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Playlist May17/2012.....Live In London Ontario
An all live show comprised of various live recordings at various venues from sleepy London Ontario. Some of the sound quality may not be the greatest, as many of this week's tunes were be from the original cassette tapes made many years ago....enjoy and go out and see some live music here in sleepy London Ontario. I'm tired of being the only one at some live music shows....
1. Dark Carnival....Ain't Nothin' To Do....recorded live at Call The Office 10/12/90 and features Stooges Ron Ashton and Scott 'Rock Action' Ashton along with our fave diva, Niagara on the screeches. It was a great show and we got to hang out with Ron Ashton afterwards...an interview appeared in What Wave zine as well as some major cool pics (see below and drool) of the band. And we got to tell them who originally did 'My Best Bette' (Mr Kenne Highland) as they had found the song on a compilation tape and loved it so much they covered it at the show, yet had no idea who did the song.
2. catl....Church On Sunday....recorded live at Call The Office 3/16/12.
3. Hi-Tones...That's Alright Mama....recorded live at The Spoke 1/13/12 as part of CHRW's Wired Fridays.
4. Lucky 7....Rock'n'Roll Radio....recorded at Call The Office 2/23/89. This combo played at many clubs here in London...The Firehall, Leadbellys and probably Mingles. They came from NYC and featured Barry Ryan on the guitar, presently Robert Gordon's touring guitarist as well as a member of late 70's NYC punk combo, The Victims. Also in the band, on accordion, keys and vocals was Kenny Margolis, famous NYC studio cat who was also a member of Mink DeVille's legendary band...as well as currently being in Cracker.
5. Ronnie Dawson...Rockin' Bones....recorded live at Leadbellys 3/23/89...The Blonde Bomber from Texas did a 2 night stint here in London, I went one night and Rena went the next...and a FUCKING AMAZING show both nights!!! This particular song was a request from yours truly as he cut the original version that The Cramps borrowed. Really cool guy who signed many of my records and had a smile on his face the whole show!!
6. Ronnie Dawson....Congratulations To Me...recorded live at Leadbellys 3/24/89...a double shot of the Blonde Bomber!!!
7. Blood On The Saddle...Let's Have A Party....recorded live at Key West 12/17/86 in front of a small crowd. Singer Annette (original member of The Bangles) wasn't in the best of moods for this show, but MAN can she belt out a tune!!
8. Uranus....Uranium Rock....recorded at The Embassy 3/22/82 and broadcast over CHRW. We had guitarist Jack on a coupla weeks back for the 30th anniversary of this broadcast to talk about those days. And that's Uranus in the pic below.
9. The Fleshtones....Hexbreaker...recorded live at Call The Office 11/22/90 and we started upstairs in the dressing rooms and marched down the stairs with the band as they liked to start the party upstairs and bring it onto the stage. Possibly the most fun band in the entire universe!! You can read all about them in Sweat, by Joe Bonomo as he gives this legendary combo their just tribute in print.
10. Chesterfield Kings...Loose Lip Sync Ship...recorded live at Bullwinkles 5/29/86 and the only time these guys ever came to London.
11. The Fuzztones...Cinderella...recorded live at Key West 4/5/87 to a hot sweaty packed crowd. I was right up front with Psychedelic Pete, mere inches away from Rudi and the boys as they ripped through their set. We didn't find out till many years later, the bass player was none other than John Carlucci (of The Speedies) and presently in The Beat Killers, a killer combo who are in Europe right now. And below is a pic of how close we were to a sweaty Rudi....we won't talk about the underage that Rudi left with that night...
12. The Gruesomes....I'm A Bloodhound...recorded live at Key West 1/11/87. This was the first time we brought these kids into London, and it being a sunday night in January, we were a little concerned that no one would show up. But, the joint was packed and rockin' as Gruesomania had hit London and the boys were well recieved! Think they stayed for several days at our place after this show as we had lots of cartoons, junk food and videos for the boys to enjoy! The first of many many visits by The Gruesomes to this town and our place.
13. Light Bulb Alley....Money....recorded live at Call The Office 5/4/12 and these guys are now labelmates of The Gruesomes on Ricochet Sound from Montreal.
14. Bad Bad Bad....Fucked Up...recorded live at The Black Shire Pub 3/29/12 right after they came to visit us live on Radio What Wave....way cool 2 piece from Halifax!
15. Light Bulb Alley...Pepper Spray...recorded live at Call The Office 5/4/12 and this song is on the latest garagepunk hideout download, We Love Trash.
16. Das Furlines...Boys Are Boys....recorded live at Call The Office 6/5/86. Das Furlines were an all female combo from NYC who were basically a tribute to The Monks, the German band of X-US Army GI's from 1966. One of the wildest shows that involved total crowd participation and the conch!! You hadda be there!! This combo featured Fuzztone keyboard player Deb O'Nair as well as NYC crazy woman, Wendy Wild. And, this was the only time the band was recorded live...right here in sleepy London Ontario!! This was well before their appearance in People magazine and their bogus entry in the 1995 Rolling Stone Record Guide which had them coming from the Black Forest of Germany and releasing many many records. Nope, just a coupla compilation appearances.
17. Link Protrudi and The Jaymen....The Stroll...recorded live at Key West 9/25/86. Essentially The Fuzztones doing all instros ala Link Wray....
18. Boy From Nowhere....Lift Up Your Hood....recorded live at The Brunswick, probably early 90's. With a nice little intro regaling the finer points of The Brunswick Hotel, situated in downtown London, conveniently located across from the bus terminal. A demonic version of DMZ's tune done with sledgehammers to the head! Indeed, The Boy could rock with the best. Bassist Brian Young is currently a member of The Canadian Lyres touring band....they back up Monoman when he hops the border into Canada.
19. UIC....Cropdusting....recorded live at Call The Office 3/16/85. There's also a youtube of this song (as well as others from the same show) which features a bunch of youngsters dancing around like fools, self included! And yes, i still dance like a fool 27 years later! Below is Murray beating the living daylights out of his kit in front of the UIC flag!
20. The Diodes...Time Damage...recorded live at Call The Office 11/18/11. The second time the re-united Diodes have come to London and both times, excellent shows!!
21. The Hook Up....65 Has No Blues....recorded live at The Spoke 11/25/11 as part of CHRW's Wired Fridays.
22. The Fine Print...Remember....recorded live at Brennan's Beer Bistro 11/5/11. A GREAT local combo who don't play out enough.
23. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet....Who's Afraid of Alison Hymer/Having An Average Weekend....recorded live at Call The Office 7/17/86. First ever appearance by this now legendary combo to London....a very typical London crowd...maybe 10 people out to see them. Listen to the lack of applause after Average, that's just me clapping. Luckily for sleepy London, this trio came back many times and packed the house!!
Outta time but only the tip of the iceberg for live recordings from London Ontario...hope you enjoyed the show. Thanx for all the phone-ins, emails, facebook comments etc! This one was a blast to prep, as i went through a ton of tapes, some that i was hoping to use didn't have the greatest sound quality and hence, were nicked from the show.
Back atcha next week with a bunch of new stuff and as always, some surprises!
Here's a link to the podcasts that are up for one week only:
Monday, May 21, 2012
Live In London Ontario....Playlist May 17/2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
It Coulda Been Different!
Not that there was anything wrong with the scene here in London Ontario, but it coulda been different! We had the Cedar Lounge, an old hotel centrally located in the heart of the city that was a home to the growing punk/new wave/alternative type scene in the late 70's and early 80's
Here's a picture looking north from King St. You entered right below the Cedar Lounge sign and walked into a partially enclosed area where you could see the band and most of the club. There was usually someone standing there, hand out, asking for the 2 buck or whatever it was cover. In the early days, there was this spastic geek who would be dancing and grooving to the tunes and would be so into the music he'd often keep you waiting for the tune to end before taking your cash. Or even acknowledging that you were there and waiting to get in. It certainly added to the oh so cool ambience of the place. That along with the loud music, smoke (not always of the nicotine type), beer and people actually up dancing and having fun while the band is playing. But it coulda been different!
Sure, we had our local faves like Uranus, The Demics, NFG, The Zellots, The Sinners, Crash 80's, Regulators, Second Thoughts and many others in the first wave of late 70's bands to form in this city. It was a long way from the crap cover bands who worshipped stadium rockers Aerosmith, Foghat, Journey and other unmentionables who filled seats in just about every other bar in this city. Seats indeed as your ass would be glued down to watch this shit as you downed your weekly pay. Unless it was a disco bar and that was even worse with the dress code in effect. You can't come in here, your jeans are frayed! And the smartass retort would be 'my jeans ain't fraid of nothin' which was better not to say. But it coulda been different!
We had tons of bands from all over the place visit London in the early days of the punk rock scene; Teenage Head, The Diodes, Simply Saucer, Joe King Carrasco, Psychedelic Furs, Eddie and The Hot Rods, DOA, Subhumans, UK Subs, Anti-Nowhere League, 999, Ramones, The Stranglers, B-Girls, Viletones, The Ruts and TONS more. So many more that it would have been impossible to see them all. But we tried and failed and still had lots and lots of fun. But it coulda been different!
There used to be a poster, it was beat up as it had been on the wall of the Covent Garden Market for years. Not the new Covent Market, but the old concrete monstrosity that had the covered parking lot above it. A place where you could look out and take pictures. In fact, here's a picture of The Cedar Lounge from that parking lot.
This picture was taken facing west from the Covent Garden parking lot, looks like maybe the third level and the street in front of The Cedar is Talbot St. What is now a wide open area with a some large concrete balls on it. Maybe that signifies The Cedar Lounge was the only place in London that had balls. Whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. Here's what that area, sometimes referred to as ground zero looks like today. That's NFG paying homage to ground zero this past summer and somehow, the large balls didn't show up in any of the pictures that i took. That could mean something too....
But back to that beat up poster. I can remember seeing it a couple of times, but stupidly never took a picture of it. Others commented on that poster as well and we all agreed upon one thing, It could been different!
That poster was for a band that didn't make their gig at The Cedar Lounge. It was no fault of the band's. Nope, it was the Toronto Police force or whatever name they were billing themselves at that time. The time being the late 70's. The band on the poster were visitors to police headquarters. Not by choice or by invitation. Nope, they were being questioned as murder suspects. One of them in particular had more than a passing resemblance to the suspect in the case.
The band, The Cramps. When The Cramps were supposed to play London, they were but one of what we thought were a zillion up and coming bands in what we thought were an endless stream. Nope, it was but a window that opened long enough for a bunch of loonies to escape, learn to play some musical instruments or create some art and then the window closed again. Hasn't been open since and probably never will be.
I didn't become a total Cramps freak until about 1980, well after the band was supposed to play here. I first heard The Cramps on the radio show Young Fast and Scientific on CHRW. Hosted by Al Cole, it was easily the best show on the that station at that time. The only show that i regularly listened to and used it as a springboard to start Saturday night's adventures.
