Jesus Was Gay
Buffalo, Burgers, and Beer
RHYTHM ACTIVISM - cass, 1986, Les Pages Noires, Mtl.
RHYTHM ACTIVISM
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Rhythm Activism is an internationally acclaimed, Montreal-based, "rock 'n roll cabaret" ensemble of Sylvain Cote and Norman Nawrocki. RA is also an ever-changing cast of other musicians, actors and performers, depending on the show. RA's trademark versatility means they entertain audiences including children and grandfolk, punks and nuns. They can move people from laughter and tears to the dance floor. They're equally at home in hard core clubs, poetry festivals, on the barricades at demonstrations, or at traditional Ukrainian weddings. They play a cutting-edge, hybrid mix of folk punk, country and eastern, gypsy grunge, lounge core and infectious, East European dance tunes. Weddings
rallies anything
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| BIOGRAPHY
1998 RHYTHM ACTIVISM ( RA) is an internationally acclaimed, Montréal-based, 'rock 'n roll cabaret' ensemble of Sylvain Bouthiellette (bass), Sylvain Côté (guitars/accordion), Claude Dion (sax), Norman Nawrocki (words/violin) and Wilf Plum (drums). RA is also an ever-changing cast of other musicians, actors and performers, depending on the show. Since 1985, when Norman and Sylvain co-founded RA as a simple poetry/music duo, the performance unit evolved into a surprise-packed 'rebel news orchestra,' and 'giant musical cartoon.' They've toured their issue-oriented 'resistance cabarets' across Canada, the USA, England, Holland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, performing a riotous brand of independent, theatrical, music and song in English, French, Italian and Polish. They have appeared on stage either as a duo, a four to seven piece band, or with a supporting cast of 50 dancers, jugglers, musicians, acrobats, clowns and actors as a Fellini like, anti-poverty "community circus cabaret." Critics have hailed their work as "powerful," "stunning," "astonishing" and "brilliant," and compared them alternately to Chumbawumba, Tom Waits (with a butcher knife), The EX, Fugazi, and even Brecht/Weill. RA's growing discography numbers 36 releases, which includes 25 compilations worldwide. In Europe, they appeared on Holland's Konkurrel label; in Canada on Winnipeg's G-7 Welcoming Committee Records. RA also has two documentary videos & films, and appear on the soundtracks of numerous films . The band's trademark versatility means they can entertain audiences of children and grandfolk, punks and nuns and can move people from laughter and tears to the dance floor or a giant sing-a long. Their informative and rib-tickling "communtity cabarets" - produced jointly with dozens of tenants and welfare rights groups across Québec - have entertained the poorest of the poor by the thousands, who packed church basements and soup kitchens - in venues no band ever visited - for family RA shows. But RA has been equally at home in theatres, punk clubs, poetry festivals, on the barricades at demonstrations, or at traditional Ukrainian weddings. They've played a cutting-edge, hybrid mix of folk punk, country and eastern, gypsy grunge, urban rat jazz, lounge core and infectious, East European dance tunes. They've also staged musicals and 'a gothic urban legend.' Always ahead of the news, RA has been known as a topical and provocative band whose shows can make the news, national and international. Satirical and hardhitting, they've taken on issues of the day using costumes, masks and vaudville to turn serious politics into subversive but hilarious living theatre. Their targets have ranged from EXPO '86 to Coors Beer, NAFTA to date rape, offshore banking to homophobia. During the 78 day armed standoff at OKA, Québec, the Mohawk Warriors blasted the military with songs from an RA native solidarity album. Striking, Montréal post secondary students requested a picket-line song from RA and were handed a finished cassette four days later. RA released an anti-war album within days of the Gulf War. One of their CD's ' Blood & Mud', about the roots of the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico, was considered by OPTION magazine as 'mandatory listening for members of Congress,' and reached #7 as an import on American college radio charts. Their repertoire of 'news poems,' instrumentals and songs from their theatre musicals is over 1000 original pieces.* |
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Compilations |
Discography
RHYTHM
ACTIVISM "LIVE" - cass,1987,
LPN, Mtl.
