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Suck
Formed in Johannesburg in early 1970, the four members of Suck – Andy Ionnides (vocals, flute), Stephen “Gil” Gilroy (guitars), Louis “Moose” Forer (bass) and Saverio “Savvy” Grande (drums) – would unleash a maelstrom of heavy music and batter stages and props; then calling it a day before three seasons had passed.
From the beginning, Suck was out to shock. In the liners from the band’s sole release, Time To Suck, Forer states, “We wanted to be as controversial as possible,” and apparently had thought about calling themselves “Fuck,” but shied away. Instead, the foursome injected heavy doses of heavy rock into the music of their peers, serving up blistering covers of tunes from acts including Grand Funk Railroad, King Crimson, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, along with a lone original, “The Whip.”
South African life in 1970 was dictated by a conservatism that extended directly from the despicable Apartheid mandate. It didn’t take Suck long to get under the skin of promoters and authorities with on-stage practices that included destroying gear and hacking mannequins with axes. In a career spanning no more than 240 days, Suck would be forcibly extricated from Rhodesia and given their walking papers at the South African border, banned and road-blocked from entering certain South African towns and obliged to play under assumed names to sidestep hesitant promoters.
They say any publicity is good publicity, but not in 1970's South Africa, where rock and roll was viewed as dangerous to society and its impressionable youth. Suck barely got out of the gate before being put out to pasture for good. Still, the boys managed to lay down nine studio tracks that hint at what could have been. Suck’s sole composition, “The Whip,” is a fire-brand brooder, something of a cross between Black Sabbath and early Blue Oyster Cult, with a lumbering riff and bruising Ionnides vocal. The remaining eight tracks are covers. Suck’s 10-minute take on Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch” highlights Ionnides’ flute playing and Gilroy’s gritty guitar, even if the track sounds like it was recorded in a giant tin can. Searing versions of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man,” Free’s “I’ll Be Creepin’” and Deep Purple’s “Into The Fire” feature expertly played barrages of guitar, bass and drums, proving that Suck was more than image. Though the Who-like stage antics gave them identity, Suck’s music and arrangements are what should be remembered.
Suck
Who can ever forget the amazing images of Hendrix setting fire to his guitar, or of Moon totaling his skins, or of
Emerson almost breakdancing with his organ (of the musical variety) or of Blackmore violently introducing his Strat to a movie
camera? Music lovers the world over who were fortunate enough to have been around during the revolutionary late sixties/early
seventies, had a mindboggling choice of amazing new bands and artists to see and choose from. Music was changing: it was
becoming heavier, more intense and infinitely more visual and exciting, with the likes of Arthur Brown, Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf,
Black Sabbath and many others laying the foundations of what was to become known as Heavy Rock or Underground music.
The US and the UK were generally felt to be world leaders when it came to rock music, followed closely by Germany, Japan and a number
of other European countries. There were also very positive signs that the South American countries were stirring in a big way too.
Australia also rallied to the call, as did New Zealand. Not to be outdone, bands in South Africa, sometimes under the most trying and
frustrating obstacles and conditions the likes of which were unknown elsewhere except those experienced by "illegal" rock bands the
wrong side of the Iron Curtain, managed to cause the odd rumble, and in the process, shine like beacons in a country hardly known for
its freedom, musically or otherwise. As far as rattling a few cages was concerned, very few did it quite as well as Suck.
The band was formed in Johannesburg in early 1970. S.A. born bassist Louis "Moose" Forer, who'd previously worked with Peanut Butter
Conspiracy in Salisbury in the then Rhodesia, when land grabs weren't the rage, as well as with Johannesburg based Group 66 and Billy
Forrest, met guitarist Steve "Gil" Gilroy, who'd just arrived in SA from London, in a club. Gil had worked with guitarist Mick
Abrahams, original guitarist with Jethro Tull and founder of the brilliant Blodwyn Pig. "I think it was called 'The Underground'",
says Moose. "Gil and I became drinking partners and we gelled immediately". Italian born drummer Saverio "Savvy" Grande, who'd
previously been in Elephant and had also worked in an Oompah band and was influenced by Latin American percussion bands, met Gil and
Moose in a club in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, en route to Bulawayo, Rhodesia. Port Elizabeth-born Cypriot vocalist/guitarist/flautist
Andrew Ionnides, previously with Meenads, Blind Lemon Jefferson and October Country, and who'd recently moved up to Johannesburg, was
drafted in and Suck was born.
