ILLUMINATING DRINK: PEPPERMINT TROLLEY CO.

Saturday 22 December 2007

PEPPERMINT TROLLEY CO.

Mark Mikel "I bought a little record player/CD combo for my front porch and now I can play my albums. There's so much I haven't heard in like 20 years.Lately I've been playing "The Peppermint Trolley Co." every morning. Playing the song "Trust" first thing when I wake up makes me feel like life is new. As if it was the 60s again and I'm in a movie (especially when it's raining like it has been). Absolutely love the whole album. Haven't listened to it since I was 8 (when life WAS new). "

Formed in Redlands, CA, in 1967, Peppermint Trolley Company managed to release one album and five singles. They were one of the initial bands signed to the Acta label, whose biggest success was the American Breed "Bend Me Shape Me." Only one of Peppermint's singles managed to make the charts, "Baby You Come Rollin' Across My Mind." It peaked at number 59 in the summer of 1968. They managed to keep a relatively high profile by performing the weekly TV theme songs for Love American Style and the first season of The Brady Bunch (the cast members sang the theme from the second season on). The band consisted of Bob Cheevers (vocals and guitar), Jimmie Faragher (bass, guitar, and sax), Danny Faragher (keyboards), Casey Cunningham (guitar and flute), and Greg Tornouist (drums). Their success was short lived and by the early '70s the band changed their name to Bones and finally the Faragher Brothers before disbanding. Bob Cheevers gained success as a solo artist, releasing several discs in the contemporary folk genre. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

Official Bio. The origin of The Pillbugs can be traced back to January of 1991. That's when Mark Kelley first called Mark Mikel up and asked him to form a new band. Kelley brought in drummer Dan Chalmers and Mikel brought in vocalist Dave Murnen and a guitarist who would eventually be replaced 4 times until they found the perfect fit with Scott Tabner (a mutual friend of Kelley and Mikel's).
They became The Mark Mikel Hallucination and started performing shows around Toledo. In 1996 after a respectable amount of local recognition and radio airplay, Mikel wanted to create a new identity for the group. "They deserved to be seen as equals and not just my backing band," Mikel said, "I came up with the idea of The Pillbugs and that we'd go WAY deeper into psychedelia. We released our first album on CD in 1998 on our own label (Omniphonic). I believe it was the first debut release to contain a double CD's worth of new and never-before-released music. Until someone proves me wrong - that's what I believe. The point is we wanted to make something people had to notice." This first release took off very slowly but eventually (with the help of the internet) became a somewhat sought after CD.
The second Pillbugs CD "The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream" (originally another double set) was completed in early 2001. With no real money to put behind it, it sat on the shelf until 2003 until later when they signed with indie label (Proverus). "Proverus had us strip down the album to 1 CD (a brilliant move actually) and then we inserted a 3D Viewmaster reel to make it really crazy," Mikel reveals.
That album was released during the summer of 2003. Proverus helped the group get a lot of notoriety (especially on the web) and also helped to book and manage gigs. 3D sold out of the first run in a matter of 2 months (most of them going to Japan). That was successful enough for Proverus to want a follow-up. The next summer they released their 3rd CD "Happy Birthday" though dark times were looming.
Mark Kelley had been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in 1999. By the time "Happy Birthday" was released in August of 2004, Kelley had lost his voice completely and could hardly stand on his own two legs.
Knowing their wasn't much time left, the 5 friends took to recording one last album together. "Buzz for Aldrin" sessions began in Sept. 2004, just as Mark Kelley took another down turn and was admitted to the hospital. Recording continued with The Pillbugs not knowing if Kelley would ever return.
He eventually did return and was able to contribute the bass guitar to most of the album from his wheelchair- with a permanent breathing machine surgically attached to his throat. Then the studio recording equipment broke down and it was in repair for over seven months. "By the time the guy got around to fixing it," adds Mikel, "Mark Kelley was past the point of being able to record with us. It took me a long time to get back into the groove and finish the album."
"But we eventually finished it though the recording sessions seemed jinxed from start to finish."
To provide the right grandeur for the release, The Pillbugs employed renowned California artist Mark Roland* to supply the CD art.
The new Pillbugs double disc set "Buzz for Aldrin" was released by Proverus on June 19, 2007.
The Pillbugs signed with Rainbow Quartz and their first CD with RQ, "Monclovia" was released on Oct. 30, 2007.
Everybody Wants A Way Out their second rainbow Quartz album was released Nov. 10th, 2008.
In March 2011 Mark formed two new combos, The Mark Mikel Band and Dark Ocean Colors with Scott Hunt, with two albums by the latter coming soon on Rainbow Quartz

*Mark Roland is indeed a very talented artist look here for a few more examples of his art
http://www.orycon.org/orycon26/markroland.html

update...and his new website is here
The Art Of Mark Roland
http://www.rolandscapes.com/

Saturday 22 December 2007

PEPPERMINT TROLLEY CO.

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

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