The Wonderful Grand Band, circa 1980. Front row (from left): Ian Perry, Sandy Morris and Jamie Snider. Middle row (from left): Tommy Sexton, Ron Hynes and Glenn Simmons. Back row (from left): Paul (Boomer) Stamp and Greg Malone. — Photo courtesy of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

They're the bad boys of Newfoundland rock. The guys who wouldn't worry if they see you crying all alone (with a broken heart?). The guys who pour their plastic-cup coffee on the mall floor and don't say anything at all.

That's right. They just walk away.

They are the Wonderful Grand Band.

But what is so wonderful about the leather-jacket-wearing collection of Greg Malone, Ron Hynes, Sandy Morris, Glenn Simmons, Jamie Snider, Ian Perry, Paul (Boomer) Stamp (and the now-absent Tommy Sexton)?

Really, now ... breaking up over vicious fights about whether it was Simmons or Stamp who had the cutest arse and whether Malone or Hynes had more songs on their album "Living In A Fog."

"Actually, when you look at the CD, Jamie has more songs than you or Ron," Morris said to Malone, who makes a face before the gathering bursts into a laugh.

The boys have arranged to perform together for the first time since 1984 and The Telegram threw the tough questions about all the rumours at several of the band members in a no-holds-barred interview this fall.

Didn't they break up because of clashing egos? Isn't the new tour - the first time the band will play together since 1984, beginning Nov. 9 in Labrador West - just a money grab?

They've heard it all since announcing the tour and had laughed at it all before.

In the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre Basement Theatre space, the collection of confronted group members - including Stamp, Malone, Simmons, Morris, Hynes and band manager Marie White - said while, creatively, their individual careers may have tugged members away from the Wonderful Grand Band collective, the desire to play together always remained.

Before the topic of individual careers was even raised, asked for his favourite song from the entire playlist for the band, Hynes - the "man of a thousand songs" - provided the example of their ties, in not choosing one of his solo writing efforts.

"(It is) 'Living in A Fog' for me because it was a combination of stuff that came from the comedic aspect of the band and got translated into the musical style. And we all wrote it. Everybody wrote it. We all wrote it down at (Marie) White's house on Quidi Vidi Road. We were all there one day and wrote the whole song - 12 of us or something. ... It was a combination of the music, and the idea came from Greg and Tommy."

When asked why they had not gathered before now to go out on a tour again together, there is a heavy sigh, and "scheduling" is stated as the main hurdle.

With the singers and musicians now involved in everything from touring with multiple bands, to mentoring rising stars, teaching would-be musicians, writing music (and books), as well as generally living life, that is certainly plausible.

Yet, the way they say "scheduling," it might as well be "wanting to get a regular, good night's sleep."

Back in the day, the band members were on set for their "Wonderful Grand Band" television show (based around the band's music and comedic skits) at 6 a.m. and there until 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hynes said. Then it was grab some food and head out to play the Strand Lounge until 1 a.m. Home by 2 a.m. and back at the studio at six in the morning.

Then there was the touring, where multiple shows were played in every corner of the province. Like in Burgeo, where the road to the community had just been put in when the band drove down.

"We all arrived in a couple of cars and every child in Burgeo was out there," Malone said. "We couldn't get out of the cars. ... We got set up in our motel rooms and everything and the curtains were closed. We opened the curtains and the window was all faces. You couldn't see the sky - it was just faces looking in the window."

"I remember Tommy said, 'It feels like we're the Beatles,'" Hynes said.

And like the Beatles, there was plenty of demand on their time.

"We did a lot of sleeping in chairs," said Simmons, smiling. "We had a lot of fun."

"We couldn't do anything wrong," Stamp said.

"It was the busiest time of our lives. It was the most exhausting time. And it was the most fun. The most fun I've had in my life was with the Grand Band," Hynes said.

While there is a hope for more good times with good crowds in coming together for their upcoming tour, the band members said one of the major reasons for working the tour is to promote the "Wonderful Grand Band" television show DVD.

The DVDs are being considered a tribute to Sexton's work, the boys said.

Now deceased, Sexton no longer has the opportunity to produce new creative material, whether sketches, songs or performances. What is there is there and that's all.

People should have the opportunity to see the humour, song, energy and impact Sexton possessed and showed in the Wonderful Grand Band performances, White said.

Of the 42 episodes of the "Wonderful Grand Band" television show that were recorded with Sexton at CBC St. John's, about half will be released on the first DVD set. Having even that release involved plenty of discussion, White said, because the tape is considered historically significant.

"They were the first shows the CBC actually started to preserve. Because before that they recycled tapes," she said, adding she believed that only "two or three shows" of the 20-year run of CBC's "All Around the Circle" still remain in archives.

In terms of the upcoming live tour shows, when asked if, or how, they would acknowledge Sexton, Hynes responded, "We'll give Tom as much airtime as the rest of us get - he deserves that."

In addition to paying tribute to Sexton and playing all of the fan-favourite songs he helped to create and popularize, the Wonderful Grand Band have said their upcoming tour will include new songs from Simmons, Hynes, Snider and perhaps others. (When the band spoke with The Telegram, the song list had yet to be finalized.)

However, the standards that made them the biggest thing from Gander to Corner Brook to, yes, Burgeo - songs like "Dancin' in the Street," "Hard Times" and "Suzie" - are guaranteed to be played, they said.

Even so, it has been a while. "Sonny's Dream" turned 34 years old in September, Hynes noted.

"One part of me is really, really excited about this and another part of me is terrified," he said. "You think, 'Are we going to be as fabulous as we were?' ... (looking around) I think that we will be."

Simmons jumped in.

"I'm expecting it to be way better," he said, with laughter around him, but nodding as well. "I've been at it for 30 years now. I'm a way better musician than what I was."

Energy, excitement ... now, that's Wonderful Grand.

afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com