"We wanted to be as controversial as possible", says Moose. They'd even toyed with the idea of calling the band the dreaded "F" word,
but sanity, and the desire to make a record and play great rock music, prevailed. Make no mistake: The band was destined for its fair
share of controversy, whether they called themselves "The Saints", "Suck" or "Hannes and the Foreskins"!
They met Clive Calder, one of the most successful and respected men in the music business, although it has to be said that the
members of the band didn't share this sentiment. Calder, together with Peter Vee and Ralph Simon, was managing the likes of The Otis
Waygood Blues Band and Hawk. They took Suck under their wing and plans to record an album were set in motion. The band had been
together barely three weeks before they began recording the album. In that short period, they created an amazing amount of
controversy with their brand of hard rock and weird stage antics, which included the destroying of equipment and simulated
mutilation. Their first gig, at Johannesburg's Rand Easter Show at Milner Park, went down a storm! Needless to say, the South African
press had a field day in slating the band at every turn. This kind of behavior by a rock band was UNHEARD of in conservative South
Africa! This was an abomination, a wild animal that could potentially corrupt the minds of the sheltered short-back-and-sides youth
of the country!
"Andy was a party animal in every sense of the word", says his twin brother George, "at times very reckless and deliciously
controversial and emotional - the perfect frontman for a band like Suck". Blessed with an excellent voice, Andy was also one of the
most kind-hearted people you could ever hope to meet, always ready to help anyone, and a true family man at heart. "We were very
close", continues George. "We'd sit for hours on end, well into the wee hours of the morning, discussing music."
Says Gil: "Moose carried a bowie knife and I had a claw hammer, which were our weapons of choice. Andy carried his beloved Colt
Python .357 Magnum and a cat-o-nine tails, which he brandished with much relish on stage!" (Now you know who wrote "The Whip"!).
After all, self-preservation was foremost in our minds - we had to defend ourselves against all the "straights" who were out to scalp
us! Moose once went after Freedom's Children's Brian Davidson with an axe!" Fresh Music label chief Benjy Mudie (as a rock obsessed
17 year old) recalls seeing this happen at the infamous Joburg City Hall gig back in 1971 "I was fascinated, gripping my seat in a
strange sense of fear but at the same time glued to what was the loudest, most visual band that I had ever seen! They reminded me of
the Who at their peak!"
Very proudly, and with a glint in his eye, Gil gloats: "We set fire to the curtains at Port Elizabeth's Feathermarket Hall and we had
a yogurt fight at Durban's Kingsmead Stadium!" Then there was the infamous incident of the destroyed piano at the Selbourne Hall.
(This wasn't planned or rehearsed - it took everybody by surprise, even a few of the band members!). Incredibly, they were actually
escorted to the border by police after being forcibly removed from the first of a few planned gigs in Rhodesia, together with Otis
Waygood and The Flames. There was a time in Durban when, because promoters and venues were reluctant to sign them, they were
advertised as "Jacob and the Car Thieves"! They were even barred from entering towns like Welkom, with roadblocks preventing them
from getting through! Sadly, though, all this "adverse" publicity detracted from the fact that Suck was actually a very good band with
much potential and promise.
They'd achieved their goal of being the country's most controversial act, but this played a large role in the eventual demise of the
band. Life on the road was hard - it was really only passion and the love of their music that kept them going for the very short
period of around eight months they were together. Inept and greedy management, lack of venues and airplay, the lack of funds, the
bannings, the government and police restrictions, which had such a negative impact on rock music in general in South Africa at the
time (the ripples of this destructive, narrow minded attitude are felt to this day and can clearly be seen in the attitude of the
general public, radio and media towards non-commercial music), and the fact that they sometimes had to survive on barely one Rand a
day each, left the band members very disillusioned, and they split at the end of 1970.
They wanted to write and record their own material, but never had much of a chance to do so. In fact, their only
self-penned track on the hastily put-together album is "The Whip". The album, recorded at EMI studios in Johannesburg over a
period of about six hours, was essentially an album of covers by the great bands and artists of the day: Their versions of Grand
Funk's "Aimless Lady" and "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" are brilliantly messy. King Crimson would have been proud of Suck's
version of "21st Century Schizoid Man", as would Donovan of his "Season of the Witch". Colosseum's "Elegy" is given an
interesting angle and Deep Purple's timeless "Into the Fire" is arguably the best track on the album. The band's tentative steps
into the world of blues/rock is pleasantly evident with their great version of Free's "I'll be Creeping". As for their version
of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"…you had to see them live to capture the sheer power of their version of one of hard rock's
all-time classics!
