Thundermug - Orbit (Canada 1973)

Formed in London, Ontario, their origins began in 1970 when high school friends guitarist/singer Joe de Angelis and Bill Durst on keyboards/guitars began jamming together in the garage, quickly recruiting bass player James Corbet and Ed Pranskus on drums. They began playing the local scene as Pink Orange, doing mostly Beatles/Stones/Led Zeppelin covers, all the while 'getting it together'. They soon graduated to the Toronto bar circuit where they developed a loyal cult-like following. After changing their name, they were noticed by manager Wyn Anderson one night while playing, who secured them a deal with Greg Hambleton's local Axe Records.

With Hambleton and Terry Brown (most noteable for his production work later with Rush and Klaatu) behind the controls, they went into Toronto Sound Studios in the spring of '72. Their debut THUNDERMUG STRIKES was released that summer with their cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" as the first single. But when radio stations began playing "Africa" off the lp as well, direction changed. They left the confines of headlining with The Srawbs across central Canada to their own smaller venues across the country. Soon after management released it as a single, "Africa" cracked the national top 30, with the energized-blues flip side "Jane J James" becoming a programmer's favourite as well. Their infectious groove had critics hailing them as the next potential supergroup. "Page 125" was issued as the third single in the middle of a North American tour, shortly before the album reached gold.

They were back in the studio the next year, gathering notes from the material written on the road. Recorded at Manta Sound with Hambleton again serving as producer. The band combined a mix of groove and heavy hitting rhythms in a style again before it's time. Released in the summer of 1973, ORBIT again had the critics taking notice. The title track was released as the first single, again cracking the Top 40. The 'white dude funk' of "Garden Green" made it one of the year's sleepers - as did "Boy You've Got Alot To Learn", hitting big on Ontario college campuses. Another cross-Canada tour ensued - with the lead-off "Big City" instantly becoming a crowd favourite. The album's strong overall appeal to FM station managers, including the acoustically upbeat "Molly O" laced with its psychadelic chanting, the horns & strings in "We'll Never Forget" and the satirical "Mickey Mouse Club" made it two straight gold records. Meanwhile Epic picked up US distribution rights, releasing their own version of THUNDERMUG STRIKES, actually a combination of the first 2 Canadian lps. (BUY IT!!!) (Thundermug previously...)

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