Long time garagepunk fan Rob Munro passed away earlier this week.

Rob was in such bands as The Frankenstein Five, The Mood, Groove Things, Scratching Post, The Noble Savages and his latest combo, The Mogs.

We'll be doing a tribute to Rob on today's Radio What Wave from sleepy London Ontario Canada....here's some details:

Whatwave dave , Very sorry to hear about that. The Frankenstein Five played one gig in Chicago , about (aboot.)  20 years ago (Yes , I know. I'm going to Hell for that.). A member of the band called me ( I think it was Paul Hogan. They had a Paul Hogan and a James Bond , as you know. ), as he knew of my writing , at the time , with Bad Trip. They were looking for a show , here , and , as I was sometimes the senseless middleman (Still am.), I was able to hook them up with the shoulda - been legendary Lava Sutra . IT WAS A GREAT GIG , The Frankenstein Five guys were blown away by Lava Sutra's hard - edged Bubblegum Garage (Or "Stroft Rock ", as they called it.), and Lava Sutra were equally inpressed with The Five's execution of "Pebbles" - era faves. They were nice guys , and they did'nt whine. They just got on with it.    Condolences to Rob's friends and family.

John:

Thanx for the headsup on Lava Sutra, never heard of them prior to this....checked them out and really like them!!!

I'll be talking to James Bond tomorrow and will ask him about playing Chicago. And ya, it would be at least 20 years ago, probably longer.

seeya

dave

dAVE , MY REPLY did'nt seem to thru... Glad you liked Lava Sutra , they seem right up your alley....

Their one CD "hARD AND hEAVY wITH mARSHMALLOW" (Great artist steal , so , steal from the best !) is still available from Whitehouse Records in Chicago.

You're right , that show was probably in '92 or '93.....But , sometimes I forget these things happened so long ago.

Give James my condolences , won't you?  John

John:

Talked to Mark Ordas, the guitar player for Frankenstein 5 and he remembered playing in Chicago fondly!! He remembers being treated well and even getting fed at the gig!! And he really dug Lava Sutra!!!

The F5 didn't do much touring, but Chicago and playing with The Brood in Portland were 2 of their highlights!!

Wow...That's heavy company. Talk about an underappreciated band , The Brood.....But , they shoulda toured , back when there was still a possibility that clubs would pay ya gas money , at least.... 

I'm glad the Chicago show was a good memory for him. The venue was called Thurston's , and they did feed the bands. I did a show there , once , with Sons of Hercules , and we got pizza. I don't remember 'em doing a lot of national acts. Jeff Dahl played there , once, he killed.  

Oh , yeah , I saw The Meteors and The Candy Snatchers playing to about 40 people , there ,too.

I don't think Lava Sutra played much outside of Chicago. Maybe a bit....Their Drummer , Anthony, went on to play with Epic Soundtracks and Nikki Sudden , Then he and Jason (GTR.) and Tim (Keys , Gtr.) joined Chamber Strings. Dan Epstein , their original Singer and Guitarist, is now a well - known Rock and Baseball writer in L.A.

Well , it was cool having them , here. They were nice guys , and did a real good show. 

Thanx for all the info John!!! Much appreciated!

Not at all. The thing about Lava Sutra , their shows were always different. Of course , they had standout songs that they regularly performed , but they'd throw you for a loop with as much regularity. They did a great , long overdue , version of "The Edge of Reality by (Psyched)Elvis , with a free form freakout at the end....When they regrouped , after Dan's departure , they started doing the Moving Sidewalks' version of "I wANNA hOLD yOUR hAND"....iT'S ONE OF THE FEW THINGS ON THEM YOU CAN FIND ON yOU tUBE.

But , when they did what turned out to be their last show , they did this stunning medley of "See Emily Play " and "Interstellar Overdrive", wih ALL the embellishments . eVERY LITTLE TWEAK IN PLACE.

But , they announced that that was it. Their CD was finally out , and they celebrated by retiring from performing together. They never cited a reason , tehy just said , let's go out with a bang , but , they neve really officially broke up , and , as I say , honored me by appearing on my tribute CD (wHICH i HAD no KNOWLEDGE OF , hONEST.), THEN , TWO - THIRDS OF TEH MK2 LINEUP JOINED tHE cHAMBERS sTRINGS. tWICE . Long story.    have a good weekend. John.

Played a few shows with Rob, always a great dude, energetic, fun, and just flat out loved music. Will miss playing shows with the Mogs.