  The Montreal music scene during the seventies was vibrant and exciting, full of cutting-edge experimentations. After the demise of The Wackers in 1974, Bill "Kootch" Trochim and Bob Segarini, who'd also recorded with The Family Tree and Roxy, decided to put together a new outfit. Segarini called some buddies to his apartment to hash around some ideas. Ritchie and David Henman - two of the original April Wine cast, Wayne Cullen and Brian Greenway, who'd just finished a short tenure in Mashmakhan.All liked the concept and began rehearsing and tossing around some ideas for songs. Fred Heller, manager for Mott The Hoople, introduced the guys to Ian Hunter, who'd just covered David Bowie's track "All The Young Dudes" with Mott. They instantly gained a fan in Hunter and hence the name 'the dudes'. Within a few months they'd signed a management deal with Nat Weiss and Fred Heller (Blood Sweat And Tears and Ian Hunter, among others), the basis of their first record was done, and they were already fielding offers from several labels, settling on CBS Records. The band did some shows in central Canada and got sparkling reviews, particularly in Phonograph Record Magazine in the US, then expanded across the country. Within a year they were in Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec recording the demos. Two weeks of pre-production, months of recording, and a couple of weeks more of mixing (where the band wasn't allowed in the studio!) and the result was WE'RE NO ANGELS. Produced by Mark Spector and released the summer of '75, it had the potential to be one of the year's best. Unique to their sound was the drumming duo of Cullen and Ritchie Henman. The band made it no secret they were less than happy with the result of the album, despite it's release to huge fanfare. "Laurel and Hardy took the finished album to New York to mix instead of doing it at Morin Heights. They returned with an album that had all the life sucked out of every track - a mid-range nightmare that drove the band out of the studio when played back to us," Segarini commented. CBS was offered $75.000 of re-mix time on the house by band friend and producer Andre Perry if he, Blagona and the band could retool the album, but CBS declined the offer. On the heels of the release of the Segarini-penned single "I Just Wanna Dance", the band embarked on an ambitious North American tour, opening for The Bee Gees and Savoy Brown. Other noteable tracks from the lp included a pair of carry-overs from David Henman's days in April Wine, "Fuel Injection"and "Rock and Roll Debutante," and the title-track - which Segarini wrote with Kim Fowley, manager of The Hollywood Argyles and The Runaways, and "Lylee Lady", Greenway's first recorded song. "That was just a song I'd written about a girl I had a crush on - the typical reason for writing a rock and roll song," Greenway said. "Juvenile Delinquent" and "Teenage Love" were recorded for the album, but never made the cut. Ironically though, April Wine picked them up and used them for their '77 LIVE AT THE EL MOCAMBO release. The band was on the road into early '76. Following the tour they sat back and looked at what was happening. Perry took the band in '77 to Criteria Studios in Florida to begin working on the next project. Later that year the band traveled to Phase One Studios in Toronto for follow-up sessions. The resulting demos turned into several of Segarini's solo hits in later years, including "Gotta Have Pop," "Meet You After School" and "City Bred," all rejected at the time by CBS. Unhappy from the beginning with the finished product of their debut, they drifted off to individual projects. "Oddly enough, The Dudes never officially broke up, to the best of my recollection," Dave Henman recollected. "The whole affair just slowly fizzled out and we gradually got involved in other stuff. There was no point when we called it quits.We will always be the band that never broke up." Greenway joined April Wine in '77 and is still there. David Henman would create The Debutantes - then Sensible Shoes along with brother Ritchie, releasing the 4 track OFF 'N RUNNIN' in 1984. He then teamed up with Segarini again (who'd released 5 solo albums by this point) in Cats & Dogs in '95. Henman then formed his current project Brave & Crazy 2 years later. In 1997 Pacemaker Records obtained the rights to the music, issuing a compilation entitled ALL THE YOUNG DUDES, ALL THE OLD DEMOS. An interesting collection of demos that never made the cut to the lp, it contained the original versions of "Rock and Roll Debutante", "Fuel Injection", and "Dancin' Shoes", leftovers to begin with when the Henmans left April Wine after ELECTRIC JEWELS. Other rarities included the original version of "Gotta Have Pop" - the title track to the Segarini solo effort in '78, a remake of the classic blues number "Little Queenie" and a killer version of "Please Mr Postman" (the only way a bunch of white dudes COULD do it) featuring Greenway on vocals. "We had some big plans for that song. It was supposed to be released on the album, but just before we were done the record the Carpenters released it as a single. Bad timing," Greenway laughed.
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