Biography

THE STORY SO FAR….
the ragamuffins of love story started on a rainy june afternoon when effington dupp (his friends call him ‘eff’) got laid off from his lucrative job ($14 an hour plus o.t.) at the hat factory in his hometown of ypsilanti, michigan. he decided, then and there, to start a band unlike any other the world has known. he got in his daihatsu and set out on a journey to find the perfect musicians for this new sound he envisioned.

at a diner in western tennessee, he met 3 musicians who were having a burger after a gig. they were saul goode, a guitarist with a laid back demeanor, kaye seurat, a singer with good looks and an even more laid back demeanor, and amadou schbagg, an annoying but well-meaning drummer who’d seen it all. eff hit it off with the band from the start, and crashed at their place that night. the next day, they jammed, told each other bad jokes, and listened to their favorite cds over and over again.

that night they did their first gig as ‘the ragamuffins of love’. they were immediately successful and began a 5 month run at ‘the stone lounge’ in west memphis. after that, they hit the road, playing dive bars and all-ages clubs up and down the east coast.

discovered by sandy mcknight of 22 records, eff and the gang entered the studio to try and capture the magic they’d created on the road.

the result is “WISE UP!”, a 10 song set of scintillating pop/rock gems with a dull edge. eff sings the tunes with a voice very different from, say, elvis costello, and the band chose to cover a who song (it’s not true) and a kinks song (who’ll be the next in line), as a shorthand way of telling the world who they like to steal ideas from....uh, i mean, are inspired by.

the band is joined in their debut effort by studio aces noah vale, floyd burney (the rock-a-billy kid), and the nairobi trio.

also heard on the record are michael packard (of gaucho gil/walking wounded fame) and dennis diken (smithereens skins man), among others.

so whether your taste runs to british flavored power pop, pop flavored british rock, or rock flavored brit-pop, the ragamuffins of love have something for you!