Pretty Bad Boy Rockers Goddo Bring 'Who Cares' Back To Life, Front To Back
Who cares? Anyone who ever cranked "Under My Hat" on Canadian radio, that's who.
On Sunday, October 18, Goddo roll into the Concert Hall at Victoria Hall in Cobourg for a night their fans have been waiting decades to see. The plan is gloriously simple. The first half is a greatest hits blowout. The second half is the band's 1978 album 'Who Cares,' played in its entirety.
That's two hours of Canada's original pretty bad boys doing what they do best: playing loud, playing hard and having a blast doing it. Or as Greg Godovitz would put it, Goddo "lighve."
Godovitz still leads the charge on vocals and bass, and he's built a powerhouse version of the band to back him up. The all new Goddo is a six piece, with Steve Jensen and Steve MacPherson on guitars, Drew Winters on keyboards, Gene Hardy on saxophone and original Goddo drummer Marty Morin behind the kit.
Morin's return is a big deal. He was there at the very beginning in 1975, when Godovitz left Fludd, the band behind the chart topping "Cousin Mary," to start a power trio of his own. Having him back on the stool closes a loop five decades in the making.
Expect the classics. "So Walk On," "Sweet Thing," "Tough Times," "Too Much Carousing," "Under My Hat" and "Pretty Bad Boy" are all in the mix, along with "Oh Carole (Kiss My Whip)," Godovitz's cheeky ode to Carole Pope, written after catching a Rough Trade show at Toronto's legendary Gasworks.
Then comes the main event. 'Who Cares' arrived in 1978 as the follow up to the band's raw, punk spirited debut, and it found Goddo stretching out with more polished production while keeping every bit of their bite. Hearing it top to bottom, the way it was meant to be heard, is a rare treat for longtime fans and a perfect crash course for anyone just discovering them.
Goddo's stage credentials speak for themselves. In their heyday they opened for Rush, Triumph, Alice Cooper and Max Webster, and shared the 1979 CNE bill with Aerosmith and Ted Nugent. That same year, a groundbreaking CITY-TV simulcast captured them live from Toronto's St. Paul's Church. Their 1981 live album, 'Goddo Lighve: Best Seat in the House,' was recorded over two nights at Barrie's Roxy Theatre, with a young comedian named Jim Carrey opening. "Pretty Bad Boy" later gave them a Top 40 hit and a 1982 JUNO nomination for Band of the Year.
The band is celebrating 50 years with 'Decades,' a newly remastered collection that pulls tracks from every Goddo studio album. It includes a fresh 2024 recording of "Pretty Bad Boy" featuring Morin, available in Dolby Atmos, and an Eddie Kramer remix of "Under My Hat" built from the original masters.
Stick around after the show, too. Goddo are hosting a free meet and greet in the lobby, so bring your old vinyl and your best road stories.
Tickets are $63.96, all in, and available at the Experience Cobourg Box Office at 855-372-2210. The show is presented by Blackrose Entertainment and starts at 7:30 p.m. at 55 King St. W. in Cobourg.
So, who cares? On October 18, a hall full of Goddo fans in Cobourg will answer that question at the top of their lungs.