RESIST
MUCH - OBEY LITTLE - cass, 1987, LPN, Mtl.
LOUIS
RIEL IN CHINA - cass, 1988, LPN, Mtl.
UN LOGEMENT POUR UNE CHANSON - cass, 1990, LPN, Mtl. FIGHT
THE HIKE! - cass, 1990, LPN, Mtl.
PEROGIES,
PASTA AND LIBERTY - cass, 1990, LPN, Mtl.
OKA - cass, 1990, LPN, Mtl.
WAR
IS THE HEALTH OF THE STATE - cass, 1991,
LPN, Mtl.
OKA
II - cass, 1992, LPN, Mtl.
TUMBLEWEED - cass, 1993, LPN, Mtl.
BLOOD & MUD - CD, 1994, LPN, Mtl / Konkurrel, Amsterdam, cass, 1997, Nikt Nic Nie Wie, Poland MORE
KICK! - CD, 1995, LPN, Mtl / Konkurrel,
Amsterdam
BUFFALO,
BURGERS & BEER -
cass, 1995, LPN, Mtl.
JESUS WAS GAY - CD, 1998, G-7 Welcoming Committee Records, Winnipeg
Video
& Films
ALIVE & KICKING - 1995, LPN, Mtl THAT'S THE WAY WE TIE OUR SHOES - 1996, Unbend Films, Amsterdam OVERDALE RAG - cass, 1987, Jelly Bean, Mtl. I
DON'T UNDERSTAND WOMEN! - cass, 1993, LPN,
Mtl.
LESS
ROCK MORE TALK - CD, 1997, AK Press, San Francisco |
Rythym Activism's
'Community Cabarets'
>> Deux Femmes, Une Tcheque (1991-1992)
>> RA's CABARET P.A.L. (March 1991)
>> Un Logement pour une chanson (1990-1991)
>> EDDY: The Guy Over There (1989
LE CIRQUE EN CA$H (1997)
"LE
CIRQUE EN CA$H: la ou rien n'est caché!"
RHYTHM ACTIVISM (R.A.), c'est "l'orchestre
rebelle" montréalais composé
de Sylvain Côté et Norman Nawrocki.
Depuis maintenant 11 ans, les membres de R.A. collaborent
ensemble pour élaborer des oeuvres qui sont destinées
autant pour la scène que pour le studio d'enregistrement, tout
en gardant un lien actif avec la communauté en présentant
des "cabaret communautaires"
réalisés grâce à l'implication directe
d'organisations populaires.
En 1990, R.A. présentait "Un logement pour une Chanson",
un spectacle pour le droit au logement social co-présenté
par le FRAPRU,
tandis qu'en 1992 le public avait droit à "Deux Femmes,
Un Tchèque" un cabaret de sensibilisation sur la loi 37,
la réforme de l'aide sociale. Les deux productions sont
présentées partout au Québec.
R.A. présent maintenant d'un autre cabaret communautaire, celui-ci
inspiré de la grande tradition du cirque: "LE CIRQUE EN
CA$H: LA OU RIEN N'EST CACHE!"
Ce cirque populaire et gratuit serait un instrument de sensibilisation
sur les grandes lignes de l'appauvrissement et qui démystifierait
les questions comme : pourquoi on a pas d'argent ; pourquoi on pas
de job ; pourquoi il y a des immeubles vacants ; pourquoi les coupures
des services sociaux ; c'est quoi le déficit et pourquoi que
dans cette situation économique dite "difficile"
il y a des entreprises qui font des profits records.
Ce sera un cirque qui parlera de la réalité, des conséquences
de toute ces coupures et comment on pourrait arriver à
une prise en charge pour lutter contre l'appauvrissement.
On retrouvera dans le cirque des musiciens, des comédiens,
des animaux (humains), des danseurs, des clowns - un total de
50 artistes en piste. Le cirque sera interactif grâce
à l'utilisation d'un mélange vidéo/diapositives.
