Dave Desroches
Encyclopedia
Dave "Rave" DesRoches is a Canadian
rock musician from Hamilton, Ontario
.
To the general public, he’s the sometime Teenage Head
rhythm guitarist on the early recordings who graduated to lead singer during a Frankie Venom hiatus in 1985 and catapulted the band back into the charts. Many know him as a session player who has played with such notables as (Daniel Lanois
, Andrew Loog Oldham
and Alex Chilton
)
Dave began his music career in his high school years writing songs and performing driving acoustic rock and folk-pop in and around Hamilton. This evolved into the group, The Shakers, from 1979-1982 with Rick Andrew, Tim Gibbons and Claude DesRoches. They charted many singles with albums produced by Daniel Lanois
(U2
) and Jack Richardson
(Guess Who
, Alice Cooper
).
Three years after the break-up of The Shakers in 1982, Dave took over as lead singer of the punk rock
band Teenage Head
. He had grown up with the members of the band and had played as a backing musician on their "Frantic City" LP, and "The Shakers" had often opened for their fellow Hamiltonians. Dave replaced Frankie Venom who had worked with Dave on several other projects. He continued to aid Teenage Head with hits like “Can’t Stop Shakin’”. Dave left Teenage Head after a successful run to try things out on his own.
Alongside producer Gary Pig Gold
he formed a group called "The Dave Rave Conspiracy", releasing the album "Valentino's Pirates" on Russia’s Melodiya
record label in 1992. However, to appease cold war era Russian sensibilities, the album was credited to the Dave Rave "Group", as the label was uncomfortable with the word "conspiracy". Notably, the band also included Billy Ficca
, formerly of the influential New York City
band Television
, and Lauren Agnelli, of the 1980s anti-folk
band Washington Squares
. "Valentino's Pirates" has become a cult classic, and was the first North American rock album released by a post-Soviet
state after the fall of the Berlin Wall
. Press surrounding this release included a CBC
documentary revisiting Russia with the group as well as 3 promotional videos that were in heavy rotation at MuchMusic
in Canada. Bullseye Records re-issued the album for the first time on CD in 2001.
The next Dave Rave Conspiracy album, Three Octave Fantastic Hexagram, was released in 1994 and included many of the players from the Valentino’s album along with former Washington Squares
, Lauren Agnelli. However, the band broke up shortly afterward. Agnelli and Dave Rave formed an incredible creative partnership that resulted in 3 Agnelli & Rave albums over the next ten years including the critically acclaimed Cowboy Flowers Sessions, Heaven and Earth, and Confetti
.
The Dave Rave Group’s second album, Everyday Magic, was released in 2003 and featured players from his former bands such as Teenage Head, The Shakers and bands and musicians with whom he had worked as either a musician as a producer such as The Trews
, Joe Mannix and Kate Schrock. “Love Fades” and the title track “Everyday Magic” featuring ECMA winners and Juno nominees, The Trews, received airplay at Rock, AC and Campus radio. Dave also co-wrote The Trews' single, "I Can’t Say" with Jack Richardson
. Other co-writing credits include bands such as Oliver Black
, now Townline, and the Maddhatters and he continues to work with and mentor some of the hottest acts today.
Dave spends his time in Canada and the US playing live, producing, writing and coming up with more ideas to bring great musicians together. Dave Rave released his Anthology in 2 Volumes worldwide on Bullseye Records in January 2006. He has also released his second jazz-pop album, "In The Blue Of My Dreams", with Mark McCarron in 2007 under the Bongobeat label. It was shortlisted for a Grammy that year. He spent 2008 writing, producing and touring the globe.
Dave Rave spent 2009 playing over 100 shows, including Grey Cup 2009 and three European tours and he had a chance to work again with the Trews
on the song “How’s Everything” on their Top 10 DVD. He also had time to record the album, "Live with What You Know", which was released in June 2010 on the Bongo Beat label. Players on the album include members of The Trews
, Plastic Heroes, Rick Andrew (The Shakers), Sonic Blue Sound Review, Mark McCarron, The Maddhatters, Gary Pig Gold
and the debut of vocalist Kate MacDonald on “Silver Lines” among many other great musicians. Dave has already toured Europe twice in 2010 with one more European tour to go along with a tour of North America in support of the new record.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock musician from Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
.
To the general public, he’s the sometime Teenage Head
Teenage Head (band)
Teenage Head is a Canadian rock group from Hamilton, Ontario and was one of the most popular Canadian punk rock bands during the early 1980s....
rhythm guitarist on the early recordings who graduated to lead singer during a Frankie Venom hiatus in 1985 and catapulted the band back into the charts. Many know him as a session player who has played with such notables as (Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
, Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
and Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
)
Dave began his music career in his high school years writing songs and performing driving acoustic rock and folk-pop in and around Hamilton. This evolved into the group, The Shakers, from 1979-1982 with Rick Andrew, Tim Gibbons and Claude DesRoches. They charted many singles with albums produced by Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
(U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
) and Jack Richardson
Jack Richardson (record producer)
Jack Richardson, CM was a Juno Award-nominated Canadian record producer and Order of Canada recipient. He is perhaps best known for producing the biggest hit records from The Guess Who from 1969 to 1975...
(Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
).
