Mother's Finest

Mother's Finest is a funk rock band founded in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock in the early 1970s.
They are notable partly because they are an "interracial" rock group from the US South. Their music was a blend of funky rhythm, heavy guitars and expressive R&B singing. Mother's Finest was well respected within the southern rock musical community.

It started in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at a club called Fly n' Machine. They had to beg the owner just to audition. The owner finally agreed "Ok, ok you guys can play next week-end and we will see how it goes after that".
The band played that club for ten weeks straight, building a strong fan base in Florida, before moving to Atlanta.

In Atlanta they met manager Hugh Rodgers. They finished their 1st record on RCA, but the producers thought it would be a good idea to sweeten several tracks with extra horns, string, and background singers. They destroyed the raw sound of the band. "We had a listening party in our manager's office, ready to celebrate our long waited first album, and we sat there in stunned silence".

Their debut album Mother's Finest from 1976 today is a rare collector's piece and contained with the ironic song "Nigizz Can't Sing Rock'n Roll" (although they were criticized for it by an important religious leader and dropped it from their live concerts). In the summer of 1977, they opened for The Who in their laser lit tour through Canada.

The obligation to record a 2nd album was met, but it was never released. They went back on the road, vowing never to cut another record.

An unusual choice of opening acts, they impressed with their performance and choreographed stage show. In 1978 they were guests in German broadcast Rockpalast and with one concert they gathered a cult status in Europe which lasts until today (this concert appears on the DVD Mother's Finest - At Rockpalast).

The 70's were a powerful time for Mothers Finest. They worked hard, played hard and partied just as hard. Their following grew in the Southeast, and they became the band to see and hear.

They eventually recorded two albums on Epic Records, Mother's Finest, and "Another Mother Further". Arguable two of the best. The albums went gold, but the band had not reached Black Radio. And the rock stations outside the southeast thought their music was too white to be black, and too funky to be rock. Racism was still a mad dog, along with Viet Nam.

1980-90

Big Hair Rock bands were emerging, and it was a hard time for MF. They changed management, and prepared to record their best loved "Mother's Finest Live".

In 83 they finally disbanded. Joyce went solo, Wyz went to the Stevie Nicks band, BB Queen went to Molly Hatchett, michael went to New York, and Murdock went into writing and production.

In 1986 they reformed with the addition of Dion Derek on drums. They signed with Capital records and recorded "Looks Could Kill", After touring behind the album there was a musical void. A lot of programmed music, too many producers and outside writers.
By this time Mo was a family man and wasn't sure about the road anymore. He went back to Atlanta. MF pondered over the fact that another guitar player would change the sound of MF's music. They settled on John Hayes, he had great rock, kick ass sound.
They lived and rehearsed together in a house in Malibu. John never went home. His first show with MF was in Holland in front of 70,000 screaming fans.

2000 -

After heavy touring, the band took a break. Mo came back and they started to Funk Rock again. With the nucleolus of the band back together, they came into the new millennium with a new cd on their own label, UMEUSWE..

Mother's Finest Links
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Mother's Finest Discography
Mother's Finest Albums Discography
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released 1972 Mother's Finest	released 1976 Mother's Finest	Released: 1978 Mother Factor	Released: 1977 Another Mother Further	Released: 1979 Mother's Finest Live	Released: 1981 Iron Age
Released: 1983 One Mother To Another	Released: 1989 Looks Could Kill	Released: 1992 Black Radio Won't Play This Record

>>Find original Mother's Finest LP records Here<<

Mother's Finest Compilations, Special Editions, and more

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Mother's Finest fans will agree that the band has struggled quite a bit over the last two decades to reassert their name on the forefront of the modern rock scene. From 1976-1981, the band enjoyed many high profile tours and album releases. Since the departure of drummer, BB Queen and the termination of their contract with Atlantic Records in early 1982, it's been an uphill climb. Undaunted, this multi-racial funk/rock outfit continued touring the states and overseas for years, sporadically releasing albums that either would go out of print almost immediately or were only available in Europe

Released: 1992
Subluxation 1993