Goddo

"If indeed it is lonely at the top, who cares," quipped Goddo on its second album. "It's lonely at the bottom, too." That rusty one-liner could have been the band's motto. It succinctly sums up not only the tumultuous career of this long-serving, hard-rocking Canadian power trio, but also the fatalistic humor with which the group viewed the whole affair. Goddo's technicolor dreams of global domination never came true, but that never seemed to stop the band from enjoying its decades-long rollercoaster ride through the Canadian music industry. Goddo's long, arduous slog to the middle began in 1975, when bassist Greg Godovitz left Toronto pop outfit Fludd. Intent on forming a harder-rocking group, Godovitz recruited Hendrix disciple Gino Scarpelli (of glitter rock outfit Brutus) on guitar and former school chum Marty Morin on drums. Adding a consonant to Godovitz's nickname for clarity -- too many people said Go-do instead of God-o -- the trio braved the Canadian bar-room grind, playing three shows a night, six nights a week, with day-long drives between gigs. A year in these trenches was enough for Morin, who became a school bus driver, making room for Ottawa drummer Doug Inglis, a rock-solid timekeeper who also happened to be a dead ringer for Morin, thus saving the group the cost of new publicity photos. With a secure lineup in place, the group's career began to accelerate. A self-titled debut album (featuring "Bus Driver Blues," Godovitz's parting shot at Morin) appeared in 1977, introducing the group's hybrid of meat 'n' potatoes rock, poignant balladry, and lascivious lyrics. It was followed in 1978 by the outstanding Who Cares. Produced by Godovitz under the pseudonym Thomas Morley-Turner -- reputedly to snow label execs who wanted a "proper" producer -- Who Cares...