by William Dungate
Caring little about what others thought in the world of politics, Moxy Früvous came into existence in 1989, blasting American and Canadian politicians like Rush Limbaugh and Mike Harris. Jian Ghomeshi, Mike Ford, and Murray Foster were all classmates together at Thornlea Secondary School. They grew up playing their politically satirical music in places like the Chia Pets bar. Eventually, they joined up with David Matheson, and they began performing in the streets of Toronto. These performances were quite successful, drawing attention to the group, especially from CBC Radio, who invited them to make satirical songs about national and local issues on the radio show, Later the Same Day. Interestingly, the band’s name, “Moxy Früvous” is just gibberish and its meaning has yet to be clarified by any of the members to this day.
In 1992, Moxy Früvous released their first demo tape which included six songs. They performed all of these songs at the SOCAN Awards celebration. Following this, they released their first official album, Bargainville, in 1993. With their first demo tape and album released, they went on tour consistently until 2000. They even gained enough notoriety to a point where their song, “You Will Go to The Moon” was played on August 14, 1997, to wake the NASA crew of STS-85. While sometimes using instruments to accompany their music, the band was quite versatile in that they occasionally did not use any instruments for their music and instead performed in a style like that of contemporary a cappella. Their political satire took aim at conservative and right-leaning politicians. These politicians included the likes of Mike Harris, the former premier of Ontario, and Rush Limbaugh, the well-known American political commentator. Their shows were known to be very improv-based and the band was very close with their fans. Moxy Früvous also tended to provide comedic banter on stage for their fans in between song performances.
Unfortunately, in 2000, the band officially broke up. Interestingly enough, Moxy Früvous performed at Geneseo on April 29, 2000. This means that their performance at Geneseo was probably one of their last as an official band. However, despite their formal breakup, the band has still participated in the music scene occasionally since 2000. In 2001, they held a concert for a fan convention, which further shows their dedication to their fans. In 2005, three of the band’s members performed on University of Toronto’s campus radio station, which was run by former CBC Radio staff. Finally, in 2010, three members of the band performed on CBC Radio One to say goodbye to Andie Barrie, who hosted the Metro Morning show on the network. While short-lived, Moxy Früvous’ provides us with an interesting legacy and story of a satire and comedy-based band that started out on the street.