BEFORE THE MUSIC
They call themselves Brain Damage but their real names are Scott Voelzing and Roy Morrison. The music world will never see another group like Brain Damage. Their unique style and sense of humour has entertained fans for over 40 years. The phenomenal story of Brain Damage begins in a small classroom at Pinecrest Public School in Ottawa, Ontario, September 1971. Two 12 year old boys, from different classrooms, shared the same music class together. Though they were together in the same class for 10 months, the two never met. Before class would start, Scott would dazzle his fellow classmates by performing Beethoven 9th Symphony. Roy thought the slightly overweight piano player with thick glasses was very strange. As time went on, he found his first impression of Scott to be correct. The following year, in the 1972, Roy and Scott were in the same classroom together. It was a common interest in television production that brought these two future musical legends together.
They call themselves Brain Damage but their real names are Scott Voelzing and Roy Morrison. The music world will never see another group like Brain Damage. Their unique style and sense of humour has entertained fans for over 40 years. The phenomenal story of Brain Damage begins in a small classroom at Pinecrest Public School in Ottawa, Ontario, September 1971. Two 12 year old boys, from different classrooms, shared the same music class together. Though they were together in the same class for 10 months, the two never met. Before class would start, Scott would dazzle his fellow classmates by performing Beethoven 9th Symphony. Roy thought the slightly overweight piano player with thick glasses was very strange. As time went on, he found his first impression of Scott to be correct. The following year, in the 1972, Roy and Scott were in the same classroom together. It was a common interest in television production that brought these two future musical legends together.
By December of 1972, Roy and Scott formed their own Super 8 film company, M.V. Films. Their first feature film was called "Bratus Meet Mr. Greenjeans." Scott had the starring role as Mr. Greenjeans, and the role of Bratus was given to Roy's dog. By the fall of 1973 they landed an exclusive contract with Ottawa Cablevision TV, to have their own series of television specials that featured their movies. In 1974 they received the prestigious "Silver Film Can" award for best comedy film for the movie “Frankenstien Jr.” Scott presented the award to Roy in front of an audience that included Roy's dog and cat. From 1973 to 1976, M.V. Films produced 11 movie shorts. It was during these years that they developed their creative writing abilities together, which would be useful in later years when they started to write songs together. In the spring of 1976, they were forced to leave the film business due to failing equipment and a growing interest in females.
AND THEN THERE WAS MUSIC
In 1976, when Scott was in High School, he joined the Glen Miller Appreciation Band. He was thrown a trumpet and was told to "learn it"; This skill became useful later when Brain Damage needed a trumpet solo in their songs. After two months, Scott quit the band cause he realized that he couldn't sing and play trumpet at the same time. It was shortly after that when he got a call from Roy to join a band with him, that featured Rick McKay on drums (who later became a session musician on many Brain Damage songs) and Brian Montgomery on guitar. Roy played guitar and Scott played keyboards. Roy and Scott left the group after one rehearsal when they learnt that they were only permitted to play one Beatle and one Elton John song. They decided to form their own band and called themselves "The M.V. Band", a name derived from their film company M.V. Films. In 1977 they made a musical break through. They discovered that by singing songs in the key that the sheet music was written, their singing sounded off key. This off key singing style became their musical trademark. By the fall of 1977, they made their first audio cassette of original songs called "Life Is Sometimes Absurd".
In 1978, under the new name Brain Damage, they started performing at amateur nights around the Ottawa area. Slowly the boys started to introduced original songs into their live act. As these song were written in the key they could sing, they quickly became favourites with the fans. On November 27 1979 Brain Damage performed to sold out crowd at Rooster's bar at Carleton University. The host of the show was comedian Mike MacDonald. It was this night that Brain Damage achieved the success they were working for. All local news media wanted to know more about Brain Damage. They appeared on CKCU Radio six o'clock news and had a front page article in the entertainment section of the Ottawa Journal. On December 30 1982 Brain Damage met Del Shannon. Del was performing at the Oakridge room in Ottawa. During the intermission, Brain Damage met with Del in his “dressing room.” The boys offered Del some advice on songwriting, but Del, still thinking he's a star, turned down their offer. Brain Damage did manage to get Del's autograph before they left, but Del showed no interest in obtaining Brain Damages' autographs. At the beginning of 1982, with the increasing pressures of touring, Brain Damage decided to take a break from live performing and turned to writing and recording music.
