Mashmakhan

Pierre Senecal, Rayburn Blake and Jerry Mercer formed their first band in 1960. They played the Montreal dance circuit for a number of years under various names such as The Phantoms, The Dominoes and Ray Blake's Combo. In 1965, under the name "The Triangle," they were signed on for a tour with gospel/soul singer Trevor Payne. After four years of small club gigs and relative inactivity, a record producer by the name of Bob Hahn offered them a deal after seeing one of their praised live performances. After a name change to Mashmakhan, a rare drug being pedaled by the local dealer, the group was signed to Columbia. The year was 1969. Mashmakhan, their debut album, was released the following year. The lead off single, "As The Years Go By," reached #31 in the US and #1 in their home turf of Canada. The track was unique because it was a rock song with no guitars. Followup singles "Gladwyn" and "Days When We Are Free" did well in Canada but failed to make waves down south. In 1971, Mashmakhan was asked to contribute a track to the independent Canadian film "Epilogue:Fieve." The track, "Children Of The Sun," was also released as their new single. Both the song and film stiffed. Their sophomore album, "The Family" was released later that year. The second single, "Start All Over," fared no better then the first. After an extensive tour, the band finally took a break to fulfill personal desires. Jerry Mercer drifted off and joined April Wine. Rayburn Blake became involved with various local groups, as well as a solo career. In order to fill to the gap made by the two departures, Pierre signed on Brian Greenway and Steve Laing, both of which would later join April Wine, and drummer Lornhe Neihring. After a number of failed Non-LP singles, Mashmakhan disbanded, with Brian Edwards joining April Wine.