Ce sera un évènement hilarant conçu pour toute
la famille. Nous voulons que notre spectacle puisse servir d'outil
de mobilisation pour les groupes populaires. Nous aimerions
l'entrevoir comme un vrai "happening" avec une foule d'activités
périphériques comme un bazar, de l'animation pour les
enfants, des tables de littérature, des kiosques de nourriture,
etc.
"Succès incontestable...Le Cirque en Ca$h fait
salle comble au Centre Lajeunesse."
- Le Monde
"Un étonnant cabaret politique...qui mélange
allégrement musique rock, chansons engagées, saynètes
de théâtre et revendications sociales brutes."
- L"Humanité Hebdo, Paris
"Un bonne idée d'aller voir ca pour commencer
de changer les choses."
- Radio Canada
"Un soirée ou le monde a bien rigolé....tout
le monde fait le fête, tout le monde est debout.....un grand
réunion du quartier."
- Radio France Internationale
"Avec le Cirque en Ca$h, Rhythm Activism revendique le
besoin naturel de l'humain de ne pas se laisser écraser....Il
appelle à l'engagement et lance la réflexion."
- Place Publique
* "Pour nous, le Cirque en Ca$h est un événement
de sensibilisation et d'éducation populaire, qui va sans
doute laisser des traces."
- Nathalie Ménard, d'alerte Centre-Sud,
une coalition d'organismes communautaires qui ont participé
à la naissance du projet.
* "Nos bénévoles sont très motivés
par la prespective de ce spectacle sur lequel nous comptons beaucoup
pour le rayonnement de notre organisme."
- André Trépanier, Association
des locataires de Villeray
Deux Femmes, Une Tcheque (1991-1992
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RA
WELFARE RIGHTS CABARET EXPOSES QUEBEC
'Deux femmes; un tcheque'( Two Women &
a Cheque)
In 1991, while City and Provincial officials turned their backs
on Quebec's poor and unemployed, the agit-pop trio, Rhythm
Activism, hit the road to rock the public laugh meter and
draw attention to the problem.
During a two month tour of the province, RA - in drag - performed
their free welfare rights cabaret, 'Deux
femmes, un tcheque' (Two women & a cheque) dozens of
times from Montreal to the furthest outreaches of Quebec.
The 60 minute, all-French show traced the mad-cap, but true life
adventures of two man-sized heroines - Dolly
Ouelette & Cecile Dion - who took on the Church, Welfare Police, a giant workplace clock and a stripped
down premier of the province (the late Robert
Bourassa), and Prime Minister of
Canada (the despised Brian Mulroney),
as they tried to survive public opinion and the new welfare reforms
of the time. Using popular Quebecois music from the 1950's, 60's
and 70's (rearranged lyrically), and over a dozen costume changes,
the RA trio of Sylvain Coté (guitar,
accordion & vocals), Norman Nawrocki (violin, kazoo & vocals) and the mysterious Monsieur LeTcheque
(Elaine Stef, on organ & percussion)
sang and go go danced their way through 16 funny and tear jerking
songs and sketches.
The result was a stinging but sensitive musical romp through Quebec's
revamped welfare system - a veritable Alice in Wonderland Chamber
of Horrors for over 600,000 of the province's poor. Since it's inception
three years earlier, the reform was denounced by civil liberties
critics and human rights activists as 'draconion, inhuman and intolerable.'
RA's cabaret exposed the contradictions and hypocracy of the law
and argued why it should have been scrapped.
The show, "DFUT" was co-sponsored
by 'La table nationale contre la loi 37'
- a coalition of over 40 Quebec trade unions, women's groups, welfare
rights and community organizations.
RA spent an entire summer researching the show with members of local
welfare rights groups, predominantly women. Several thousand people
saw DFUT from Shawinigan to Joliette, Maniwaki to Témiscamingue, in church basements, town halls, elementary
school gyms, and in soup kitchens.
In 1992, RA toured a bilingual version of the show.
