champagne- doug duffey & the distracters- the next

champagne:[original members-when i joined]
doug duffey- vocals
bryan armer- guitar/vocals
gene thompson- bass/vocals
gary acklen- keys/vocals
john brown- drums

in monroe, i began working with/ fronting a band called Champagne, which had been around a while and was a successful partyand club band. we worked the louisiana and mississippi club and college circuits. we did almost 90% covers- all the top 40 hits- which was not really what i wanted to do musically...but it was a good band...

we recorded several of my songs at jy studios, which i unfortunately shelved until i could get enough for a complete lp. but, that never happened for various reasons. [but those tracks may get digitized and re-surface online soon]

i eventually left Champagne, taking some of the band with me, and started 'doug duffey and the distracters" - a more rock/new wave oriented band.distractors: [1st version]
doug duffey- vocals
bryan armer- guitar/vocals
larry allen- bass
randy ross- drums

oddly enough, the band eventually changed back to most of the original champagne members. and the spelling of the name changed too...

doug duffey- vocals
bryan armer- guitar/vocals
albert moore- bass
ricky andrews- keys
john brown- drums

other members:
george phillips- keys
paul torbert- guitar

when the eventual demise of DD&TD came, i began 'doug duffey and the next' [since it was 'the next' band] - we were more of a punk/jam/improvisational band, and dabbled in funk, reggae and ska [we were even doing classic rock songs in reggae/ska style]- as well as R&B and rock... and total chaos most of the time.

doug duffey & the next:
doug duffey- vocals/keys
bill dunn- vocals/sax/flute
peter harmon- guitar/vocals
mike starns- bass
george phillips-keys
brent adams- drums

[c]2009 doug duffey

razin' cain [new orleans- late 70s]

razin cain:
doug duffey [vocal/keyboards]
billy gregory [vocal/guitar]
ricky cortes[bass]
jay gernsbacher [drums]

later additional member: harold kelt- keyboards
i left Hollywood and went back to New Orleans around 1976. i hooked up with Billy Gregory [former guitarist of "it's a beautiful day"] and we put razin' cain together. we started out doing the late night shift at 'the absinthe bar' on bourbon street- playing 12-4AM, but moved around town, playing Jimmy's, the Dream Palace, Rosie's, some wild bars in Metairie and Uptown.

this was the first band i'd been in that did 100% original music! i wrote 90% of it, Billy wrote the rest. we were the "enfants terrible " of the french quarter, and a force to be reckoned with. we did high energy funky rock music. we did pretty wild shows, and had a very loyal following. at Deja Vu where we were practically the house band- they even named 'our' [basically my] drink [brandy & peppermint schnapps] after us.

we were being courted by record labels. we did a 6 or 7song band demo at ronnie cole's. Billy ended up going to france working with jacques higelin, then to Milan working with Andy J Forest- and the band- which was supposed to follow- was put on hold... two songs from the sessions wound up on billy's "it's a bluesy day" solo lp. [appaloosa records] songs: "didn't we ramble didn't we roll' [written by me] and "time and money" [written by me and billy]- with me doing the vocals.

we got some great live recordings at Rosie's [a great,but now defunct new orleans club] - and while on the road. have a particularly raucous recording live in Destin.

in 1977 i got a call from george clinton to go to detroit and begin work on my album, which he was going to produce. he flew me up and we recorded several music tracks which i either wrote [which later became "silly millameter" ] or co-wrote [which later became: "one nation under a groove"!]. i am not listed on the alums credits for One Nation-although the music writing sessions consisted of me, gary shider and junie morrison- and i DO i have the daily session cassettes as proof! george and his various children 'supposedly' co-wrote the lyrics to both "songs" later.

although 'one nation' became not only Funkadelic's biggest hit [and has been sampled to death by damned near every rap from 'de la soul' onward- especially the middle section which i wrote!] and 'silly millameter' appeared on george's "you should nuf bit fish" - i never saw anything from either.

i stayed in new orleans doing some solo gigs and putting together some "jam bands" that played locally until 1981...thinking razin' cain would get back together... when we didnt, i moved back home to monroe.
[c]2009 doug duffey