Ray Mondo | |
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Birth name | Raymond Taylor-Smith |
Also known as |
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Born | Sierra Leone |
Origin | United Kingdom |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Drummer |
Years active | 1981–1984 |
Formerly of |
Raymond Taylor-Smith (born in Sierra Leone) was a drummer for several notable British post-punk and gothic rock groups during the early 1980s. He is best known by his stage name, Ray Mondo.
Ray Mondo first appeared on the British music scene when he joined the Harrow-based post-punk group Ritual upon its formation in 1981. He drummed for the group for nearly two years, appearing on both of their records, the "Mind Disease" single and Kangaroo Court EP. [1] During this period, he was going simply by "Ray". [2]
In March 1983, Ritual dissolved. [1] Mondo was recruited by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy in April 1983 [1] to drum for their newly formed group Death Cult. It was Mondo, now going by the moniker "Ray Mondo" and alternately "The Reverend", that suggested Jamie Stewart (his bandmate from Ritual) for the vacant bass guitarist slot (after Astbury and Duffy had auditioned some 30 hopefuls). [1] Mondo drummed on the group's eponymous Death Cult EP and during their summer 1983 European and United Kingdom tour.
By September 1983, the group had decided to eject Mondo. Astbury's reasoning was documented in a 1983 interview: [3]
Mondo played his last gig with Death Cult on 19 September 1983 at the Brixton Ace in London. Shortly afterwards, he essentially "swapped" places with drummer Nigel Preston (who had previously worked with Duffy in Theatre of Hate). Preston was drumming for Sex Gang Children at the time. Duffy recruited Preston as the new drummer for Death Cult and Mondo filled the vacated drummer's position with Sex Gang Children in September 1983. [1] [4]
Mondo remained with Sex Gang Children until January 1984, when he was deported back to his native Sierra Leone. His subsequent activities and current whereabouts are unknown. [1] [4]
The Cult are an English rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two main songwriters.
Southern Death Cult were a British post-punk and gothic rock band that formed in Bradford during the early 1980s. They are now primarily known for having given their lead vocalist and parts of the name to the multi-platinum hard rock band the Cult. Despite the similarities in the names, "Southern Death Cult" were distinct from "Death Cult"/"the Cult".
Sex Gang Children are an early gothic rock and post-punk band that formed in early 1982 in Brixton in London, England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, their singles and various other tracks have been packaged into numerous collections, and they remain one of the more well-known bands of the early Batcave scene and have reformed for new albums and touring at various times since the early 1990s.
Ian Robert Astbury is an English singer who is the lead vocalist, frontman and a founding member of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury fronted the short-lived Holy Barbarians in 1996, and later from 2002 to 2007 served as the lead singer of Riders on the Storm, a Doors tribute band that also featured Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from the original Doors. He replaced Rob Tyner during an MC5 reunion in 2003, as well as appearing on several one-off guest vocal performances on other artists' songs.
The F.U.'s are a hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They formed in 1981 as a three-piece band, released three records and appeared on the compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A. before changing their name to Straw Dogs in 1986 to market themselves as a heavy metal act. In 2010 The F.U.'s reformed under their original moniker.
William Henry Duffy is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult.
Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in London, England, in 1980.
Death Cult is the debut four-track EP by the post punk/gothic rock band Death Cult. Released in July 1983 on the Situation Two label, the EP reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart. The EP is often erroneously referred to as Brothers Grimm.
James Alec Stewart is a retired British musician who was the bassist of the post-punk/hard rock band The Cult. He recorded on The Cult's first four albums, Dreamtime, Love, Electric and Sonic Temple.
The Cult is the sixth studio album from English rock band, The Cult. It was released in October 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records and it is also the band's last album on Sire Records in the US. It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a Manx Loaghtan black sheep on the front cover. The record also features one of the very rare times when Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have shared songwriting credit with anyone: bassist Craig Adams is credited as co-author of "Universal You".
Mondo Generator is an American rock band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri.
Nigel Preston was an English drummer. He was a founding member of the Cult. He also played and recorded with Theatre of Hate, Sex Gang Children, the Baby Snakes, the Gun Club and DeLuca.
"Spiritwalker" is a single by the English rock band The Cult and was released on 11 May 1984. "Spiritwalker" is the lead single from the Dreamtime album, although it was released nearly five months before the album was released.
Carcrash International was an English post-punk band associated with the Batcave scene, formed by Dave Roberts, original bass player of Sex Gang Children, who used the name for two projects.
Manzarek–Krieger was an American rock band formed by two former members of the Doors, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, in 2002. They were also known as "The Doors of the 21st Century", "D21C", and "Riders on the Storm" after the Doors song of the same name. They settled on using "Manzarek–Krieger" or "Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors" for legal reasons, after acrimonious debates and court battles between the two musicians and Doors co-founder/ drummer John Densmore. They performed Doors material exclusively until the death of Manzarek in 2013.
Ritual was an early 1980s Harrow-based post-punk band that were later aligned with the early UK-based gothic rock movement. The group is commonly associated with Death Cult, which two Ritual members later joined.
"Gods Zoo" is a single by the English post-punk/gothic rock band Death Cult, released on 23 October 1983 by Situation Two. The song is often, erroneously, spelled "God's Zoo".
"Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" is a single by the English rock band The Cult and was released on 10 August 1984. Often truncated as just "Go West", it is the second single from the Dreamtime album.
"Ressurection Joe" is a single by the English rock band The Cult, it was released on 14 December 1984 and wasn't found on any previous studio album by the group.