The Miracle Workers were a
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
band in the 1980s, who began as a
garage rock revival band in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
.
Background
The Miracle Workers were formed in January 1982 by Gerry Mohr (vocals), and Joel Barnett (bass guitar). The original guitarist and drummer, who were friends of Gerry's, left the band early on. Matt Rogers, a friend of Joel's, became the guitarist. Ron Sheridan became the drummer, though would later leave to pursue a business career. The band stabilized in 1984, with the addition of Dan Demiankow (guitar, organ), and Gene Trautmann (drums).
The Miracle Workers lineup in 1987 became Gerry Mohr (vocals), Matt Rogers (guitar), Robert Butler (bass), and Gene Trautmann (drums).
Recording career
Several songs on compilation LPs, with the band line up being Gerry, Matt, Joel, and Ron. Recordings from 1982.
*''
Miracle Workers
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
'', was a four-song EP on
Moxie Records, released in 1984. Line up was Gerry Mohr, Joel Barnett, Matt Rogers, Danny Demiankow, and a short term drummer, Jeff Grassi.
*''
A Thousand Micrograms of the Miracle Workers'', on
Sounds Interesting Records, 1984, 6 song EP, marked Gene Trautmann's recording debut with the band.
*''
Inside Out'',
Voxx/
Bomp 1985 LP, was recorded in Los Angeles. This is the band's most successful LP, and received critical acclaim in North America and Europe. It has since been re-issued on CD. Of all the recordings it is the easiest to find.
These recordings, and the band's style was in line with contemporary garage rock revival acts, such as
The Chesterfield Kings and
Lyres Yoke lutes, commonly called lyres, are a class of string instruments, subfamily of lutes, indicated with the code 321.2 in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification.
Description
Yoke lutes are defined as instruments with one or more strings, arrange ...
.
The Miracle Workers' liking for harder edged, late-sixties/early-seventies bands such as the
MC5
MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
,
The Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...
, and
Flamin' Groovies
Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage Hea ...
came to the fore. Their sound became very influenced by this and it can be heard on their LPs ''Live at the Forum'', ''Overdose'', ''Primary Domain'', and ''Roll out the Red Carpet'', with the first two being especially notable, regarding that influence.
The 1989 LP on
Get Hip Records
Get Hip Records is an independent Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most p ...
, ''
Moxie's Revenge'', supplemented this period with outtakes and unreleased recordings.
Los Angeles
In the Spring of 1986, the band decided to move to Los Angeles. Joel Barnett left the band at that time. Robert Butler, from The Untold Fables, became the bass player and Dan Demiankow quit over musical differences. Due to internal problems within the band, they split up in 1992. The band came together back in Portland to record "Anatomy of a Creep" a year later. The Triple xxx recording would be their last, produced by Thee Slayer Hippie (Steve Hanford/Drummer Poison Idea) and involved original drummer Gene Trautmann, replacing Aaron Sperske who was relieved of duties near the time of recording "Anatomy of a Creep".
Break up and slow fade
Gene Trautmann quit the band circa 1990 and was replaced on drums by Aaron Sperske. Aaron Played on the ''Roll Out the Red Carpet'' album. The Miracle Workers split in the early 1990s, but before calling it quits they returned to Portland and recorded a new CD, ''Anatomy of a Creep'', for their label, Triple X. Gene Trautmann resumed drumming duties. This record was apparently issued, but in small quantities, as it is difficult to find.
Members of the group resurfaced in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1980s and in
Switzerland in the late 1990s, in several bands playing
blues,
psychobilly, and
garage rock, such as The Bo Diddley Headhunters;
Cavemannish Boys;
The Wicked Ones;
Get Hip Recordings
/ref> The Get Lost and Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...
. In LA the band incorporated more hard rock and alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
influences paralleling the grunge scene in Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. The Miracle Workers were amongst the founding bands of the stoner rock
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...
movement.
In the late 1980s, alternative cartoonist Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books '' Palestine'' (1996) and '' Footnotes in Gaza'' (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian rela ...
followed the band on their Europe tour, as T-shirt salesman and chronicling comics journalist. These comics have been collected in the compilation ''But I Like It'', published by Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was founde ...
in 2006.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Inside Out'' (Voxx Records 1985)
*''Overdose'' (Love's Simple Dreams 1987)
*''Primary Domain'' (Glitterhouse Records 1989)
*''Roll Out the Red Carpet'' (Triple X Records 1991)
*''Anatomy of a Creep'' (Triple X Records 1995)
Singles and EPs
*''Miracle Workers'' (Moxie Records 1984)
*''1000 Microgramms Of The Miracle Workers'' (Sounds Interesting Records 1984)
*''Blue Girl'' (Lost Trails 1987)
*''When A Woman Calls My Name'' (Love's Simple Dreams 1988)
*''Miracle Workers Slow Death / I Got A Right'' (Teenager From Outer Space Records 1988)
*''Strange Little Girl'' (Get Hip Recordings 1989)
*''Mary Jane'' (Glitterhouse Records 1989)
*''Way Back When'' (Sympathy For The Record Industry 1990)
Live albums
*''Live At The Forum'' (Glitterhouse Records 1988)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miracle Workers, The
Garage rock groups from Oregon
Garage punk groups
Musical groups from Portland, Oregon
Rock music groups from Oregon
Musical groups established in 1982
Musical groups disestablished in 1992
1982 establishments in Oregon
1992 disestablishments in Oregon
Glitterhouse Records artists
Triple X Records artists