It wasn't easy finding records in London back then, but Records On Wheels was THE place to go for the so called underground sounds and i picked up the Drug Train single there and haven't been the same since! Here was a band that finally summed up all that i was digging...ie 60's punk via Pebbles, rockabilly via Johnny Burnette and a WHOLE new set of bands to try and find! Yep, The Cramps set me off on a record finding mission that still hasn't been completed up to this day. And hopefully it never will be.
Just lately i picked up The Cramps boxset of singles on Munster Records and spinning these records is just amazing! They have such a wide dynamic range and the vinyl is so noise free for those really quiet times that it just blows me away. Here's a picture of the sleeves with our man Bryan, centered and smoking as always.
But it coulda been different if The Cramps had actually played London. It just might have sparked a few like minded souls into forming a band in the mode of The Cramps. Now that would have been something! A rockabilly/60's punk combo in London Ontario!! A band that would get others interested in the same things. Ya, it coulda been different!
Addendumb:
Since you've read this far, here's what we're working on at the moment. We're going to be re-publishing What Wave #22 in an updated form as What Wave #24. Originally released in 1996, WW22 was a history of the local scene here in London Ontario. We're looking for corrections/additions/etc and you can post these to facebook on the Radio What Wave facebook page. All of the relevant pages of WW22 are in photo form on this facebook page. Here's the link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150565988219916&type=1
Feel free to add comments or whatever to the above photos. We need all of this info and it's going to take all of us to get it done properly. Release date is Oct 26/2012.
Why Oct 26? That's because it is the opening night for a big visual exhibit at The Forest City Gallery here in London. The exhibit is Underground Graphic Art: London Ontario 1977 to 1990 and will feature the fanzines, comics, posters, etc from that era. And we're going to have an opening party on Oct 26th with some of the bands mentioned in the above blog...NO, not The Cramps. So far Uranus, The Zellots, NFG and The Enemas have agreed to play opening night. Nothing's in concrete at the moment but this is going to be a bash that you don't want to miss! So put your boots on baby, cause we're going to a party....
Marki and Rooster at The Cedar Lounge in the early 80's.....
All photos are copyright What Wave archives so please DO NOT reproduce without consent...you know who i'm referring to.
Not that there was anything wrong with the scene here in London Ontario, but it coulda been different! We had the Cedar Lounge, an old hotel centrally located in the heart of the city that was a home to the growing punk/new wave/alternative type scene in the late 70's and early 80's
Here's a picture looking north from King St. You entered right below the Cedar Lounge sign and walked into a partially enclosed area where you could see the band and most of the club. There was usually someone standing there, hand out, asking for the 2 buck or whatever it was cover. In the early days, there was this spastic geek who would be dancing and grooving to the tunes and would be so into the music he'd often keep you waiting for the tune to end before taking your cash. Or even acknowledging that you were there and waiting to get in. It certainly added to the oh so cool ambience of the place. That along with the loud music, smoke (not always of the nicotine type), beer and people actually up dancing and having fun while the band is playing. But it coulda been different!
Sure, we had our local faves like Uranus, The Demics, NFG, The Zellots, The Sinners, Crash 80's, Regulators, Second Thoughts and many others in the first wave of late 70's bands to form in this city. It was a long way from the crap cover bands who worshipped stadium rockers Aerosmith, Foghat, Journey and other unmentionables who filled seats in just about every other bar in this city. Seats indeed as your ass would be glued down to watch this shit as you downed your weekly pay. Unless it was a disco bar and that was even worse with the dress code in effect. You can't come in here, your jeans are frayed! And the smartass retort would be 'my jeans ain't fraid of nothin' which was better not to say. But it coulda been different!
We had tons of bands from all over the place visit London in the early days of the punk rock scene; Teenage Head, The Diodes, Simply Saucer, Joe King Carrasco, Psychedelic Furs, Eddie and The Hot Rods, DOA, Subhumans, UK Subs, Anti-Nowhere League, 999, Ramones, The Stranglers, B-Girls, Viletones, The Ruts and TONS more. So many more that it would have been impossible to see them all. But we tried and failed and still had lots and lots of fun. But it coulda been different!
There used to be a poster, it was beat up as it had been on the wall of the Covent Garden Market for years. Not the new Covent Market, but the old concrete monstrosity that had the covered parking lot above it. A place where you could look out and take pictures. In fact, here's a picture of The Cedar Lounge from that parking lot.
This picture was taken facing west from the Covent Garden parking lot, looks like maybe the third level and the street in front of The Cedar is Talbot St. What is now a wide open area with a some large concrete balls on it. Maybe that signifies The Cedar Lounge was the only place in London that had balls. Whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. Here's what that area, sometimes referred to as ground zero looks like today. That's NFG paying homage to ground zero this past summer and somehow, the large balls didn't show up in any of the pictures that i took. That could mean something too....
That poster was for a band that didn't make their gig at The Cedar Lounge. It was no fault of the band's. Nope, it was the Toronto Police force or whatever name they were billing themselves at that time. The time being the late 70's. The band on the poster were visitors to police headquarters. Not by choice or by invitation. Nope, they were being questioned as murder suspects. One of them in particular had more than a passing resemblance to the suspect in the case.
The band, The Cramps. When The Cramps were supposed to play London, they were but one of what we thought were a zillion up and coming bands in what we thought were an endless stream. Nope, it was but a window that opened long enough for a bunch of loonies to escape, learn to play some musical instruments or create some art and then the window closed again. Hasn't been open since and probably never will be.
I didn't become a total Cramps freak until about 1980, well after the band was supposed to play here. I first heard The Cramps on the radio show Young Fast and Scientific on CHRW. Hosted by Al Cole, it was easily the best show on the that station at that time. The only show that i regularly listened to and used it as a springboard to start Saturday night's adventures.
It wasn't easy finding records in London back then, but Records On Wheels was THE place to go for the so called underground sounds and i picked up the Drug Train single there and haven't been the same since! Here was a band that finally summed up all that i was digging...ie 60's punk via Pebbles, rockabilly via Johnny Burnette and a WHOLE new set of bands to try and find! Yep, The Cramps set me off on a record finding mission that still hasn't been completed up to this day. And hopefully it never will be.
Just lately i picked up The Cramps boxset of singles on Munster Records and spinning these records is just amazing! They have such a wide dynamic range and the vinyl is so noise free for those really quiet times that it just blows me away. Here's a picture of the sleeves with our man Bryan, centered and smoking as always.
But it coulda been different if The Cramps had actually played London. It just might have sparked a few like minded souls into forming a band in the mode of The Cramps. Now that would have been something! A rockabilly/60's punk combo in London Ontario!! A band that would get others interested in the same things. Ya, it coulda been different!
Addendumb:
Since you've read this far, here's what we're working on at the moment. We're going to be re-publishing What Wave #22 in an updated form as What Wave #24. Originally released in 1996, WW22 was a history of the local scene here in London Ontario. We're looking for corrections/additions/etc and you can post these to facebook on the Radio What Wave facebook page. All of the relevant pages of WW22 are in photo form on this facebook page. Here's the link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150565988219916&type=1
Feel free to add comments or whatever to the above photos. We need all of this info and it's going to take all of us to get it done properly. Release date is Oct 26/2012.
Why Oct 26? That's because it is the opening night for a big visual exhibit at The Forest City Gallery here in London. The exhibit is Underground Graphic Art: London Ontario 1977 to 1990 and will feature the fanzines, comics, posters, etc from that era. And we're going to have an opening party on Oct 26th with some of the bands mentioned in the above blog...NO, not The Cramps. So far Uranus, The Zellots, NFG and The Enemas have agreed to play opening night. Nothing's in concrete at the moment but this is going to be a bash that you don't want to miss! So put your boots on baby, cause we're going to a party....
All photos are copyright What Wave archives so please DO NOT reproduce without consent...you know who i'm referring to.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Some Record Reviews For Mongrel Zine 10 that wouldn't fit...
The Fine Print Standing Out CD 2010 self released
4 piece combo from London Ontario who borrow heavily from the early Kinks, Zombies and early Romantics (1st LP) to bring this finely blended mixture of influences to the boiling point on the dance floor. Tunes that’ll get your feet movin’ and put a silly grin on your face as these guys can recreate these tunes live complete with the many harmony vocals that really make the songs. They’ve put the pop and hook, and even little snippets of songs that you know you’ve heard before, but just can’t remember where into the garage punk and made some truly fine songs on this, their debut CD. And this is only a short sampler of the full length and single expected soon.
addendum....Still no sign of the full length or the single, but a limited edition cassette was released on Record Store Day and sold on that day only. So if you didn't get a copy, they're all gone!
Million Sellers Mighty Good 7” EP BamaLama Records 2010
Nashville trio that play fast and furious rock’n’roll based on late 50’s riffs that give these 4 songs a slight rockabilly feel to them. Meant for late night beer bashes, these songs could get just about anyone up and dancing after a few drinks as it’s almost impossible not to like these tunes! This is the first release by the folks at BamaLama Records in Toronto and comes on a goldish/yellow transparent vinyl.
addendum...BamaLama Records now has way cool Tshirts of which i'm the proud owner of one.
Both of the above reviews were intended for Mongrel Zine #10 but somehow got missed. And you can pick up a copy of Mongrel Zine at Grooves Records here in London. Latest ish has the first part of The Zellots story in it.
Here's The Zellots playing in front of Flamingos Hair Salon, London Ontario. Aug 1980. Pic from the What Wave archives.
4 piece combo from London Ontario who borrow heavily from the early Kinks, Zombies and early Romantics (1st LP) to bring this finely blended mixture of influences to the boiling point on the dance floor. Tunes that’ll get your feet movin’ and put a silly grin on your face as these guys can recreate these tunes live complete with the many harmony vocals that really make the songs. They’ve put the pop and hook, and even little snippets of songs that you know you’ve heard before, but just can’t remember where into the garage punk and made some truly fine songs on this, their debut CD. And this is only a short sampler of the full length and single expected soon.
addendum....Still no sign of the full length or the single, but a limited edition cassette was released on Record Store Day and sold on that day only. So if you didn't get a copy, they're all gone!
Million Sellers Mighty Good 7” EP BamaLama Records 2010
Nashville trio that play fast and furious rock’n’roll based on late 50’s riffs that give these 4 songs a slight rockabilly feel to them. Meant for late night beer bashes, these songs could get just about anyone up and dancing after a few drinks as it’s almost impossible not to like these tunes! This is the first release by the folks at BamaLama Records in Toronto and comes on a goldish/yellow transparent vinyl.
addendum...BamaLama Records now has way cool Tshirts of which i'm the proud owner of one.
Both of the above reviews were intended for Mongrel Zine #10 but somehow got missed. And you can pick up a copy of Mongrel Zine at Grooves Records here in London. Latest ish has the first part of The Zellots story in it.
