General Rudie

Infobox musical artist
Name = General Rudie


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Origin = flagicon|CanadaMontreal, Quebec, Canada
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Genre = Ska, Reggae
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Years_active = 1997 - 2006
Label = Stomp
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URL = [http://www.generalrudie.net www.generalrudie.com]
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Past_members = Phil Dixon Marc Thompson Luke Quin Nicky Popovic Boris Popovic Dennis William Lee Rob Radford Stefan Popowycz Eugene Negrii Mike Gasseldorfer J-O Begin Luca Fantigrossi Jason Selman Lindsey Mayers Irwin Loy Jasmin O’Meara Colin Cote Peter Labelle Matthieu Van Vliet Jeremy McCuish Matthieu Loiseau Hugues Jomphe Simon Vernier Rob Gilleti Sergei
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General Rudie was a popular and influential band from Montréal, Canada. In their nine year career, the band released two full-length albums on Stomp Records and toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States. General Rudie has shared the stage with such notable acts as The Skatalites, The Planet Smashers, Mustard Plug, and Catch 22.

History

General Rudie was founded in February 1997. Their first gig was in March 1997, as the opening act at a Flashlight Brown concert (who were at that time known simply as "Flashlight"). After playing together for only three years, mostly in the Montreal area, they opened for The Skatalites in 2000. In the same year the band left their mark on the Toronto ska scene by performing at Ska Ska Oi!, a major punk/ska concert and an annual fundraiser for the Toronto chapter of the Anti Racist Action (ARA). They also performed at the Toronto International Jazz Festival. In the later part of 2000 General Rudie toured southern Ontario in support of their first EP "The Green Light Sessions, Vol 1", including a performance at the Canadian Tulip Festival, the world's largest tulip festival. The band had plans to tour the rest of Canada to support the EP, but according to singer Phil Dixon, the band "exploded and we spent the summer rebuilding". [DISCORDER General Rudie [http://www.discorder.ca/oldsite/features/02maygeneralrudie.html] ] Instead, the band worked on establishing a solid line-up and writing new material.

Unsurprisingly, Stomp Records, Canada's largest ska record label, took note of their early success and expressed an interest in signing General Rudie for a recording contract. The band began work on their first full-length release for Stomp in 2001 following a weeklong tour of the Canadian Maritimes with future label-mates and fellow Montréalers the Planet Smashers. The album, "Cooling the Mark" was completed by the end of the year. The official release party was at the 2002 Ska Ska Oi! ARA concert. They also played the same ARA benefit in 2003, sharing the stage with Closet Monster and Nightshift.

The release of their second album "Take Your Place" came in 2004. The album had 13 songs, including the single "Shelter". The lyrics to "Shelter" are a poignant call for help for Montréal's homeless. The video for "Shelter" includes footage of squeegee kids and panhandlers interspersed with shots of the band performing in an abandoned building and under a highway overpass.

After nine years, the band called it quits and performed their last set ever on September 2nd, 2006 at the Cafe Campus in Montréal after a brief farewell tour through southern Ontario.

Discography

* "Take Your Place" (2004)
* "Cooling the Mark" (2001)
* "The Green Light Sessions, Vol 1" (2000) EP

Compilation Appearances

* "2Tongue" Volumes I, II, III (Disques Sapristi!/Indica Records/Stomp Records)
* "Still Standing" (Megalith Records)
* "State of the Union Vol II" (Stomp Records)
* "The All Skanadian Club Vol. 4" (Union Label Group)
* "Skannibal Party II" (Mad Butcher Records)
* "Global Ska 3" (Kainos Productions)
* "Boucing of Ska" (Ska-LP Records)

External links

* [http://www.generalrudie.net/ The official General Rudie website]
* [http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/GENERAL-RUDIE General Rudie on CBC Radio 3]
* [http://www.myspace.com/generalrudie General Rudie on MySpace]
* [http://www.unionlabelgroup.com/bandsview.php?id=23 General Rudie’s Stomp Records artist profile]
* [http://www.discorder.ca/oldsite/features/02maygeneralrudie.html Interview with General Rudie at Discorder]
* [http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2004/081204/music1.html Top Ranking Brass: General Rudie’s winning conditions (from the Montreal Mirror)]
* [http://www.punknews.org/review/1474 Review of Cooling the Mark at PunkNews.org]

References