Hayduke

Hayduke! was a heavy rock band that emerged from the Bridgewater Triangle. Home-based midway between Boston, MA and Providence, R.I., Hayduke! was an exciting, heavy rock band in the grand tradition of The Vanilla Fudge. Originally formed in the fall of 2001, in the heart of the Bridgewater Triangle in southern New England and named after legendary master of revenge George Hayduke, Rick McCarthy (The Group, The Nubbish, Captain Glasspack and his Magic Mufflers) teamed up with former Group mates John Roppolo (Raze) and Randy Knight (The Group, Shoe-City Blues, The Nubbish, The Sykes, Giraffodil) to tour to back up his Hypothetic Records release Citizen At Will.This line up matured into a powerful songwriting force and by winter's end, Hayduke! was born.

Rick McCarthy

Born on January 4, Rick began playing guitar shortly before his 5th birthday. Not exactly a child prodigy, proficiency was something that initially eluded the young player. Rick has been recording original music since 1985 and his songwriting and production techniques have matured nicely over time.

Located somewhere south of Boston, MA, Rick has performed and/or recorded with numerous artist including The Group, The Nubbish, The Pigs and Captain Glasspack and his Magic Mufflers as well as with his various outfits of his own.

Randy Knight
Randy Knight began to take to the piano as a child and his first performance was at Regal Park elementary school when he was in the first grade. He is now the bass player in Hayduke!.

Randy has played with The Group, Shoe City Blues, The Sykes, The Nubbish as well as numerous side projects, some including his drummer brother Roger.

John Roppolo
John Roppolo was born on December 21. He began playing drums and, by his early teens, John found himself in various rock bands.

John met up with classmate Dylan Wright who introduced him to Rick McCarthy. The three formed The Group on Dec. 15th 1985 and played together for 3 years before John left to fill the drum chair in Raze.

Demise

Presures began mounting within the band during recording sessions at the end of 2002. The rigorous touring schedule, recording the album and being evicted from their headquarters eventually would prove too much for Hayduke! to withstand. The band went on (permanent?) hiatus Tuesday, February 4th 2003 after their gig at Sky Bar in Somerville, MA., when John Roppolo decided to take a much needed break from the rigors of touring.

Discography

2003 - Dirt Star (Hypothetic Records)

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Hayduke is also a term and verb used among environmental activists and people who cite cult "revenge" books. It is the name of George Washington Hayduke, a fictional character in Edward Abbey's cult classics The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives!. Hayduke personifies the "no compromise in defense of the Earth" approach to environmentalism, made real in early Earth First! activism.

A complete series of revenge books using the pseudonym George Hayduke exist, mostly published by the Paladin Press, including "The Big Book of Revenge", "Get Even", "Make 'Em Pay", "Up Yours" and "Screw Unto Others". Each describe various methods of committing mischief and mayhem against those who have wronged others in a manner reminiscent of The Anarchist's Cookbook. "Haydukery" refers to committing such acts in general.