Here's The Zellots playing in front of Flamingos Hair Salon, London Ontario. Aug 1980. Pic from the What Wave archives.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Boy From Nowhere Reunion Gig....3/25/11
First off, most of you probably have no clue who Boy From Nowhere was/is. There was a song by DMZ called Boy From Nowhere on one of the first punk rock compilation records out of Boston around 1976. DMZ were led by Monoman and morphed into The Lyres a coupla years after this record came out, but DMZ were one of the first bands to actually get it. It being that 70's punk came from 60's punk and 50's rock'n'roll...loud guitars, snotty vocals, in your face attitude etc...
Well Boy From Nowhere took that name from the above song and were the first band in London Ontario to actually play a mixture of 60's punk, 70's punk and toss some blues tunes in between the punkers to catch their breath. They came out of another London band called The Hippies (Nuclear Disaster/How You Gonna Live 7" on Kampf Records) who kinda evolved into The Blood Brothers (only 2 gigs, late 1984) and from there settled on the name Boy From Nowhere.
They played all of the usual clubs around London (Call The Office, Victoria Tavern, Bullwinkles, Brunswick, Key West, Civitan, Langarth Bar and Grill and others) back in their prime, that being early 85 to about 88 or so...they morphed into B5 Blues sometime after that...and members went on to Young Fast And Scientific, Evil Hoodoos and various other short lived combos. But let's get back to the subject at hand, that being Boy From Nowhere as here's a promo type shot from somewhere...anyone know?
Standing L to R is Lindsay Young guitar, Henry Cox drums, Brian Young bass, all of whom were in The Hippies and Blood Brothers and sitting and scratching is vocalist Jon Traut from some farm north of London.
Live they were always a lot of fun, covering everyone from The Dictators to The Flamin' Groovies, to the Standells, to Radio Birdman, to Elvis Presley to The Kinks, to The Yardbirds and pretty well everything in between. They were strictly a cover band and that suited them just fine.
Here they are covering The MC5's Ramblin' Rose from a cassette we released many years ago called Live In London (how fucking original can you get?)...
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1987/What%20Wave%20-%20Live%20In%20London/The%20Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Ramblin'%20Rose.mp3
Most of the home recordings (for some reason, these guys did everything themselves as they learned a lesson when they were The Hippies) were more blues oriented. Here they are from another cassette we released way back when called Wave From The Grave (artist Dave Clarke takes credit for the name of this one) doing a cover of Mr Slim Harpo's Dynamite...
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1986/What%20Wave%20-%20Wave%20From%20The%20Grave/Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Dynamite.mp3
And finally the last thing we released by them, this time a cover of The Yardbirds Heart Full Of Soul....
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1996/What%20Wave%20-%20London%20Crawling/Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Heart%20Full%20Of%20Soul.mp3
This was on the last cassette that we released called London Crawling (again, Dave Clarke gets credit for the name) and this one was more of an overview of some of the cooler bands from London as the issue of What Wave this came with, was a history of the local indy combos from London. We tried many times to get the Boy From Nowhere on vinyl (ie the It Came From Canada compilation LP's that OG Records put out) but never succeeded as they were happy doing what they were doing. But in 2004 we finally got them on vinyl as they were on the Action Records compilation called Thee Cave Comes Alive LP...a compilation of the more 60's punk oriented bands that were on the What Wave compilation tapes. And this version of Heart Full Of Soul was on this LP.
http://webspace.webring.com/people/vt/theecave/WHATWAVE/WHATWAVE.htm
It only took us 20 years, but it was worth the wait. Anyways, here's some more pics of Boy From Nowhere in action back in their prime.
This one looks like it might be from Bullwinkles, a long extinct (and stinky) club here in London Ontario. They played this club a fair bit judging by the number of live recordings we did here. Some of the other bands that played this club back in the day include Plan 9, Chesterfield Kings, Vipers, The Cheepskates, Band 19, Raunch Hands, DOA, Forgotten Rebels, Deja Voodoo, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Purple Toads to name a few.
Another shot of a show at Langarth Bar and Grill as Boy From Nowhere are joined by a couple of Legend Killers, Earle Rutherford (second from left) and Bryan Macdonald (far right, he was in B5 Blues and the reunited Boy From Nowhere). It looks like this must have been some super jam session as there's another guitar player hidden behind Earle.
Another promo shot from somewhere....any guesses? Maybe The Albatross in Centralia Ontario?
The Boy From Nowhere did a reunion show at The Orange Hall here in London about 5 or 6 years ago, anyone got any pictures from that gig? I remember it being a lot of fun but we had to leave early as we had brought our youngest, Roxanne to that show and she was burnt out before the band finished.
Ok, so on to the reunion show at The Town and Country here in London on 3/25/11...think i was in this place well over 30 years ago, but nothing prepared me for this inside of this place. There was free parking right in front of the club on the street as well as free parking behind. You walk in and are instantly transformed onto another planet. From the front door, there's a small hall, laundramat off to the left (guess that's in case you have a drink accident), pool tavbles and pinball off to the right, then a really long bar and the entrance to the rear room. This is where the bands play and there's a slightly elevated seating area off to the left with literally tons of tables and chairs. Almost perfect line of sight no matter where you plant yourself. Way off to the right at the rear of the place is a slightly risen stage with wood fencing in front with saddles mounted on top. Dunno the purpose of the saddles, but as you can see in the picture below, Jon tried out the saddle. There's also a decent sized standup bar between the dance floor and the stage where you can plant your drink while your feet take you on a journey around the dance floor. Great setup! Not only that, but they had this amazing pizza for only $2.50 a slice! Musta weighed near a pound as my slice was loaded with pepperoni, shrooms and some kinda sausage that gave me great farts the next day...or maybe it was the 50 i was testing.
Boy From Nowhere started with a bang as they whipped out a killer version of DMZ's (there's that name again, stands for Dig My Zipper) Lift Up Your Hood. From there they did what musta been almost their entire lifespans repertoire as they covered The Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul, Rack My Mind, Train Kept A Rollin'), Standells (Sometimes Good Guys), Guess Who (It's My Pride), Teenage Head (Top Down and Picture My Face), Radio Birdman (Aloha Steve and Danno, Hand Of Law), Kinks (Victoria, I Need You), Dictators (Minnesota Strip, What It Is), Elvis (Hunk Of Burning Love), Flamin' Groovies (Teenage Head, Slow Death) and a kick ass version of Heart Of The City to celebrate Nick Lowe's birthday. If Nick was there he would have been smiling!
Jon Traut riding the saddle at the reunion gig 3/25/11 at The Town and Country here in London Ontario.
Yep, Jon's got his glasses on and can't find his drink in this one, Lindsay and Henry are trying to help out while Bryan laughs at the rest of them.
Yep, a great night was had by all in attendance, the band musta played almost 2 hours!! And they finished the show with a dual guitar attack of The Flamin' Groovies Slow Death that blew my mind!! Let's do it all again in another coupla years!!
Well Boy From Nowhere took that name from the above song and were the first band in London Ontario to actually play a mixture of 60's punk, 70's punk and toss some blues tunes in between the punkers to catch their breath. They came out of another London band called The Hippies (Nuclear Disaster/How You Gonna Live 7" on Kampf Records) who kinda evolved into The Blood Brothers (only 2 gigs, late 1984) and from there settled on the name Boy From Nowhere.
They played all of the usual clubs around London (Call The Office, Victoria Tavern, Bullwinkles, Brunswick, Key West, Civitan, Langarth Bar and Grill and others) back in their prime, that being early 85 to about 88 or so...they morphed into B5 Blues sometime after that...and members went on to Young Fast And Scientific, Evil Hoodoos and various other short lived combos. But let's get back to the subject at hand, that being Boy From Nowhere as here's a promo type shot from somewhere...anyone know?
Live they were always a lot of fun, covering everyone from The Dictators to The Flamin' Groovies, to the Standells, to Radio Birdman, to Elvis Presley to The Kinks, to The Yardbirds and pretty well everything in between. They were strictly a cover band and that suited them just fine.
Here they are covering The MC5's Ramblin' Rose from a cassette we released many years ago called Live In London (how fucking original can you get?)...
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1987/What%20Wave%20-%20Live%20In%20London/The%20Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Ramblin'%20Rose.mp3
Most of the home recordings (for some reason, these guys did everything themselves as they learned a lesson when they were The Hippies) were more blues oriented. Here they are from another cassette we released way back when called Wave From The Grave (artist Dave Clarke takes credit for the name of this one) doing a cover of Mr Slim Harpo's Dynamite...
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1986/What%20Wave%20-%20Wave%20From%20The%20Grave/Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Dynamite.mp3
And finally the last thing we released by them, this time a cover of The Yardbirds Heart Full Of Soul....
http://chrwradio.com/lma/1996/What%20Wave%20-%20London%20Crawling/Boy%20From%20Nowhere%20-%20Heart%20Full%20Of%20Soul.mp3
This was on the last cassette that we released called London Crawling (again, Dave Clarke gets credit for the name) and this one was more of an overview of some of the cooler bands from London as the issue of What Wave this came with, was a history of the local indy combos from London. We tried many times to get the Boy From Nowhere on vinyl (ie the It Came From Canada compilation LP's that OG Records put out) but never succeeded as they were happy doing what they were doing. But in 2004 we finally got them on vinyl as they were on the Action Records compilation called Thee Cave Comes Alive LP...a compilation of the more 60's punk oriented bands that were on the What Wave compilation tapes. And this version of Heart Full Of Soul was on this LP.
http://webspace.webring.com/people/vt/theecave/WHATWAVE/WHATWAVE.htm
It only took us 20 years, but it was worth the wait. Anyways, here's some more pics of Boy From Nowhere in action back in their prime.
This one is from Langarth Bar and Grill as we had a couple of basement parties there. The bass that Brian is playing is my old Vox Constellation Mark 4 that he was trying out that night. We had Boy From Nowhere play there at least twice...and oddly we never had noise complaints from the neighbours.
Another shot of a show at Langarth Bar and Grill as Boy From Nowhere are joined by a couple of Legend Killers, Earle Rutherford (second from left) and Bryan Macdonald (far right, he was in B5 Blues and the reunited Boy From Nowhere). It looks like this must have been some super jam session as there's another guitar player hidden behind Earle.
Another promo shot from somewhere....any guesses? Maybe The Albatross in Centralia Ontario?
The Boy From Nowhere did a reunion show at The Orange Hall here in London about 5 or 6 years ago, anyone got any pictures from that gig? I remember it being a lot of fun but we had to leave early as we had brought our youngest, Roxanne to that show and she was burnt out before the band finished.
