Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Miracle Workers-Inside Out (Voxx/Bomp 1985)


The Miracle Workers were a rock and roll band in the 1980s, who began as a garage rock revival band in Portland, Oregon and then moved to Los Angeles in 1986, upon which they incorporated more hard rock and alternative rock influences paralleling the grunge scene in Seattle. The Miracle Workers were amongst the founding bands of the stoner rock movement.
Due to problems with drug use by some members of the band, they split up in 1992.
Members of the group resurfaced in Switzerland in the late 1990s, in several bands playing blues, psychobilly, and garage rock, such as Cavemannish Boys and The Get Lost and The Queens of the Stone Age.
The above is accurate, but lacking detail.
The Miracle Workers were formed in January 1982 by Gerry Mohr, (Vocals), and Joel Barnett, (bass guitar). The original guitarist and drummer left the band early on. They were friends of Gerry's, but weren't interested in garage rock. Matt Rogers, a friend of Joel's, became the guitarist. Ron Sheridan became the drummer, and would later leave to pursue a business career.
The band stabilized in 1984, with the addition of Dan Demiankow, (Guitar, organ), and Gene Trautmann, (Drums).
Discography from this time is:
Several songs on compilation LPs, with the band line up being Gerry, Matt, Joel, and Ron. Recordings from 1982.
"Miracle Workers", 4 song EP on Moxie records, 1984. Line up was Gerry Mohr, Joel Barnett, Matt Rogers, Danny Demiankow, and a short term drummer, Jeff Grassi.
"A Thousand Micrograms of the Miracle Workers", (Sounds Interesting Records), 1984, 6 song EP, marked Gene Trautmann recording debut with the band.
"Inside Out", Voxx/Bomp 1985 LP, recorded in Los Angeles.
These recordings, and the bands style was in line with contemporary garage rock revival acts, such as The Chesterfield Kings and The Lyres.
The 1989 LP on Get Hip Records, "Moxie's Revenge", supplemented this period with outtakes and unreleased recordings.
In the Spring of 1986, the band decided to move to Los Angeles. Joel Barnett left the band at that time. Robert Butler, from The Untold Fables, became the bass player and Dan Demiankow quit over musical differences.
In April of 1986 Joel Barnett formed The Bo Diddley Headhunters, switching to guitar, bringing in his wife Linda to play Vox organ, Brian Ingram as singer, and Terrence Kerrigan on drums. The sound of the Bo Diddley Headhunters was very Doors-ish. A 5 song EP was recorded in Dec 1986 with two original songs "600 Days" and "My Time" released in Sweden. Numerous live bootlegs exist of this offshoot group which performed with The Dogmatics, Faith No More, The Surf Trio, and The Lyres.
The Miracle Workers lineup in 1986 became Gerry Mohr, (v.), Matt Rogers, (guit.), Robert Butler, (b. guit.), Gene Trautmann, (d)
The Miracle Workers liking for harder edged, late sixties/early seventies bands such as the MC5, Stooges, and Flamin' Groovies came to the fore. Their sound became very influenced by this and it can be heard on their LP's "Live at the Forum", "Overdose", "Primary Domain", and "Roll out the Red Carpet", with the first two being especially notable.
In 1989, Joel Barnett joined former members of The Surf Trio and Drivetrain to form The Wicked Ones. Multiple recordings of dubious quality, despite the high caliber of the lineup, were made by this band, beginning with their three-song EP released on Get Hip Records.[1]
Gene Trautmann quit the band ca. 1990 and was replaced on drums by Aaron Sperske. Aaron Played on the "Roll Out the Red Carpet" Album.
The Miracle Workers split in the early 1990's, but before calling it quits they returned to Portland and recorded a new CD, "Anatomy of a Creep", for their label, Triple X. Gene Trautmann resumed drumming duties. This record was apparently issued, but in small quantities, as it is difficult to find.

5 comments:

Simon Jaxton said...

Danny D was and is one of the most influential guitarist's of our time, with his artistic 60's style and his prolific contribution to the Miracle Workers' sound and success.

Simon Jaxton

Ron Kleim said...

I have a LIVE video of Miracle Workers, Surf Trio and Falling Spikes from 1985 from Eugene , oregon
Contact me about Surf Trio:
ronkleim@hotmail.com

I see Danny and Joel a few times a year for a few hundred pints of Hammerhead at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Or.
Ron Kleim (Surf Trio, Marble Orchard, Clockwatchers, Electric Flies.........

punkdeleimon said...

Cheers for your contact ron, i love The Surf Trio!

Unknown said...

God bless you, Simon Jaxton.

Danny D
MAY 30 2010

Anonymous said...

Hey Ron! I was a pre-Surf Trio friend of yours in Eugene. Loved this band, and you guys too. Hope all is well.
-Mark Burge, mburge@salud.unm.edu