- Ookla the Mok (band)
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Ookla the Mok at DucKon 2008
Ookla the Mok is the name of a filk band fronted by Rand Bellavia and Adam English. The band is named after a character from the Ruby-Spears Productions cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian, created by Steve Gerber. They utilise an irreverent mix of pop culture and rock music, notably in their album Smell No Evil (2001) - the world's first monkey rock opera. They provided the theme song to Disney's Fillmore!,[1] and scored the feature film Bite Me, Fanboy! They (or Rand and Adam) have won 3 Pegasus Awards [2][3][4] for excellence in filk music, and their music has twice been included on Dr. Demento compilations[5].
Contents
Band members
- Rand Bellavia (1992-present): vocals, guitar, trombone, keyboards, kazoo
- Adam English (1992-present): vocals, guitar, keyboards, accordion, trumpet
- Luis Garcia (1994-1998): drums, vocals
- Michael Mallory (1996-2005): bass
- Doug White (1997-2001): bass, guitar
- Chris Gajewski (1999-2003): drums
- Joe Pepper (2005-2007): drums
- Wolfram Neff (2006-present): bass
Musical style
Although Ookla the Mok has released many songs about more universal topics like relationships and lost love, they are best known for filk songs that cater to the interests of listeners at science fiction and comic book conventions, where the band makes the bulk of their public appearances. For example, their song titled "Arthur Curry" from Less Than Art pokes fun at Aquaman and the way his super-powers don't seem to compare favorably with the rest of the Super Friends. Another example is "Stop Talking About Comic Books Or I'll Kill You" from Super Secret. "Song of Kong" from Smell No Evil takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the relationship between King Kong and Godzilla. "W.W.S.D.?" from oh okay LA asks its listeners to ask themselves "What would Scooby do?". "Mr. W" from the same album paints a nightmare scenario of Mr. Worf being in command of Star Trek's starship Enterprise. And "Spot The Cat" from Dave Lennon sets to music a poem originally read by Star Trek's Data (written by Clay Dale). A song about the late actor, Gary Coleman, is included on Oh Ok LA.
Discography
- Poor Man's Copyright (1993)
- Less Than Art (1997)
- Super Secret (1998)
- Sucking Out Loud: Ookla the Mok Live at Windycon 25 (1999)
- Smell No Evil (2001)
- oh okay LA (2003)
- Dave Lennon (2005)
- Less Than Art 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)
Other Appearances
Rand's voice and Adam's keyboards can be heard on the international top five hit "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes.
Performances
Ookla the Mok were the musical guests of honor at the 2007 installment of MarsCon (Bloomington, Minnesota), and the International Guests of Honour at the 2009 British Filk Convention.
External links
Categories:- American rock music groups
- Filkers
- United States rock musical group stubs
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