Artist Biography
by Uncle Dave Lewis
In early 1985,
the Red Hot Chili Peppers took a swing through Ohio, and within a matter of mere months, the city of Columbus produced
the Royal Crescent Mob. "
The R.C. Mob," as they were affectionately known to fans, was an appropriate moniker in that they were to
the Red Hot Chili Peppers
what Royal Crown Cola once was to Coke; similar in taste but different,
some preferred Royal Crown to Coke, and it still moved plenty of cases
of soda -- at least for a time.
The Mob, main members being singer
David Ellison, guitarist B. Emch, and bassist
Harold "Happy" Chichester,
were a force to be reckoned with in the Midwestern American club scene
of the late '80s, routinely packing houses beyond capacity and regaling
enthusiastic crowds with a tightly played and highly appealing blend of
punk and funk. Their two big numbers early on were an original called
"Get on the Bus" and a cover of
Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster," and both were featured on their independently produced, six-track EP
Land of Sugar, which appeared in 1986. The drummer's chair was a revolving door in the Mob until
Carlton Smith settled into the job in 1987.
Although poorly recorded and difficult to find even when new,
Land of Sugar was quickly snapped up by college radio stations and went into heavy rotation, generating enough interest in
the Royal Crescent Mob that they were able to distribute their next two independent releases through Celluloid.
Omerta and
Something Old, New and Borrowed (aka
S.N.O.B.) appeared in short order, and the latter title is sort of like "
Land of Sugar
II" in that it incorporates all six of the previous releases' songs.
Both of these records did very well at college radio, and in late 1988,
the majors came calling. The Royal Crescent Mob settled with Sire, which
released the band's Richard Goetterer-produced major-label debut,
Spin the World, in 1989. At that point, it seemed like the Mob, likewise, was on top of the world, but of
Spin the World's ten tracks only "Hungry" charted on the Modern Rock chart, and it peaked at number 27.
Midnight Rose's appeared in 1990, and by this time
the Royal Crescent Mob,
at least in the studio, were trying to move away from "the white boy
funk thing" into something that was more like "regular rock," and who
can blame them? The Red Hot Chili Peppers were already doing the same
thing.
Midnight Rose's failed to click, and
the Royal Crescent Mob
were subsequently dumped by Sire, even as their live shows continued to
draw huge crowds. Although the Mob were able to muster up a disc of a
live set,
Good Lucky Killer, in 1993, their days were already done by this point.
Happy Chichester later formed the group
Howlin' Maggie, and in an interview taken long after the
Mob split, he stated that while relations between Sire and
the Royal Crescent Mob
remained positive, the promotion and publicity for their releases were
done out of house. As a result, the Mob were unable to communicate with
that part of their operation, and felt that it ultimately let them down.
On the other hand,
the Royal Crescent Mob's
greatest strength was as a live act -- they could really turn on a
crowd in a big way -- and this did not translate to the medium of
recording with ease.
