If you don't know Fred Cole , or don't want to know about him , please ignore this. As most  of you know , Fred is one of the five or six , if there's still even that many , true Founding Fathers and Elder Statesmen of Garage Punk , Garage Rock ,whatever the Hell you want to call it. He was through with it before we ALL knew what to DO with it. From Northwest Psych /Punk Legends , The Lollipop Shoppe (aka The Weeds.) , to lo- fi Hard Rockers , Kingbee and Zipper , to Punk /New Wave Rockers , The Rats , and then , of course , Dead Moon......a name still spoken of in almost gasping tones. Cole raised the bar , well into his Fifties , and carried on , doing the same , with Pierced Arrows , in his Sixties.

Fred will soon be undergoing open heart , bypass surgery , if it has'nt begun , already. He was diagnosed with 85 - 100 % blockage to his arteries.

It is estimated a six month recovery period will be required before he will be able to perform again. The reformed Dead Moon , Pierced Arrows , and Fred's acoustic project with his Wife of 45 years , Toody ( also of Dead Moon , Pierced Arrows and The Rats.), are being put on ice , though not indefinitely.

It's my belief Fred will be back , with a vengeance. PLEASE try to be of the same belief , and do whatever it is you choose to do , pray , think good thoughts , and direct your strength to someone who has plenty of his own , but  can always use your support.

Besides being the embodiment of the DIY spirit (How many unlistenable below - fi bands , that recorded on an answering machine in the bog , ever lived in The Yukon for five years ?) , Fred Cole is , above all , a good soul , a gentleman , dignified , though VERY funny , he loves his Wife , and his fans ,  dearly. We owe him one.

Have his back , in any way you see fit. Your care and concern does not go unappreciated.                       John Battles.

Its a shame that this happened just as they were about to tour the UK.  I was excited to see them finally.  Heres hoping for a speedy recovery for Fred and I hope to see him back doing what he does best in London in 2015 :)

Danny ,I heard from Fred. He is expected to make a smooth recovery , but , we're looking at six months before he can get back to where he was. It would'nt surprise me at all if he makes London by next year , but , keep being patient, and think a good thought for him. There are VERY few men like Fred , and we just lost one with Gary Burger.     John.

Look what I just found screwing around at the Free Music Archives: 

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Fred_and_Toody/

It's a Fred & Toody duet set on WFMU last December . Sounds pretty good. Free download or just listen there.

This sounds great. I thought it'd be more acoustic. "Like , man , what kind of fool am I?" , as Sammy would say. Oh , yeah , and he'd punctuate that by saying , "Dig.".  They ran my press release for Pierced Arrows with this broadcast , that's cool.

I heard from Fred a few days ago. He's doing fine , will still need to take it easy , of course , but there's no doubt in his mind , mine , and , I trust , yours , he'll be coming on harder and stronger before we know it.  

MOST OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW , FRED IS RETURNING TO THE STAGE , SOON , WITH THE REFORMED DEAD MOON. SOON SOON SOON , MOON MOON MOON , THEY'RE GONNA GET YOU SOON....

HE IS GOOD KING COLE. HE'S GOT A DEEP , DEEP SOUL.

MAY 14 - HELENDOORN , NETHERLANDS DAUWPOP FEST 2015.

JULY 10 - EMPTY BOTTLE , CHICAGO.

I don't think any other dates have been listed, yet. Biut , watch this space.

Thanks for the update, John!

KOPPER , YOU'RE WELCOME. I have a good feeling about this. Fred knew how long , roughly , it'd take to get back to work , and he set himself a realistic goal , and took good care of himself in the meantime. OF COURSE , TOODY'S TAKEN GOOD CARE OF HIM , TOO. THE LION AND tHE LIONESS ARE NOW POISED TO STRIKE. 

Glad to. I know Fred will be blown away by the response he gets. Where others stop, he begins.

MOST OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW , BUT.....Fred made a full recovery and came to Chicago last weekend to play two shows. Unfortunately , after Fred spent a year getting well , Andrew Loomis , Dead Moon's Drummer , had to drop out the tour , because he's very ill. Fred and Toody discussed it with him ,and he maintained that they should not cancel the tour. Not surprisingly , Pierced Arrows' Drummer , Kelly Haliburton , was called in to fill the drum slot. So ,  in theory , it was Pierced Arrows doing a Dead Moon set , but , they were accepted with open arms by the fans , a majority of whom were too young to have seen them , the first time around . It's shameful how many old fucks like me did NOT show up. Despite sounding underrehearsed , this year's Dead Moon brought the rock. Their second , outdoor , show sounded particularly good.  Fred , ever the professional ,made sure the sound people had all their ducks in a row. But , it could have  been better , soundwise. Could have done without the moshpit , but , that's just me.

FRED LOOKS AND SOUNDS GREAT , AND WAS HIS  QUICK - WITTED SELF AT ALL TIMES.

Still making an ass of bands too young to remember Dead Moon in their heyday , much less even know "You Must Be a Witch".

....what I meant was , the sound for the first gig left a lot to be desired , but , the second sounded great. It was a very busy weekend. I also saw Nobunny (Who's returned to Chicago , but , still planning his next move.), The Cynics (Who played to about 40 people , and KILLED it.) , and local faves , The Polkaholics and The Bama Lamas.