Links: King Biscuit Boy, More KBB Stories, Video above courtesy of Lori Newcomb
Links: Nine Big Dogs, Video above courtesy of Yrret Noskcaj
Former member Mike Daley had this to say on social media:
Baytides Cafe on King St. at Victoria was a coffeehouse with nightly performances by the likes of Edgar Breau, Russ Brice, Ken Brown, myself and Alex Bako. Ken, a talented guitarist/flautist, put together a project with Alex around '89 called the Bogus around Alex's funny and sardonic songs. Alex, who was also an actor, knew bassist Tim Hopkins from the Toy Town Troupers, who brought in Greg Allworth, a drummer that he knew from the York music programme.
The band was renamed Nine Big Dogs and they entered a battle of the bands at Mohawk College. They won, and the prize was a recording session leading to a demo tape. That demo tape was heard by Jim Skarratt, who decided that he wanted to add Nine Big Dogs to his roster, which would eventually include Guitar Mikey, the Phantoms and electric violinist Mark Wood.
Ken quit the band at that point and I, a 21-year-old jazz student at Mohawk, was asked to join on electric guitar. We signed recording, publishing and management contracts with Spy, a classic conflict of interest. Our album was recorded and mixed in Fort Erie at River Audio with Ed Stone over a couple of weekends. It came out in 1991, distributed by A&M, on CD and cassette.
"Dougie's Lament" was picked up by Don Berns at CFNY and given regular rotation for a time, which helped us to get bookings at the Horseshoe, Lee's Palace, a couple of months of Mondays at Ultrasound, the Rivoli and many more.
Spy took us out to Halifax in a tour bus where we showcased at the COCA conference for university and college bookers, where we met (and were blown off the stage by) an unsigned band doing a similar act named the Barenaked Ladies.
Dissatisfaction was growing as very little money was coming in for these strenuous efforts, and in '92 Tim Hopkins quit the group to be replaced by a young bassist named Mike Arsenault. A highlight with Mike was a live recording for CFNY at the Ultrasound complete with recording truck. Finally Alex quit the band and the whole thing was over. For me in retrospect it was a valuable lesson in the risks and rewards of the music business and a lot of fun while it lasted.
Featuring: Cindy Dell (Host), Lee Anne Wesseling, John Loucks, Duane Rutter, Stephen Hogg, Sue Sweetman, JP Riemens, Terry Sumsion, Kris St. Louis, James Anthony, Judi Rideout, and more.
Video above courtesy of Cindy Dell
As I watched the Wizard of Oz as an 8 year old child, and heard Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow for the first time, I knew right then and there, I wanted to be a singer when I grew up. It was a defining moment in my life - she inspired me to become a singer and performer.
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| Larry Ellis, Hulton Archive, Getty Images |
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