BACKGROUND NOTES TO THE SHOW:
* It was an all-French production, the collective effort of two
anglophones and a Quebecois working with a provincial francophone
coalition. Unlike previous RA shows where Norman handles most if
not all the vocals, in DFUT, Sylvain
performed about 85% of the dialogue and songs;
* As a 'cabaret rock band,' RA straddles theatre and musical boundaries. DFUT was RA's fifth piece of 'musical
theatre,' their third in a series of 'community cabarets':
- March 1989 - 'EDDY, the guy over there,' was
a romantic, dreamlike musical about the life of a very ordinary
man;
- Spring/Winter 1990: 'Un logement pour une chanson,' was a french
housing rights cabaret that toured Quebec twice;
- March 1990: 'Cabaret P.A.L.' was a bilingual cabaret about welfare
rights for ex-psychiatric patients in Verdun, produced with their
participation;
- October 1990: 'The Legend of the Rat King' was an urban gothic
rock musical in English;
* This cabaret played venues off the beaten path for 'underground'
bands.
Childcare was sometimes provided
at shows; community suppers or tea and
cookie sessions followed performances; there were open exchanges
with RA members and organizers answering questions in post-show
public discussions; RA's dressing rooms were sometimes in a church
pew;
* The show was 'family friendly,'
attracting children, adolescents, silver haired men and women, ex-cabinet
ministers, nuns in full garb, priests and others;
* The show was part of an educational campaign launched by provincial
community groups that included the gathering of 37,000
signed post cards demanding that the new law be rescinded.
RA's Cabaret Project in Aleternative Living (March 1991)
The 'Project in
Alternative Living' (PAL) is a 400 member-strong self-help
organization of ex-psychiatric patients in the south-west neighbourhood of Verdun, near Montreal. RA spent several months hanging out with the members, getting to know
them and their concerns,
in order to produce a cabaret with them -'CABARET
PAL,' about their rights on welfare.
As one of the member groups of the larger
coalition fighting the new welfare reforms, PAL had special concerns
about how to best inform their membership about changes in the welfare
laws. RA worked directly with them to mount a lively comedy cabaret/poetry
show that translated the complicated new laws into language the
members of PAL could understand. The show covered subjects like: how to keep the welfare police out of your home; how to claim legitimate
benefits owed; how to support each other in the welfare office;
how to fight for the right to have one's medications covered under
the law; etc.
The cabaret also played for the community
at large, outside the doors of PAL, to explain the special needs
and concerns of PAL members. There was often a lot of ignorance
and distrust of PAL's work by local residents who didn't know much
about the organization, but who were uncomfortable with the concentration
of ex-psychiatric patients in their neighbourhood. Because of re-organized
government programs, the streets were filling with ex-psychiatric
patients discharged from a local institution. Through the RA cabaret,
local residents, PAL members and performers had an opportunity to
come together to share a good time, and some understanding.
Once again, RA used its winning combo of
guitar, accordion, violin, song, humour and funny costumes to get
the messages across. During their research for the show, they conducted
creative workshops with PAL members to help interest them in participating
in the cabaret. The result: several PAL members formed part of the
cast of the final show. One of the songs, 'Cabaret Pal,' written
by a PAL member, appeared on an RA release, 'Perogies, Pasta &
Liberty.' *
Un Logement pour une chanson (1990-1991)
('A House for a Song')
A housing rights cabaret by Rhythm Activism
'See live vampires attack! Hear giant cockroaches
talk!
Bring your landlord! And get a rent reduction1'
RA's hilarious 1990 two-man housing rights cabaret, 'Un logement pour
une chanson' was meant to reach unreachable tenants across the province
of Quebec and help them get organized. It was a joint production -
the first - between RA and a Quebec-wide coalition of over 40 community
groups called FRAPRU ('People's Rights Over Urban Development').
The 'vampires' were 'Condo Vampires' who
sucked the lifeblood out of once affordable neighbourhoods - until
the residents kicked them out. The giant cockroaches - the favorites
of kids in the audiences - told stories about how cockroaches survive:
they meet behind the kitchen stove, the fridge, in cupboards, as a
co-operative federation, with self defence groups and co-op housing.
