Jimmy: 'Had a band and we tried real hard.' Ha. Some of us did....

Jody: I know, right? First, though, let's get the two major lies out of the way before moving on the plethora of minor ones.

Jimmy: Oh, the year thing?

Jody: The year thing! I didn't even meet Brian--it's Brian with an 'i' by the way, put that in your wikipedia or whatever. Anyway, yeah, I didn't even meet the dude until 1973.

Jimmy: Late 1973.

Jody: Right, the start of that school year. The band didn't get going until fall '74.

Jimmy: Song should be called Autumn to Winter of '74.

(laughter)

Jody: Okay, so there's that, but then, guess what--Guess who was the guitar player in that band? Fuckin' Richard.

Jimmy: Richard.

Jody: Didn't even get a mention. Sometimes I think Brian wrote that song from Richard's point of view.

Jimmy (rolling eyes): Sure, he's that smart.

(laughter)

Jody: Yeah, so it was Richard on guitar and singing, me on drums, Jimmy on bass, and Brian on...

Both: Tambourine!

Jody: Well, wait, it was actually "tambourine and background vocals."

Jimmy: We never plugged in his mic.

Jody: Yeah, but he insisted on getting credit for background vocals on the inside of our demo. I guess if you call "Everything I Do" singing, you can call his caterwauling in our band "vocals."

Jimmy: That guy was all about himself, man. It was pure horse shit.

Jody: Oh, the name. Well, Richard wanted to call us just "Blaze," though we later changed it to "Galactic Blaze." But Brian, fuckin' every day he's comin' in with these shit names like "Rhetoric."

Jimmy: "The Mellow Fellows," "Blue Day."

Jody: That's right! The Mellow Fellows! Every day with that guy, it was, "We're not gonna get signed unless we have a good name--the Mellow Fellows is perfect!"

Jimmy: How did we even tell him we had a band? That's what I wanna know.

Jody: Hey, it was your stupid sister that gave us away. I remember we made sure to practice when he was off at his Boy Scouts, but then Mary Pat was like, "Brian, you should start a band like my brother's...."

Jimmy: Oh, right, my sister, the one from "mama's porch."

Jody: Right! Exactly! Brian NEVER had a girlfriend. He found a picture of fuckin' Mary Pat standing on her and Jimmy's porch and made up this whole fantasy, like, "Oh, she's my girlfriend from the States, she said it would last forever," and all this bullshit.

Jimmy: And we're just like, Dude, that's Mary Pat, that's MY house, and she never touched you.

Jody: And Brian's all, "No, we did it. Twice. I swear. It's a different Mary Pat anyway!"

Jimmy: Sure looked like my sister.

(laughter)

Jody: Dude, go get the pic.

Jimmy: Really?

Jody: I know you have it in those albums somewhere.

Jimmy: Okay, I'll be right back. I don't know if I can find THE shot, though. (leaves room)

Jody: Yeah, the dude was messed up. Imagine writing a song about a girlfriend you never had and a band you just weaseled your way into...

Jimmy: Got it!

Jody: Oh my god.

Jimmy: Look! That's me in the background!

Jody: Haha!

Jimmy: Yup, that's Mary Pat, and that's me. Some fuckin' love song that was.

(laughter)

Jody: Okay, let's get down to the personal stuff. You wanna start?

Jimmy: Okay. So, he talks about that summer, which as we know wasn't a summer, quite fondly, but the only thing he says about me is "Jimmy quit." Bullshit. This band was falling apart from the day little Brian found out about it. Richard was ready to shit when he heard Brian was gonna "stop by to watch practice." Next thing you know, Brian's slappin' a tambourine and wailing at every practice.

Jody: He thought it was the Banana Splits or something.

Jimmy: I know, I'm surprised he didn't have us all in furry animal suits. So, before the next summer--'75--it just was over. That's all there was to it.

Jody: So we never actually were a band during any part of a summer.

Jimmy: And nobody told Brian it was "now or never."

Jody: It was just "never" for that guy. So, about my thing--he gives me that wonderful shout-out, "Jody got married." You know, he always hated Jane. That was my girlfriend at the time. You know how people always act like a girl breaks up the band or whatever? Well, Jane was awesome. Even Richard was like, "Jane, as long as we're gonna have a tambourine player, it might as well be you. We can kick Adams right out, and you can slide right in."

Jimmy: And she actually could sing.

Jody: Right! The other guys liked her, she was always helping out the band, and she could've easily been in the group. But Brian didn't like her. And that was that.

Jimmy: But, of course, according to the song....

Jody: Oh, right, "Jody got married." As if that had anything to do with it. Jane and I got hitched like four years later. She was pregnant, and we had to do it or there would've been hell to pay. She ended up putting the kid up for adoption, our marriage was annulled, and we remain friends to this day. But, (mockingly) Oh, the band broke up because of Jody and Jimmy with their quitting and girlfriends. My fuckin' ass.

Jimmy: Seriously. The guy's a douche. The Mellow fucking Fellows. Can you believe that shit?

Jody: He "shoulda known we'd never get far." Right, because he was in the damn band! We woulda gone really far without him. Instead, we grow up, don't hear dick from the guy for eight years, and the next thing ya know, MTV comes out and his pretty little mug is plastered all over it.

Jimmy: But the thing is, we still kinda thought, Well, okay, but at least we know if it wasn't for us, he never woulda got into music, and I'm sure he's gonna give us a nod...

Jody: Right, but instead of "I was in this awesome band called Galactic Blaze," it was "Here's the story of a couple dudes who fucked up MY band." I'll never get over that shit.

Jimmy: Total bullshit.

Jody: And poor Richard. At least we got our names mentioned, for whatever that's worth. Richard--such an amazing guitar player he was--the guy's been in and outta rehab for decades...it was his band, and Brian conveniently forgets about him.

Jimmy: And Jane.

Jody: And Jane. But he remembered that damn picture. (grabs pic, threatens to rip it up)

Jimmy: Dude! (grabs pic back)

Jody: Sorry, this just pisses me off. (pauses) There was no drive-in in our town, and the five-and-dime did NOT sell guitars, I assure you.

Jimmy: They only sold tambourines.

Jody: (sigh)


Jody McGrath lives with his wife and two dogs on their farm in Manitoba. Jimmy Ruddy lives in the GTA where he plays out occasionally under the name Jimmy & the Looney Tooneys. A Galactic Blaze reunion (sans Mr. Adams) is in the discussion stage.