Mauro
Perhaps the first hint that a solo career was planned was Mauro's acoustic set at De Nachten in 2000. This gig demonstrated some of the songs he had in mind for his solo career, but he then looked for a band to compliment the songs and to provide more of a rock sound.
At this point, enter Herman Houbrechts (drums), Jan Wygers (Bass), Anton Janssens (keyboards), and later Steven Janssens (guitar). The band line-up was ready, and after a series of band name choices including The Golden Ass Rangers and Mauro & The Inferno's, the final decision was just simply Mauro.
A tour in Spring of 2000 kicked off with a few try-out gigs, where they had the opportunity to test out the new material. Later in June 2000, The first single A Faint Smile was released. However the debut album Songs From A Bad Hat on PIAS did not reach all record stores until April 2001. Although the 70's theme of the album seemed to be a major departure from the craziness of the Evil Superstars, reviews in the media were consistently positive. A second single Let Me Know quickly followed the album release, and two more singles, Finish It All Off With Love, and Everybody's Friend followed during the summer of 2001.
The band eventually mutated into Mauro & The Grooms, which resulted in a much heavier sound. Although some songs from a bad hat are still played by The Grooms and occasionally these songs also show up in Mauro's solo shows.
The Golden Ass Rangers
Over 70 songs written at the time that Songs From A Bad Hat was recorded, have never seen the light of day. A couple of songs have already been released:
- Born Asleep on Somnabula's Swamps Of Simulation
- Welcome Tune as a b-side of Let Me Know
- Ancient Synthetics on The Grooms' Ghost Rock EP
- Tired Of Being Young on The Grooms' Black Europa and as a single
- One Foot In Life as a track on DJ 4t4's record Fortification and as a 12" single
Several songs have been played throughout the years, like Easy Blues, I'm With Jesus, Hard To Love. Plans to release these songs have long died out, but never say never. Here's a list of songs:
She Takes The Morning - In Good Fear - Dead Girl - Hints Of Passion - Feel Good - Bad Inspiration - Whenever You're Happy - All Things Strictly To Regret - Money Breaks My Heart - The Trouble Of Life - Illegal Soul - As A Monkey - Instrumental 1 (shuffle) - Instrumental 2 (piss eyes) - I'm Here To Love You - Bad Luck - Instrumental 3 (sunset) - I Will Show You What You Get - She's Not Asking - Legendary Days - Buddies Again - Morphelia - What I Like - Song Of A Bitch - Done For The Day - Up To No Good - Old Thoughts - What I Saw Today - You Bring The End (instrumental) - Welcome Tune (slight return) - Sexy Genius - My Last Game - Man, I Feel Like A Woman (instrumental) - Through The Light (instrumental) - There Will Be A Time - Fearsome Lover - The Sound Of The Enemy - Slumbering Hearts - Taking Back - To Heal From You - Born Asleep - Jesus Won't Mind - Father, Save Us From Heaven - How Much Longer - Daughter Of An Evil Man - Connections - The Woman Makes Me Wanna Work - Go Get It Yourself - In A Sorry Fashion - When You're Near - Fattening Wings - By Your Side - I'm With Jesus - Turn Around - Closer To Home - Hard To Love - Calling Out - Follow You Around - My Wife And I - Ancient Synthetics - Now Can I Go - Tired Of Being Young - Let Me Back In - Dream Of The Year - I Don't Wanna - Something Common - Let's Go (Think It Over) - See Her Again - Easy Blues - Instrumental 4 (Drunk) - Thinking Hard - Where Have You Been - One Foot In Life (economy) - What's Your Darkside
Discography
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