In a nutshell, Suck's sole album, which is now finally (officially!) released on CD, (incidentally, original copies of the LP record
are highly sought after by collectors the world over), is testimony to the fact that South Africa had a number of bands that could
quite easily hold their heads up proudly together with some of the top acts in the world - it's just a terrible pity that they were
never given the opportunity to realize their true potential. When Suck split, the various members went on to a number of interesting
ventures:
Gil Gilroy left the music industry, disgusted and disillusioned with the way the band had been used and abused by
all and sundry, management included (although he had a short stint with Rat between '72 and '73). He remained in South Africa
and started up Mame Enterprises, South Africa's first nudie picture company.("I had a lot of friends and fans in the Censor
Board!", he says) - no doubt all of them were moshing in their safari suits at Suck concerts in the old days! He then went into
the printing and publishing field before opening up his own brewery, Gilroy's, on the West Rand. He very proudly mentions that
his Gilroy Favorite, Traditional and Gilroy Serious are rated as the best in the Southern Hemisphere. He is married and has two
daughters, both of whom are Springbok dancers. Gil still plays the guitar, although he's more into the jazzier side of things,
enjoying the likes of Joe Pass and Martin Taylor. Like any true musician, he despises the use of computers in music. Today, when
you meet this suave, sophisticated gent with the wicked sense of humour, it's hard to imagine that he's the one who fell through
the ceiling at the photo-shoot for the album cover all those years back!
Moose Forer remained in the music business after the demise of Suck, and has to this day. A very pleasant and likeable fellow and
still a great bassist, Moose also appears to be quite bitter about the indifferent and selfish management that played a large part in
the band's demise. Apart from working on sessions with the likes of Trevor Rabin and Cedric Samson and with PACT on shows such as
Chicago and Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he also featured with Rat and backed visiting international artists like Rufus
Thomas. He also played in a band in the military entertainment corps under George Hayden. His current band, Sounds like Thunder, have
been regulars at Johannesburg's famous Blues Room for the past three years or so.
Savvy Grande, one of the best rock drummers in the country at the time, also remained in the music industry, featuring with well
known bands and artists such as Omega Ltd, Stagecoach, Jack & the Beanstalk, Lesley Rae Dowling, Shag, Razzle, David Kramer and
Jonathan Butler. He moved to Cape Town where he has lived for a number of years, and in the early 90's, he became a children's drum
teacher at Merton Barrow's drum college, The Jazz Workshop. Married with one child, he now owns a garage and is passionately and
heavily into Motorcross. His last band was Late Final, although he quit the music scene a few years back. He would, however, like to
put together a band that plays REAL music, sometime in the future!
Andy Ionnides, also later known as Andy Dean, had a short stint with Hedgehopper's Anonymous in Rhodesia (they had a hit with "Hey!")
and he was also involved with Rat for a while, as well as with Rainbow (no, not Ritchie's one!) and Faggott (no,..oh forget
it…!). He moved to East London (the one in South Africa, not England!) and joined his other brother, Reno, in a video store.
He formed and fronted a very promising Gospel band, although no official recordings are known to exist. He then moved to Port
Elizabeth and stayed with his brother, George. He was also involved in the dry-cleaning business and he tried his luck it the
restaurant trade. Married with two children, Andy lived on the edge for much of his life, taking chances everywhere he went, but it
was only during his later years that he became very successful, running a thriving pool bar in East London. Grateful thanks must be
extended to George Ionnides for giving us some insight into the life of his eccentric and talented brother who died tragically on 16
October 2000, ironically just as he was enjoying the financial freedom that had eluded him for so long.
From George to Andy - you are sorely missed.
Thanks must also be extended to Moose Forer, Gil Gilroy, Savvy Grande and Andy Ionnides. Even though you were around as Suck for a
very short time, you caused many people a multitude of grey hairs. You also gave the mother grundies and censors something else to
bitch about when they weren't complaining about or banning that "pinkish/brown area that looks like it could be a nipple" or that
song that contained the word "shit"! You gave the press something to sharpen their collective fangs on, but, more importantly, you
gave the budding South African rock music scene a solid kick up the butt, bringing the excitement and controversy that was sorely
needed. You also played great music, and for all these things, you will be fondly remembered! You hold a piece of South African music
history in your hand - let's be grateful that there are people like Benjy Mudie who have the guts and passion to finally release it
on compact disc.
Leon Economides, November 2001
Suck - Aimless Lady
Suck - The Whip