Three years after the break-up of The Shakers in 1982, Dave took over as lead singer of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Teenage Head
Teenage Head (band)
Teenage Head is a Canadian rock group from Hamilton, Ontario and was one of the most popular Canadian punk rock bands during the early 1980s....
. He had grown up with the members of the band and had played as a backing musician on their "Frantic City" LP, and "The Shakers" had often opened for their fellow Hamiltonians. Dave replaced Frankie Venom who had worked with Dave on several other projects. He continued to aid Teenage Head with hits like “Can’t Stop Shakin’”. Dave left Teenage Head after a successful run to try things out on his own.
Alongside producer Gary Pig Gold
Gary Pig Gold
Gary Pig Gold is a singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker and author. His fanzine was Canada’s first independently-published music magazine, and among the recording artists he has worked with are Pat Boone, Dave Rave, Endless Summer, Simply Saucer and Shane Faubert.-History:He formed his...
he formed a group called "The Dave Rave Conspiracy", releasing the album "Valentino's Pirates" on Russia’s Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
record label in 1992. However, to appease cold war era Russian sensibilities, the album was credited to the Dave Rave "Group", as the label was uncomfortable with the word "conspiracy". Notably, the band also included Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca is a punk rock drummer who has played with the bands Television, Nona Hendryx & Zero Cool, 40 Familys, The Washington Squares, The Waitresses and The Neon Boys...
, formerly of the influential New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
band Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, and Lauren Agnelli, of the 1980s anti-folk
Anti-folk
Anti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...
band Washington Squares
Washington Squares
The Washington Squares were a 1980s neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village...
. "Valentino's Pirates" has become a cult classic, and was the first North American rock album released by a post-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
state after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. Press surrounding this release included a CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
documentary revisiting Russia with the group as well as 3 promotional videos that were in heavy rotation at MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
in Canada. Bullseye Records re-issued the album for the first time on CD in 2001.
The next Dave Rave Conspiracy album, Three Octave Fantastic Hexagram, was released in 1994 and included many of the players from the Valentino’s album along with former Washington Squares
Washington Squares
The Washington Squares were a 1980s neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village...
, Lauren Agnelli. However, the band broke up shortly afterward. Agnelli and Dave Rave formed an incredible creative partnership that resulted in 3 Agnelli & Rave albums over the next ten years including the critically acclaimed Cowboy Flowers Sessions, Heaven and Earth, and Confetti
Confetti
Confetti is a multitude of pieces of paper, mylar or metallic material which is usually thrown at parades and celebrations, especially weddings . Confetti is made in a variety of colors, and commercially available confetti is available in imaginative shapes...
.
The Dave Rave Group’s second album, Everyday Magic, was released in 2003 and featured players from his former bands such as Teenage Head, The Shakers and bands and musicians with whom he had worked as either a musician as a producer such as The Trews
The Trews
The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Sean Dalton...
, Joe Mannix and Kate Schrock. “Love Fades” and the title track “Everyday Magic” featuring ECMA winners and Juno nominees, The Trews, received airplay at Rock, AC and Campus radio. Dave also co-wrote The Trews' single, "I Can’t Say" with Jack Richardson
Jack Richardson (record producer)
Jack Richardson, CM was a Juno Award-nominated Canadian record producer and Order of Canada recipient. He is perhaps best known for producing the biggest hit records from The Guess Who from 1969 to 1975...
. Other co-writing credits include bands such as Oliver Black
Oliver Black
Townline is a Canadian rock group from Welland, Ontario. Members of the band include Serena Prine , Nick Lesyk , Greg Zack , and Allan Colavecchia . Musically the band performs a mix of Americana and Southern Rock music with a slight Country flare, moving on from their past heavy rock and roll...
, now Townline, and the Maddhatters and he continues to work with and mentor some of the hottest acts today.
Dave spends his time in Canada and the US playing live, producing, writing and coming up with more ideas to bring great musicians together. Dave Rave released his Anthology in 2 Volumes worldwide on Bullseye Records in January 2006. He has also released his second jazz-pop album, "In The Blue Of My Dreams", with Mark McCarron in 2007 under the Bongobeat label. It was shortlisted for a Grammy that year. He spent 2008 writing, producing and touring the globe.
Dave Rave spent 2009 playing over 100 shows, including Grey Cup 2009 and three European tours and he had a chance to work again with the Trews
Trews
Trews are men's clothing for the legs and lower abdomen, a traditional form of tartan trousers from Scottish apparel...
on the song “How’s Everything” on their Top 10 DVD. He also had time to record the album, "Live with What You Know", which was released in June 2010 on the Bongo Beat label. Players on the album include members of The Trews
The Trews
The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Sean Dalton...
, Plastic Heroes, Rick Andrew (The Shakers), Sonic Blue Sound Review, Mark McCarron, The Maddhatters, Gary Pig Gold
Gary Pig Gold
Gary Pig Gold is a singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker and author. His fanzine was Canada’s first independently-published music magazine, and among the recording artists he has worked with are Pat Boone, Dave Rave, Endless Summer, Simply Saucer and Shane Faubert.-History:He formed his...
and the debut of vocalist Kate MacDonald on “Silver Lines” among many other great musicians. Dave has already toured Europe twice in 2010 with one more European tour to go along with a tour of North America in support of the new record.