammer for bank robbery
, he actually wrote me a letter from prison, as I was living with younger brother of bass player Ken Fox, I always tried to be upbeat and as I remember it was a "Please send me some good vibes" kind of letter. My heavy life in NYC did not allow for me to follow up with any more correspondance but when I put the band in search and hit enter today, I find out they are playing again???? Reading under history of band there is no mention of a prison term, could I have dreamed up the whole thing? The year of the Robbery must have been around 1986 or so. I am such a heavy dreamer (also I was fairly f’ed up for most of the late 80’s) that for some reason I am not sure if the whole thing ever happened. How many years do Canadians get for bank Robbery? Hmmmm.Anyway, the band is/was great, who knows now, I do wish I could hear them again, I see they are hawking a CD, perhaps I will have a listen.
Anyone else out there familiar with them????"malcom" wrote:Quote:I never heard of the Raving MojosTake note, everybody!
It was`nt until 1990 that I started hearing about underground canadian bands so some `80s bands must have passed me by.Anyone remember The Gruesomes?Any band with a Flintstones reference must be good
plus they had a guitarist dressed up like one of the early Beatles who did`nt quite look like the rest of the band.well, i’ve never heard of them either, but here’s what one guy had to say …
btw, this is from the sept 2004 issue of "in music we trust" which can be found here
http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/61f01.htmlQuote:Canada Calling! With Your Host, Bruce "e-Mole" MowatThis Month’s Topic: The Raving Mojos’ Church of the Latter Day Rock
By: B.F. "Mole" Mowat
I first saw The Raving Mojos perform at the Golden Garter on Dundurn Street South in Hamilton Ontario more than 20 years ago. Back then, the "Gutter" was thee place to see non-rote rock and pop acts: The Iguana Puppets, The HooDoos, Common Language (featuring Dan Lanois’ squeeze of the hour, Debbie Griffith), Sylvain Sylvain & the Teardrops (on a New Year’s Eve, no less!) I could go on.
The Raving Mojos were completely out of step with the zeitgist: a lead singer with a Brian Jones pageboy ‘doo, and a sound that reached back to the proto-punk continuum of the "Nuggets" LP/Velvets/Stooges/Dolls and country/blues roots sources (via way of the Stones). Absolutely no concessions were made to whatever electro-poop, hardcore, or goth stylings were floating around at the time. The most amazing thing about them was the fact they came from Toronto, a city with a music scene known for its penchant of hopping on bandwagons of convenience.
They’d mix self-penned rockers such as Yeah-Yeah-Uh-Huh (excellent title and featured on the disc!) and Real Wild Time (ditto, but sadly missed) with choice covers as Open Up Your Door (originally done by NJ 60’s garage giants, Richard & the Young Lions) (and yup, it’s on the disc!). They would also do The Stooges free-form freakout from Funhouse, "L.A. Blues" on request!
Yeah, The Raving Mojos were goddamn great, but the band dissolved in 1985, after recording slews of demos and playing to ever-decreasing crowds, most of which were drawn from the ranks of the Hamilton Cultural Appreciation Society (HCAS). Well, the "Gutter" has gone the way of the Dodo bird, (it’s a Zarky’s food mart now — not a bad thing!) but The Raving Mojos banner has been raised once again by original members guitarist Kurt Schefter and sanger Blair Richard Martin. With the release of The Last Rock N’ Roll Show Ever, the band’s debut CD, the rest of the world can now experience the finest old-school rock outfit to come out of "Toranna" since The Ugly Ducklings.
What happened in those years in-between then n’ now? Well, original bassist Ken Fox went on to join Jason & The Scorchers and later became a member of The Fleshtones. Kurt paid the bills playing Black Velvet over n’ over n’ over again in Alannah Myles’ band, while Martin played drums briefly in Teenage Head, shook off a nasty heroin habit, and joined a Cuban Son band, Klave Y Kongo. Original drummer Myles Dutton played on the new CD, but, alas, does not perform live with the band anymore.
Now, reunion CDs tend to be dodgy propositions, so I was hesitant at the prospect of wading through TLR&RSE. Silly me, I shouldna worried: of the 11 tracks present at least 8 of ’em are keepers. You get all the good stuff I mentioned before, and some ache great ballads. It’s kind of structured like the Stones’ Sticky Fingers LP (and NOT Let It Bleed-tsk tsk Tim P, for not knowing your Stones LPs! DUDE!) The first half opens with a Doll-ish take on the Velvets party anthem "We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together" followed by the bum-pounding Lions cover. The band then swings into the choice poop-kickin’ ballad, "Sweet Suzanne", picks up speed again with "Uh Huh", and closes off the half with the extended work-out "Keep On Workin’ "- (presumably the equiv. of "Can You Hear Me Knockin’.") The latter song doesn’t, uh work for me, but the batting percentage so far is good, so–
"Won’t Be Coming Home No More" sports a latino rhythm, presumably cross-ref’ing from Martin’s past experience. "Sentimental Journey" & "Another Sad Song" continue in ballad mode a la Nikki Sudden’s solo work w/ref’s to self-pity, inertia, all that good mopin’ stuff. "How Do I Move?, picks the tempo up (Answer: it moves fine) "Outta My Head" is a MC5 tribute/cop: I’m not totally enamoured by it, but the thought was nice & they DID pay attention to detail, soo–
The CD closer "Long Way Down" may be the single best thing on the disc. It’s a confessional ballad, done up with plaintively strummed acoustic guitar and a chamber string quartet arrangement courtesy of Kurt. Lacking the funds to hire a full orchestra a la the Stones’"Moonlight Mile", (see what I mean by the Sticky Fingers ref?). Mr. Schefter did all the parts hisself, and it sounds swell. The overall effect compliments Mr. Martin’s harrowing tale of kicking the habit in various North American centres. The sad thing is the national broadcast medium referred to as the "CBC" (and I don’t mean Terre T’s"Cherry Blossom Clinic", Saturday’s from 5 to 7 p.m. at http://www.wfmu.org) will probably not play this piece, as it does not fit any of their anally "formatted" shows. I have no such problems, though, and that piece (among others) WAS featured on Underground Parking. So there.
