A brief biography:
Randy and his band are all at least 50 years old, hence the name "Retreads" as in tire retreads. Randy idolized Buddy Holly and started composing and singing rock and pop songs in High School in Niagara Falls, and he played trombone in the school symphony, but then he got distracted by other things for many years. After a career as a social scientist and then a lawyer, and a couple of divorces, he has returned to his "first love" music. He has been called the "singing sociologist" and the "lyrical lawyer". Doing family law has inspired some of his country song lyrics.
Randy has lived in Toronto Canada (many years), Richmond Hill (two years), Niagara Falls (5 years), Victoria, B.C., Canada (law school 3 years), Vancouver B.C., (on and off between 1976 and 1987), Edmonton, Alberta (six years), Auckland New Zealand and Wellington N.Z. (about 18 months), and the nice town of Medina N.Y. (half time for three years). He now divides his time between the Durham Region East of Toronto (especially Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax) where he practices family and immigration law and has friends, and his residence in rural Western New York, East of Buffalo where he has more peace of mind and solitude to compose songs. He also spends time in the Hamilton/Burlington/Dundas/Flamborough area of Ontario hanging out with his "drinkin' buddies"/biker friends, mainly modifying vintage British motorcycles to make them more reliable, more powerful and to stop sooner. His classic motorcycle riding and restoration hobby has inspired his "Biker Music", and Indian Chief Motorcycles.com is a website he designed to honor that American brand of motorcycles, and his old Indian Chief which was stolen. (That website went up around 1999 and is updated annually.)
| Randy writes about the Retreads: I write the songs (music and lyrics). If the vocal melody and chorus notes are in a range I can handle, like Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash, I sing; if not Mark Sepic (or various female studio musicians) do the singing. The main guitar player and producer for my songs is Mark Sepic. Mark is always busy performing solo in the Greater Toronto Area, or teaching music, or demonstrating his "junkestra" (instuments made from recycled material, of which the xylophone and drums made from old coffee cans are but two examples). The main sax and trumpet player for the Retreads' studio work is Ron Matthews, who performs almost daily with an orchestra on Alaska cruise ships and is rarely on dry land. (Ron and Mark met in High School in Hamilton, Ontario decades ago.) I have also used some excellent sessional musicians for recording sessions including singer Karen Richards, Mark's wife Naomi, Peter Smith for violin, and Brian Vaillancourt for flute. I expect Peter Dorman formerly of the Scottish band Hardline will be doing bass for future songs. I also jam and smooth out rough songs with the talented and experienced help of Allan Smith and Paul Parker of the Parker Smith Legacy. |
Attention film and audio-video / broadcasting college students (and instructors, teachers, lecturers, professors)! Make a You Tube compatible video for any of our songs and we will award US$1200 to the winner, ($300 if only static images are used) plus up to $500 for provable necessary expenses (e.g. animation, special effects - need receipts and justifications). You may also be able to qualify this for a course project if your instructor agrees. If there is only one entry for a song, we are under no obligation to award any money, and will wait as long as it takes for other's videos to come in. (But if we really like it we may present you with the money and close the competition for that song). I promise not to use the video publicly unless and until you get paid. Then, all rights belong to Randy Montgomery (unless your lawyers and mine work out something else, e..g if you get carried away and do a super video that cost you $7,000, we might work out something where you would get some royalties for each view of the video until you recouped your $7,000.) Likewise by entering this competition you agree not to show the video publicly or distribute it online (includes local screenings, e-mail, You Tube or similar sites etc.) without winning the competition for that song AND getting my express written permission. If doing "Stuck in the City" or "How Much Stress Can a Man Take?" as a live action story, it requires me acting as the guy, but if you are too far away from the Toronto - Buffalo area, use someone who looks like me. Similarly, you can use local musicians pretending to play the music. It is too hard to get all the actual Retreads together for a video, as we are all busy and spread around geographically. I can probably make myself available to lip sync as lead singer or for facial close-ups under your direction, depending on time and distance. To discuss, email me at the address at bottom of this web page. I do not check those emails often so do not panic if you do not get a fast reply.
The drums are Mark's as is the xylophone he made out of old ice hockey sticks - it sounds great. I took the photos of Mark and Ron. Credits for photos of me go to Stewart Ross (the one on the 1966 Sportster motorcycle), Bert Dandy (image for "Stuck in the City") and Allan Smith (me in dark striped shirt) and Ariel Bunday (me and Maine Coone cat).
(clicking on
the song title will give you a 30 second free sample, go to page bottom to
buy entire song online)
If you do not see a little speaker icon beside the song
titles, sorry but you won't be able to play the samples. It is because you
have an Apple device which does not have Flash installed. Flash does not work
on i Phones, but for other Apples devices you can go online and install a
free Flash player. Or just go to CDBaby.com (and search for Randy and the
Retreads) to hear the samples there in non-Flash format.
