Any fans here of 80's DIY garage rockers Dead Moon?  I never knew anything about them until their early LP's began to be re-released, which led me to come across their 'Defiance' LP at a record store a few years back, I just felt a good vibe about them so I picked it up.  I was blown away and have been a huge fan ever since.

I'm a fan. 

There's a documentary about them  I got from Netflix a few years ago. here's the trailer:

Fred and Toody have been playing in a new band called Pierced Arrows that sounds just like Dead Moon (basically just changed drummers) They have a couple of albums out.

(hell, I accidently posted twice. Any way to delete posts?

I come from their hometown of Portland, OR and I'll tell ya: they're legends around those parts. Their first album "In The Graveyard" is probly my favorite, and their version of Parchman Farm blows the original out of the water. For the sake of completeness, you may want to check out Fred Cole's current band Pierced Arrows - they're a little more toned down & singer/songwriter-ish compared to Dead Moon, but still great lo-fi blues rock.

The original Parchment Farm? Do you mean Mose Allson's?

Yes, Mose's version always struck me as kind of an anti-blues... too giddy and upbeat for the subject matter. Lots of people have covered it, The Kingston Trio's mod version is pretty great too, but Dead Moon's rendition really sells the story of being stuck in a work farm chain gang in one of the gnarliest prisons of the time. Nothing against Mose, his catalog speaks for itself. I just think he flopped it on this one.

I got to see pierced arrows a year or so ago in a tiny club in N.C. They were awesome. They did quite a bit of new stuff and played a few dead moon songs (54 40 or fight!) all to a crowd of about 12 people but they played like it was 12,000. 

I keep meaning to see  Unknown Passage, I don't believe its on UK netflix and there is no uploads on youtube :(

The Pierced Arrows still play out pretty often here in Portland, OR... they open'd for The Sonics when they played.

I would love to see the Pierced Arrows but they never stop over at lil' ol' England when they visit Europe. I haven't listened to their albums before, its on the list.

I did like the band Fred and Toody did pre Dead Moon; the Rats.  They have a bit more of a punk vibe than Dead Moon.

I just checked out The Rats (YouBuBe).  I never heard them before. Yeah, good sound. Comment that on their Facebook page (that's what I do).... Hey when are going you coming to play in London;-) All the members are fairly approachable.  They obviously still like to play out.  Fred was standing next to me in the crowd at The Sonics show and I turned around and said hi to him and told the person I was there with that he probably has tinnitus or something.  Then, he looked straight at me and said Hi, very friendly.. hahaha OOOPs!  Their new drummer is a younger guy and probably would love to do a mini-tour. Just assuming. I don't know.

Danny said:

I keep meaning to see  Unknown Passage, I don't believe its on UK netflix and there is no uploads on youtube :(

 

 

Danny said:

I keep meaning to see  Unknown Passage, I don't believe its on UK netflix and there is no uploads on youtube :(

 

 

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ORDER IT ON DVD DIRECTLY FROM FRED AND TOODY VIA TOMBSTONE RECORDS MAILORDER.

Lutz Vipinderwoman said:

I just checked out The Rats (YouBuBe).  I never heard them before. Yeah, good sound. Comment that on their Facebook page (that's what I do).... Hey when are going you coming to play in London;-) All the members are fairly approachable.  They obviously still like to play out.  Fred was standing next to me in the crowd at The Sonics show and I turned around and said hi to him and told the person I was there with that he probably has tinnitus or something.  Then, he looked straight at me and said Hi, very friendly.. hahaha OOOPs!  Their new drummer is a younger guy and probably would love to do a mini-tour. Just assuming. I don't know.

FRED HAS HAD A HEARING AID SINCE THE LATE '90s. HE LOOKS LIKE MY FATHER , SOMETIMES , WHEN TOODY TRIES TO TELL HIM SOMETHING , FROM A DISTANCE. "WHAAA?!!". THEIR DRUMMER'S NAME IS KELLI HALLIBURTON. HE'S A VERY FUNNY GUY. ONCE I WAS TALKING TO HIM , AND A FRIEND SAT DOWN AND JOINED US , TELLING HIM "YOU REALLY REMIND ME OF ANDREW FROM DEAD MOON!" , NOT KNOWING WHO HE WAS. FRED AND TOODY HAVE ALWAYS MADE MORE OF AN EFFORT TO SEE THE OPENING BANDS AND HANG OUT WITH THEIR FANS THAN MOST BANDS  WOULD.....