In 1976, when Scott was in High School, he joined the Glen Miller Appreciation Band. He was thrown a trumpet and was told to "learn it"; This skill became useful later when Brain Damage needed a trumpet solo in their songs. After two months, Scott quit the band cause he realized that he couldn't sing and play trumpet at the same time. It was shortly after that when he got a call from Roy to join a band with him, that featured Rick McKay on drums (who later became a session musician on many Brain Damage songs) and Brian Montgomery on guitar. Roy played guitar and Scott played keyboards. Roy and Scott left the group after one rehearsal when they learnt that they were only permitted to play one Beatle and one Elton John song. They decided to form their own band and called themselves "The M.V. Band", a name derived from their film company M.V. Films. In 1977 they made a musical break through. They discovered that by singing songs in the key that the sheet music was written, their singing sounded off key. This off key singing style became their musical trademark. By the fall of 1977, they made their first audio cassette of original songs called "Life Is Sometimes Absurd".
In 1978, under the new name Brain Damage, they started performing at amateur nights around the Ottawa area. Slowly the boys started to introduced original songs into their live act. As these song were written in the key they could sing, they quickly became favourites with the fans. On November 27 1979 Brain Damage performed to sold out crowd at Rooster's bar at Carleton University. The host of the show was comedian Mike MacDonald. It was this night that Brain Damage achieved the success they were working for. All local news media wanted to know more about Brain Damage. They appeared on CKCU Radio six o'clock news and had a front page article in the entertainment section of the Ottawa Journal. On December 30 1982 Brain Damage met Del Shannon. Del was performing at the Oakridge room in Ottawa. During the intermission, Brain Damage met with Del in his “dressing room.” The boys offered Del some advice on songwriting, but Del, still thinking he's a star, turned down their offer. Brain Damage did manage to get Del's autograph before they left, but Del showed no interest in obtaining Brain Damages' autographs. At the beginning of 1982, with the increasing pressures of touring, Brain Damage decided to take a break from live performing and turned to writing and recording music.
IN THE STUDIO
In 1982 they set up a 4-track recording studio and started to record their first Brain Damage album "It'll Hurt Your Head Too!" While working on the album, they joined their musical talents with their movie making talents by producing their first movie in 5 years. It was a comedy movie about Roy getting married. Four songs from the movie made it to the new album. When the album was released in the spring of 1983, every copy was sold on the very first day. No other recording artist in the history of music has achieved this success. As the boys started working on their new album, later to be known as "Hot As Jed", they were pressured by their record company to produce music videos for the singles from "It'll Hurt Your Head Too". M. V. Films was back in business. Switching to VHS format, Brain Damage produced a number of videos for songs off "It'll Hurt Your Head Too", along with songs from "Hot As Jed". In the fall of 1985 Brain Damage starred in the movie "Child Of The Night". It featured Roy and Scott as members of a musical group called "Brain Damage". The story is about a band who just added a new drummer to the group and they started rehearsing for an upcoming tour. To their horror, they discovered that one by one, members of their entourage was being murdered. It's a cross between "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "A Hard Day's Night". In the end, the movie was so intense that theatres refused to show it.
In 1982 they set up a 4-track recording studio and started to record their first Brain Damage album "It'll Hurt Your Head Too!" While working on the album, they joined their musical talents with their movie making talents by producing their first movie in 5 years. It was a comedy movie about Roy getting married. Four songs from the movie made it to the new album. When the album was released in the spring of 1983, every copy was sold on the very first day. No other recording artist in the history of music has achieved this success. As the boys started working on their new album, later to be known as "Hot As Jed", they were pressured by their record company to produce music videos for the singles from "It'll Hurt Your Head Too". M. V. Films was back in business. Switching to VHS format, Brain Damage produced a number of videos for songs off "It'll Hurt Your Head Too", along with songs from "Hot As Jed". In the fall of 1985 Brain Damage starred in the movie "Child Of The Night". It featured Roy and Scott as members of a musical group called "Brain Damage". The story is about a band who just added a new drummer to the group and they started rehearsing for an upcoming tour. To their horror, they discovered that one by one, members of their entourage was being murdered. It's a cross between "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "A Hard Day's Night". In the end, the movie was so intense that theatres refused to show it.
