Goddo: Pretty Bad Boys (1981)

Pretty Bad Boys contained a genuine big hit, the singular of the LP name: Pretty Bad Boy. I think it was a big hit, or maybe it was just locally popular. Who knows?  

Hey you good lookin' 
In the very front row
You're the kind of sweet thing
That I'd like to know
Maybe we could make eyes
After the show
Your can have it fast
You can have it slow
I guess you've figured out
What's on my Mind
After the gig
We could have a real good time
You show me yours
I'll show you mine
Bring a willing girlfriend
She can be next in line 
I'm just a pretty bad boy
I'm just a pretty bad boy
Pretty bad boys need pretty bad
pretty girls too
Ya' know what
We could go to my place if you're so inclined
Got rugs , beds, showers, lubricants
And things that bind

I ain't no Mike Mandel 
But I can read your mind
Just your eyes are screamin'
Anytime


Although I have never seen Goodo live in concert, I have seen Mike Mandel perform. As I mentioned earlier, I always thought that this was the end of the line for Goddo, but the band released a CD in 1992, In 2001, they released an anniversary edition of the live record. A CD of new material was released in 2003. There was a compilation in 2008 and a new live record in 2013. I haven't heard any of that stuff.

Goddo: Lighve: Best Seat in the House (1981)

The cover and title are perhaps a tad misogynistic, but it was the early 1980s. I guess we can forgive them for that. This is a really solid double live (or lighve) record. Here's more from the CITY TV broadcast. Goddo records are not hard to find, and they should be priced at under $10 each.

Goddo: An Act of Goddo (1979)

This record is probably as good as the first record, but maybe not quite as good as the second. It sounds like a Goddo record, with lots of big sounds and solos. The most well known track on this record is the infectious So Walk On.

Here's a clip some youtuber has posted from that CITY TV and CHUM FM simulcast I mentioned earlier. You get a good sense of what these guys were all about. They should have been more famous.

Goddo: Who Cares (1978)

This record is entitled Who Cares, I guess. If you read all of the text on the cover, the real title might be:  If Indeed It's Lonely At The Top WHO CARES It's Lonely At The Bottom Too! I mean, that's what is printed on the jacket, but others just refer to it simply as Who Cares, without a question mark.

Once again, it was released only in Canada. I suppose it can be hard to make it in the music business if your records aren't being released in the USA.


I'd argue that this record is better than the first. So many bands or singers have a hard time with the second record, but not in this case. Cock On is probably the most recognizable track. I also really like Sweet Thing and Oh Carole (Kiss My Whip), a sexual tribute to Carole Pope of Rough Trade. Oddly (and this will come up much later), Carole Pope was apparently the world's first openly-lesbian singer, so it's odd that Godovitz would sing about her in a very heterosexual way. But, as a adolescent, she did something for me, but more on that later.

Goddo: Goddo (1977)

If you were asked to name a Canadian power trio, you would probably come up with Rush, or maybe even Triumph, before Goddo. There's nothing wrong with that. Rush is far better known. On the other hand, Goddo was relatively unknown, especially outside of Canada, and that's too bad.

I was surprised to learn that Goddo had any history after the early 1980s, According to the band's webpage, they were around longer: In 1983, "[a]fter years of touring, the band collapsed under the weight of its own excesses and debt. A five piece reconfiguration called GODO later emerged with Godovitz leading the brigade through the mid-80s." The band released some stuff in the 90s and  2000s. I had no idea and I haven't heard any of it.

The band took its name from front-man Greg Godovitz. I was never sure if this was a good name or not, but after a while, one loses the ability to judge a name that one has gotten used to. Just think of all the crazy band names that we have become accustomed to. You know, like Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel or the Dead Kennedy's.

I have a particularly strong memory of watching a Goddo concert on one of those CITY TV and CHUM FM simulcasts. I also watched Rough Trade and Max Webster, and I think others. Since it was difficult to see many concerts in my small hometown, this was really cool. The instructions were to place your stereo speakers on either side of your TV. The music was then broadcast in stereo over 104.5 CHUM FM and the video from CITY TV, which I think was channel 79 at the time. So, you just had to turn up the stereo and turn down the TV, and you were set. But, in our case, we had one of those stereo cabinets, so the speakers could not be moved without great difficulty. Still, it worked well enough.

Anyway, the first record is a solid rock LP. It has some classic Goddo tunes like Under My Hat, The Bus Driver Blues, Drive me Crazy, etc.

As far as I know, this record was released only in Canada, first on LP and later on CD.