Ok, so on to the reunion show at The Town and Country here in London on 3/25/11...think i was in this place well over 30 years ago, but nothing prepared me for this inside of this place. There was free parking right in front of the club on the street as well as free parking behind. You walk in and are instantly transformed onto another planet. From the front door, there's a small hall, laundramat off to the left (guess that's in case you have a drink accident), pool tavbles and pinball off to the right, then a really long bar and the entrance to the rear room. This is where the bands play and there's a slightly elevated seating area off to the left with literally tons of tables and chairs. Almost perfect line of sight no matter where you plant yourself. Way off to the right at the rear of the place is a slightly risen stage with wood fencing in front with saddles mounted on top. Dunno the purpose of the saddles, but as you can see in the picture below, Jon tried out the saddle. There's also a decent sized standup bar between the dance floor and the stage where you can plant your drink while your feet take you on a journey around the dance floor. Great setup! Not only that, but they had this amazing pizza for only $2.50 a slice! Musta weighed near a pound as my slice was loaded with pepperoni, shrooms and some kinda sausage that gave me great farts the next day...or maybe it was the 50 i was testing.
Boy From Nowhere started with a bang as they whipped out a killer version of DMZ's (there's that name again, stands for Dig My Zipper) Lift Up Your Hood. From there they did what musta been almost their entire lifespans repertoire as they covered The Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul, Rack My Mind, Train Kept A Rollin'), Standells (Sometimes Good Guys), Guess Who (It's My Pride), Teenage Head (Top Down and Picture My Face), Radio Birdman (Aloha Steve and Danno, Hand Of Law), Kinks (Victoria, I Need You), Dictators (Minnesota Strip, What It Is), Elvis (Hunk Of Burning Love), Flamin' Groovies (Teenage Head, Slow Death) and a kick ass version of Heart Of The City to celebrate Nick Lowe's birthday. If Nick was there he would have been smiling!
Jon Traut riding the saddle at the reunion gig 3/25/11 at The Town and Country here in London Ontario.
Yep, Jon's got his glasses on and can't find his drink in this one, Lindsay and Henry are trying to help out while Bryan laughs at the rest of them.
Yep, a great night was had by all in attendance, the band musta played almost 2 hours!! And they finished the show with a dual guitar attack of The Flamin' Groovies Slow Death that blew my mind!! Let's do it all again in another coupla years!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Top 10 of 2010
It's about time we tossed up this Top 10 list as it was compiled a coupla months back. Lazy, busy and all of the other excuses that you can think of....so here we go, in no particular order, as it really doesn't matter if you're number 1 or number 10 on this list, to paraphrase Teenage Head, fuck the rest, this is the best...or at least the best that we crossed paths with from 2010...
The Walnut Kids....Can't Stand 'Em 7" on Going Gaga Records. Ya, we played the shit outta this one on RadioWW this year and deservedly so. These guys toss in powerpop licks, garage noises, punk sounds and mix it all together with a batch of hooks that just don't let go! A near perfect hunk of vinyl! Disappointment of the year for me was The Walnut Kids cancelling their Dec show at Call The Office opening for Glen Matlock...car trouble they said. More likely Mr. Matlock sabotaging them cause they were stealing his show! We did get to see The Walnut Kids once this past summer opening for Paul Collins at the sadly defunct Moon Over Marin, but the sound didn't do this band justice. They'll be back and i'll have my dancing shoes on!
Mother's Children....That's Who...on Going Gaga Records...Yep, another one on Going Gaga Records, that fine label outta Ottawa which is where Mother's Children call home. First listen i wasn't that impressed with this longplayer, but man, it sure grew on me the second and every spin since! The only comparison that comes to mind is The Real Kids, back when they were in their prime and some of their records involved that repeated listen to get it. And when i got this record, those songs got stuck in my noggin' every listen! They've also got a really cool single that came out before this LP that is essential!
Sonic Avenues...s/t...on Going Gaga Records...In hockey terms, this would be a hat trick for the folks at Going Gaga Records but for Sonic Avenues this is their first longplayer and it rocks from beginning to end! Non-stop power pop of the finest blend as these guys shed their total 60's sound and move towards the late 70's era with only the finest 60's influences remaining! Got to see these guys in London this past spring and they sound even better live! Watch out for the Pointed Sticks!
Nick Curran....Reform School Girl....Eclecto Groove Records...I found this one in the CHRW toss out bin and it looked kind of interesting with the tattooed blonde and the tough looking guitar player on the front cover. Figgered it'd be some kinda modern rbilly or major label sigh co billy. But NO!!!! Nothing prepared me for this onslaught of primal late 50's rock'n'roll, rhythm and blues, and total screaming attack on the senses! This is the real deal jack! If our hero Lux was alive, this would put a shit eating grin on his face! It's that FUCKING good!! And it only gets better every listen!
catl...With The Lord For Cowards You Will Find No Place...Folk Brand Records. Our favourite fucked blues duo outta Toronto return as a 3 piece and sound even better than their first LP! The newly added keyboards and extra vocals create an almost Memphis blues sound to give this combo even more depth! And get Jim Diamond involved and you know everything is gonna turn out right audio wise. Final track 'Workin' Man's Soul' just slays me everytime i hear it!!
Angry Dragons...s/t 7" EP ...Transistor 66 Records....Garage punk with girls singing and playing, Darren Merinuk artwork, pink vinyl...what more can you ask for!!! My all time fave Winnipeg combo!!
Marvelous Beauhunks...Do Not Resuscitate...self released CD...Recorded way back in the early 90's and finally released on a CD for all of us that didn't catch the MB's the first time around, and to coincide with a 10 year reunion this past year. Way cool mix of powerpop, mod and garage sounds in which the songs are well put together and exude hooks and energy! A real treat and i really don't know how we missed these guys back in the day!! Repeated listens of this one have certainly made up for that oversight!
Rock'n'Roll Monkey and The Robots...Do What The Bees Do....Rock'n'Roll Monkey Records...This is one of those releases that sneaks up on you and grabs you and doesn't let go. An instant party CD that'll get you up and dancing before you even know what's hit you! And this is at least the 3rd release from this mystery band!
The Fine Print...s/t....self released. Local combo that caught me by surprise with their perfect sonic blend of Kinks, Zombies and Yardbirds type sounds. Lotsa tight harmonies that bring out the powerpop elements of these songs and these guys can recreate this sound live!! Catch them if you can!
Instead of a 10th release, there were some live shows we caught this past year that should be mentioned. The first and foremost was The Fleshtones at This Ain't Hollywood this past August. These guys rocked out like they were 18 again and we all ate it up and danced a storm! Easily the best live band in the world!!!
And some of us waited over 30 years to finally see Paul Collins Beat here in London this past August. Throw an army of powerpop bands on the bill; Mother's Children, Walnut Kids, The 905's and Oily Birds and you've got a show that many of us are still talking about!
And another stacked show that blew me away was The White Wires, Sonic Avenues, Rocket Reducers and Lonesome Ghost back in March.
And the show that caught me by total surprise, The Baketones at The Black Shire Pub in late August. These guys were total cavemen on stage as they destroyed equipment and each other all the while delivering a pounding garage stomp from beyond....they had opened for The Fleshtones a coupla days prior to playing here so they may have picked up a few tricks! A band you gotta see!
And now back to your regular programming....
The Walnut Kids....Can't Stand 'Em 7" on Going Gaga Records. Ya, we played the shit outta this one on RadioWW this year and deservedly so. These guys toss in powerpop licks, garage noises, punk sounds and mix it all together with a batch of hooks that just don't let go! A near perfect hunk of vinyl! Disappointment of the year for me was The Walnut Kids cancelling their Dec show at Call The Office opening for Glen Matlock...car trouble they said. More likely Mr. Matlock sabotaging them cause they were stealing his show! We did get to see The Walnut Kids once this past summer opening for Paul Collins at the sadly defunct Moon Over Marin, but the sound didn't do this band justice. They'll be back and i'll have my dancing shoes on!
Mother's Children....That's Who...on Going Gaga Records...Yep, another one on Going Gaga Records, that fine label outta Ottawa which is where Mother's Children call home. First listen i wasn't that impressed with this longplayer, but man, it sure grew on me the second and every spin since! The only comparison that comes to mind is The Real Kids, back when they were in their prime and some of their records involved that repeated listen to get it. And when i got this record, those songs got stuck in my noggin' every listen! They've also got a really cool single that came out before this LP that is essential!
Sonic Avenues...s/t...on Going Gaga Records...In hockey terms, this would be a hat trick for the folks at Going Gaga Records but for Sonic Avenues this is their first longplayer and it rocks from beginning to end! Non-stop power pop of the finest blend as these guys shed their total 60's sound and move towards the late 70's era with only the finest 60's influences remaining! Got to see these guys in London this past spring and they sound even better live! Watch out for the Pointed Sticks!
Nick Curran....Reform School Girl....Eclecto Groove Records...I found this one in the CHRW toss out bin and it looked kind of interesting with the tattooed blonde and the tough looking guitar player on the front cover. Figgered it'd be some kinda modern rbilly or major label sigh co billy. But NO!!!! Nothing prepared me for this onslaught of primal late 50's rock'n'roll, rhythm and blues, and total screaming attack on the senses! This is the real deal jack! If our hero Lux was alive, this would put a shit eating grin on his face! It's that FUCKING good!! And it only gets better every listen!
catl...With The Lord For Cowards You Will Find No Place...Folk Brand Records. Our favourite fucked blues duo outta Toronto return as a 3 piece and sound even better than their first LP! The newly added keyboards and extra vocals create an almost Memphis blues sound to give this combo even more depth! And get Jim Diamond involved and you know everything is gonna turn out right audio wise. Final track 'Workin' Man's Soul' just slays me everytime i hear it!!
Angry Dragons...s/t 7" EP ...Transistor 66 Records....Garage punk with girls singing and playing, Darren Merinuk artwork, pink vinyl...what more can you ask for!!! My all time fave Winnipeg combo!!
Marvelous Beauhunks...Do Not Resuscitate...self released CD...Recorded way back in the early 90's and finally released on a CD for all of us that didn't catch the MB's the first time around, and to coincide with a 10 year reunion this past year. Way cool mix of powerpop, mod and garage sounds in which the songs are well put together and exude hooks and energy! A real treat and i really don't know how we missed these guys back in the day!! Repeated listens of this one have certainly made up for that oversight!
Rock'n'Roll Monkey and The Robots...Do What The Bees Do....Rock'n'Roll Monkey Records...This is one of those releases that sneaks up on you and grabs you and doesn't let go. An instant party CD that'll get you up and dancing before you even know what's hit you! And this is at least the 3rd release from this mystery band!
The Fine Print...s/t....self released. Local combo that caught me by surprise with their perfect sonic blend of Kinks, Zombies and Yardbirds type sounds. Lotsa tight harmonies that bring out the powerpop elements of these songs and these guys can recreate this sound live!! Catch them if you can!
Instead of a 10th release, there were some live shows we caught this past year that should be mentioned. The first and foremost was The Fleshtones at This Ain't Hollywood this past August. These guys rocked out like they were 18 again and we all ate it up and danced a storm! Easily the best live band in the world!!!