A pair of clown 'housing experts' explained
the ABC's of real estate and how people can resist evictions. Syvlain
and Norman used a guitar, an accordion, a violin and a trunk full
of costumes to sing about housing rights and get audiences to join
in. The show, 'about the reality of being a tenant in Quebec
today,' toured the poorest neighbourhoods across the province to rave
reviews, from the media and the public.
As well as being entertaining and humorous,
the 'resistance cabarets' educated the public and got audience members
to sign up at the end with local housing action groups. It also helped
bridge the gap between what the band called'marginal culture and marginal
community groups.' And the show gave tenants an unusual forum for
discussing housing issues in their own communities.
'EDDY: THE GUY OVER THERE' (March, 1989)
This was RA's first, full-length, two-man,
original musical. It was also RA's first foray into the world
of real theatre. Written, directed and performed by vocalist/violinist
Norman Nawrocki, and avant-subversive guitarist/percussionist Dem
Stink (aka, Sylvain Coté), 'EDDY' represented a new theatrical
direction for the duo. The band wanted to produce something other
than the usual RA combo of 'news poems' and untuned guitar. 'EDDY:
THE GUY OVER THERE' was, unlike all previous RA work, more
introspective and dreamy. A one-act musical, in French and English,
'EDDY' was the story of a very ordinary dead man (played by Norman)
who didn't want to attend his own funeral. He argued this out with
his mirror image, his 'soul' (played by Sylvain), and in the process,
re-lived his entire life: his loves, his
jobs, his fantasies, his defeats, his victories.
The music was like turning the pages of an old photo album: melodic,
nostalgic, with dream-time waltzes and prairie tangos. It was the
kind of show anyone could bring their mother to, and people did, and
their mothers left smiling.
'EDDY' took the audience back in time, across the country, from the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike to the 1950s
industrial Montreal, to a major anti-gentrification
battle of Overdale in Montreal in 1988. It covered attacks
on working people throughout history, the Free
Trade discussions of the late 1980's, the new era of 'downsizing' and 'privatization' schemes, and the
tarnished dreams of the poor, still alive in the streets and alleys,
still cherished in the pockets and memories of friends and neighbours.
The 80 minute production that played Montreal's
Centre Culturel Calixa Lavallee, in Parc LaFontaine, received
a thumbs up from CBC Radio who called RA, 'the Brecht/Weill combo for
the 21st century.'
1. In the Darkest Hour *listen
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Topical and provocative, RA's 16th and newest release is a smorgasbord of bizarre tales including an aniti-corporate junk food circus story, a rib-tickling country/gospel song and a haunting, soul-stirring lullaby. Some biblical scholars have suggested that Jesus could have been androgynous, or even gay. Of course, this is nothing new to the gay/lesbian community. Lesbians already know God was a woman. And God herself has often said 'Some of my best servants (on Earth) are gay.' On the 'JESUS WAS GAY' album, the band, Rhythm Activism attacks homophobia in the catchy title song. The refrain: 'Jesus was Gay/& moved to Alberta/Opened up a bar/for all his friends/Bought a pickup/Got a tattoo saying/'Love your brother, Amen/ Love your brother Amen.' The album shot to #9 on the Canadian alternative radio charts.
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JESUS
WAS GAY' is the provocative 16th
release from Montreal's veteran 'rebel news orchestra/rock 'n roll cabaret', RHYTHM ACTIVISM (RA) .
'JESUS WAS GAY' features RA co-founders Sylvain Côté (guitars/accordion) and
Norman Nawrocki (vocals/violin) with Wilf Plum (drums), Luc Bonin (bass),
Claude Dion (sax) and Minda Bernstein (violin). It's been released
by Winnipeg's G-7 Welcoming Committee Records.
