Ray Condo (May 16, 1950 – April 15, 2004), born Ray Tremblay, was a Canadian

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

singer, saxophonist, and guitarist.

Biography

Born Ray Tremblay in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's ...

, Ray grew up in nearby

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, the third of five children. Ray's two brothers, William (Billy) and Robert were younger; his two sisters, Eileen and Maureen were older. 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 The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

called The Peasants. Ray attended an elite vocational fine art & design high school specifically established by the Ontario Ministry of Education for those showing exceptional talent in fine art and design. It was an intense and rigorous 4-year program, and many who started never completed the course. But Ray seemed to thrive in this environment. It was during this time that his sister Eileen passed on. This shook Ray to the core but he continued on, graduating and finding himself on the road, heading west and away from Ottawa. Reaching Vancouver, Ray studied at the

Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...

. Not feeling all that challenged by their curriculum, after one year he dropped out and found himself drawn to a world he would eventually return to for good ... music! That started with him playing bass in a

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

group called The Secret Vs. He left for

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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 Sidney Louie Gunter Jr. (February 27, 1925 – March 15, 2013), known as Hardrock Gunter, was a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music. Biography He was born in ...

, an early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

musician. The Hardrock Goners performed a variety of styles, such as rockabilly,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...

. Their first recordings appeared on the Og label's compilations, "It Came From Canada". They then established their own record label, "Crazy Rekkids". He earned the last name "Condo" from friend Regan O'Connor, who also came up with the name of the band, Ray Condo and his Hardrock Goners. In 1991, he returned to Vancouver. The Hardrock Goners toured with him for another three years, and then he and his bassist merged in with a group called The Five Star Hillbillies, to create a new group called The Ricochets, named after how much they "bounced around". They made their last album in 2000. 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.

Discography

*1986 – ''

Crazy Date Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other p ...

'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) Pipeline Records *1988 – '' Hot & Cold'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) Crazy Rekkids *1990 – ''

Condo Country A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) Crazy Rekkids *1991 – ''

'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) CD version Crazy Rekkids *1991 – ''

'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) EP version FURY Records *1993 – '' Hillbilly Holiday'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) FURY Records *1994 – '' Come On!'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) FURY Records *1996 – '' Swing Brother Swing'' (Ray Condo & his Ricochets) Joaquin Records *1997 – '' Door to Door Maniac'' (Ray Condo & his Ricochets) Joaquin Records *2000 – '' High & Wild'' (Ray Condo & his Ricochets) Joaquin Records *2004 – '' Sweet Love on My MInd/Big Dog Little Dog'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners/Ray Condo) Crazy Productions *2007 – '' Top Hits! Party Favourites!'' (Ray Condo & his Hardrock Goners) Crow-Matic Records *2017 – '' Hot 'N Cold'' reissue CD + 3 videos (Ray Condo & His Hardrock Goners) Super Oldies

References

External links

Biography by Carl Wilson on Official Site
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Ray Condo Live Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condo, Ray 1950 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian country singers Canadian rock singers Canadian rockabilly musicians Canadian saxophonists Male saxophonists Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni Musicians from Gatineau Singers from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian saxophonists