RAM (band)

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RAM
Live performance at the Hotel Oloffson, June, 1998.
Background information
Origin	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Genres	Mizik rasin
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Cave Wall Records Margaritaville Records Willibelle Delta Records
Members	Richard A. Morse, Lead Singer Lunise Morse, Lead Singer Wilson Theluse, Drummer Jean Mary Brignol, Drummer Robert Wood Romain, Drummer Jose Mondelus, Bass Onito Parfait, Guitar Jean Emmanuel Marcelin, Keyboards Yonel Justin, Roland Octapad Sylvain Jean, Chorus Patou Lindor, Chorus Jonas Jean, Horn Pierre Jules, Horn
Past members	Milo Pierre, Drummer Andre Thelus, Drummer Sergo Pierre, Drummer Wilda Leblanc, Chorus Mikerline Louis Charles, Chorus Darling Delice, Chorus Rosna Marcelin, Chorus Gerald Georges, Chorus

RAM is a mizik rasin band based in the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The band derives its name from the initials of its founder, songwriter, and lead male vocalist, Richard A. Morse. The band's music has been described by Morse as "Vodou rock 'n' roots", and has been one of the prominent bands in the mizik rasin musical movement in Haiti. RAM began performing together in 1990, and recorded their first album in 1996. The band's music incorporates traditional Vodou lyrics and instruments, such as rara horns and petro drums, into modern rock and roll. The band's songs include lyrics in Haitian Creole, French, and English.

RAM is famous for its regular Thursday night performances at the Hotel Oloffson in downtown Port-au-Prince, attended by hotel guests and a wide spectrum of the country's political and racial groups. During the years of the military junta of Raoul Cédras, one of the band's singles, "Fèy", was banned nationwide by the military authorities who perceived it to be a song of support for the exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The band continued to play weekly concerts in defiance of death threats from the regime until Morse only narrowly escaped a kidnapping from the hotel in 1994. The band began recording albums in 1996, after United States military intervention restored Aristide to power. In 1998, the band clashed with the newly elected mayor of Port-au-Prince, a supporter of Aristide, and survived an assassination attempt during their Carnival performance. Through its song lyrics, RAM continues to provoke the antagonism of both the supporters of Aristide and former military regimes.