ROYAL ALBERT AND THE COLLECTION
By 1987 Brain Damage decided to tour under the name "Royal Albert and the Collection". This guise enabled them to play smaller intimate venues without the hassle of being mobbed by larger crowds. They added Albert Cardarelli on lead vocals and James Cook on drums. Both Albert and James have worked on "It'll Hurt Your Head Too!" and on "Hot As Jed". James played the drummer in "Child Of The Night" and co-wrote the script. Roy and Scott limited the number of Brain Damage songs in their set list, as they did not want the audience to discover who they really were. Some people thought this new band was a Brain Damage tribute band.
By 1987 Brain Damage decided to tour under the name "Royal Albert and the Collection". This guise enabled them to play smaller intimate venues without the hassle of being mobbed by larger crowds. They added Albert Cardarelli on lead vocals and James Cook on drums. Both Albert and James have worked on "It'll Hurt Your Head Too!" and on "Hot As Jed". James played the drummer in "Child Of The Night" and co-wrote the script. Roy and Scott limited the number of Brain Damage songs in their set list, as they did not want the audience to discover who they really were. Some people thought this new band was a Brain Damage tribute band.
GEOFF SMITH - MANAGER
At a concert in 1992, a deranged fan figured out their secret and started to tell the world Royal Albert was really Brain Damage. Roy was so impressed by how this fan handled publicity that they made him their manager. His name was Geoff Smith. A former karaoke singing sensation, Geoff spend 5 years studying tambourine at the Davy Jones School of Music. Geoff, whose managing skills are second only to Ruben Kincaid, first got the boys back into the studio to finish off their new album. As being on the road took up a lot of their time, Brain Damage took ten years to complete the "Hot As Jed" album. At the time in 1993, they only released the album on cassette form, as they were not satisfied with the quality of vinyl records. They did however reissued the album in 1997 in CD format. In 1994, with a new digital recording studio, Brain Damage began working on their highly acclaimed album " Playing for Uncle Stunkle ." It was released in 1997, and to celebrate, Brain Damage performed live marking twenty years of music together. The event was recording and release in 1998, under the name "Brain Damage, The 20th Anniversary Concert ."
At a concert in 1992, a deranged fan figured out their secret and started to tell the world Royal Albert was really Brain Damage. Roy was so impressed by how this fan handled publicity that they made him their manager. His name was Geoff Smith. A former karaoke singing sensation, Geoff spend 5 years studying tambourine at the Davy Jones School of Music. Geoff, whose managing skills are second only to Ruben Kincaid, first got the boys back into the studio to finish off their new album. As being on the road took up a lot of their time, Brain Damage took ten years to complete the "Hot As Jed" album. At the time in 1993, they only released the album on cassette form, as they were not satisfied with the quality of vinyl records. They did however reissued the album in 1997 in CD format. In 1994, with a new digital recording studio, Brain Damage began working on their highly acclaimed album " Playing for Uncle Stunkle ." It was released in 1997, and to celebrate, Brain Damage performed live marking twenty years of music together. The event was recording and release in 1998, under the name "Brain Damage, The 20th Anniversary Concert ."
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
In the winter of 1997 / 1998, Geoff sent Brain Damage out on their first North American tour, which included Carlsbad Springs, Memphis Tennessee and their home town, Ottawa. To thank their manager for their continuous success, Brain Damage invited Geoff up on stage to play tambourine with the group. While in Memphis, Brain Damage started work on their new album "Success". The first song recorded was at Sam Phillips Recording Service. As you might remember, Sam Phillips was the man who discovered Elvis Presley. The recording engineer on the session was Roland Janes. Roland has worked as a guitarist a number of songs at Sam Phillips Sun Records in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Another song was recorded in Memphis. It was "We're Going To Memphis". The song was written by Roy and Scott on their drive down to Memphis. They performed the song live at the world famous Hernando's Hide-A-Way. The house band also played on this track. When the boys got back to Ottawa at the end of March, they spent the next three years working on the album. The album "Success" was released in May 2001
In the winter of 1997 / 1998, Geoff sent Brain Damage out on their first North American tour, which included Carlsbad Springs, Memphis Tennessee and their home town, Ottawa. To thank their manager for their continuous success, Brain Damage invited Geoff up on stage to play tambourine with the group. While in Memphis, Brain Damage started work on their new album "Success". The first song recorded was at Sam Phillips Recording Service. As you might remember, Sam Phillips was the man who discovered Elvis Presley. The recording engineer on the session was Roland Janes. Roland has worked as a guitarist a number of songs at Sam Phillips Sun Records in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Another song was recorded in Memphis. It was "We're Going To Memphis". The song was written by Roy and Scott on their drive down to Memphis. They performed the song live at the world famous Hernando's Hide-A-Way. The house band also played on this track. When the boys got back to Ottawa at the end of March, they spent the next three years working on the album. The album "Success" was released in May 2001
BRAIN DAMAGE GETS THEIR AWARDS
In April 2002 Brain Damage received gold and platinum awards for their recordings from their former record company, Excel Records. Excel's standard are not like other record companies. If an artist sells more than 3 copies, they get a gold disk. They received the following awards: Gold LP Award for "It'll Hurt Your Head Too", Gold CD Award "The 20th Anniversary Concert", Platinum CD Award for "Playing For Uncle Stunkle". Roy also won a Platinum LP for "One Step Away", for his work with The Daralyx. These awards would have been handed to the boys years ago, but a representative from Excel Records told us that they didn't have an address to send the awards.
