Artist description Best known and oldest still exsisting Belgian Rockabilly Band

Music Style Rockabilly

Musical Influences Buddy Holly, Dean Martin, Big Sandy & The Fly Rite Boys, Dale Watson, Elvis, Scotty & Bill, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Deke Dickerson, Django reinhardt, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams sr

Similar Artists Buddy Holly, Dean Martin, Big Sandy & The Fly Rite Boys, Dale Watson, Elvis, Scotty & Bill, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Deke Dickerson, Django reinhardt, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams sr

Artist History 1993. The Domino’s are touring throughout the whole of France with their hit single "Je Suis Swing", a French Big Band Swing tune. The Domino’s were orriginally a 3-piece Rockabilly band, that evolved to this Jazzy Big Band with fiddle, sax, piano and even a brass section. Singer Patrick Ouchène starts to miss his roots, and asks his good friend Big Ben Aïssa, who recently picked up the double bass, to start a pure and authentic Rockabilly band. They ask former Domino’s guitarist Kasper Devos to album "Something’s Got To Give" is released on the Dutch Rockhouse label. The CD contains mostly covers, going from Jazz (John Coltrane’s "Mister P.C.") and Blues (Elmore James’ "I Can’t Stop Lovin’) over Country (Hank Williams’ "Your Cheatin’ Heart") to Rockabilly (Wayne Walker’s "All I Can Do Is Cry"), but also their self-penned material ("Something’s Got To Give" and "Ain’t No Use In Crying Now") are a sight to hear. The inner sleeve claims Big Ben also plays drums on the album, although they mean that the only percussion on the CD is the slapping of the bass. According to The Rock’n’Roll Calendar of March 1995, "(Runnin’ Wild) sounds at times like a rocked up version of Vaya Con Dios (…), but we must admit they sound a lot better live." . And that may be because they’re playing almost every day. They were assigned to do workshops about Rockabilly in Belgian schools: with Patrick telling the story about the birth of Rockabilly, infiltrating contemporary items like racisme, and backed by musical examples played live in the classroom by the band. Meanwhile they release the vinyl single "I’ve Got To Jump On Johnny/Teenage Lover" on Red Comet Records. The a-side of the record causes a bit of confusion in the Rockabilly scene as everybody seems to think it’s a fagget song. Patrick later explained it’s just about two guys fighting over one girl. . Around that time the band is joined by Bluesharpist Werner "Big Brad" Braito, known of his work with The Wild Ones and Vaya Con Dios, and a well known session musion who worked with almost everybody from ex-punker Ludo Mariman (The Kids) to chansonier Adamo. With the arrival of Werner their sound starts to evolve to 50’s Rhythm & Blues and even Desperate Rock’n’Roll, and they start thinking about attracting a drummer. Meanwhile their CD has been well distributed and they start touring mainly Switzerland, France and off course Belgium. They get a lot of airplay, with live performances on radio show "Conviviale Poursuite", TV show "Carlos & Les Autres", and they even get the makers a of the radio show "Rock à Go Go" to dedicate a whole episode to Rockabilly in general and Runnin’ Wild in special. Unfortunately , by then too many time on the road and too much peronality in the band cause that much tension, that Werner decides to quit again. . Early 1996,just a few months after Werner has left, their search for a drummer has given result, and they are joined by Koen Verbeek, former drummer of Sin Alley, and current percussionist with Los Fabulous Frankies. They start rehearsin for a new album, but by the end of the year founding member Kasper Devos decides to call it a day. Replacement is found in J.P. "Bull" Haye, a long time fan of the band, and a veteran in the Belgian Country & Western scene, having played for years with his good friends Marty Townsend and Mark Mosely. Although orriginally a drummer, Bull plays a mean bit of guitar, and has mastered all Country twang and fingerpickin’ tricks there are. A few months later, July 1997 to be exact, Koen has to leave the band again due to his obligations to Los Fabulous Frankies. This leads to a strange situation on stage, where they play a lot of songs like their original set-up was (Ben on bass, Patrick singing and playing Rhythm guitar, and Bull playing the lead guitar, and doing the occasional backing vocal), but by the end of the set, they change places, Patrick taking over the lead guitar to play some mean Rock’n’Roll, while Bull plays the drums. In august, the day after they returned from a UK rour, they record the LP "The Rage Inside" for the Spanish El Toro label. The album includes 5 originals (a.o. the Gypsy song "Please Mr. Ghost", the Ragtime strut "Hey Betty-Lou", and the wild Rocker "Hello, Mr Lowdown Blues") and 7 covers (a.o. Roy Gaines’ "Right Now" and Bobby Lee Trammell’s "Sure Do Love You Baby"). Their version of Merle Kilgore’s "Loretta" becomes a live classic. The whole album was recorded by The Big Six’ Ricky Lee Brawn, who had travelled with them from the UK to the mainland with his van stuffed with vintage recording equipment. Unfortunately he didn’t forsee the difference in voltage, which blew up almost every (valve) microphone he brought, and so they ended up recording the whole album with only two mikes. There is a very high percentage "Rock’n’Roll attitude" involved in making this album: they just arrived from their UK tour (exhausted, as their tour manager, Dutchman Jeroen Vangasteren, didn’t do anything right: a certain evening his girlfriend didn’t even want to let them in so the whole band had to sleap in the van), they had to record with a minimum set-up (all but 2 mikes had exploded), and even the session musicians weren’t okay. Sure, fiddler/saxophonist Bernard Van Craeynest (from The Domino’s) did what he had to do, but also ex-Scabs/Vaya Con Dios guitarist Willy Willy was brought in to play rhythm guitar on "Hello Mr. Lowdown Blues". Legend claims that Willy was completely