When this blog recruited me to introduce a YouTube clip of Dead Moon playing “It’s O.K.” in Hannover, Germany, two thoughts came to mind. First, the history of the band. The long version can be found on their archived website and in the documentary film Unknown Passage. The short version: Longtime Portland musical couple Fred …
Music historians rarely mention the Rats except when listing bands that Portland singer/songwriter/guitarist Fred Cole played in before Dead Moon. In fact, the Rose City’s alternative music scene of the early 1980s is mostly regarded as a footnote to the hype generated in Seattle a decade later. When former Dead Moon drummer Andrew Loomis invited …