Grotesque Mommies
Tacoma, Washington
1966 - 1969

Members
 

Ned Blake ~ French Horn
Greg Gagliardi ~ Keyboards, Vocals
Dave Garland ~ Drums
Mark Harkness  ~ Guitar, Vocals
Rick Harris ~ Drums
Scott Jones ~ Bass
Brent Lund ~ Guitar, Vocals
Bob Medlock ~ Tambourine
Colin Ritchie ~ Rooster Fish
Margaret Simpson ~ Vocals
Steve Taylor ~ Drums
Chris Tollefson ~ Electric Drill
Mark Watson ~ Drums
Steve Wilson ~ Guitar, Bass
 

The  “REAL” GROTESQUE MOMMIES were engendered in the fall of 1966.  The original members were Chris Tollefson, electric drill,  Steve Taylor, drums,  Steve Wilson, guitar and bass,  Bob Medlock, tambourine,  Dave Garland, drums  and Colin Ritchie, rooster fish.  This was the first musical experience for most of the members and it was influenced to a great deal by the recent records of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention album  Freak Out  and several releases by the Fugs which included such songs and Feel Like Home Made Shit and Boobs A Lot.  The group began to practice in the basement of the Tollefson house because both of his parents worked so no one was home to supervise the kids in the afternoon.  Some early creativity  included using electric motors to accentuate the rhythm section.  It was not unusual to hear the high pitched whining of an electric drill during and after any song!  Later Scott Jones joined the group because these guys were all neighbors and he was already playing with a REAL band  that being the Daze of the Week.

The first and only performance of the Grotesque Mommies was actually witnessed by the self proclaimed GodFather of NW Rock and Roll,  Pat O’Day.  Though he will probably deny it to his grave.  This performance grew out of the responses that Mr. O’Day had to his mailbag program on KJR in the fall of 1966.  Several of us began to write to him and our letters seemed to gain some popularity amongst his listeners.   At one point he read a note from one Mommie that claimed that we were going play a benefit concert on Commencement Bay as soon as the bay froze over!

The gig was at half time of a basket ball game between the staff at Wilson High School in Tacoma and the KJR Dejays, one of them being Pat O’Day.  Although none of us saw the Dejays, being way to busy preparing for the gig to be able to bother watching the game, there is a picture in the yearbook of Pat O’Day laying on top of the backstop in the Wilson gym.  And there are many people who remember what occurred when the concert was announced!  We were set up on a moveable stage in the girls gym which was separated by a curtain from the main gym.  Don Cedar took the mic at half time and made the announcement and suddenly the stands were being emptied at an alarming rate.  People were streaming off the stands and onto the floor.  Meanwhile we had begun to play our theme song which of course was Hey We're the Mommies Daddie!  With two drummers we had no problem keeping the rhythm going even though the exhaust from the lawn mower got pretty strong. We originally had set up a pipe to carry the exhaust away from the stage but it was knocked over by the rush from to the stage.  On the other side of the stage Colin was doing the rooster fish which was a double jointed thing where he could put his legs over his shoulders then stand on his hands and keep the drill going at the same time.  It was quit a show! Unfortunately the entire scene was enough to freak out the Wilson Staff and their response was to pull the plug on the concert.  We were into our third song I believe before we were aware of the fact that there was no noise coming from our one amp which had been handling both guitar and bass.  The drums were loud and continuous but that left us with only drill and lawn mover to make music!!  The name of the scoundrel who was responsible for that plug pulling action was David Swift,  now the bane of creative music.  And thus the original REAL GROTESQUE MOMMIES faded into quiet oblivion in Tacoma.  There were initially planning a come back as the New Crusty Nostrils but found no takers for another concert and without the backing of Pat O’Day, who reportedly got a bit miffed at the crowd response to the Mommies, there was no future for them as he never read another letter on mailbag.

The Daze of the Week  later recorded two songs which were produced by Doug Hewitt. The songs were One Night Stand and You Gotta Give Baby.  The Daze were not wanting to be known as having anything to do with the other song on the record so after long consideration we used the name Grotesque Mommies and thought no more of it.  The members of the Grotesque Mommies were the same as the Daze of the Week.  Mark Harkness, Brent Lund, Greg Gagliardi, Mark Watson and Scott Jones.   About  two years later after Greg and Scott left the Daze some of use were still playing together on occasion.  The picture included here is of a group that recorded several times but  played only one gig at an Aquinas after school meeting.  The members were Brent Lund, guitar and vocals,   Margaret Simpson, vocals,  Greg Gagliardi, piano,  Rick Harris, drums, Ned Blake, French horn  and Scott Jones, bass.  All can be seen in this picture and can be known as the Revised Grotesque Mommies.

Scott Jones, March 2004


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Last Update: 19 July 2010
Credits:  Scott Jones
Band # 1447