And some of us waited over 30 years to finally see Paul Collins Beat here in London this past August. Throw an army of powerpop bands on the bill; Mother's Children, Walnut Kids, The 905's and Oily Birds and you've got a show that many of us are still talking about!
And another stacked show that blew me away was The White Wires, Sonic Avenues, Rocket Reducers and Lonesome Ghost back in March.
And the show that caught me by total surprise, The Baketones at The Black Shire Pub in late August. These guys were total cavemen on stage as they destroyed equipment and each other all the while delivering a pounding garage stomp from beyond....they had opened for The Fleshtones a coupla days prior to playing here so they may have picked up a few tricks! A band you gotta see!
And now back to your regular programming....
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Radio What Wave Playlist...Dec 30/2010 Cedar Lounge Special Part 2
This is the second installment of the Cedar Lounge Special and aired on Thursday Dec 30th in the usual time slot of 7 to 8:30PM...Part 3 will be aired thursday Jan 6/2011 7 to 8:30PM.
This is taken facing north, from the south side of King St. A little to the right is Talbot St. This was the door that you entered and paid your $2 cover. When you first walked in there was sort of an alcove that had vertical members (like 2 x 4's in an unfinished basement) that you could see all around the club and decide if you want to pay your cover or not. Many kids took one look and never came back again...their loss. This photo was taken on 8/15/80 the day after a Forgotten Rebels show and their was graffitti on several buildings downtown, obviously the punks did that!
1. The Spies...Underground...from their only 7" and they came from Windsor Ontario. Played the Cedar several times, renamed themselves The Nelsons and played a few times towards the end of The Cedar Lounge.
2. The Secrets...I'll Cry Tomorrow....Toronto based, and features 3 members of the original Viletones and a Diode. This and the next tune were taken from the OPM CD Teenage Rampage. These guys were a step out of time with the punk and new wave that was happening in the late 70's and preferred to play early 60's rock'n'roll, definitely garage like and they still sound REALLY good to these ears.
3. The Secrets....All The Words...2 great songs, classic buildup, memorable hooks, and they shoulda been contenders! They played 2/14/79 to 2/17/79 at the Cedar.
The Scenics playing live at Call The Office in London Ontario.
4. The Scenics...O Boy...from the Last Pogo CD, think it came free if you pre-ordered Treat Me Like Dirt book. Another band that was a step out of time, too arty for the punks, yet too punky for the artsies! Make sense? Not to me either, but these guys were one of the first Toronto bands to jump on the DIY bandwagon, recording themselves, playing out live and trying out new things. In their lifetime, they releaesed an LP, a 7" and appeared on The Last Pogo complilation LP.
5. The Scenics...Do The Wait...taken from the Sunshine World CD. There's that break near the end of the song, right after they sing 'Do The Wait' that is almost unnerving...done intentionally of course, these guys have tricks up their sleeves and you gotta listen close sometimes to pick them all out. If they only came from NYC or London....
Another shot of The Scenics playing at Call The Office...that's Andy in the center.
6. The Scenics...Waiting For My Man...from the How Does It Feel To Be Loved CD. These guys are currently going through all of their old tapes and releasing them as downloads on their website. There's some gems there... As a piece of trivia, Andy, guitarist/vocalist owned a record store here in London back in the early to mid 80's. Located at the SE corner of Clarence and Queen the building is long gone. There's also an interview that we did with Andy that appeared in an early edition of Mongrel Zine.
7. Arson...Pretty Girls...this was unreleased at the time and appears on the compilation Smash The State Volume 1 put out by Frank Manley to accompany his book of the same title. Arson were from Toronto and released a 7" and appeared on at least one compilation during their time. They also appeared at least twice at the Cedar Lounge.
8. Arson...We Gotta Get Out Of This Place...the Animals song and from the compliation LP No Pedestrians. They appeared at The Cedar 9/16/78 to 9/9/78 and 11/21/79 to 11/24/79.
This photo is from the Oct/Nov 1978 issue of Bomp Fanzine...there's also a great article on the Toronto scene by Ralph Alfonso in that ish.
9. The B-Girsl...Who Says Girls Can't Rock...from the OPM CD of the same name. An all girl new wave/powerpop band that later featured Marcy Saddy from London on drums. Another one of those bands that coulda and shoulda gone far...opening for The Clash, hanging out in NYC and LA, pictured in the cool rock'n'roll mags of the time like Cream, Who Put The Bomp and Rock Scene. Bassist Cynthia was the girlfriend of Dead Boy Stiv Bators.
Another page from the same ish of Bomp Fanzine.
10. The B-Girsl..B-Side...from their only output of the time, a 7" on Bomp Records. An LP was rumoured to be coming out on Bomp but never materialized...in the meantime The Go-Go's got their LP out and had major mainstream success.
11. The B-Girls...Jealousy...also from the above CD. One time the B-Girls were advertised as appearing at The Cedar, but they couldn't make it, or were late or something. Opening up was NFG, who dressed up entirely in drag and claimed they were the B-Girls...so maybe The B-Girls are responsible for the way those guys dressed after that show!
12. The Mods...Reign Of Terror...from the OPM CD Twenty 2 Months...another band that coulda and shoulda they appeared at least 3 times at the Cedar Lounge...2/21/79 to 2/24/79, 5/9/79 to 5/12/79 and then renamed The News on 10/31/79 to 11/3/79. There were too many bands with the name The Mods back then so they figured a name change was due. Think they went back to The Mods after a short time.
13. The Mods...Step Out Tonight...from their 7", this is the song that shoulda broke these guys out!
David Quinton talking to some future lawyers at a talk at the University of Western Ontario Law School early 2010.
14. David Quinton...Make Up Your Mind...from the CD Bombs and Lullabies. David was the drummer of The Mods and was handpicked by Dead Boy Stiv Bators to be his drummer when Stiv cut his solo powerpop record on Bomp Records. David also played in a late version of The Dead Boys, helping out Stiv. He's presently a big wig lawyer in Toronto, dealing with huge entertainment people but still LOVES to talk about his days playing in bands. He did a talk at the Law School here at the University recently and mentioned playing at The Cedar, playing with Stiv Bators, meeting Greg Shaw and all of the other influential people of the time period. He has some great stories, so if you ever get a chance to hear David talk, don't miss it!
15. The Forgotten Rebels...I Think Of Her...recorded live at The Cedar Lounge and is from the CD Forgotten Rebels on OPM Records. The Rebels played The Cedar many many times and always put on an entertaining show!
The Forgotten Rebels playing in a farmer's field somewhere outside of Goderich Ontario...7/4/81. It rained that day which put a stop to the show for awhile. Also on the bill were The Demics, Zellots and Fictions.
16. The Forgotten Rebels...Surfin' On Heroin...from their This Ain't Hollywood LP on Star Records. One of those songs that The Rebels and bassist Chris Houston will always be remembered for.
17. The Forgotten Rebels...Elvis Is Dead...from the above CD, and again live at The Cedar. Probably recorded in Aug 1980.
18. The Forgotten Rebels...You're A Rebel Too...from the In Love With The System LP on Star Records. Bought this right after seeing the Rebels in Aug 1980 and played the shit out of this one. Lead singer Mike still gets a band together every once in awhile and plays out as The Forgotten Rebels and the kids still dig it!
19. The Fast...Wet'n'Wild..from the Fast For Sale LP...3 NYC brothers form a band in the very early 70's, pre-dating the NYDolls even. They play their own crazy version of bubblegum meets glam meets theatre...way ahead of the curve, these guys didn't fit in with any scene. As far as i can figure, they only played one night at the Cedar Lounge, 11/4/78.
20. The Fast...Kids Just Wanna Dance...from the Munster Records CD, The Best Of The Fast: 1976-1984. A highly recommended CD!!
21. Joe King Carrasco and The Crowns...Houston El Mover...from his Island LP. Joe released lots of records back in the day, toured constantly, appeared on American Bandstand and put on amazing shows and obviously was based in Texas. He only played one night at The Cedar, 7/24/79 with The Zellots. I was a schmuck and didn't go in cause the cover was an astromical $5 (in those days, cover was usually $1 or $2) and had no idea who Joe Carrasco was. Joe later came back to Fryfogles (club on Dundas St where the Library presently is) and it was supposedly a really wild show according to legend. Fryfogles was another influential club and we'll do a Radio WW special on it in the near future!
22. The Standing Waves...Integrating Circuits...from a 7" they released, again based in Texas and this combo had a bit of that Sir Douglas meets new wave sound. The beauty of The Cedar Lounge, is you could almost always be guaranteed to see/hear a cool band and there were lots of surprises like The Standing Waves.
23. Psychedelic Furs....Pulse...from their first LP and they made one appearance at The Cedar, 10/6/80. Another show i'm still kicking myself for missing, but think i had an exam or something the next day...The Zellots covered this song in their live show.
24. Fingerprintz...Close Circuit Connection...from their self titled LP, some of these guys went on to form the commercially successful The Silencers. 10/16/80 to 10/18/80 at The Cedar.
25. Chris Spedding...Hurt By Love...from the Hurt LP, Chris made several stops in London over the years, and 1/2/81 at The Cedar Lounge.
Certain General playing at The Embassy Hotel 1/1/83...that's mMarcy Saddy on the drums and is also the only picture I have of her in the band. There's more pics from this show on the Radio WW page on facebook.
26. Certain General...B2C2...from their Holiday Of Love EP from 1982. It was the summer of 1981 and drummer Marcy Saddy brought her latest band, NYC based Certain General to play Rose and Doug's wedding at The Cedar Lounge. The band decided to stay here for awhile playing club shows at The Cedar and Fryfogles and supposedly rehearsing. They put on some amazing shows, one of the first bands of that era that i saw that started to touch on psychedlia and surf sounds and if i remember correctly, would bring lit candles to the stage to enhance the vibes of their show. They came back a year or 2 later and played at The Embassy Hotel, i'll try and dig out my pics from that show.
Thanx for all the call-ins, emails, kudos etc etc....on next week's show, we'll continue this special and probably start the show with some more Certain General.
The west wall of The Cedar Lounge, picture taken sometime in the summer of 1980.
The show is archived at:
http://chrwradio.com/archive/
Thursday at 7PM.
Happy New Year!
1. The Spies...Underground...from their only 7" and they came from Windsor Ontario. Played the Cedar several times, renamed themselves The Nelsons and played a few times towards the end of The Cedar Lounge.
2. The Secrets...I'll Cry Tomorrow....Toronto based, and features 3 members of the original Viletones and a Diode. This and the next tune were taken from the OPM CD Teenage Rampage. These guys were a step out of time with the punk and new wave that was happening in the late 70's and preferred to play early 60's rock'n'roll, definitely garage like and they still sound REALLY good to these ears.
3. The Secrets....All The Words...2 great songs, classic buildup, memorable hooks, and they shoulda been contenders! They played 2/14/79 to 2/17/79 at the Cedar.
