General Rudie
Encyclopedia
General Rudie was a third wave ska band from Montréal
, Canada
. In their nine-year career, the band released two full-length albums on Stomp Records and toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States.
concert (who were at that time called Flashlight). After playing together for three years, mostly in the Montreal area, they opened for The Skatalites
in 2000. In the same year, the band performed in Toronto at Ska Ska Oi!, a punk
/ska
concert organized by the Toronto chapter of Anti Racist Action. They also performed at the Toronto International Jazz Festival. In the later part of 2000, General Rudie toured southern Ontario in support of their first EP The Green Light Sessions, Vol 1, including a performance at the Canadian Tulip Festival. The band had plans to tour the rest of Canada to support the EP, but according to singer Phil Dixon, the band "exploded and we spent the summer rebuilding". Instead, the band worked on establishing a solid line-up and writing new material.
Stomp Records, Canada's largest ska record label, expressed an interest in signing General Rudie for a recording contract. The band began work on their first full-length release for Stomp in 2001, following a weeklong tour of the Canadian Maritimes with future label-mates and fellow Montréalers The Planet Smashers
. The album, Cooling the Mark was completed by the end of the year. The official release party was at the 2002 Ska Ska Oi! concert. They also played the same ARA benefit in 2003, sharing the stage with Closet Monster
and Nightshift.
The release of their second album, Take Your Place, was in 2004. The album had 13 songs, including the single "Shelter", whose lyrics call for help for Montréal's homeless. The video for "Shelter" includes footage of squeegee kids and panhandlers interspersed with shots of the band performing in an abandoned building and under a highway overpass.
The band performed their last set on September 2, 2006 at the Cafe Campus in Montréal after a brief farewell tour through southern Ontario.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In their nine-year career, the band released two full-length albums on Stomp Records and toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States.
Career
General Rudie was founded in February 1997 and their first concert was in March 1997, as the opening act at a Flashlight BrownFlashlight Brown
Flashlight Brown is a Canadian punk rock band, originally from Guelph, Ontario, who formed in 1996.-Biography:Fil, Mike, Matt and Tim formed a band, then simply called "Flashlight", out of boredom and frustration and quickly moved from the small college town of Guelph to the much larger Toronto,...
concert (who were at that time called Flashlight). After playing together for three years, mostly in the Montreal area, they opened for The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
in 2000. In the same year, the band performed in Toronto at Ska Ska Oi!, a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
concert organized by the Toronto chapter of Anti Racist Action. They also performed at the Toronto International Jazz Festival. In the later part of 2000, General Rudie toured southern Ontario in support of their first EP The Green Light Sessions, Vol 1, including a performance at the Canadian Tulip Festival. The band had plans to tour the rest of Canada to support the EP, but according to singer Phil Dixon, the band "exploded and we spent the summer rebuilding". Instead, the band worked on establishing a solid line-up and writing new material.
Stomp Records, Canada's largest ska record label, expressed an interest in signing General Rudie for a recording contract. The band began work on their first full-length release for Stomp in 2001, following a weeklong tour of the Canadian Maritimes with future label-mates and fellow Montréalers The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers are a ska punk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since their formation in 1994, they have been a staple of the Montreal music scene. During the third wave of ska, they quickly rose to national, and eventual international fame, with tours in the United States, Europe, and Japan...
. The album, Cooling the Mark was completed by the end of the year. The official release party was at the 2002 Ska Ska Oi! concert. They also played the same ARA benefit in 2003, sharing the stage with Closet Monster
Closet Monster
Closet Monster was a Canadian punk rock band from Ajax, Ontario.-Biography:Closet Monster formed in 1997 and broke up in 2005. They played their final show on December 8, 2005 at the Phoenix in Toronto with Underground Operations label mates Dead Letter Dept, Bombs Over Providence, Hostage Life and...
and Nightshift.
The release of their second album, Take Your Place, was in 2004. The album had 13 songs, including the single "Shelter", whose lyrics call for help for Montréal's homeless. The video for "Shelter" includes footage of squeegee kids and panhandlers interspersed with shots of the band performing in an abandoned building and under a highway overpass.
The band performed their last set on September 2, 2006 at the Cafe Campus in Montréal after a brief farewell tour through southern Ontario.
Discography
- Take Your Place (2004)
- Cooling the Mark (2001)
- The Green Light Sessions, Vol 1 (2000) EP
Compilation appearances
- 2Tongue Volumes I, II, III (Disques Sapristi!/Indica RecordsIndica RecordsIndica Records is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec, founded by rock band Grim Skunk in 1997. The label was put together by the band, manager Simon Gallipeault, label manager Kyria Kilakos and head of promo Mariana Gianelli. Indica is considered to be the biggest "alternative"...
/Stomp Records) - Still Standing (Megalith RecordsMegalith RecordsMegalith Records is a ska record label founded on August 22, 2002 and located in Norman, Oklahoma. It is owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley of The Toasters and the defunct label Moon Ska Records, and managed by Jeremy Patton, current webmaster and graphic artist for the Toasters...
) - State of the Union Vol II (Stomp Records)
- The All Skanadian Club Vol. 4 (Union Label GroupUnion Label GroupUnion Label Group is a record label based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was formed through the merger of the smaller labels Stomp Records, 2112 Records, and Tyrant Records. Mayday! Records was later created as a genre imprint....
) - Skannibal Party II (Mad Butcher Records)
- Global Ska 3 (Kainos Productions)
- Boucing of Ska (Ska-LP Records)