Moxy (band)
Moxy | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1974–1980/2000–present |
| Members | Earl Johnson Buddy Caine Alex Machin Jim Samson Kim Hunt |
| Past members | Buzz Shearman Terry Juric Bill Wade Tom Stephenson Tommy Bolin Mike Reno Brian Maxim |
Moxy is a Canadian hard rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1974, from previous members of Leigh Ashford including singer Buzz Shearman, drummer Bill Wade, Terry Juric on bass, and Earl Johnson as lead guitarist, and after a year Buddy Caine joined the band on rhythm guitar. Many of the guitar solos on the band's debut album were performed by guest session musician Tommy Bolin, who had previously been the lead guitarist for the James Gang and would go on to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple.
History
Moxy was built out of the remnance of the Canadian rock bands Leigh Ashford and Outlaw Music. Douglas "Buzz" Shearman (former singer of Peabody) toured with, Bill Wade, Terry Juric, and Earl Johnson (all former members of Outlaw Music) as Leigh Ashford before the name and sound change to Moxy was made in 1974. The new band now billed as Moxy toured extensively in Canada before having a hit in late 1975 with "Can’t You See I’m A Star", released as a single in 1974 by Yorkville Records. Moxy then toured the United States on the strength of their radio airplay. Popular markets were Chicago, St. Louis and Texas. FM rock radio was partially responsible for the popularity of the band, especially in San Antonio's KMAC/KISS. Moxy still gets lots of radio air play in the Southern U.S with hits like "Can't You See I'm A Star", "Moon Rider", "Midnight Flight", "I'll Set You on Fire" and "Are You Ready".
1974-1977
Moxy toured constantly, in Canada then mostly the Southern USA especially Texas (were the fan base has always been the strongest) from late 1974 until 1977 and released three albums over this time in the band's original incarnation. The same year the band was formed it was signed to Polydor records in Canada, mainly due to the popularity and success of Leigh Ashford and Buzz Shearman’s reputation. The self-titled Moxy was recorded with producer Mark Smith in New York, in only two weeks for Moxy had already written and been playing the material in Canada since 1974. While in the Big Apple, the Rock-Gods were smiling and as luck would have it session guitarist Tommy Bolin was recording his solo album in the studio next door. Tommy was so impressed with the no-nonsense, to-the-bones rock band that he came into the studio added some guitar solo work to the album, and as a consequence got some much needed attention for the album in the U.S media, even though Tommy always downplayed his involvement. Moxy then headed back to Toronto needing a guitarist to fill in the guitar parts on the road that Bolin had added to the songs in the studio, Earl Johnson enlisted friend and guitarist Buddy Caine, also formerly of the band Outlaw Music.
Moxy's hard-hitting style of wicked guitar riffs heavy on the blues, a thunderous backbeat and a shrieking vocalist was loved by Canadian fans so much so that promotional copies of the first album found their way to hard rock stations in the southern USA, when a worldwide deal with Mercury Records was reached in late 1975, with Mercury Records then reissued the self-titled album in the US and worldwide in 1976.
Moxy II came out a year after the first album for canadian fans and just three months after the reissued american release but this time the new album was recorded in the bands home town of Toronto with Jack Douglas this time producing. Some of the new material for Moxy II was already written before Moxy I was recorded, and as a consequence while not as strong musically as the debut with some slower paced songs, it was still almost a carbon copy of the previous effort except that there was no Tommy Bolin this time. It was Buddy Caine's studio work that was now spot on adding his solo guitar work to the existing material. Like most bands of the time Moxy played some of there songs live on tour before going into the studio to record them giving fans a preview of this to come. By now Buddy Caine and Earl Johnson, with their dual-guitar sound, were now the heart and soul of Moxy.
1977 saw Moxy back in the studio after touring no-stop to a sold-out audience since the release of Moxy II to record back at home in Toronto again. Ridin' High once more contained all original material written by the band members with an even harder/heavy sound then the first two albums. The hard touring and a rigorous schedule was beginning to take its toll on the band by 1977, considering that most of the band members had been touring since the late 60s in other bands before Moxy was formed. Living life the of sex, drugs and rock and roll with most of the band members being on the road together for nearly a decade, the band had been slowly self-destructing for the past year. Buzz Shearman by now had developed vocal chord problems and found it hard to perform and as a result Buzz decided to leave the band in late 1977 after Ridin' High tour to seek medical attention for his vocal chord, but did not return because of musical differences. It was the beginning of the end for Moxy.
