Singing Fools | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Background information | |
Origin | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Hip hop, protest |
Years active | 1982 | –1990
Past members |
|
Singing Fools was a short-lived Canadian non-performing musical group based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, composed of musicians Tim Dunlop and Kevin Murphy. The pair wrote and recorded hip hop-style songs with politically focused lyrics.
The Singing Fools came together in November 1982. The released a self-produced 1982 vinyl single, The Bum Rap, which received wide airplay on campus radio and was a criticism of the Canadian government's wage and price control program. [1] Its sparse guitar and drum box arrangement was overlain by excerpts of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's infamous exhortation during the 1970 October Crisis to " just watch me". The song was later touted as Canada's first rap record, [2] even though it was actually preceded by several 1979 singles by the lesser-known rapper Mr. Q. [3]
By 1985 the pair had released their third "civil defencercise" themed record The Apocalypso and its accompanying video which was given regular rotation on MuchMusic. [4] [5] The nuclear war-themed clip featured a cameo dance appearance by Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewar. The extended-play vinyl disc also featured a track entitled "Grave Expectations," a drum-backed recitation by English historian and anti-nuclear activist, E.P. Thompson, of his apocalyptic 1950 verse on atomic war, "The Place Called Choice".
That year the Singing Fools were signed by A&M Records; A&M re-released The Apocalypso, but dropped the group after a few months and the band released its self-produced mini-LP, Call Me Lucky in 1986. [6] The same year, Singing Fools were nominated (by themselves) as "best independent artist" in the CASBY Awards sponsored by Toronto's CFNY-FM. [7] [8]
A 1987 distribution deal with German indie label, Amok Records led to the Cold War-themed single, Funkenstrasse (Europa's on the Radio). [9] After Murphy and Dunlop parted company in the 1990s Singing Fools was transformed into an internet-based music and video production company.