4. The Scenics...O Boy...from the Last Pogo CD, think it came free if you pre-ordered Treat Me Like Dirt book. Another band that was a step out of time, too arty for the punks, yet too punky for the artsies! Make sense? Not to me either, but these guys were one of the first Toronto bands to jump on the DIY bandwagon, recording themselves, playing out live and trying out new things. In their lifetime, they releaesed an LP, a 7" and appeared on The Last Pogo complilation LP.
5. The Scenics...Do The Wait...taken from the Sunshine World CD. There's that break near the end of the song, right after they sing 'Do The Wait' that is almost unnerving...done intentionally of course, these guys have tricks up their sleeves and you gotta listen close sometimes to pick them all out. If they only came from NYC or London....
6. The Scenics...Waiting For My Man...from the How Does It Feel To Be Loved CD. These guys are currently going through all of their old tapes and releasing them as downloads on their website. There's some gems there... As a piece of trivia, Andy, guitarist/vocalist owned a record store here in London back in the early to mid 80's. Located at the SE corner of Clarence and Queen the building is long gone. There's also an interview that we did with Andy that appeared in an early edition of Mongrel Zine.
7. Arson...Pretty Girls...this was unreleased at the time and appears on the compilation Smash The State Volume 1 put out by Frank Manley to accompany his book of the same title. Arson were from Toronto and released a 7" and appeared on at least one compilation during their time. They also appeared at least twice at the Cedar Lounge.
8. Arson...We Gotta Get Out Of This Place...the Animals song and from the compliation LP No Pedestrians. They appeared at The Cedar 9/16/78 to 9/9/78 and 11/21/79 to 11/24/79.
9. The B-Girsl...Who Says Girls Can't Rock...from the OPM CD of the same name. An all girl new wave/powerpop band that later featured Marcy Saddy from London on drums. Another one of those bands that coulda and shoulda gone far...opening for The Clash, hanging out in NYC and LA, pictured in the cool rock'n'roll mags of the time like Cream, Who Put The Bomp and Rock Scene. Bassist Cynthia was the girlfriend of Dead Boy Stiv Bators.
10. The B-Girsl..B-Side...from their only output of the time, a 7" on Bomp Records. An LP was rumoured to be coming out on Bomp but never materialized...in the meantime The Go-Go's got their LP out and had major mainstream success.
11. The B-Girls...Jealousy...also from the above CD. One time the B-Girls were advertised as appearing at The Cedar, but they couldn't make it, or were late or something. Opening up was NFG, who dressed up entirely in drag and claimed they were the B-Girls...so maybe The B-Girls are responsible for the way those guys dressed after that show!
12. The Mods...Reign Of Terror...from the OPM CD Twenty 2 Months...another band that coulda and shoulda they appeared at least 3 times at the Cedar Lounge...2/21/79 to 2/24/79, 5/9/79 to 5/12/79 and then renamed The News on 10/31/79 to 11/3/79. There were too many bands with the name The Mods back then so they figured a name change was due. Think they went back to The Mods after a short time.
13. The Mods...Step Out Tonight...from their 7", this is the song that shoulda broke these guys out!
14. David Quinton...Make Up Your Mind...from the CD Bombs and Lullabies. David was the drummer of The Mods and was handpicked by Dead Boy Stiv Bators to be his drummer when Stiv cut his solo powerpop record on Bomp Records. David also played in a late version of The Dead Boys, helping out Stiv. He's presently a big wig lawyer in Toronto, dealing with huge entertainment people but still LOVES to talk about his days playing in bands. He did a talk at the Law School here at the University recently and mentioned playing at The Cedar, playing with Stiv Bators, meeting Greg Shaw and all of the other influential people of the time period. He has some great stories, so if you ever get a chance to hear David talk, don't miss it!
15. The Forgotten Rebels...I Think Of Her...recorded live at The Cedar Lounge and is from the CD Forgotten Rebels on OPM Records. The Rebels played The Cedar many many times and always put on an entertaining show!
16. The Forgotten Rebels...Surfin' On Heroin...from their This Ain't Hollywood LP on Star Records. One of those songs that The Rebels and bassist Chris Houston will always be remembered for.
17. The Forgotten Rebels...Elvis Is Dead...from the above CD, and again live at The Cedar. Probably recorded in Aug 1980.
18. The Forgotten Rebels...You're A Rebel Too...from the In Love With The System LP on Star Records. Bought this right after seeing the Rebels in Aug 1980 and played the shit out of this one. Lead singer Mike still gets a band together every once in awhile and plays out as The Forgotten Rebels and the kids still dig it!
19. The Fast...Wet'n'Wild..from the Fast For Sale LP...3 NYC brothers form a band in the very early 70's, pre-dating the NYDolls even. They play their own crazy version of bubblegum meets glam meets theatre...way ahead of the curve, these guys didn't fit in with any scene. As far as i can figure, they only played one night at the Cedar Lounge, 11/4/78.
20. The Fast...Kids Just Wanna Dance...from the Munster Records CD, The Best Of The Fast: 1976-1984. A highly recommended CD!!
21. Joe King Carrasco and The Crowns...Houston El Mover...from his Island LP. Joe released lots of records back in the day, toured constantly, appeared on American Bandstand and put on amazing shows and obviously was based in Texas. He only played one night at The Cedar, 7/24/79 with The Zellots. I was a schmuck and didn't go in cause the cover was an astromical $5 (in those days, cover was usually $1 or $2) and had no idea who Joe Carrasco was. Joe later came back to Fryfogles (club on Dundas St where the Library presently is) and it was supposedly a really wild show according to legend. Fryfogles was another influential club and we'll do a Radio WW special on it in the near future!
22. The Standing Waves...Integrating Circuits...from a 7" they released, again based in Texas and this combo had a bit of that Sir Douglas meets new wave sound. The beauty of The Cedar Lounge, is you could almost always be guaranteed to see/hear a cool band and there were lots of surprises like The Standing Waves.
23. Psychedelic Furs....Pulse...from their first LP and they made one appearance at The Cedar, 10/6/80. Another show i'm still kicking myself for missing, but think i had an exam or something the next day...The Zellots covered this song in their live show.
24. Fingerprintz...Close Circuit Connection...from their self titled LP, some of these guys went on to form the commercially successful The Silencers. 10/16/80 to 10/18/80 at The Cedar.
25. Chris Spedding...Hurt By Love...from the Hurt LP, Chris made several stops in London over the years, and 1/2/81 at The Cedar Lounge.
26. Certain General...B2C2...from their Holiday Of Love EP from 1982. It was the summer of 1981 and drummer Marcy Saddy brought her latest band, NYC based Certain General to play Rose and Doug's wedding at The Cedar Lounge. The band decided to stay here for awhile playing club shows at The Cedar and Fryfogles and supposedly rehearsing. They put on some amazing shows, one of the first bands of that era that i saw that started to touch on psychedlia and surf sounds and if i remember correctly, would bring lit candles to the stage to enhance the vibes of their show. They came back a year or 2 later and played at The Embassy Hotel, i'll try and dig out my pics from that show.
Thanx for all the call-ins, emails, kudos etc etc....on next week's show, we'll continue this special and probably start the show with some more Certain General.
The show is archived at:
http://chrwradio.com/archive/
Thursday at 7PM.
Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Radio What Wave Playlist...Dec 30/2010 Cedar Lounge Special Part 1
Radio What Wave Playlist...Dec 30/2010 The Cedar Lounge Special Part 1
This was a special early show, starting at 3:30PM until 6PM on Thursday Dec 30/2010 and is the beginning of The Cedar Lounge Special. The Cedar Lounge was London Ontario's first exclusive punk/new wave/whatever club and ran from late 1977 until May 1/1982. This series will feature ONLY bands that played at The Cedar Lounge...
1. Uranus....Gilligan's Island...from the You're So Square LP 1980 on Trilogy. If it wasn't for Uranus, and their insistence on playing at The Cedar Lounge (then called The Blue Boot Hotel) London would not have had the music scene it had back in the late 70's/early 80's. If it wasn't for Uranus, i wouldn't be the music geek that i am today....so you can blame Uranus, for this and just about anything else you want to!
2. Uranus... '53 Buick....from their first and only 7" EP, it's pictured above, top RH corner.
3. Uranus...You're So Square...yep, this was a hit on AM radio across Canada! Our hometown boys travel across Canada and even appear on Terry David Mulligan's TV show from Vancouver! But things aren't all rosy, the boys realize that they're getting shafted something fierce and there's no money coming in....travelling across Canada and having to stay at campgrounds sure ain't the big time!
4. Uranus...Lonesome Train...from the You're So Square LP...when i heard these guys play this song, and other Johnny Burnette and the Rock'n'Roll Trio songs live at The Cedar, it changed my whole appreciation of live bands. Here's a band that actually know the songs that i'm digging at home and play them live...usually when we went to see live bands back in the late 70's it was all Arrowshit, Led Shittelen, Pink Shit, and other shit covers....Thank You Uranus!!
5. The Demics...New York City...from the Talk's Cheap EP...Frank from Uranus was able to convince the owner of The Cedar to let The Demics play live...don't let that door hit you on the way in as the crazies have taken over and there's no looking back! Beer, beans, loud music and a whole lotta fun as the world will never be the same again. Another reason to thank Uranus.
6. The Demics... 400 Blows...from the New York City CD on OPM Records...recorded live at The Cedar Lounge.
7. The Demics... Talk's Cheap...from the Domestic Animals cassette. This was the 1st cassette of all local bands issued. The people that put it together (Peter Moore and Gerry Collins) didn't bother talking to the bands, or even tell them that it was going to come out. It was a total surprise to most of the bands! Hence a 2nd cassette called Animals Fight Back (compiled by Chris Richards of The Generics) was released with all of the band's involved approval. The way things should be done! And we'll be playing The Generics in a later part of this series.
8. The Demics...Oh Well...from the above mentioned Animals Fight Back CD.
9. The Regulators...That's Right, Nothing's Left....from their only 7". Yep, the doors have been opened and there's new bands forming and there's actually a viable scene in sleepy London Ontario. The single came out in 1979 on Ready Records.
10. The Regulators...What's In The City...from the Animals Fight Back cassette. It's actually the flip side of the above 7" but you try and flip over a 7" without stopping while you're on live radio...did i mention that this whole show was done live on air? Not pre-recorded or done on a laptop...this is the real deal with vinyl and CD's...hence the usual Radio WW fuckups that we do every week! It wouldn't be a RWW without a fuckup or 3!
Gord Lewis and Jack Peddlar at the Treat Me Like Dirt Book release party at This Ain't Hollywood, Hamilton 1/20/10. Steve Mahon was on bass, but i didn't get any decent pics with all 3 of them.