In April 2002 Brain Damage received gold and platinum awards for their recordings from their former record company, Excel Records. Excel's standard are not like other record companies. If an artist sells more than 3 copies, they get a gold disk. They received the following awards: Gold LP Award for "It'll Hurt Your Head Too", Gold CD Award "The 20th Anniversary Concert", Platinum CD Award for "Playing For Uncle Stunkle". Roy also won a Platinum LP for "One Step Away", for his work with The Daralyx. These awards would have been handed to the boys years ago, but a representative from Excel Records told us that they didn't have an address to send the awards.
CHRISTMAS WITH BRAIN DAMAGE
Following the success of the album "Success", Scott came up with the idea to do a Christmas album. It was early in 2003 when then started working on the project and they wanted to get it by Christmas of that year. Roy wrote the lyrics to a new song called "White Christmas", not to be confused with the Bing Crosby hit of the same name. Scott wrote and arranged the music to the song. The only other original song on the album is re-release of "Tennessee Christmas". The remaining tracks are Brain Damage's favourite Christmas classics. To help out their singing buddy Albert Cardarelli, they invited Albert to be a guest artist on this album. Unfortunately when the CD was release in December 2003, they only sold 5 copies and 3 were returned.
BACK IN THE STUDIO
Since the release of their Christmas CD, Brain Damage started their next CD, to be titled "Songs From The Trash". After finishing four tracks, they got a call by guitarist Joe Holmes, to help him record his first album. Being in a charitable frame of mind, the boys agreed to put a hold on their recording to be session musicians on Joe's album "Underwater Cheese". In late October 2006 Brain Damage started work on Joe's CD. The boys produced, orchestrated, and playing on the songs written by Joe; Albert provided backing vocals at the Marconi Retirement Home, using a state of the art recording system that will allow him to sing in a horizontal position (laying down). What is remarkable is how timely and relevant many of his songs are: "Fanatics" laments the state of the World under threat from terrorism and fundamentalism. The Ottawa Song" is a reworking of a song recorded by Joe, Scott and Roy in 1982 for a contest that was held in Ottawa to choose a song that would become the city's official song. Ottawa singer Christine McCann won the contest, but Joe's song was given special mention ("I believe we put that one in the reject pile"), and an updated version has been recorded for the CD. "Support Your Local Planet" is a plea to take care of the environment and look after our resources; ..."the next available planet is light years away". This song would make David Suzuki proud. "You Give Us Freedom" is a stirring, inspirational religious hymn that is both spiritual, and a beautiful marriage of music and lyrics. This song relies heavily on imagery and one is reminded of a musical painting. With the economy of Alberta soaring, "Go West" speaks of unlimited opportunities and invites young people to savor job prospects and low taxes in Western Canada. Joe's title track "Underwater Cheese" is inspired by an event that took place in the province of Quebec where cheese makers submerged large quantities of cheese in the hopes that the underwater pressure would enhance the taste. The song is cinematographic in nature and gives the listener mental images of cheese being thrown off the deck of a boat. After months of delays Joe's CD was release in April 2007 and was available at CD Warehouse, next to Shopper's Drug Mart where ear plugs are on sale: $2.95 per pair. With songs such as "Creepy Bands", "Fat Cats" and "Short Sleeve Shirts", the album was a colossal flop.
