Frank
Allison ~ Guitar, Vocals
Ray
Ayotte ~ Drums
Steve Cartmell ~ Hammond
B3
Barry
Collins ~ Lead Vocals
Tommy
Collins ~ Vocals, Choreography
Lou
Crockett ~ Keyboards, Vocals
Brian
Hilton ~ Drums
John
Purse ~ Bass, Vocals
Ron
Short ~ Drums, Vocals
Danny Baceda ~ Manager
We started out - at the Surf Club in Richmond in '68. Managed by Danny Baceda in the sixties, MOJO not only played a lot at his club but also toured the States for him. Baceda "found us" there and brought us to Oil Can's where we were one of his house bands playing both upstairs and downstairs.During that time we also played the King of Clubs and short road trips to Penticton during the summers until he put us on the road. The night before we were to leave he booked us in the Groove Yard as a kind of send off. The place was packed.
We started out in the U.S. in Portland at "the Palms", then on to Denver to a couple of different clubs... the last being "the Shades". I left the group after about two months in Denver, and the rest of group came home not long after. I never saw any of them again except for Barry a couple of times at the Garage. When Baceda put us on the road we saw a lot of a group out of Las Vegas that played a few times at the Cave... The Checkmates, Ltd. They were a show band with an R&B flavor so we picked up the style and brought in a choreographer from Seattle to work with us. We had very cool white suits made and headed out to conquer the clubs in the States.
We ended up hiring a bodyguard during our long stint in Portland. He had a black Cadillac limo (and a gun) and was to drive us to and from the Shades while we were in Denver. Of course he ended up looking out for himself more than us and split with a lot or our $.
We got taken other ways as well. Not an unfamiliar story I guess.
Does anyone have any photos or memories of us? I've been trying to locate the other guys in the band but they seem to have melted away.
Lou Crockett, August 2004
I found a picture of our group "pre-MOJO" (see above). This was taken when we played the Surf Club in Richmond, just before we brought in Barry Collins to do lead vocals,
and John Purse on bass.Yes that's *the* Ray Ayotte... Mr. Drums Only himself. Just before he became the drum building master business man. When he left to become successful we brought in Ron Short.
Not long after we landed Baceda's management and then went on to the States tour.
Lou Crockett, August 2006
I was the last drummer from 1968 to 1970 when the group broke up. I then played drums for Ronny Hawkins in Toronto and finally David Foster's group Skylark in L.A.
Brian Hilton, March 2007
Last Update: 26 November 2007
Credits: Lou Crockett, Steve Cartmell, Brian Hilton