11. Teenage Head...Picture My Face... recorded live at The Spoke (fall 1980, sometimes this boot floats around as Live At The Spoke And Rimjob) and broadcast over the airwaves of CHRW with profanities and all. Since it was students (and the students guests only) that were allowed to get into this gig, i stayed home and taped it from the airwaves live on CHRW. Industrious little bastard with a lot of forthought wasn't i? And thanx to Andy Butler of the 905's for transferring the original cassette to CD for me a coupla years ago! Yes, this is Teenage Head in their glory, David Bendith is on guitar as Gord Lewis was involved in a serious car accident prior to this gig. Frankie describes the dressing rooms of The Cedar Lounge to a tee as this song starts out. Teenage Head used to regularly pack The Cedar Lounge and put on KILLER shows! From Hamilton Ontario, but you already know that if you're read the book 'Treat Me Like Dirt' by Liz Worth...more about this book later, so stay tuned.
12. Teenage Head...Tearing Me Apart... from their first single.
13. Teenage Head...Top Down...2nd version, recorded in 1978 and released as a single. One of my all time fave records from this era as TH get those killer Beach Boy like harmonies down so perfect! And the car sounds...Fucking amazing!!
14. Teenage Head...Kissing The Carpet...again live at The Spoke Fall 1980. They give the call out to CHRW and Nick makes the comment along the lines of 'if they haven't cut us off the air by now' that is just so perfect! Dunno how this ever got on the air...only Frankie would know what it's like to get boned up the ass by Elvis Costello who according to Frankie, 'is hung like the heater hose on a Mack Truck!!!' A little too much information there Frankie...LOL....
15. Crash 80's....Nowhere To Hide...from the Domestic Animals cassette..singer Pete Tangredi was later in Suffer Machine and presently The Cool Mothers. A little soul, funk and art mixed with punk is a good thing!
16. Crash 80's...Waiting For The Heat....from their only 7"...London band.
17. The Sinners...Some Enchanted Evening...from the Animals Fight Back cassette. Another local band who played just about anywhere and everywhere in London. Featured Paul Harlow (sometimes used other surnames) who later went onto Spiral Scratch and then Crawling Kingsnakes. We'll be spinning some Spiral Scratch in a later show.
18. The Sinners...No Brains Required...had to use the version from Punk History Canada CD that came out a coupla years back...all Canpunk from 1977 to 1982. This was also released on a 7" but mine has gone missing....if anyone has a spare copy please let me know.
19. NFG...Fuck Your Mother Later...from the Animals Fight Back cassette....Not For Girls, Non-Functioning Gear, No Fucking Good....take your choice but when these guys started out they were Fucking Amazing!! Bassist Bob had this really long hair that would fly around while he was playing and jumping up and down and get tangled in the strings of his bass. Drummer Pete had one of the cheapest drum kits around and it would constantly be falling to bits and pieces as he pummelled the living bejusus out of it. Singer Steven R Stunning would show you what was between his legs whether you wanted to see it or not and guitarist Markii Burnaway, ever so coy, came out of the closet with his drag queen persona...a sight and sound to behold this NFG!! You had to see it to believe it, they were that fucking good! There's an interview i did with them a few years back that appeared in the Greek fanzine Rumbleskunk (it's in the picture above).
20. NFG...At The Boot...from their 12", this is the anthem dedicated to The Cedar Lounge (formerly called The Blue Boot, hence the title) and recorded live, fall 1980 at The Cedar Lounge.
21. NFG...HiJack Victim...from the above 12', but also released on a Killed By Death compilation LP, #10 to be exact. Possibly the only London band to be on one of these comps were compiled by the collectors of late 70's/early 80's punk records. Not only that, but this is one of my fave songs from back then...just listen to those lyrics next time you hop a plane bound for Lauderdale!
22. NFG...Media Junkie...from the Punk History CD...by this time, NFG had become 63 Monroe, then First Date and then back to 63 Monroe. Make sense? Didn't think so, marketing was certainly not high priority to these guys. Maybe that's why singer Steven R Stunning didn't win when he campaigned for mayor for the city of London. Instead we got that bitch who hated gays!
23. 63 Monroe....Weekend Punx...from the Stinkin' Out The Joint LP...the rhythm section has left and now we've got ex-Verge members Pete Dekoker and Jeff Rooth (RIP) as members. In 2002, CHRW manager Mario Circelli did a documentary on the London punk scene and called it Stinkin' Out The Joint. Check youtube for that one, well worth checking out if you're a fan of the late 70's London punk scene. Oh, more trivia, this lineup of 63 Monroe played CBGB's in NYC!
24. Hot House...Burn It Down...from the LP of the same name....a budget metal band that played The Cedar fairly regularly and billed themselves as aggressive rock (or something along those lines). Bob the drummer was sometime sound guy at The Cedar and bassist Dick Demmery appeared in many other bands including a late version of Flying Squad.
25. Soma...Mr Mill...from the Animals Fight Back cassette...saw them a coupla times, but can't remember much.
26. Mettle...5/4...from the Domestic Animals cassette and was the brainchild of former Demic Rob Brent who wanted to go in an art direction. They did release a 12" which i sold years ago.
27. Enemas...Joe Wyatt...from the Animals Fight Back cassette..these guys were from Guelph (and did a song called Picture Yourself at Guelph, a song about not really fitting in...what punk did?) Ontario and featured NFG's Pete Lamberts brother on bass.... I remember really liking these guys back in the time.
28. The Zellots...Let's Play House...from a 1979 demo when the band was based in Vancouver. Chris and Jane, two London friends, both moved to Vancouver, unaware that the other did, and they ended up living within a couple of blocks of each other. Formed an all girl band with Holly and started playing in Vancouver opening for DOA, Subhumans, Pointed Sticks (all 3 of these bands will be featured in a later show in this series as they all played The Cedar Lounge) and others. Jane and Chirs moved back to London, Cathy Destin took over vocals and they played out lots around London. One of those bands that coulda and shoulda...they opened for John Cale at Fryfogles and he wanted to take them to the UK and open for him....instead they break up.Typical thing to do for a London band.
29. The Zellots...On The Dole...as above, some great lyrics on this one...listen carefully!
30. The Zellots...Blades...from the compilation CD called You Only Get One Shot at The Big Time on Wizzard in Vinyl from Japan. This is one of the Emac Studio demos and everyone involved had no idea that this CD was coming out. A copy arrived in the mail for me one day, opened it up and recognized one of my pictures of The Zellots from 1980 taken in front of Flamingos Hair Salon, Dundas St near Adelaide (see above)! Yep, there's a whole buncha those pics inside the booklet that comes with the CD and some of these pics have appeared on facebook. The compiler of the CD, Keith Grave, an old buddy from the What Wave zine days, sent me a copy as it had my pics in it and asked me to try and get in touch with the band. At the time, i wasn't able to, but since then, contact has been made....a possible Rave Up vinyl LP may be next!
31. Simply Saucer...I Can Change My Mind...from the 7" on Pig Records from 1978...shout out to our pal Gary Pig Gold at this point!! Yep, SS played The Cedar Lounge 5/16/79 to 5/19/79, a 3 day visit that singer Edgar Breau recalls very little about...too many years and beers, or something along those lines was what he said to me when we had him on Radio WW about 1.5 years ago!
L to R...Ralph Alfonso (Head honcho at Bongo Beat, publisher of Treat Me Like Dirt, manager of The Diodes, beat poet, record/CD sleeve designer, and a million other things), Mike Niederman (whose loft The Demics debuted in) and Liz Worth (author of Treat Me Like Dirt) at the London Record Show 2/14/10.
32. Simply Saucer...Bullet Proof...from the Cyborgs Revisited LP....this has the 'Treat Me Like Dirt' chorus on it as this is the beginning of out Treat Me Like Dirt portion of the show. All of the following bands are featured in Liz Worth's Treat Me Like Dirt book...you can get a copy from the publisher, Ralph Alfonso when he comes to the London Record Show this winter. That's him in the pic above, he's a nice guy and real easy to talk to. Thanx to our pal Bruce Mole Mowat for having the fortitude to release this record! One of the greatest records to ever come out of Canada.
33. Simply Saucer....Simply Saucer Story....from a CD called Saucerland that lead singer Edgar gave me last time we had him on Radio WW for an interview....a rock'n'roll droog indeed!
34. The Diodes...Red Rubber Ball... from a 7" from 1977. The first Canadian punk band to release a record on a major label!! They played The Cedar a few times and also have the distinction of being the first ever punk band to play here in London...read Treat Me Like Dirt for the details!
35. The Diodes...Child Star...from their greatest hits CD...The Diodes played Call The Office here in London this past June, you shoulda been there, it was an amazing and loud show! See the poster for the gig above
36. The Diodes...Tennis Again...from the above CD.
37. The Viletones...Screaming Fist...from one of their 7"'s. They only played The Cedar once as they destroyed the place and weren't allowed back. Later on they came back to London, this time at the Embassy Hotel.
38. The Viletones...Possibilities...from the A Taste Of Honey CD on OPM Records...mixed by Peter Moore, one of the 2 individuals responsible for the Domestic Animals cassette release.
39. The Viletones...A Sign Of The Times...from the What If Feels Like To Kill CD...this is from around 1977 and there's some great songs on this one, this almost feels like powerpop!
40. The Viletones...Swastika Girl...from A Taste Of Honey CD...read the book for the full story with all of the grimy details that you really didn't want to know...or maybe you did.
At this point, there was an hour of documentaries scheduled, so i chilled out, drank some Gold Keg and got ready for the next portion of the show. And that will be in a future blog...time permitting.
This was a special early show, starting at 3:30PM until 6PM on Thursday Dec 30/2010 and is the beginning of The Cedar Lounge Special. The Cedar Lounge was London Ontario's first exclusive punk/new wave/whatever club and ran from late 1977 until May 1/1982. This series will feature ONLY bands that played at The Cedar Lounge...
1. Uranus....Gilligan's Island...from the You're So Square LP 1980 on Trilogy. If it wasn't for Uranus, and their insistence on playing at The Cedar Lounge (then called The Blue Boot Hotel) London would not have had the music scene it had back in the late 70's/early 80's. If it wasn't for Uranus, i wouldn't be the music geek that i am today....so you can blame Uranus, for this and just about anything else you want to!
2. Uranus... '53 Buick....from their first and only 7" EP, it's pictured above, top RH corner.
3. Uranus...You're So Square...yep, this was a hit on AM radio across Canada! Our hometown boys travel across Canada and even appear on Terry David Mulligan's TV show from Vancouver! But things aren't all rosy, the boys realize that they're getting shafted something fierce and there's no money coming in....travelling across Canada and having to stay at campgrounds sure ain't the big time!
4. Uranus...Lonesome Train...from the You're So Square LP...when i heard these guys play this song, and other Johnny Burnette and the Rock'n'Roll Trio songs live at The Cedar, it changed my whole appreciation of live bands. Here's a band that actually know the songs that i'm digging at home and play them live...usually when we went to see live bands back in the late 70's it was all Arrowshit, Led Shittelen, Pink Shit, and other shit covers....Thank You Uranus!!
