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Gogo (musician)

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Paul Roland Gogo (born April 24, 1965), known as Gogo, is a Canadian rock-and-roll keyboard player, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for being the keyboardist of the Canadian rock band Trooper. His career has also included stints with rock vocalist Paul Laine.

Gogo
Gogo (back) Trooper ROAD GOLD 2018
Background information
Birth namePaul Roland Gogo
Born (1965-04-24) April 24, 1965 (age 59)
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
GenresRock, progressive rock, pop, psychedelic rock
Occupation(s)Musician, author
Instrument(s)Keyboards, piano, vocals, electric violin
Years active1983–present
Gogo November 24, 2018 Edmonton AB Grey Cup

He is also the author of Frank Ney: A Canadian Legend[1][2], a biography about British Columbia legislator, and longtime Nanaimo mayor Frank Ney.

In 2004, Gogo played a major role in the creation of Joyride!, the debut album of his psychedelic rock group, The Super Groovy Band. The album has received positive acclaim from reviewers around the world.[3][4][5][6]

He was featured in the 2008 documentary film, Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie.[7] Gogo has an extensive collection of vintage electronic musical instruments[8] which were on display[9] in 2005 at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, British Columbia. Musical instruments collection included a rare early rev Sequential Circuits Prophet V synthesizer which he donated to the National Music Centre in Calgary[10] for perpetuity

As part of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics festivities, Gogo was featured when Trooper performed on February 21, 2010. Coverage of the event was broadcast in Canada and around the world on networks such as CTV and MuchMusic.[11]

During the Winter of 2013, he gained international attention having had a stolen heirloom Framus banjo returned[12][13] to him by the unusual tactic of offering friendship as a reward.

He ran in an unsuccessful bid for Nanaimo City Council in 2014[14] suggesting partnerships on Civic projects and predicting a looming low-income seniors housing crisis. With Trooper, he received a White Hat from Tourism Calgary,[15] a symbol of Western hospitality. 24th Sep, 2015 and Canadian Independent Music Association ROAD GOLD[16] in the summer of 2018.

In May 2023, Trooper was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Gogo received the Juno statuette as one of the inducted members.[17][18]

He is also the cousin of award-winning blues guitarist David Gogo and brother of Folk/roots musician John Gogo[19] and brother of Marie Gogo Singer/Entertainer and original member of Juno Award winning Jerry Alfred The Medicine Beat.

Early life

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The youngest of seven children (all musicians), Gogo received formal training in music and dance during childhood. He was raised in Nanaimo by his parents Ken and Dodie Gogo,[20] who were prominent musicians in the city. Ken Gogo is the only person to be presented with The Nanaimo Lifetime Cultural Achievement Award[21] Posthumously and Dodie was choir director and organist with Saint Peters[22] for 50 years 1958-2008.

Gogo's first professional gig came at age 13, when he became the youngest ever hockey organist for the Nanaimo Clippers, a Junior "A", ice hockey team.[citation needed]

Social and charity work

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Gogo’ is proprietor of Divine Mercy Transitional and Emergency House, providing safe affordable housing for low-income seniors.

He teaches group campfire guitar and ukulele classes[23] (as volunteer) and has twice headlined the telethon[24] for The Child Development Centre.[25]

He also hosts numbers original community events[26] as fund-raisers for STONE SOUP[27][28][29] (which he is a director of) which is an independent charitable free-food source for up to 200 people per night.

Also, Gogo was instrumental in arranging The Saint Peters Emergency Shelter[30][31] In Nanaimo and has attended his 3rd degree Knights of Columbus[32] during his 4 terms on Parish Council.[33]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 he formed and recorded a new Contemporary Christian group called Jesus Music, which also includes Trooper bassist Scott Brown.[34] The group describes itself as combining funk, orchestral, pop and ancient music.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Frank Ney, Nanaimo's pirate mayor, behind unusual street names". ca.news.yahoo.com. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  2. ^ Gogo, Paul (1995). Frank Ney: A Canadian Legend. Sunporch Pub. ISBN 0969946805.
  3. ^ David Cisco (September 2004). "The Super Groovy Band - Joyride!". Progressiveworld.net. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  4. ^ "Super Groovy Band (Canada) - 2004 - "Joyride!"". ProgressoR.
  5. ^ "The Super Groovy Band, Joyride!". Review Centre.
  6. ^ "The Super Groovy Band: Joyride". Glide Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  7. ^ "MELLODRAMA: The Mellotron Movie Documentary. A film by Dianna Dilworth". Bazillion Points Books. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14.
  8. ^ "Homepage". Canada.Com.
  9. ^ "The Mellotron". Times Colonist. 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2019-03-04 – via PressReader.
  10. ^ "Homepage". English. Studio Bell. Retrieved 2019-03-04.[not specific enough to verify]
  11. ^ "Homepage". The Official Trooper Site. Archived from the original on November 8, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-24.[not specific enough to verify]
  12. ^ McKenna, Cara (15 December 2013). "Trooper's Paul Gogo devastated by banjo theft". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  13. ^ McKenna, Cara (13 December 2013). "Trooper's Paul Gogo appeals to Nanaimo thief for return of banjo". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  14. ^ "Nanaimo council candidate: Paul Gogo". Nanaimo News Bulletin. 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  15. ^ Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Paul Roland Gogo of Trooper performs in Calgary and received a White Hat from Tourism Calgary, a symbol of Western hospitality. 24th Sep, 2015. © Baden Roth/ZUMA Wire/Alamy". Alamy. Retrieved 2019-03-04. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Road Gold". cimamusic.ca. Canadian Independent Music Association. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  17. ^ Benchetrit, Jenna. "These are the inductees of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame". CBC. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  18. ^ Volmers, Eric (May 19, 2023). "50-odd years of stories: Canadian Music Hall of Fame's newest inductees tell tales of longevity and resilience". Calgary Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  19. ^ Chamberlain, Adrian (13 August 2015). "John Gogo tells Island stories in song". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  20. ^ "Church musician, teacher Dodie Gogo dies". Canada.Com. 2008-12-02.
  21. ^ "Harbour City pays tribute to Ken Gogo". Nanaimo News Bulletin. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  22. ^ "Home". www.stpetersnanaimo.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-04.[not specific enough to verify]
  23. ^ Shaw TV Nanaimo (2013-11-12), Campfire Guitar Circle, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-03-04
  24. ^ Shaw TV Nanaimo (2016-10-02), 2016 Nanaimo Child Development Centre Telethon, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-03-04
  25. ^ "Nanaimo Child Development Centre :: Home". nanaimocdc.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  26. ^ "The Night of the Living Eccentrics". protection-island.org. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  27. ^ "Backyard soup kitchen 'Stone Soup' helps people in need one bowl at a time". globalnews.ca. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  28. ^ "Wisteria Community Association". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  29. ^ "Summer Fling in the Park". 106.9 The Wolf. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  30. ^ "New 35-bed emergency shelter opening to help Nanaimo's homeless". nanaimonewsNOW. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  31. ^ "New emergency shelter opening at Nanaimo church". Nanaimo News Bulletin. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  32. ^ "Knights of Columbus Home". www.kofc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-04.[not specific enough to verify]
  33. ^ "Parish Council". www.stpetersnanaimo.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-04.[not specific enough to verify]
  34. ^ "Homepage". jesusmusic.net. Jesus Music. Retrieved 2021-09-05.[not specific enough to verify]
  35. ^ "Is 'Number One' Biblical?". The Berean Test. 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
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