Toronto bike courier Mark Richards passed away on December 1, 2011
after battling cancer. Mark was well known as a member of the
Toronto bands Throbbin Hoods and Test Monkey.
Mark Richards, our good friend, a father, a devoted husband and
singer/bass player of the Throbbin Hoods, was fighting for his life
in hospital and passed away on Dec 1st, 2011. The Hoods are offering
their whole catalog of music, from 1989-2011, for those who wish to
donate what they can to support The Richards' family during this
time of financial crisis.
All proceeds will go directly to Mark's family. Any ad earnings will
also go to Mark's family.
Upon donation, you will be taken to the online folder where the
music will be, in two folders - one is our greatest misses and the
other with our 'B-sides' (we only had two songs in rotation, one on
light rotation on Much (Walkin' Around) and the other, Perfect
World, on rotation in Germany.
The
History of Throbbin Hoods:
Mark Richards, a tall, lanky urban cowboy-type, musically stuck
between The Sex Pistols and AC/DC, worked at Curry's Art Store on
Yonge Street with his new friend Martyn Pratt in 1987 (Martyn was
Buck Moore's roommate from Sheridan College in Oakville, 1985, and
again in 1986-88 in downtown Toronto).
Martyn brought Mark over to jam and party, and Martyn, Buck and Mark
talked about starting a band. Buck had been playing guitar for about
3 years at that point, and Martyn was playing for about 1 or 2
years. None of the three could read music, but they had some rhythm,
some inane poetry and knew some chords. Buck let Mark use his
'Booger Bass' for a 'jam' and Buck was impressed that Mark knew
nothing about playing bass, but sure had some moves, so Buck sold
Mark the 'Booger Bass' for $40.00 (it was a cheap, pawn-shop special
Buck bought from McTamney's on Church St.).
The boys tried to come up with a name for the new band and Mark
suggested The "Robbin Hoods", being, like, noble and poor and such.
Mark even came up with the tagline: "We steal from the rich, and
keep it!" They even played around with "Th'Robbin Hoods". It was a
young female staff member on the order desk at Curry's Art Store who
finally came up with the name. She just shouted it one late
afternoon before closing time. It was a kind of brain storming
session for a band name (Martyn and Mark were tossing around names
as a joke.) Mark, Martyn and Buck now had a name they could all
agree on.
After putting an ad in the NOW magazine, their search for a drummer
was fruitless, until a friend of a friend (probably from Sault St.
Marie, Mark's hometown), introduced the boys to a guy named Byron,
or Brian, we forget, but we just called him The Baron. At their
first show, at The Slither Club (which became Healey's, under The
Paddock at Queen and Bathurst in Toronto, Canada), The Baron would
not stop playing drums, even after the band stopped playing. The
owner said: "Tell him to stop!", but who knows if it was acid or
just too much alcohol, The Baron finally jumped up, banged his head
on a pipe and sat there laughing and bleeding as the manager 'barred
us for life'. There were four more shows around town, for a total of
five, then the band fell apart.
Over a year passed, Martyn moved out and Mark called Buck to see if
he might still be interested in playing guitar, still under the name
Throbbin Hoods. Mark explained that he had a co-worker, Martin
Dulac, who was really good at hitting paint brushes against a
counter, so he must be good at drums. Buck went to the practice and
met Martin, where he was very impressed with Martin's timing on
drums, so the quintessential Throbbin Hoods began; the year was
1989.
During a ten year run, the band released a couple of CD's (Ambush
and Hot Live Action), a couple of videos (Jesus Was an Alien and
Walkin' Around), toured to the West Coast and back a few times,
became a very tight, ferocious power trio dubbed 'the Cars on acid'
and 'Toronto's Underground garage darlings'. Martin, a talented
graphic designer, took care of all the artwork with the help of his
girlfriend (now wife) Libby, who is also a talented artist. Martin
also wrote key musical parts for the songs. Buck took care of some
of the recording and songwriting and Mark, who also wrote songs,
took control of the audience, with his crusty wit and insane facial
expressions.
After a decade and lack of focus, the band broke up, temporarily.
Mark's new brainchild, Test Monkey, with Buck, Mike Severin ('Sev',
from Tulpa) on keys and a drummer by the name of Jeff, no wait,
'Geoff' (I'm pretty sure), would go on playing new songs with crazy
themes and even play the some classic Hoods tunes, here and there
(this was 2002, maybe 2001?). Eventually, Geoff left and was
replaced by Paul Richardson on drums.
Mark, Buck and Sev decided to go back to the name Throbbin Hoods,
since they already had tons of press, two CD's and two videos. Why
start all over again? It's all marketing hype, anyway. So they kept
playing Test Monkey tunes and Hoods tunes and opened for lots of
bands, like Teenage Head, Forgotten Rebels (that may have been with
Martin, actually), Nazareth among others (thanks, Donnie Blaise!!).
Eventually, Paul left (hey, what's with drummers, man? Seriously!).
Sev knew a guy by the name of Neil Saunders, who could play drums
for the Hoods and the new Hoods, as a four-piece, went on to open
for, well Nazareth, again, LA Guns and two SAGA concerts, among
other shows (thanks Randy Charlton!!). Unfortunately, Mark started
getting ill in late 2010.
Presently, Buck, Sev and Neil are currently doing everything they
can to help Mark, his wife Cindy and his daughter Ruby (as in the
song 'Ruby' - you can hear her voice, as a child, at the end of the
song). With the help of you, our friends and fans, we can raise some
money either by donating (pay-what-you-can), and/or attending one of
the upcoming fundraiser shows, where Toronto bands are welcome to
play a Hoods tune (and 2-3 of their own). In exchange, you'll get
over two albums worth of music and a wicked show, when it happens.
You will be helping the one of the finest, rockin'est, funniest,
unsung bands Toronto has ever known, The Throbbin Hoods. Thanks for
your support!!