1978-1983
Mike Reno replaced Buzz Shearman as singer and made his debut in music on Moxy's 4th album Under the Lights in 1978. But after "Buzz" departed, Moxy was dropped from their American distribution company so Under the Lights was only released in Canada and few copies made it to the U.S, as a result the album sales were very poor. The new album lacked the punch of the band’s earlier works and just had a laid back style in the sound, it was just not though of as a true Moxy album by fans with "Buzz" missing.
"Buzz" would rejoin the band for a short time in the middle of a Texas tour in late 1978, leaving Reno free to form his own band called Loverboy. All was not well with short reunion of the band after the tour that ended in January of 1979, the now escalating dispute over the musical differences between the band members of what direction the band should take was not looking to ever be solved, and as a result Moxy let its self disband.
After the end of Moxy Buddy Caine and Terry Juric would go on to form the band Voodoo and Bill Wade formed the band Bongo Fury's with fellow Canadian rocker Gino Scarpelli from the band Goddo. "Buzz" was to be replacing the deceased Bon Scott but his on/off again vocal chord problems kept him from joining AC/DC, so he formed his own band called Buzzsaw. In late 1981 "Buzz", Earl and Bill would all help fellow Canadian singer/songwriter Lee Aaron on her debut album called "The Lee Aaron Project". The hope of a reunion in the band original incarnation ended in 1983, when Buzz Shearman would lose his life in a tragic motorcycle accident on June 16 1983.
Moxy's first three albums with "Buzz" remain their best known and most commercially successful and their compilations have done well over the years especially in Texas when Moxy released A Tribute to Buzz Shearman, an album of Buzz's best work, in 1984, and Best Of Moxy: Self-Destruction in 1994.
2000 - present
Three of the original members of Moxy reunited when Bill Wade (just before untimely passing from cancer on July 27, 2001) got Moxy back into the studio in 1999, with Earl Johnson and Buddy Caine after a 20 year gap to produced Moxy's fifth studio album called Moxy V. The new album V released in 2000 returned them to the hard rock sound of the first three albums, with a new vocalist named Brian Maxim, who was the former soundman for Moxy in the 70s. Brian's voice suited Moxy sound much more then Mike's soft voice, and the album did fairly well in sales. In 2002 saw Moxy release a live album of the 2000/2001 tour, called Raw. Brian Maxim would leave the band after touring Europe at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2003.
Moxy's 2003 line-up consisted of original members Earl Johnson and Buddy Caine on guitars, Alex Machin on vocals, Jim Samson on bass, and Kim Hunt on drums. Alex Machin was the singer for A Foot in Coldwater, another successful 70's band from the Toronto area, Alex also fronted Champion on one album released in 1984. The rhythym section were former members of Zon, another popular Toronto area band and would be a great influence to Moxy's sound on tour, giving the band an energetic preformance in the 2000's not seen since the first two tours in 1975 and 1976.
For the 30th anniversary of Moxy's classic debut album, referred to as the black album, Moxy played the Voyageur Days Festival in Mattawa, Ontario in 2005 with other Canadian classic rockers Chilliwack, Toronto, Trooper, Goddo, Killer Dwarfs & Ray Lyell.
The band still plays occasional gigs/festivals in the Toronto area as well in the Southern United States.
Trivia /Tour Info
- Formed in June 1973 in Toronto Ontario Canada ( 4 of the original members first start touring as Leigh Ashford)
- Recorded Moxy I in Dec 1974 with Mark Smith of Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame and with a special guest appearance by legendary guitarist Tommy Bolin
- Released “Can’t You See I’m a Star” as the first single in early 1975 by Yorkville Records with heavy radio support from CHUM 1050 in Toronto
- MOXY signed to Polydor records in Canada
- Buddy Caine signs on with MOXY
- Summer 1975 Canadian tour through Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes in small venues (Bars/Night Clubs)
- MOXY gets resigned to Polydor records of the U.S for worldwide distribution in affiliation with Mercury Records, and Moxy I reissued 1976 in U.S and U.K
- 1976 "Moon Rider" hits top ten on KMAC/KISS in San Antonio, Texas
- Recorded Moxy II in the spring of 1976 - “Take it Or Leave It”, the first single to reach the Top 30 on CHUM AM in Toronto
- Moxy II receives rave reviews from Canadian press
- One month later Moxy II gets international press coverage for the band. Most reviews predict success for the band and comparisons are made to Aerosmith, Rush, and Deep Purple
- 1976 MOXY tours as the opening act with Black Sabbath and Boston throughout Texas, except for San Antonio where Boston is the opening act in stadiums
- Winter 1976/1977 - MOXY some dates with Styx a tour through Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes in Local Public Hockey Arena's.