 |
How Much Stress Can a Man Take? (a.k.a. "Recession
Depression.") Catchy country song about a dude who gets laid
off, creating financial and marital stress. This song is dedicated to
the suffering citizens of Cleveland who have lost their homes or seen
their property values plummet as neighbors are forced to abandon their
houses. A downward spiral. Sad story but not a "downer" song
- has a couple of lines that make everyone laugh. If I had to compare
the style to anyone it would be Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Cash or Waylon
Jennings, but someone said it made them think of Dan Hick's quirky, humourous
songs. |
 |
The GRIM REAPER Semi-Heavy Metal or Light Death Metal song about Death which is always riding with us. Ends with sound of a coffin closing. Steppenwolf and Phantom of the Opera style guitar riffs played by Mark Sepic. |
 |
JENNY and JILLY 1950's style hard rock with Jerry Lee Lewis piano. Mark Sepic plays the instruments on this one. This song was originally composed by me (chorus and basic melody) back in 1963 when I was still in High School, but I updated the lyrics to make it more contemporary. Now its about a pair of exotic pole dancers who drive the audience wild. |
 |
Stuck in the City with a Country Heart Rock-a-billy, country-blues backed up with guitar and harmonica by Mark Sepic about how I and so many others feel feel about having to live in a big city with its crime, noise and road rage, because of job or relatives, but longing to live in the country. |
 |
The COWGIRL PROMENADE Catchy, danceable country tune about an attractive cowgirl and square dancing. In the Billy Ray Cyrus "Achey Breaky Heart" style. Another lawyer-musician said it reminded him of Merle Haggard. Mark Sepic plays the guitar on this. |
 |
How the Hell Reminiscent of CCR
(Credence Clearwater Revival)/ John Fogerty; also a bit of a cross between
an early 1960's folk "protest" song and the AC-DC style, sung
in an angry style with political and ecological lyrics about how and why
the world became in such a mess, blaming corporations and politicians
and military leaders. |
 |
Drinkin' Buddies North America's new drinking anthem! fun, catchy, upbeat. Background babble and tinkling glasses recorded at a Latino night club, a musicians' party and a blue collar bar. You will want to sing along after a few brewskies. My singing may remind you of Merle Haggard or Johhny Horton or Dan Hicks.Song copyright XXX by R. Montgomery |
 |
HOLLISTER 1947 Imaginary music theme
to The Wild One of 1953, and a pseudo-documentary in 1950
style, regarding the first outlaw biker film, starring Marlon Brando as
"Johnny" and Lee Marvin as "Chino", based on an actual
incident in Hollister, California in 1947 where drunken thugs from competing
outlaw biker gangs fought each other and took over the town, according
to the legend made by the media and the movie. In reality there were at
least three clubs and 4,000 riders (independents and club members) ostensibly
to watch the AMA sanctioned races but really mostly there for a big party.
Like Daytona today, many skipped the races and went straight to the bars
on the downtown "strip". Instead of a rumble, riot and rape,
it was mostly the non-racing spectator bikers doing stunts with their
bobbers, being drunk and rowdy in the bars, and intentionally or not entertaining
the locals. The bar owners were quite happy. Some allowed the bikers to
ride right into the bars. It is true that the state police had to be called
and they made many arrests but mostly just for public order offences such
as public intoxication, mischief, urinating in public. To learn about
the actual event consult the internet, check out
www.13rebelsmc.org ("Johnny" was loosely based on one of
the 13 Rebels, or a composite character) and buy the entertaining book
The Original Wild Ones subtitle "Tales of the Boozefighters
Motorcycle Club" by Bill Hayes which can be ordered from major book
retailers for $20; ISBN 978-0-7603-3537-6 or order online from
Boozefighters national website The movie character "Chino"
was based on their colorful member "Wino" Willie Forkner. That
is his wife Teri in the photo. Wino was actually kicked out of the 13
Rebels the year before for his antics being too "over the top" for them,
and joined the Boozefighters as one of the early members. (This is vaguely
implied in the 1953 movie.) This song celebrates the legend. |
 |
Vision for the World This idealistic song
urges us to either donate money or time and effort to help victims of
famines, earthquakes, floods, civilians fleeing civil wars etc. The song
is also a plea to save the environment from pollution and global warming
which causes some of the disasters. Half the royalties will be donated
to the World Vision charity, so by buying the song you are in fact helping
the needy. Mark Sepic sings the main lyrics on this. The general idea
is similar to "We Are The World" of the old Live Aid concert.
|
 |
OLD HARLEY BREAKDOWN BLUES Fast paced hillbilly
tune about an old Hog breakdown and how the rider gets help from other
riders. If you are a real biker of Harley, Indian, or English brands of
the 1950-75 era, and in the mood for a chuckle, this corny song will bring
a smile to your face. |
 |
Easy to Learn, Easy to Love (R & B version) If you like Barry
White, Isaac Hayes, and as female singers Aretha Franklin or Eartha Kitt,
and if you like raunchy, sexual overtones (although the lyrics are not
explicit) and 1970's rhythm and blues with funky skank and chicken pluck
guitar work, and a heavy "naughty" electric bass, you will love
this arrangement. Mark Sepic had a sore throat that day and seized the
opportunity to sing like Barry White. Karen Richards was hired to do the
female part and does a great job with her slightly Texas accent. For fun
you could say this song is by "Barry Kitt and Eartha White. We did
it for a laugh and as an experiment but it ended up being so good I decided
to make it available for sale (or to any music publisher or singers who
may want to do another variation on it). |
 |
Easy to Love (unplugged version) This is much more like my original concept of the song. Sort of a bluesy folky song with violin and flute accents. Basically no electronic instruments. Female vocal part is by Naomi Tyrrell. Angelfish painting was done by me years ago. Image is copyright J. Randal Montgomery 1975. That means you cannot copy it without my permission. That applies to all copyright images on this and any web page. In this case, violators will be prosecuted. |
 |
Seize the Day (Not released yet. Still working on it. )
Image was done by me in Aug. Y2K. Copyright J. Randal Montgomery 2000. |
If
you like what you hear and want to buy the full songs (mostly for 99 cents each)
here are ordering instructions:
To purchase more than one song go to www.CDBaby.com.
Or to purchase a particular song, simply click on the link below left which takes you directly to the song on
CD Baby.
(You can also buy from Amazon, i-Tunes, MySpace, Napster etc. Just type in "Randy
and the Retreads" in the sites' search boxes.)