After the release of Joe's CD, Brain Damage hoped to return to the studio to finish of their album, but the demand for a 30th Anniversary Tour was so great, they had to put recording on hold again. The first concert was at Sir Guy Carleton High School, playing a Thanksgiving Dinner benefit concert for the homeless people of the Ottawa/Carleton area. The boys were disappointed that no one knew any of the Brain Damage hits and even got complaints about the songs "We Can Take You Fat" and "The Quebec Song". Even though they had media coverage by CTV and a local school newspaper, Brain Damage decided to cancel the rest of the tour.
Following the success of the album "Success", Scott came up with the idea to do a Christmas album. It was early in 2003 when then started working on the project and they wanted to get it by Christmas of that year. Roy wrote the lyrics to a new song called "White Christmas", not to be confused with the Bing Crosby hit of the same name. Scott wrote and arranged the music to the song. The only other original song on the album is re-release of "Tennessee Christmas". The remaining tracks are Brain Damage's favourite Christmas classics. To help out their singing buddy Albert Cardarelli, they invited Albert to be a guest artist on this album. Unfortunately when the CD was release in December 2003, they only sold 5 copies and 3 were returned.
BACK IN THE STUDIO
Since the release of their Christmas CD, Brain Damage started their next CD, to be titled "Songs From The Trash". After finishing four tracks, they got a call by guitarist Joe Holmes, to help him record his first album. Being in a charitable frame of mind, the boys agreed to put a hold on their recording to be session musicians on Joe's album "Underwater Cheese". In late October 2006 Brain Damage started work on Joe's CD. The boys produced, orchestrated, and playing on the songs written by Joe; Albert provided backing vocals at the Marconi Retirement Home, using a state of the art recording system that will allow him to sing in a horizontal position (laying down). What is remarkable is how timely and relevant many of his songs are: "Fanatics" laments the state of the World under threat from terrorism and fundamentalism. The Ottawa Song" is a reworking of a song recorded by Joe, Scott and Roy in 1982 for a contest that was held in Ottawa to choose a song that would become the city's official song. Ottawa singer Christine McCann won the contest, but Joe's song was given special mention ("I believe we put that one in the reject pile"), and an updated version has been recorded for the CD. "Support Your Local Planet" is a plea to take care of the environment and look after our resources; ..."the next available planet is light years away". This song would make David Suzuki proud. "You Give Us Freedom" is a stirring, inspirational religious hymn that is both spiritual, and a beautiful marriage of music and lyrics. This song relies heavily on imagery and one is reminded of a musical painting. With the economy of Alberta soaring, "Go West" speaks of unlimited opportunities and invites young people to savor job prospects and low taxes in Western Canada. Joe's title track "Underwater Cheese" is inspired by an event that took place in the province of Quebec where cheese makers submerged large quantities of cheese in the hopes that the underwater pressure would enhance the taste. The song is cinematographic in nature and gives the listener mental images of cheese being thrown off the deck of a boat. After months of delays Joe's CD was release in April 2007 and was available at CD Warehouse, next to Shopper's Drug Mart where ear plugs are on sale: $2.95 per pair. With songs such as "Creepy Bands", "Fat Cats" and "Short Sleeve Shirts", the album was a colossal flop.
After the release of Joe's CD, Brain Damage hoped to return to the studio to finish of their album, but the demand for a 30th Anniversary Tour was so great, they had to put recording on hold again. The first concert was at Sir Guy Carleton High School, playing a Thanksgiving Dinner benefit concert for the homeless people of the Ottawa/Carleton area. The boys were disappointed that no one knew any of the Brain Damage hits and even got complaints about the songs "We Can Take You Fat" and "The Quebec Song". Even though they had media coverage by CTV and a local school newspaper, Brain Damage decided to cancel the rest of the tour.
HALFWAY THROUGH
In August 2009, Brain Damage, received an offer to do a TV special about a trip with Brain Damage. They invited long time friend and vocalist Albert Cardarelli to also be part of the program. Scott suggested that since he's and Roy will be 50 that year, the theme of the special should be Roy and Scott celebrating their halfway mark in their life (Albert has little time left). Scott arrange for the trip to start in New Orleans and ending in Memphis. The film crew focus mainly on Brain Damage around Bourbon Street in New Orleans, with most shots were of Albert singing at every karaoke bar in the area. While in New Orleans, the boys saw how New Orleans was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and decided to do a benefit concert. They met with James at the Heart and Anchor Pub in Algiers (across the river) and he agreed to host the concert in his bar. The boys raised about $100, but there was only one person that was a victim of the hurricane at the bar, and the only reason she was there that night was she was the bartender that night, so she got the full amount raised.