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A retrospective cassette compliation of 13 of Rhythm Activism's most popular earlier hits from previously long-unavailable releases. Includes "The Black Flag;" "7-11 heaven;" "America;" "Polski Fiat" and more. Imagine 400 people, from 6 to 76, packed into a steaming soup kitchen in Montreal's impoverished East End (80% unemployment), laughing, stomping their feet and clapping their hands for a "community cabaret" about welfare rights, while on-stage, members of a band in drag, alternately go-go dance, change costumes, and roll our '60s Quebec hit rock songs, all rewritten to get the audience smiling and psyched up to fight for their rights. This is Rhythm Activism.
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a 10 year retrospective |
Live in Europe |
MORE KICK! RA's 14th release. Recorded live on tour in Europe. Full of high energy from actual shows. 12 songs, old & new, half instrumentals. Includes Ukrainian wedding music. "MORE KICK!" they cried as the convoys of caravans crashed through the borders, passport-free. "MORE KICK!" cried the homeless and the refugees as they marched into the empty buildings and claimed them for their own. "MORE KICK! and out of our way!" yelled every man, woman and child as they danced in time, singing and laughing down cobblestone streets heading for a gathering beyond anyone's control. All roads met where bigotry, intolerance, fear and indifference were only passwords of the past. Where food and drink were plenty and free and the drums roared with abandon. Where the warmth of friendship and solidarity burned brightly in the shadow of an anarchist moon. Where "MORE KICK!" brought voices and heels together in the air defying anyone to stop them. Where the idea took root, and grew.
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1. Venimos a la guerra *listen |
A fast-paced &moving Mexican theme CD by RA about the Zapatistas uprising in Chiapas, Mexican anarchists, NAFTA, and "Day of the Dead" celebrations. Reads like an aural history or travelogue, tracking the roots of Mexican rebellion through stories & musical landscapes. In 1994, in one of Mexico's poorest states, Chiapas, starving, indigenous people grabbed guns & masks & staged a spectacular armed rebellion for justice, dignity & freedom. They called themselves Zapatistas, & their brave & daring revolt captured media headlines around the world. This was the first popular, mass armed resistance against the injustices of globalization. It inspired millions internationally to raise their voices in protest & solidarity. Rhythm Activism's CD, 'BLOOD & MUD' traces the history of this rebellion & its anarchist roots. The band was thanked personally by Zapatista subcommandante Marcos for supporting the fight of indigenous people in Chiapas Mexico. The CD reached #7 on American alternative radio charts. Today, the Zapatistas are holed up in the jungle, in their 'Free Zones,' trying to fend off the encroaching Mexican military. They still need our support. --Click here for lyrics & more-- |
1. Leo Lachance |
A five song musical documentary about North American natives (Leonard Peltier, Mohawks, Leo Lachance), neo-nazis & wild west justices. This release marked a departure from RA's electric style by using mostly acoustic instruments & lush string arrangements. We're dedicating this
cassette to our friends at CKHQ 101.7FM, a nonprofit, community Mohawk
radio station outside Montreal at Kanehsatake.
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Six 'revolutionary new men's products' |
A cassette featuring 6 "revolutionary new men's products" taken from Norman Nawrocki's provocative & internationally acclaimed anti-sexist comedy cabaret, I "Don't Understand Women!" Includes "Alternative to Fucking Video;" "Humanizing Eye Glasses;" "Male Sensitive Basher" & "Men's Ear Enhancers." Ideal for the boyfriend in your life. These excerpts are lighthearted cartoon-like "commercials." The
colourful disguises have been put aside, the music turned off. Entertainer
Norman Nawrocki picks up a chair, carries it to the front of the stage
and sits down to address his audience. For the past hour he has brought
laughter and tears to a lunchtime gathering of University of Calgary students. "Every guy at least once this week has said, 'I don't understand women,'" Nawrocki says. A few heads - both male and female - nod in agreement. Nawrocki,
straight-backed and hands folded on his lap, explains to the crowd that
the performance dealt with "the kinds of things we as men don't usually
talk about - we don't make the time to talk about ... All I ask is go
home, talk to your buddies, talk to your boyfriends, talk to your women
friends. Don't be afraid to talk about this stuff. |
