Moxy Früvous was a Canadian politically satiricalfolk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active until 2001. Common themes in Früvous songs include Canada and the "human experience".
Thornlea Secondary School
Thornlea Secondary School is a public high school, in the Regional Municipality of York, that opened in 1968 and is located in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, on the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Willowbrook Road, just south of Highway 40 ...
and playing in a pub band called The Chia Pets at the time, joined with David Matheson to busk in Toronto. They drew crowds, and, eventually, the attention of Toronto-based
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
, which commissioned songs about political and local issues for the radio show ''Later the Same Day.'' Some songs written for the show later appeared on their albums; these songs include "The Gulf War Song" and " My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors", which was written for a Toronto authors' festival.
They cut a six-song demo tape in 1992, and that year performed at the SOCAN Awards celebration. Their first major-label album, '' Bargainville'', was released the next year. Shortly after, they embarked on a touring schedule that continued, practically without stopping except to record new material, until the end of 2000.
On August 14, 1997, their song "
You Will Go to the Moon
''You Will Go To The Moon'' is the third album by the Canadian folk band Moxy Früvous, released in 1997. The title track was inspired by the children's book. "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" is a cover of the Bee Gees song.
Critical reception
...
" was used by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
to wake the crew of STS-85.
The band sometimes sang with little or no accompaniment in a style similar to contemporary a cappella. A number of their songs also express the band's
progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
political leanings ("The Greatest Man in America", for instance, mocks
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
, and "Big Fish" lambastes former
Premier of Ontario
The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typ ...
Mike Harris). Früvous was also known for their close relationship with their fans and their live shows, which were full of political commentary, humorous banter, and musical improvisation.
The band gave its last concert in 2000 (excepting a performance at an annual fan convention in 2001).
Post-breakup activity
On September 5, 2005, Ford, Foster and Ghomeshi performed on CIUT, the U of T's
campus radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produc ...
station, as part of the morning program ''Toronto Unlocked,'' an ad hoc program produced and hosted by locked-out CBC Radio One staff.
The last update to the band's website occurred on July 8, 2008. The website was replaced by a default webserver page in mid-2009. The page eventually returned, and as of April 10, 2022 was still available.
Ghomeshi, Foster, and Ford performed on CBC Radio One on March 1, 2010, as a goodbye to ''Metro Morning'' host Andy Barrie.
In late 2014, Ghomeshi was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual assault, and one count of choking, in relation to three complainants. He was charged with three additional counts related to three more women on January 8, 2015.
On October 31, 2014, Murray Foster posted an "official response from the other former Moxy Fruvous members":
"As former colleagues of Jian (our last show was in 2000), we are sickened and saddened by this week's news. We had no inkling that Jian engaged in this type of behaviour. We abhor the idea of a sexual relationship of any sort being entered into without full consent from both parties and condemn violence against women in any form. We wish only health and healing to everyone involved. We have no further comment on this matter at this time."
Ghomeshi was acquitted of five assault charges on March 24, 2016. On May 11, 2016, the Crown withdrew the last remaining charge after Ghomeshi signed a peace bond and apologized to the plaintiff.
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of ...
, primarily as the host of the arts and cultural program '' Q'' until October 2014. He also wrote a book, ''
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...
'', published by
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Murray Foster is part of the band Great Atomic Power, with Dave Matheson, Tory Cassis,
Mark Mariash
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
and Jason LaPrade. He also performs in a vocal jazz standard group called The Lesters. Most recently, Foster has been touring as part of Great Big Sea, replacing bass player and singer Darrell Power.
* Dave Matheson performs solo and with Murray Foster in
Great Atomic Power
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
.
* Mike Ford often performs in schools, singing his songs about the history of Canada.
* Murray Foster and Mike Ford formed The Cocksure Lads in 2011. They have released two albums and have performed live in the Toronto area. Dave Matheson also makes occasional appearances with The Cocksure Lads.
Band name
The name "Moxy Früvous" is a nonsense phrase, although the liner notes of their first CD ''Bargainville'' contained a faux-dictionary listing of definitions for ''früvous.'' The band was known to never provide a straight or consistent answer when defining the origin or meaning of the band's name.
In an interview with
WBER
WBER is a listener and school district supported community radio station in Rochester, New York, United States, owned and operated by the BOCES, Monroe #1. The station was founded in 1985. The call letters correspond to BOCES Educational Rad ...
radio in Rochester, New York, on November 23, 1999, Ghomeshi explained the band's name origin by saying that they were "trying to think of a name that wasn't easy to remember and didn't mean anything," satirically going against two conventions most bands might use in determining a band name. The band name also includes a (satirical) heavy metal umlaut.
Album discography
* ''Moxy Früvous'' (1992, demo, rare)
* '' Bargainville'' (1993)
** includes the single "King of Spain"
* ''
Wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
s and other oddities)
* ''
You Will Go to the Moon
''You Will Go To The Moon'' is the third album by the Canadian folk band Moxy Früvous, released in 1997. The title track was inspired by the children's book. "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" is a cover of the Bee Gees song.
Critical reception
...
'' (1997)
* ''
Live Noise
''Live Noise'' is a 1998 live album by Canadian band Moxy Früvous, their only major- label live album. Material on the album includes songs from all of their studio albums (with minor lyrical changes on some songs), along with three covers an ...
The 'c' Album
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...