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The Yummy Devils

Origins

The Yummy Devils were a Canadian punk rock band founded in West Vancouver in 1984-1986, with a short but very productive history of post-punk, pre-grunge music that created their reputation as “lo-fi pioneers”. The original Yummy Devils band members included Todd Mitchell on vocals and guitar and John Giles on drums from 1983-1984, in a band originally called Inoxia. Mitchell was an art school student at Emily Carr School of Art and Design, and later managed an art store on Granville Island for 10 years. Separately, Greg Corcoran (guitar) and Rob Handfield (bass) were playing with Bible Stories in a basement near Oak Street in Vancouver while studying physics and math at UBC. Later, Handfield (now playing drums), Jay Allen (later known as “Zed”) and Mitchell formed a basement band “The Living End” (1984) which played for a short time in Allen's basement in West Vancouver.



Influences

Their music was influenced by 50’s rockabilly (Link Wray, Dwayne Eddie, Chet Atkins, Eddie Cochran), surf (Beach Boys, Ventures, Dick Dale and the Deltones), 60’s psychedelic (Sonics Velvet Underground, Count Five, CCR, Standells), 70’s punk (Ramones, Sex Pixtols, Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Cramps, Gun Club, Buzzcocks, etc.) and a steady diet of television (e.g. Gilligan’s Island, Flintstones, Beverly Hillbillies, Addams Family, Munsters, and Loony Tunes). These raw materials distorted and shaped the band’s twisted thinking, and combined with hallucinogenics, produced an explosive outburst of sound. Many of the sources of their inspiration have documented on the blog Yummy Devils Pioneer Spirit.

Music

After various prior incarnations, the Yummy Devil lineup came together in 1983, when Todd Mitchell, Jay Allen (aka Zed), Greg Corcoran and original drummer John Giles formed the band. Giles later quit the band, and was joined by Rob Handfield, a UBC college roommate with Corcoran in a large house on Burrard Street known as the "Fun House". (Zed was known around town for driving the “Green Machine”, a green converted 50s (?) milk truck with Cadillac fins and a boat on top… with fire place and plants on the dashboard). All Yummy Devil songs were recorded on a Sound Design Tote ‘n Tape cassette tape recorder, which was jerry-rigged for power to a car battery. This produced a distant, far-off sounding effect that came to be known as “lo-fi”. All recordings took place in the basement of Zed’s dad’s house in West Vancouver, surrounded by decor that included Gumby and Pokey dolls, hanging beads, 50’s and 60’s art-deco pictures, and remnants of other 50's and 60's paraphernalia. Their recordings were completed into a “Lost album”, which consists of a compilation of recordings that emerged on traded cassette tapes from this era.

Songs

The Yummy Devils went into a period of incredibly prolific song-writing during this period, producing such memorable songs as Me and My Lambie, (a boy and his cat on a scooter), Bugs in My Mattress (self-evident), Cliff (a guy called Cliff on a Cliff), Dance in Your Skin (from the Aztec religious ritual), Foreign Soil (traveling abroad) , Garbage Dump (romance in a dump), and Launch (opening instrumental for their gigs). Other top hits included Conveniences, Fast One, Spaztic Crab, Hang 5, All the Fun in the World, Fridays, An Alien, Aesthetically Pleasing, and covers such as Good Guys Don’t Wear White (Standells), Wipe Out (Ventures), Vicious (Velvet Underground), I Don’t Care (Ramones).

Videos

Many of the songs were initially recorded on casette tapes, than later uploaded into digital format. A series of videos to accompany the music were created, featuring old video clips, a good deal of new art produced by Mitchell in his studio, and a number of altered photographs and newly created video images. Together, these videos constitute a new art form to complement the "Low-Fi" sound of the original Yummy Devils sound, and have been uploaded on the Yummy Devils YouTube Channel and the Yummy Devils Facebook Page

Live Shows

The YD’s had a brief tour, first playing the Railway Club in Vancouver. At their first gig, the soundman from the club, after hearing them and seeing the condition of their drum kit, walked off the set and refused to work their set. A substitute sound man, Dan MacDonald (who later became an RCMP Officer in Vancouver), stepped in to save the day. Their second gig was playing at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at Gonzaga University, an idea generated by the movie “Animal House”. Handfield’s brother was a student at Gonzaga, and at his invitation, the band drove down to Spokane in a 1967 blue VW microbus. The band played to a large bawdy crowd, but unfortunately the bus did not make it back to Vancouver and had to be towed part of the way back. The band’s final gig was played at Channel One on Denman Street in Vancouver on July 2, 1986. A home-made sign silkscreened by the Yummy Devils is shown above. The band was disbanded at this time due to different members of the band moving on to different interests. There were numerous reviews of the band during this era based on their public appearances, including one by Tom Harrison (Vancouver Sun) who noted “they’re a hoot!”

Art

Mitchell produced a stream of art during and after the Yummy Devils that accompanied their music. The artist pulled from themes associated with the Yummy Devils, including shorts with irons on them, the infamous YD mask image that appeared on their Denman poster, the 4 Sperm, the drum kit logo, the “Lo-Fi Pioneer” maple leaf logo, the “right as rain” Indian Chief, and multiple other images that have withstood the test of time. These images provide an innovative and compelling set of artistic interpretations of the band’s music and roots. The art from this period continues to expand and grow, while the Lost Album of the Yummy Devils has developed a loyal following of fans. The Yummy Devils have now developed a stream of new 45 singles with original Yummy Devils Art. There is also an extensive blog entitled "Yummy Devils Pioneer Spirit" that provides a wealth of bizarre and eclectic band influences, including art, music, and television shows.

Recordings The Yummy Devils are releasing a new set of 45" singles, with original Yummy Devils art by Mitchell in 2017. These innovative 45's were produced in a limited quantity, and can be found on the Yummy Devils Facebook Page

Where are they today?

Greg Corcoran is now a stock investor living in Panama City. . Rob Handfield is a professor of supply chain management at North Carolina State University. . Todd Mitchell is an artist living in New Westminster, BC. The band is still trying to locate Zed, but rumor has it that people have spotted the Green Machine driving around West Vancouver.