MOVIE REVIEW/Seattle P-I/What's Happening (01/07/05)
UNKNOWN PASSAGE: THE DEAD MOON STORY

DIRECTORS: Kate Fix and Jason Summers

DOCUMENTARY

RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes
RATING: Unrated, contains mild language
WHERE: Northwest Film Forum; 1515 12th Avenue; 12th and Pike Street
on Seattle's Capitol Hill.
Show times 7:15 & 9:15; January 7th thru the 13th.


By Bill White
special to the P-I

Foremost among rock 'n' roll myths is the one that it's not a
suitable business for older men. Fred Cole, who had his first hit
with 1965's "Poverty Shack." is still rocking hard at age 55.
In 1987, he started Dead Moon with his wife, Toody, and drummer
Andrew Loomis. :Unknown Passage: 'The Dead Moon Story" is the saga
of a misfit individualist who created his personal utopia on the
outskirts of Portland, Ore.
Directors Kate Fix and Jason Summers begin by overdubbing
snippets of obscure songs over archival photographs while narrating
the highlights of Cole's early career. His bands, running the gamut
from psychedelic bubblegum to punk rock, includeded The Weeds, The
Lollipop Shoppe, Zipper and The Rats. In 1967 he married
Kathleen "Toody" Conner, whom he eventually taught to play the bass
because he was tired of bands breaking up over flaky bass players.
"Seeing my mom and dad play rock 'n' roll in their 50's lets it
be known that you're never too old to do what you love," says Weeden,
one of the Coles' three children.
The film offers a background check on each member of the Cole
family, as well as Loomis, who describes himself as having been a
lost, wet kitten before Cole invited him into the fold. In high
school, his literature teacher advised him that he "would be better
off selling hot dogs on the corner than trying to get through school."
During a sweaty and intense "Dead Moon Night" at Belgium's Dour
Festival, it becomes evident why the band enjoys such popularity in
Europe. It's a stripped down Led Zepplin, born and bred in an
American garage, playing music as if its life depended on it.
Fred Cole is an American success story for the new millennium.
He built his own house and store, where he sells, repairs and invents
musical instuments. Dead Moon has recorded and pressed 13 LP's and
seven EP's in his home studio. When questioned by the filmmakers
where he got the assets to build such an empire, he frugally
replied, "We make $20,000 a year and spend $2,000 to live. The rest
goes back in to the business."
A 25th wedding anniverary ceremony in 1992 is a reminder
that, "Unknown Passage" is also a love story. Whether feeding
nickels into a Keno machine for 72 hours or performing in the music
starved town of Bautzen, Germany,
Fred and Toody Cole are a testament to the idea that life is all
about the pleasure of the living.

see:
http://seattlepi.newsource.com/movies/206842_passage07q.htm/