Who was the Moosknukkl Groovband?
In 1987, I accidentally acquired a peculiar vinyl record at a flea market in a small village in Germany. Moosknukkl Groovband? Never heard of it. And there was no further information to be found about it. About 30 years later I got contact to an Canadian guy who was the founder of the Groovband 50 years ago. And learned about the relation of his music to the Olympic Games 1972. Read the story here
Sparse Information
According to cover and sleeve of the LP, the Moosknukkl Groovband consisted in Mike Lewis (keyboards, percussion) Tommy Graham (Guitar, Percussion, Vocals), Brother Josh (Drums, Vocals) and John Morton (Bass, Vocals). Were they british? From US? The producer was well known though: Conny Plank, german krautrock-mastermind and later the man behind the mixing desk for Ultravox and the Eurythmics. Recorded in 1972 in Windrose-Dumont Studios in Hamburg, the album appeared on Spiegelei, a sub-label of the Intercord company specially installed for krautrock. But the Groovband’s music was neither electronic nor experimental but ordinary early-70s-bluesrock.
The Search begins
Nearly 30 years later, the internet opened up new possibilities for research. Some sources said Mike Lewis was Canadian. He studied composition in Munich in the mid-60s and later initiated several projects in the German avant-garde music scene. Alongside the American percussionist Michael Ranta and the German composition lecturer Karl-Heinz Böttner, Lewis released two compositions under the project title „Wired“ for a sampler titled „Free Improvisation“, to find here on youtube. At the mixing desk: Conny Plank. Several months later, Lewis, Ranta, and Plank recorded „Mu“ – a recording session that wouldn’t be released by Ranta on the Belgian label Metaphon until 40 years later.
Contacting Mike Lewis‘ old friend
However, how the Moosknukkl Groovband came to be and why five Canadians produced an unknown record in Germany remained a mystery on the internet. So, we had to do our own research. Spiegelei Records didn’t exist anymore and Conny Plank couldn’t be asked, the legendary producer passed away in 1987. Lewis‘ old friend Michael Ranta, however, was living in Cologne, according to Wikipedia. In response to an email, Ranta said that he had tried to find out what had happened to Mike Lewis himself years ago, but in vain. „It’s very likely he’s dead, but we have no confirmation for that.“ On the Groovband LP, musician Tommy Graham was credited „In Courtesy of Capitol Records“. Internet provided a Tom Graham, who was contracted at Capitol. The canadian (!) had recorded a LP with the title „Whole Earth“ in 1970. And currently google listed a worldmusic producer based in toronto with name Tom Graham. I sent him a Mail.
Pre-Moosknukkl: The Big Town Boys
In parallel, we followed another lead. In the text on the LP cover, the musicians express their gratitude to Mr. Spitalney, their music teacher. Did the members of the Groovband already know each other long before the band was formed? Yes! In the archives of „The Ottawa Journal“ newspaper, we found an article about a student band called the „Big Town Boys“ from the year 1965. The musicians: Tommy Graham, Peter „Josh“ Collins, and Mike Lewis! Further searches for the Big Town Boys led us to an article about the band in a blog about the Canadian Beat era. Here is mentioned that Mike Lewis had left Canada in 1964 to study music in Munich. The missing link to the time before the Moosknukkl Groovband was found.
And with the real name of „Brother Josh,“ his career could now be illuminated a bit more closely. In 1973, he recorded the LP „Garden of Delight“ with the later Udo Lindenberg guitarist Andy Marx, with Josh also appearing as the drummer in this work. And the article from the blog confirmed something else: Today’s producer Tom Graham was indeed Tommy Graham from the Moosknukkl Grooveband LP.
„Yes, that’s me“, says Tom Graham
Tom Graham confirmed this himself via email. Almost 30 years after acquiring a completely unknown record, I now had contact with the guitarist of the recording, who lives in Canada. „Yes, that’s me,“ the Canadian explained in an email. Yes, he still remembered the recording of the record well, he wrote, and even provided two band photos that were not from the LP cover – so now I own two photos of the Moosknukkl Groove Band that no one else in the world knows about except the band members. With the information from these two pictures, it was now possible for the first time to correctly assign the members to the band photo on the record. Left to right: John Morton, Mike Lewis, „Brother Josh“ aka Peter „Josh“ Collins und Tommy Graham.
What did Graham still know? He said he still keeps in touch with Josh Collins, who lives in Montreal – just like Mike Lewis does!
Contact to Mike Lewis
Even before we can ask if he can somehow establish contact, chance intervenes. We had published the initial results of our search on this website in the autumn of 2014. A few weeks later, I received an email. „Cool website,“ it said. „I told my father about it – he is very flattered.“ The sender was Julian Lewis – Mike Lewis‘ son. He explained that every two years, he would search the web for traces of his father’s work. And yes, his father was indeed still alive and would receive my email address. Days later, I stumbled upon an email with a female French name amidst all the dubious contact offers in the spam folder. „Hello, this is Michael Mike Lewis writing,“ the text began.
The key: the Olympic Games of 1972
Now the question of how the peculiar constellation with the unknown record had come about was resolved. In 1971, Lewis had been offered to create music for the accompanying program of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. This included not only composition and performances but also the opportunity to record a record. In the autumn, during a vacation in Canada, he got in touch with his old colleagues Collins and Graham.
„How many copies were sold? No Idea“
Mike Lewis
A young bassist from Ottawa, John Morton, completed the quartet. In March 1972, they were in the studio in Hamburg with Conny Plank, followed by some gigs in the Hanseatic city and performances at the Olympic site during the Munich Games in the summer. In October, Graham, Morton, and Collins left Germany for home. The LP was released in 1973, with 3000 copies pressed. How many were sold? No idea, says Mike Lewis.
With this new information, confirming documents were found. In the official concluding documentation of the 1972 Games, part one and part two the Grooveband and performances by Michael Ranta and Mike Lewis are noted in the cultural section (p. 59/p. 253).
Years in Germany – and then back to Canada
One or two more years, the Canadian remained faithful to Germany, continuing to compose film music. For instance, he composed the score for the film „Die Verrohnung des Franz Blum“ directed by Reinhard Hauff (starring Jürgen Prochnow). He also worked with the same director on „Desaster“ featuring Klaus Löwitsch, Ruth-Maria Kubitschek, and Eva Mattes, as well as on the films „Die Ameisen kommen“ and „Umarmungen und andere Sachen“ directed by Jochen Richter. In 1975, Mike Lewis returned to Canada. There, he managed to sustain himself with concerts in the jazz and R&B genres, composing music for TV commercials, engaging in solo projects, and even owning his own studio, according to his own accounts. As of December 2014, Lewis mentions he is semi-retired.
What remains of the Groovband?
Julian Lewis kindly sent us a CD with the original master tapes of the Groovband LP from 1973. Apart from the remaining band members and their families, I am very sure that I am the only person who owns these recordings.
However, a few months later, Lewis also brings bad news: In March 2020, Mike Lewis, the founder of the Moosknukkl Groovband, passed away. Then, in January 2022, we learned that Josh Collins, also known as „Brother Josh,“ passed away at the end of 2021. One band member who is still alive is Tom Graham. And John Morton? What became of him remains unknown. Tom Graham reported to us that he met him once again at a concert in Toronto in 1975. He also does not know what became of him.
If you have any further information about the Moosknukkl Groovband, such as old pictures or videos, please write to us at moosknukkl@hotmail.com or use the comment section.
Eine Antwort zu „Who was the Moosknukkl Groovband?”.
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Great research, thanks!
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