Is there a no-brainer name for a group that practices for more than a year but doesn't do a live gig because it can't think of a name for itself? Yes, naturally: the Chickens. This Ontario band is one of several in which the brothers Fred Robinson and Dave Robinson have performed together; earlier, the two co-led an outfit known as U.I.C., from which the similarly poultry-identified rhythm section of drummer Murray Heywood and bassist Dan Preszcator was also hatched.
Canucks though they be, the Robinson brothers identify more strongly with action on the murderous side of the border, otherwise known as Detroit. The span of two and a half years separating older brother Fred, a guitarist, from his slightly hysteric vocalizing sibling, Dave, is just enough to allow two distinct generations of rock & roll hoochie-coo to emerge as influences. Fred -- who should not be confused with either the jazz trombonist of the same name or a bluesman who worked with Little Walter -- is old enough to have dug Detroit rock icons such as Ted Nugent, while his younger brother grew up nibbling on punk. Fred went on to record with Precious Little -- the name of a band, not a summary of the brothers' financial status.
