The Mau-Mau's
The Mau-Mau's [sic] were started in 1978 by Rick Wilder (formerly the singer of the Berlin Brats)
The original line-up from Hollywood, California was Greg Salva on guitar, Roderick Donahue on bass, and Rick Torres on drums. They started out playing at The Masque in Hollywood. Salva was replaced by Mike R. Livingston in 1979 after Salva moved to New York City and Donahue was replaced first by Oscar Harvey and then by Scott Franklin (onetime bassist in The Cramps). Wilder had been chosen to be MC of the Penelope Spheeris movie The Decline of Western Civilization but was dumped after he insisted he be able to say what he really thought of every act before their clip (it was probably not going to be too complimentary).
One of the original bands from The Masque era, the Mau-Mau's are conspicuous by their absence from The Decline. Wilder’s eccentric attitude toward the record industry and the legendarily self-destructive lifestyles of himself and his band members guaranteed that no record company would risk finances on the Mau-Mau's. This lack of recorded music contributed towards a long period of obscurity despite being well known by most in the early Los Angeles punk rock scene. The Mau-Mau's can be seen briefly in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School, have appeared in the movie "Cocaine and Blue Eyes" starring OJ Simpson and were included in the compilation Hell Comes to Your House II.
The Mau-Mau’s long-awaited album "SCORCHED EARTH POLICIES... THEN AND NOW" was released by Ratchet Blade Records in 2012. It features the Doors' Robbie Krieger playing guitar on the Wilder-Campbell punk classic, "(I'm) Psychotic.". The album was produced by L.A. punk pioneer, Geza X Gideon.
Over the years and throughout the Mau-Mau's history Rick Wilder lived between New York at his sisters apartment (Aprile Millo) and L.A. giving him the flexibility to work with other musicians and perform shows, there is an extensive list of members who have collaborated with Rick Wilder not just under the Mau-Mau's name but formed new projects around Rick Wilder.
