Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician and songwriter, best known for writing the

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song " Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf.

Career

Born Dennis Eugene McCrohan, he and his brother

Jerry Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

changed their surnames to ''Edmonton'' in the early 1960s. The brothers were part of the band the Sparrows, which later evolved into Steppenwolf. Another member of the Sparrows was Bruce Palmer, who later became a member of

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", relea ...

. Bonfire embarked on a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

career, while his brother Jerry became the drummer for Steppenwolf. After leaving the band, he often collaborated with

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

, co-writing and recording on the recordings of Fowley and artists associated with Fowley. On 22 June 2015, Bonfire was awarded the Cultural Impact Award by

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

at the 2015 SOCAN Awards in Toronto for the song " Born to be Wild".

Personal life

Bonfire was a prolific hiker in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

for many years. He has completed the Hundred Peaks Section list 25 times. He was noted by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' for his "affability and flexibility" as a hike leader. He currently resides in western Nevada with his wife.

Discography

Songs by Mars Bonfire that were recorded by Steppenwolf include: *" Born to Be Wild" ( ''Steppenwolf'', 1968) *"Faster Than The Speed of Life" (''

The Second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the origin ...

'', 1968) *"Ride with Me" (''

For Ladies Only ''For Ladies Only'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. The album was released in November 1971, by Dunhill Records. It is a political concept album mainly about feminism but with several more conventional so ...

'', 1971) *"Tenderness" (''For Ladies Only'', 1971) *"The Night Time's for You" (co-write w/Morgan Cavett, ''For Ladies Only'', 1971) *"Caroline (Are You Ready for the Outlaw World)" ( ''Hour of the Wolf'', 1975) Albums: * ''Mars Bonfire'' (1968) * ''Faster Than the Speed of Life'' (1969)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mars Bonfire Canadian songwriters Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists 1943 births Living people Musicians from Oshawa Steppenwolf (band)