In August 2009, Brain Damage, received an offer to do a TV special about a trip with Brain Damage. They invited long time friend and vocalist Albert Cardarelli to also be part of the program. Scott suggested that since he's and Roy will be 50 that year, the theme of the special should be Roy and Scott celebrating their halfway mark in their life (Albert has little time left). Scott arrange for the trip to start in New Orleans and ending in Memphis. The film crew focus mainly on Brain Damage around Bourbon Street in New Orleans, with most shots were of Albert singing at every karaoke bar in the area. While in New Orleans, the boys saw how New Orleans was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and decided to do a benefit concert. They met with James at the Heart and Anchor Pub in Algiers (across the river) and he agreed to host the concert in his bar. The boys raised about $100, but there was only one person that was a victim of the hurricane at the bar, and the only reason she was there that night was she was the bartender that night, so she got the full amount raised.
The next day, they rented a car and drove to Memphis. In Memphis they showed Albert the many sites they saw during the 1998 North American tour. It was sad to see that Hernando's Hide-A-Way was closed, but they still ran into a few of their old friends, like Rudy Williams on Beale Street, and Roland Janes. Roland was still working at Sam Phillips Recording Services and was sitting at the front door waiting for anyone to come in to talk to him. Brain Damage spent a few hours talking to Roland about the old days when he was part of Jerry Lee Lewis's band. It was this tour that included The Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. The unfortunate thing was, Roland didn't remember much of that tour, or recording in the early days at Sun Studios. The next day, Brain Damage and Albert headed over to Graceland, Elvis's house. Since the cover the Brain Damage "Success" CD was shot at Graceland, Albert thought that Roy and Scott had bought the house, so they gave Albert a tour of their new house. He didn't realize that Roy and Scott were such big Elvis fans, as the house was still filled with Elvis's personal items. The special ended up getting cancelled but agreed to sell DVD copies at the Brain Damage website.
BRAIN DAMAGE SEMI-FINALISTS
The Song of the Year songwriting contest has awarded Roy Morrison and Scott Voelzing the Semi Finalist placement in the song contest. The song they entered was "Truth In Her Eyes". Song of the Year receives entries from all over the world and only the top songwriters receive a Semi Finalist placement in the songwriting competition. Finalists are not ever recognized or even told they won the competition. So we're not sure if Brain Damage even won. www.songoftheyear.com/placements/RoyMorrison.html
The Song of the Year songwriting contest has awarded Roy Morrison and Scott Voelzing the Semi Finalist placement in the song contest. The song they entered was "Truth In Her Eyes". Song of the Year receives entries from all over the world and only the top songwriters receive a Semi Finalist placement in the songwriting competition. Finalists are not ever recognized or even told they won the competition. So we're not sure if Brain Damage even won. www.songoftheyear.com/placements/RoyMorrison.html
JAMES COOK CD
Hoping to get back to recording their own CD, Brain Damage was approach by session drummer James Cook to help him record his CD. Once again they put their project on hold, which disappointed many fans. Brain Damage started working with James on and off on this project since 1989. All the original recording up to this point had be erased so they had to start again from the beginning. It took another two years to complete the project. When the CD was released in 2012 on James' 50th birthday, there was a suddenly increase in suicides in the Ottawa area. The police aren't sure if these suicides were tied in to CD, but there's a good chance since the CD was so depressing, and the CD comes with a coupon for 50% off rope at Home Depot. Most copies have since been recalled and destroyed.
Hoping to get back to recording their own CD, Brain Damage was approach by session drummer James Cook to help him record his CD. Once again they put their project on hold, which disappointed many fans. Brain Damage started working with James on and off on this project since 1989. All the original recording up to this point had be erased so they had to start again from the beginning. It took another two years to complete the project. When the CD was released in 2012 on James' 50th birthday, there was a suddenly increase in suicides in the Ottawa area. The police aren't sure if these suicides were tied in to CD, but there's a good chance since the CD was so depressing, and the CD comes with a coupon for 50% off rope at Home Depot. Most copies have since been recalled and destroyed.
