From '' Cemetery ''
Label: OG Music
Catalog#: OG 4
Format: Vinyl, LP, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: Canada
Released: 1984
Tracks
A1 Things With You
A2 Big Scary Daddy
A3 Skeleton At My Party
A4 If Mashed Potatoes
A5 Long Tall Texan
A6 How Can I Miss You
A7 Kill Kill Kill
A8 I Better Think
A9 Voodoo Barbecue
B1 Metro Vers L'Enfer
B2 Crocodile Tears
B3 Buy Insurance
B4 Eager Beaver Baby
B5 Cemetery
B6 Stranger
B7 Jungle Out There
B8 Stop
B9 Wormtown
B10 16 Tons
All songs ©1984 G. Van Herk/OG except as noted.
All songs CAPAC as far as we know.
A5 Written by: Stezlecki/Isle City Music
A7 Written by: Plewman/Marginal Music
B4 Written by: Roberts-Katz-Clayton/Chappell & Co.
B10 Written by: Travis/Chappell & Co.
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Déjà Voodoo was formed by Gerard van Herk (guitar and singing) and his friend Tony Dewald (drums).
Combining 1950s horror imagery with rockabilly and country musical influences they created a sound which gained them a unique standing amongst Canadian artists.
Van Herk's guitar only had the top four strings and he sang in a deep voice, whilst Dewald's drum kit had no cymbals, which resulted in a low-treble rock style they termed "sludgeabilly."
The band toured in Canada, the United States and even Europe.
Déjà Voodoo even managed to encourage other artists in Canada to form bands along similar musical styles.
In Canada, the band was most renowned for live performances its annual "Voodoo BBQ's," the last of which was held on June 23, 2006.
Early days
Both born in the Sixties, Gerard and Tony both grew up in Montreal. During the 70's both men went to several concerts for local punk groups. In 1981, the two joined together to form Deja Voodoo.
Their music generally consisted of short songs influenced by rockabilly and punk artists. Another major influence was a band by the name of The Cramps.
An American punk band "The Cramps" had managed to achieve a degree of success in the late 70's with their own gothic look.
As Deja Voodoo was embarking on its first performances, Montreal was receiving an influx of immigrants from Western Canada and independent record labels were starting to spring up.
In turn numerous amounts of niche bands began to appear across the city.
As a result of an over saturated market Déjà Voodoo struggled to find an audience in its first year. While they remained popular locally in Montreal it wasn't until 1982 that the two-man band began to see interest outside of the Quebec area, particularly in Toronto.
OG Records
The turning point for Déjà Voodoo came with Gerard and Toni's creation of Og Records in 1983.
Named after a fictional caveman the independent label allowed for Deja Voodoo to control its own distribution.
The first record released by Og records was Deja Voodoo's "Gumbo". The album sold relatively well in Montreal independent scene but failed to penetrate the mainstream market.
This would later be rectified with the release of Deja Voodoo's third album "Cemetery" in 1984.
Cemetery was the first Deja Voodoo album to be sold in vinyl form, selling widely across Canada and even to some small in the US and Europe.
As well as launching their own careers, Gerard and Tony used Og records as a way for like minded artists a venue to publish what was being referred to as unique "sludge-a-billy" sounds. Og records continuously received tapes from other underground Canadian artists and routinely released compilation CDs in the It Came from Canada series.
Five of these titles were released between 1985 and 1989. Some of the artists in the compilation CD's included other Montreal hits like Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, Terminal Sunglasses and The Gruesomes.
In its seven year life span Og Records released twenty nine albums. The last of which being a recording of Deja Voodoo's performance in Finland.
Tours and career
Once Og Records took off, Déjà Voodoo started touring in across Canada.
At first focusing on Ontario and Eastern Canada, however later they branched out to Western Canada going as far as Edmonton.
Most interesting though is that Déjà Voodoo was able to embark on several European tours primarily in Greece and Finland.
Despite the audience's relatively small exposure to Canadian music, Déjà Voodoo managed to create a strong cult following, especially in Scandinavia, a feat which at that time no other underground Canadian artists had managed to achieve. As Déjà Voodoo's popularity grew and other bands continued to sign on with Og records, Gerard and Tony started putting on popular indoor events, each December called "Voodoo BBQ's".
Often held in Montreal, these massive public shows put on by Déjà Voodoo and other bands signed on to Og records often drew large crowds and were well received by critics.
The last Voodoo BBQ was held in Toronto in 2008 as a kind of reunion show.
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24 videos
This kicks ass
TheStrainers 9 months ago
@admanphoto Stop on in and check out The Strainers
TheStrainers 9 months ago
Thanks for the uploads. I've been looking for a another band to give me my Cramps fix.
admanphoto 11 months ago