Raymond Taylor-Smith (birth date unknown, born in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

) was a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

for several notable

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

groups during the early 1980s. He is best known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

, Ray Mondo. Ray Mondo first appeared on the British music scene when he joined the Harrow-based post-punk group

Ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

upon its formation in 1981. Mondo drummed for the group for nearly two years, appearing on both of their records, the "

Mind Disease "Mind Disease" is a song written by the Harrow-based band Ritual. The song was released by Red Flame Records as a single in October 1982. It was produced by the band and engineered by Chris Stone. Picture sleeve The front of the picture sleeve ...

" single and ''Kangaroo Court'' EP. During this period, Mondo was going simply by "Ray". In March 1983, Ritual dissolved. Mondo was recruited by

Ian Astbury Ian Robert Astbury (born 14 May 1962) is an English singer, best known as a founding member, lead vocalist and frontman of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury has fronted the short-lived Holy Barbarians in 1 ...

and

Billy Duffy William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult. Early life Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playing the guit ...

in April 1983 to drum for their newly formed group

Death Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

. It was Mondo, now going by the moniker "Ray Mondo" and alternately "The Reverend", that suggested Jamie Stewart (his bandmate from Ritual) for the vacant bass guitarist slot (after Astbury and Duffy had auditioned some 30 hopefuls). Mondo drummed on the group's

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous ''

'' EP and during their summer 1983 European and United Kingdom tour. By September 1983, the group had decided to eject Mondo. Astbury's reasoning was documented in a 1983 interview: :"The thing with Ray is, he's so good at his style of drumming that he couldn't do the style that we needed for our songs. That wouldn't have been being true to himself. So I thought it would be better if he left and got involved in something where he could be his own man, as opposed to my man. We thought Ray was restricting our individuality. When you feel that what you're doing isn't getting across enough because of another member then they've got to go. I mean, ultimately I started this off, so I'm not willing to compromise to Ray's individuality. It was really fucking hard. We all really love Ray as a mate." Mondo played his last gig with Death Cult on 19 September 1983 at the Brixton Ace in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Shortly afterwards, he essentially "swapped" places with drummer

Nigel Preston Nigel Preston (4 April 1963, Birmingham, England – 1 April 1992) was an English drummer. He was a founding member of the Cult. He also played and recorded with Theatre of Hate, Sex Gang Children, the Baby Snakes, the Gun Club and DeLuca. He ...

(who had previously worked with Duffy in

Theatre of Hate Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in London, England, in 1980. Led by singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon (formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of the Straps and the Epilept ...

). Preston was drumming for

Sex Gang Children Sex Gang Children are an early gothic rock and post-punk band that formed in early 1982 in Brixton in London, England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, their singles and various other tracks have been pack ...

at the time. Duffy recruited Preston as the new drummer for Death Cult and Mondo filled the vacated drummer's position with Sex Gang Children in September 1983. Mondo remained with Sex Gang Children until January 1984, when he was deported back to his native

. His activities after that time, and his current whereabouts, are unknown.

References

{{Authority control The Cult members Sierra Leonean musicians