5. The Demics...New York City...from the Talk's Cheap EP...Frank from Uranus was able to convince the owner of The Cedar to let The Demics play live...don't let that door hit you on the way in as the crazies have taken over and there's no looking back! Beer, beans, loud music and a whole lotta fun as the world will never be the same again. Another reason to thank Uranus.
6. The Demics... 400 Blows...from the New York City CD on OPM Records...recorded live at The Cedar Lounge.
7. The Demics... Talk's Cheap...from the Domestic Animals cassette. This was the 1st cassette of all local bands issued. The people that put it together (Peter Moore and Gerry Collins) didn't bother talking to the bands, or even tell them that it was going to come out. It was a total surprise to most of the bands! Hence a 2nd cassette called Animals Fight Back (compiled by Chris Richards of The Generics) was released with all of the band's involved approval. The way things should be done! And we'll be playing The Generics in a later part of this series.
8. The Demics...Oh Well...from the above mentioned Animals Fight Back CD.
9. The Regulators...That's Right, Nothing's Left....from their only 7". Yep, the doors have been opened and there's new bands forming and there's actually a viable scene in sleepy London Ontario. The single came out in 1979 on Ready Records.
10. The Regulators...What's In The City...from the Animals Fight Back cassette. It's actually the flip side of the above 7" but you try and flip over a 7" without stopping while you're on live radio...did i mention that this whole show was done live on air? Not pre-recorded or done on a laptop...this is the real deal with vinyl and CD's...hence the usual Radio WW fuckups that we do every week! It wouldn't be a RWW without a fuckup or 3!
11. Teenage Head...Picture My Face... recorded live at The Spoke (fall 1980, sometimes this boot floats around as Live At The Spoke And Rimjob) and broadcast over the airwaves of CHRW with profanities and all. Since it was students (and the students guests only) that were allowed to get into this gig, i stayed home and taped it from the airwaves live on CHRW. Industrious little bastard with a lot of forthought wasn't i? And thanx to Andy Butler of the 905's for transferring the original cassette to CD for me a coupla years ago! Yes, this is Teenage Head in their glory, David Bendith is on guitar as Gord Lewis was involved in a serious car accident prior to this gig. Frankie describes the dressing rooms of The Cedar Lounge to a tee as this song starts out. Teenage Head used to regularly pack The Cedar Lounge and put on KILLER shows! From Hamilton Ontario, but you already know that if you're read the book 'Treat Me Like Dirt' by Liz Worth...more about this book later, so stay tuned.
12. Teenage Head...Tearing Me Apart... from their first single.
13. Teenage Head...Top Down...2nd version, recorded in 1978 and released as a single. One of my all time fave records from this era as TH get those killer Beach Boy like harmonies down so perfect! And the car sounds...Fucking amazing!!
14. Teenage Head...Kissing The Carpet...again live at The Spoke Fall 1980. They give the call out to CHRW and Nick makes the comment along the lines of 'if they haven't cut us off the air by now' that is just so perfect! Dunno how this ever got on the air...only Frankie would know what it's like to get boned up the ass by Elvis Costello who according to Frankie, 'is hung like the heater hose on a Mack Truck!!!' A little too much information there Frankie...LOL....
15. Crash 80's....Nowhere To Hide...from the Domestic Animals cassette..singer Pete Tangredi was later in Suffer Machine and presently The Cool Mothers. A little soul, funk and art mixed with punk is a good thing!
16. Crash 80's...Waiting For The Heat....from their only 7"...London band.
17. The Sinners...Some Enchanted Evening...from the Animals Fight Back cassette. Another local band who played just about anywhere and everywhere in London. Featured Paul Harlow (sometimes used other surnames) who later went onto Spiral Scratch and then Crawling Kingsnakes. We'll be spinning some Spiral Scratch in a later show.
18. The Sinners...No Brains Required...had to use the version from Punk History Canada CD that came out a coupla years back...all Canpunk from 1977 to 1982. This was also released on a 7" but mine has gone missing....if anyone has a spare copy please let me know.
19. NFG...Fuck Your Mother Later...from the Animals Fight Back cassette....Not For Girls, Non-Functioning Gear, No Fucking Good....take your choice but when these guys started out they were Fucking Amazing!! Bassist Bob had this really long hair that would fly around while he was playing and jumping up and down and get tangled in the strings of his bass. Drummer Pete had one of the cheapest drum kits around and it would constantly be falling to bits and pieces as he pummelled the living bejusus out of it. Singer Steven R Stunning would show you what was between his legs whether you wanted to see it or not and guitarist Markii Burnaway, ever so coy, came out of the closet with his drag queen persona...a sight and sound to behold this NFG!! You had to see it to believe it, they were that fucking good! There's an interview i did with them a few years back that appeared in the Greek fanzine Rumbleskunk (it's in the picture above).
20. NFG...At The Boot...from their 12", this is the anthem dedicated to The Cedar Lounge (formerly called The Blue Boot, hence the title) and recorded live, fall 1980 at The Cedar Lounge.
21. NFG...HiJack Victim...from the above 12', but also released on a Killed By Death compilation LP, #10 to be exact. Possibly the only London band to be on one of these comps were compiled by the collectors of late 70's/early 80's punk records. Not only that, but this is one of my fave songs from back then...just listen to those lyrics next time you hop a plane bound for Lauderdale!
22. NFG...Media Junkie...from the Punk History CD...by this time, NFG had become 63 Monroe, then First Date and then back to 63 Monroe. Make sense? Didn't think so, marketing was certainly not high priority to these guys. Maybe that's why singer Steven R Stunning didn't win when he campaigned for mayor for the city of London. Instead we got that bitch who hated gays!
23. 63 Monroe....Weekend Punx...from the Stinkin' Out The Joint LP...the rhythm section has left and now we've got ex-Verge members Pete Dekoker and Jeff Rooth (RIP) as members. In 2002, CHRW manager Mario Circelli did a documentary on the London punk scene and called it Stinkin' Out The Joint. Check youtube for that one, well worth checking out if you're a fan of the late 70's London punk scene. Oh, more trivia, this lineup of 63 Monroe played CBGB's in NYC!
24. Hot House...Burn It Down...from the LP of the same name....a budget metal band that played The Cedar fairly regularly and billed themselves as aggressive rock (or something along those lines). Bob the drummer was sometime sound guy at The Cedar and bassist Dick Demmery appeared in many other bands including a late version of Flying Squad.
25. Soma...Mr Mill...from the Animals Fight Back cassette...saw them a coupla times, but can't remember much.
26. Mettle...5/4...from the Domestic Animals cassette and was the brainchild of former Demic Rob Brent who wanted to go in an art direction. They did release a 12" which i sold years ago.
27. Enemas...Joe Wyatt...from the Animals Fight Back cassette..these guys were from Guelph (and did a song called Picture Yourself at Guelph, a song about not really fitting in...what punk did?) Ontario and featured NFG's Pete Lamberts brother on bass.... I remember really liking these guys back in the time.
28. The Zellots...Let's Play House...from a 1979 demo when the band was based in Vancouver. Chris and Jane, two London friends, both moved to Vancouver, unaware that the other did, and they ended up living within a couple of blocks of each other. Formed an all girl band with Holly and started playing in Vancouver opening for DOA, Subhumans, Pointed Sticks (all 3 of these bands will be featured in a later show in this series as they all played The Cedar Lounge) and others. Jane and Chirs moved back to London, Cathy Destin took over vocals and they played out lots around London. One of those bands that coulda and shoulda...they opened for John Cale at Fryfogles and he wanted to take them to the UK and open for him....instead they break up.Typical thing to do for a London band.
29. The Zellots...On The Dole...as above, some great lyrics on this one...listen carefully!
30. The Zellots...Blades...from the compilation CD called You Only Get One Shot at The Big Time on Wizzard in Vinyl from Japan. This is one of the Emac Studio demos and everyone involved had no idea that this CD was coming out. A copy arrived in the mail for me one day, opened it up and recognized one of my pictures of The Zellots from 1980 taken in front of Flamingos Hair Salon, Dundas St near Adelaide (see above)! Yep, there's a whole buncha those pics inside the booklet that comes with the CD and some of these pics have appeared on facebook. The compiler of the CD, Keith Grave, an old buddy from the What Wave zine days, sent me a copy as it had my pics in it and asked me to try and get in touch with the band. At the time, i wasn't able to, but since then, contact has been made....a possible Rave Up vinyl LP may be next!
31. Simply Saucer...I Can Change My Mind...from the 7" on Pig Records from 1978...shout out to our pal Gary Pig Gold at this point!! Yep, SS played The Cedar Lounge 5/16/79 to 5/19/79, a 3 day visit that singer Edgar Breau recalls very little about...too many years and beers, or something along those lines was what he said to me when we had him on Radio WW about 1.5 years ago!
32. Simply Saucer...Bullet Proof...from the Cyborgs Revisited LP....this has the 'Treat Me Like Dirt' chorus on it as this is the beginning of out Treat Me Like Dirt portion of the show. All of the following bands are featured in Liz Worth's Treat Me Like Dirt book...you can get a copy from the publisher, Ralph Alfonso when he comes to the London Record Show this winter. That's him in the pic above, he's a nice guy and real easy to talk to. Thanx to our pal Bruce Mole Mowat for having the fortitude to release this record! One of the greatest records to ever come out of Canada.
33. Simply Saucer....Simply Saucer Story....from a CD called Saucerland that lead singer Edgar gave me last time we had him on Radio WW for an interview....a rock'n'roll droog indeed!
34. The Diodes...Red Rubber Ball... from a 7" from 1977. The first Canadian punk band to release a record on a major label!! They played The Cedar a few times and also have the distinction of being the first ever punk band to play here in London...read Treat Me Like Dirt for the details!
35. The Diodes...Child Star...from their greatest hits CD...The Diodes played Call The Office here in London this past June, you shoulda been there, it was an amazing and loud show! See the poster for the gig above
36. The Diodes...Tennis Again...from the above CD.
37. The Viletones...Screaming Fist...from one of their 7"'s. They only played The Cedar once as they destroyed the place and weren't allowed back. Later on they came back to London, this time at the Embassy Hotel.
38. The Viletones...Possibilities...from the A Taste Of Honey CD on OPM Records...mixed by Peter Moore, one of the 2 individuals responsible for the Domestic Animals cassette release.
39. The Viletones...A Sign Of The Times...from the What If Feels Like To Kill CD...this is from around 1977 and there's some great songs on this one, this almost feels like powerpop!
40. The Viletones...Swastika Girl...from A Taste Of Honey CD...read the book for the full story with all of the grimy details that you really didn't want to know...or maybe you did.
At this point, there was an hour of documentaries scheduled, so i chilled out, drank some Gold Keg and got ready for the next portion of the show. And that will be in a future blog...time permitting.
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