drunk and had passed out by the time they got to record the song. He never played on the album, and would’ve never gotten out of there if it weren’t for Bernard, who carried him home on his back. All of this did lead to the fact that Patrick could use Willy’s Gretsch guitar on the recording. So despite the authentic Rock’n’Roll attitude of the album, it sounds very messy, and once again no match for their live sound. They immediately go back into the studio, this time the homestudio of Domino’s drummer Marco Meerschman, to record a CD for the French Sfax label, but in their diligence to undo the memories of the former album, they make it sound very modern. The problem here is that despite the modern sound, the album also drawns in the delay and reverb, which makes it very odd for both authentic rockers and average roots lovers. Although it contains some great songs like "Love’s In The Air", "I’m A Fool To Care" and "Ghost memories", the general comment is that the best songs on the CD are the bonus tracks, being some outtakes from the "Jump On Johnny" session. Once again they’ve not succeeded to capture their live spirit on tape. But even though both albums are a bit disapointing, they do once again get a lot of airplay (although mostly specialized radio shows like Radio 21’s "Dr. Boogie" and Studio Brussel’s "Bluestown"), and lots of gigs. At this time they are still doing their workshops, and thanks to Patrick’s wildness they are considered one of the best acts in the catalogue of Jeunesse Musicale, the organizing society, and they get to represent our land at the International Congress of Youth and Music in Rotterdam (NL) in 1997. . But then fate strikes again. In march 1998 Bull got involved in a severe car crash (his car got caught underneath a truck; firemen still can’t believe he got of that wreck out alive), was hospitalized for several months. Patrick and Ben, still being fulltime musicians who now fell without income, asked Koen again to fill in untill Bull got better. Upon noticing the difference in playing style between Koen (who never played anything but Rockabilly in his entire life) and Bull (who came out of the Country Rock scene), Koen was asked to stay with the band, even after Bull had recovered. The El Toro album got the band a lot of gigs in the Rockabilly scene, going from Switserland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Holland and even a tour through North-Germany, Sweden, Norway and Finland, and now regularly are joined on stage by female singer called Julliette. They recorded "My Heart" and "Everybody’s Got A Date But Me" at Bull’s place with a 4-track Tascamrecorder for the compilation CD "I Sure Miss... Gene Vincent", which didn’t come out untill august 1999. The second song also appeared on a promotion single that was given away free with the Spanish Rock Therapy Magazine. Meanwhile they had come to the cunclusion that the direction the band was heading, wasn’t the same as Bull wanted to, so he left the band to be a trio once more. Early 1999 they’re once again found in the recording studio, this time with producer Marc François, the man that also produced all the Vaya Con Dios stuff and is both Arno‘s and Roland’s favourite engineer, but also produced Flemish chansoniers like Luc Steeno, Frank Galan & Sandra Kim en The Clement Peerens Explosition. Despite all of this they do manage to finally catch the live spirit on tape and they sign a deal with the Spanish Rock Therapy label, a secesion of El Toro Records. During this session, Koen gets to sing too, something he’ll start doing also on stage from this moment on. The demotape is send to lots of record companies and organizers, which gets them a spot on several Dutch festivals (most important bein the D-Day Rock’n’Roll Festival in Amsterdam), and puts them on the bill of the Millennium Hemsby in May 2000. Meanwhile Rock Therapy Records is interested in releasing the recordings they made at the dawn of the year, and immediately releases a promo single, which includes "Here Comes Johnny" and "Killer Taco Stomp", the latter sung by Koen,in december 1999. . That same month Runnin’ Wild is asked by Flemish cult-chansonnier Guido Belcanto to help him record a Rock’n’Roll song he wrote, called "Sommige Mensen". Guido gets really in the mood while recording this song, and asks the band to play Elvis‘ "That’s allright Mama" as a possible b-side. Both songs are used to promote a "Best of"- CD that’s released in february 2000. Unfortunately two months later the single is banned from all radio stations due to it's uncommercial character and too raw a sound. Ain't that Rock'n'Roll!? Early may sees the release of the 10" LP "Lover Not A Fighter" on the Spanish El Toro label. The album is well received, but due to the different projects the individual band members embark, Runnin' Wild almost seases to exist. In November 2000 the band plays its last gig, and since no-one in the band is looking for more, it looks like the band will die a silent death. In June 2001, Runnin' Wild is asked to headline a Blues festival in Diest, so they decide to reunite for the gig, and ask The Be-Bops' Mario Mattucci to help out. It all turns out great and they decide to continue playing together. So, Runnin' Wild is BACK!!! In October the 2 LP's "The Rage Inside" and "Lover Not A Fighter" will be released on CD for the first time. Meanwhile "Killer Taco Stomp" was featured on a Spanish compilation CD, called Ritual Rockabillies, and is slowly becoming a Rockabilly club hit. In November they're of for a one off gig in Spain, where they will return for the Screamin' Holliday Weekender in June 2002. By then they will also have released a new album, on which they are working this very moment. So keep your eyes open, coz they ain't through with you yet. And remember, whatever you do, where ever you go, keep on RUNNIN' WILD!

Group Members Patrick Ouchène (voals/guitar) Koen Verbeek (drums/vocals) Ben Aïssa (double bass) Mario Mattucci (guitar/vocals)

Location Brussels, Belgium - Belgium

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).