I saw the band for the first time in 19 years at the Underground in Hamilton, Ontario on June 13, 2003. They looked older and Martin doesn’t flop n’ jump about like he used too, but it was still tres cool. Martin looked a freshly-sprung POW doing Sinatra poses! The band did a Simon & Garfunkel song and made it sound like vintage Shake Some Action-era Flamin’ Groovies! Ahoy! .
Tangiers Rhymes With "Beers": specifically Guinness and Harp, if my beady eyes do not deceive me. Were I to switch one of those Guinnys for a Beamish, though, I’m sure the lads would thank me, but I’m off-topic here. Stouts ain’t what they used to be, and neither is the state of Rock ‘n’ Roll in this country but Hot New Spirits, the latest from this foam-swilling Toranna foursome is –okay. I like the tracks with the Amerindie buzz feel to them best, e.g."Eyes Shut" "Anxiety". The songs with the drum arrangements that sound derived from Clash-influenced outfits slay me none, though. You may think differently and this and OTHER fine Sonic Unyon recordings are available thru: Allegra/Nail in the States.
You may have noticed articles in this ‘zine in the past few months on Daniel Lanois and Manitoba- both hail from my hometown of Hamilton! I try not to play favourites, but it’s damn difficult when your hometown TOTALLY DOMINATES the National music scene(s – "post-rock cultural pluralism"). So, here’s the deal: Prove me that I’m wrong! I’m looking for acts from the Territories, the interior of British Columbia, Fort MacMurray, Quebec (talk about separate scenes!), P.E.I., and Fredericton, N.B. If you are from those places, send me your work o’genius: c/o Creative Radio, #3, 431 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8L 2Y5.
I was just telling a friend this weekend that it is never proper to say "those were the days" because these are the days that will become those days in the future. "Stay present", I said, but after reading that above mojo stuff, I am compelled to say "Man, those really were the days"
I really am having FUN with my 4 children, 2 dogs and 1 husband, it’s just a different kind of fun!
I don’t remember the Raving Mojo’s either.
I do recall some punk bands from the Toronto Scene in the early days…The Viletones, The Demics (I still die for their song New York City
) Teenage Head, Platinum Blonde .Really followed the west coast scene more than anthing in Ontario, don’t know why
The Gruesomes came thru here in the late 80’s or early 90’s, did go see them, it was a funtime, in a retro campy kinda way
"Coma Girl" wrote:I don’t remember the Raving Mojo’s either.I do recall some punk bands from the Toronto Scene in the early days…The Viletones, The Demics (I still die for their song New York City
) Teenage Head, Platinum Blonde .Really followed the west coast scene more than anthing in Ontario, don’t know why
The Gruesomes came thru here in the late 80’s or early 90’s, did go see them, it was a funtime, in a retro campy kinda way
That Demics song is a classic even if alot of people have`nt heard it
Like they say about Ontario bands around here:THEY SUCK!
just kidding!there`s some good bands there,just some of them suck "SG" wrote:Like they say about Ontario bands around here:THEY SUCK! just kidding!there`s some good bands there,just some of them suck Thats a bummer because I love Ontario, Toronto, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Its just too damn cold up there but oh, so civilized.
I went to school with Peggy Ann Berton, one of Pierre Berton’s daughters, about two weeks into our freshman year, inside a theory class she was going on and on about something, I interrupted her and she looked at me and said "You obviously don’t know who my father is"
I looked at her and said "you obviously don’t know who my father is" after laughing about it, We spent the next several years as friends. Thats how I got to love Canada so much. Through Peg.Pierre Burton was cool.He tried to promote canadian culture the best he could while everyone just seems to follow american culture.
Ontario did have some cool bands over the years.Hamilton in the `70s had Simply Saucer who were doing the kinda weird stuff Can and Faust were doing in Germany.In the `90s Katrocket,Mean Red Spiders,Squirrel,Scratching Post,etc.(all from various parts of Ontario) made some fine records.
Not all of Canada is civilized.I used to live out in the rural area years ago,they used to shoot out the power transformers to knock out the power it was rednecky out that way.Yeah,he died not long ago(in November?).I remember first seeing him on tv as kid with his trademark bowtie and suit and he seemed so knowlegable about canadian history.And yeah a don`t give a shit attitude
I probably thought as him as a boring guy as a kid but now I`m older I can see that he was cool.I heard that Neil Young`s dad knew him and he took care of young Neil "SG" wrote:Like they say about Ontario bands around here:THEY SUCK! just kidding!there`s some good bands there,just some of them suck I almost included that center of the universe deal that people around here always joke about with Toronto…
Friend of mine lives in Hamilton, occasionally plays with a band called The Ray Burns…tribute to a certain Captain Sensible
Hope to check them out this spring Pierre Burton died just before George W came to Canada, the shrub was pushed back to a side story on the national news…gotta love that
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