PIERCED ARROWS PLAYED HERE IN CHICAGO FOUR TIMES , I THINK , SINCE FORMING , BUT , THEY HAVE'NT BEEN HERE IN A FEW YEARS.

.....I FIRST GOT TURNED ON TO FRED'S WORK IN THE 80'S ,  BY WAY OF THE LOLLIPOP SHOPPE. I DON'T KNOW WHY THEIR NAME TURNS UP SO INFREQUENTLY . IF THEY WERE'NT A GREAT BAND , I GUESS , THEN , I'D UNDERSTAND. I LIKE EVERYTHING BY COLE THAT I'VE HEARD - RATS , ZIPPER , RANGE RATS , KINGBEE....WHEN I LEARNED IN THE EARLY 90'S THAT HE HAD A NEW BAND CALLED DEAD MOON , I FLIPPED OUT , ESPECIALLY WHEN I FOUND OUT HOW STRONG ALL THEIR STUFF WAS/IS.

The Rats LP 'Intermittent Signals' is great too, you can certainly see that this is where they formed the sound which we associate with Dead Moon.

Good advice!  I've made a comment on their facebook page and plan to do so every week until they finally cave in and visit London just to stop a lunatic from continuing to post 'come to London!' on their facebook group :)

Lutz Vipinderwoman said:

I just checked out The Rats (YouBuBe).  I never heard them before. Yeah, good sound. Comment that on their Facebook page (that's what I do).... Hey when are going you coming to play in London;-) All the members are fairly approachable.  They obviously still like to play out.  Fred was standing next to me in the crowd at The Sonics show and I turned around and said hi to him and told the person I was there with that he probably has tinnitus or something.  Then, he looked straight at me and said Hi, very friendly.. hahaha OOOPs!  Their new drummer is a younger guy and probably would love to do a mini-tour. Just assuming. I don't know.

Yeah, and then what you do is get increasingly more confrontational about it and don't forget to send that personal email message saying something like. . . Hey, Why haven't you responded to my request?  I feel like you're ignoring me. 

Actually you can be more and more covert about it, like make different pages of actual "people" from London, so EVERYONE (apparently) wants them to come. . . soon enough they'll do a European tour and what will their 1st stop will be. hint, hint, o right, London.

Perfect scheme.

My nefarious scheme would collapse once they are in London and I'm the only one at their gig.

But it will be too late for them to oull out so I'll be the only one there jumping like a mad man and shouting requests for Dead Moon songs.  Sounds like a dream come true!

OK.....I'm just gonna dip my toe in the pond , so to speak , but , I don't see why Pierced Arrows would'nt be a big draw in London. Dead Moon , before them , used to play Europe ( Western and Eastern , inc.  former Soviet Bloc countries. In fact , I recall them playing Bosnia when it was still Yugoslavia , and whatever surrounding countries they could get into.) more than they would the US , beyond The Northwest and The West Coast , I mean.    They did'nt play here , in Chicago , until 1997. I told Fred Cole , "Please don't wait until you've played China and Cuba before you come back.". He did'nt.  Most people who've seen Pierced Arrows agree , they're not radically different than Dead Moon , live , and they always do a couple of Dead Moon songs. You would'nt be the only one calling out other Dead Moon staples , but , they've made it clear , this is a different band , and they're only going to hearken briefly to Dead Moon , just as Dead Moon did "You Must Be a Witch" and "Don't Look Back" (Tho' I don't recall hearing them do the latter, live.). I think Fred knows the PEOPLE are on his side , but , it's more a matter of a reputable booking agent (Not an oxymoron , a MAXI - moron.) approaching them with a deal that was worth their while. You can write or e-mail Fred and Toody , personally , saying you'd like to see them play London ,and that you're not alone.