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Rock My World Canada, chapter 81: Ray Condo

[Mike Carr is determined to create a catalogue/reference work featuring all kinds of Canadian rock and alternative releases from the past few decades. Check out his a massive volume on Canadian music history entitled Canadian Alternative & Indie Reference and Collector’s Guide. It’s an incredible discography of hundreds of bands. – AC]

Ray Condo (May 16, 1950 – April 15, 2004), born Ray Tremblay, was a rockabilly singer, saxophonist, and guitarist. Condo taught himself to play the guitar at 11 and by the time he was 16 he had co-written and released his first recording, ‘If You Only Knew’ with a band in the style of the British invasion called The Peasants.

He left for Montreal to paint for a year, but once again got caught up in music, getting together with bassist Clive Jackson, banjoist Chris Dean, violinist Edgar Bridwell, guitarist Eric Sandmark, and drummer Peter Sandmark to form a band called Ray Condo and his Hardrock Goners, named for Hardrock Gunter, an early rock and roll musician. In 2003, Condo suffered from a minor heart attack.

A year later, new band member Ian Tiles found Condo dead from a heart attack in his Vancouver apartment.

Find out more about this artist and hundreds of other Canadian artists in the softcover edition of Canadian Alternative & Indie Reference and Collector’s Guide. Get your copy here. Follow Mike on Facebook and Twitter.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38011 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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