- Spring 1977 - MOXY records Ridin' High it’s best all out hard rock/heavy metal effort. The record gets good reviews but airplay is limited as FM radio goes to softer rock
- Buzz Shearman develops serious vocal chord problems and contemplates quitting the road work.
- 1977 - Joe Anthony, the Godfather of Rock in San Antonio, Texas brings the band to the Lone Star state for their first headline appearance in the U.S at Armadillo World Headquarters and at the Hemisfair arena with AC/DC as opening act and then more Canadian dates
- Winter 1977 - Buzz Shearman leaves the band and is replaced by Mike Reno of Loverboy fame. He records Under the Lights, MOXY’S fourth and least successful selling album
- Spring - Summer 1978 - MOXY in San Antonio, Texas for five sold out dates and then a tours across Canada with Trooper and Triumph but the band no longer sees the type of response from either record sales or audiences it had with Buzz as the vocalist
- Mike Reno leaves the band in 1978 and Buzz returns as the vocalist but their record contract had expired before Under the Lights came out in 1978.
- MOXY does one last tour in Texas from Dec 1978 to Feb 1979 headlining smaller venues Public Arena, and home for a few dates then they disbanded
- Spring 1983 - Buzz Shearman is killed in a motorcycle accident. The band does a benefit concert for his widow and son
- 1984-1999 - While MOXY’s catalogue was reissued on CD through arrangements between Buzz Shearman’s widow with Pacemaker Entertainment, and Unidisc Records, the original band members were neither consulted nor received any revenues from the sale of their music.
- Winter 1999 - 2000 Moxy V was recorded. Produced by Bill Wade and MOXY, it released through Pacemaker Entertainment in 2000/2001 with a new vocalist Brian Maxim.
- Summer 2000 - MOXY begins to tour dates in San Antonio and St. Louis in venues, 5000 - 6000 seaters, the two markets where the band still receives constant radio airplay, then to europe.
- Bill Wade dies from cancer on July 27, 2001
- Summer - 2002 MOXY releases a live album of the 2000/2001 tour called Raw , Bill Wade not on album was sick at time of tour
- 2003 - third line up change when Brian Maxim departs and is repalced with a new vocalist Alex Machin
- 2005 - For the 30th anniversary of debut album, MOXY played the Voyageur Days Festival in Mattawa, Ontario, with Chilliwack, Toronto, Trooper, Goddo
Discography
-
Moxy (1975) (1976) -
Moxy II (1976)
-
Ridin' High (1977)
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Under The Lights (1978)
-
A Tribute to Buzz Shearman (1984)
-
Best Of: Self-Destruction (1994)
-
Moxy V (2000)
-
Raw (Live) (2002)
45's
- Can't You See I'm A Star (1974) (Yorkville Records).
- Ridin' High (1978) (Japan Polydor)
- Out Of The Darkness (1984)
Current line Up
- Earl Johnson - Guitar (Original Member)
- Buddy Caine - Guitar (Original Member)
- Alex Machin - Vocals
- Jim Samson - Bass
- Kim Hunt - Drums
Original Line up
- Buzz Shearman: Vocals
- Earl Johnson: Guitar
- Bill Wade: Drums - Produced the studio album Moxy V.
- Terry Juric: bass
- Tom Stephenson: Keyboard
- Buddy Caine: Guitar- Note: Buddy Caine is listed on the album Moxy, but did not join the band until after the album was finished (1976).
Other Members
- Tommy Bolin: Guitar solos Note: Tommy Bolin Studio only for Moxy's debut album.
- Mike Reno: Vocals
- Brian Maxim : Vocals (former soundman)