BRAIN DAMAGE DOCUMENTARY
For the 40 anniversary of Roy and Scotts meeting, Brain Damage decided to do a documentary of their 40 years together. They tried to get as many people who witnessed the rise of Brain Damage, from a couple of teenage film makers to the legendary musicians they are today. Appearing in this film is Albert Cardarelli, James Cook, Joe Holmes, Geoff Smith, musician Dave Kalil, comedian Mike MacDonald and former Ottawa Cablevision producer Ron Cogan. As a nod to their old films, Roy and Scott decided not to have any females interviewed, as it was in their early days of film making (and like their early days, no females wanted to be in the documentary). The film is filled archival footage of the band throughout the years, mixed in with new interviews with Roy and Scott. When the film was done, a DVD release party was held at Sonny's Bar and Grill on May 4 2013. After the film was showed, Brain Damage performed the rest of the night with members of Royal Albert and the Collection and newcomer Garry Hoy. Garry and his guitar was found in the dumpster behind Sonny's and was invited to join the band. The DVD also contained the CD: Brain Damage 35th Anniversary Concert. Though it's called the 35th Anniversary Concert, some tracks actually date back to the 30th Anniversary Concert.
For the 40 anniversary of Roy and Scotts meeting, Brain Damage decided to do a documentary of their 40 years together. They tried to get as many people who witnessed the rise of Brain Damage, from a couple of teenage film makers to the legendary musicians they are today. Appearing in this film is Albert Cardarelli, James Cook, Joe Holmes, Geoff Smith, musician Dave Kalil, comedian Mike MacDonald and former Ottawa Cablevision producer Ron Cogan. As a nod to their old films, Roy and Scott decided not to have any females interviewed, as it was in their early days of film making (and like their early days, no females wanted to be in the documentary). The film is filled archival footage of the band throughout the years, mixed in with new interviews with Roy and Scott. When the film was done, a DVD release party was held at Sonny's Bar and Grill on May 4 2013. After the film was showed, Brain Damage performed the rest of the night with members of Royal Albert and the Collection and newcomer Garry Hoy. Garry and his guitar was found in the dumpster behind Sonny's and was invited to join the band. The DVD also contained the CD: Brain Damage 35th Anniversary Concert. Though it's called the 35th Anniversary Concert, some tracks actually date back to the 30th Anniversary Concert.
BRAIN DAMAGE 40th ANNIVERSARY
After the DVD release party, there has been little work done by the duo. In the document, Scott states that the new CD would be released in 2013, but Brain Damage never went back to the studio to finish off the CD. They haven't written any new songs in years. From 2013 to 2016 Roy and Scott played with Royal Albert and the Collection, including newcomer Garry Hoy. In 2017, Roy and Garry left the band to form a new band Grumpy Old Men. Scott and Albert went on to form a Royal Albert and the Collection tribute band, simply called Albert and the Collection. Manager Geoff Smith isn't commenting on when Brain Damage will be working on any new projects, but did confirm that Brain Damage did perform at McCloskey's Hotel in Chesterville to celebrate Brain Damage's 40th Anniversary. Also there was the reunion of Royal Albert and the Collection with all original members. Even though it was Royal Albert's 30th Anniversary since they formed, it wasn't much of a celebration. |
Brain Damage performing at their 40th Anniversary concert |
BRAIN DAMAGE COVID-19 CONCERT
In June 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, Brain Damage performed an outside concert. With amps turn up loud, Brain Damage performed all their big hits, hoping that this will drive people indoors. There were a few fans who came out to watch the band, but was reminded about social distancing. Albert was in top form with his interpretive dance steps, but at his age now he has to follow along from his own dance steps book that he released in 2007. When Albert performed some of the Royal Albert classic covers, the fans decided they had enough and went home, locking their doors, closing their windows and drawing their curtains.
In June 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, Brain Damage performed an outside concert. With amps turn up loud, Brain Damage performed all their big hits, hoping that this will drive people indoors. There were a few fans who came out to watch the band, but was reminded about social distancing. Albert was in top form with his interpretive dance steps, but at his age now he has to follow along from his own dance steps book that he released in 2007. When Albert performed some of the Royal Albert classic covers, the fans decided they had enough and went home, locking their doors, closing their windows and drawing their curtains.