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Music

T.O. Music Notes

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Lost Mojos recovered

When Toronto punk ‘n’ roll combo the Raving Mojos were at their unruly peak back in 1982, they collaborated with student filmmaker pal Paul Fox (brother of the Fleshtones’ Ken Fox) on a rock movie called Mannish Boy . But Fox ran out of funding before it was completed and many assumed it was lost for good. That is, until recently, when Fox turned up the missing 16mm reels in a warehouse. The good news is that 21 minutes of the historic Toronto club scene footage showing the Raving Mojos blasting away at the long-gone Turning Point and the Masonic Temple (aka the Concert Hall ) have survived intact. It’s an interesting time capsule. “The media director at the Drake Hotel, Barnaby Marshall , is an old friend of Paul’s and mine,” explains Mojos guitarist Kurt Schefter , “so when we got this gig, Barnaby asked me if I knew what happened to the film. I thought it was long gone, but we called Paul and asked him to look around for it, and he found it. Well, about 21 minutes of it anyway. The rest is lost forever.

“Back in the late 80s, Paul showed me a video cassette with some of the scenes he’d cut together, and it had me cringing. But seeing it again, I think it’s a great period document. Now that I’ve finished the transfer and got the audio synched up, it looks and sounds surprisingly good. People need to see it, if only for the club sequences.”

You’ll get your chance. After collecting dust for 22 years, the long-lost Mannish Boy footage will be screened for the first time ever at the Raving Mojos show at the Drake Hotel Friday (September 24).

“Along with the two songs we perform, Stranded, which was going to be our big hit single, and Only Trying To Have Some Fun, there’s also this jazz band Crazeology shown briefly. Their drummer couldn’t make the shoot so they had Graeme Kirkland sit in. I can’t believe it’s him. He must’ve been about 16 at the time – it’s hilarious.

“I’m actually kinda relieved that we couldn’t recover all of it,” admits Schefter. “There was this sequence where my dad wouldn’t let me go to a gig so I had to sneak out of the house through a window while Blair (singer Blair Martin ) was shouting up at me from the street below, Romeo And Juliet-style. Heh heh, pretty embarrassing stuff.”

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