Radio What Wave Playlist Jan 31/2013 Canadian Garagepunk Sandwich Part 2
Our second part at attempting to give an audio history of the Candian Garagepunk music scene. With this show we covered the late 80's/early 90's. In no way did we cover it all as scenes were (and still are) regional and many bands either didn't record or were totally unknown outside of their area.
Then right after Radio WW, Ryan's The Freakout played all 60's Canadian garagepunk music. So 2.5 hours of Canadian garagepunk music, hence a sandwich!
1. The Raving Mojos...Open Up Your Door...from The Last Rock'n'Roll Show Ever!! CD. A live reunion show from around 2000, recorded in Toronto.
2. The Purple Toads...40 Pounder Blues...from their self titled debut LP on Star Records from 1986. We ended last week's show with The Toads, so it's a great place to get the action rolling again. This song shoulda been an anthem! It's got the hooks, the loud guitars and a theme that many can identify with. The Purple Toads released one more LP before breaking up.
3. The Mongols...Sleepwalk...from the Sleepwalk 12" on Primitive Records from the late 80's. Guitarist/vocalist Kim Shadow passed away due to an accident not long after this was released. This is the beginning of an all Montreal set. Primitive Records were amongst the leaders in the Montreal garagerock scene and it still exists as an actual store to this day.
4. The Minstrels...Work All Day...recorded live at Call The Office 4/25/89. At the time, this was a 3 piece combo based in Quebec City before moving to Montreal. They were young, energetic and had a real pop sound to their tunes and blew me away that night. We talked, and the next song was on the record we released by them.
5. The Minstrels...Rhythm In Her Head...from the Come Out To Play 12" on What Wave Records from 1989. When we released this one, everyone wanted CD's as they deemed vinyl to be outdated and uncool. Times have changed, yet this record has one of those timeless sounds that we can still all enjoy.
6. The Cryptics...He's Waiting...recorded live at Call the Office, 7/4/92 as The Cryptics opened up for The Gruesomes. It was bands like this that made it all worthwhile as they grew up with 60's garagepunk and The Gruesomes as their influences.
7. The Cryptics...You're Evil...from their one and only 7" on Primitive Records.
8. The Sherlocks...Through The Bars...from their self titled debut LP on Primitive Records. Never got to see this combo, as the scene started to change and some of the people from the garage scene in Montreal moved towards mod and ska influenced sounds as they rode the next trend, of which some of those are still involved in ska to this day.
9. The Cheshyres...I Just Don't Know...late 80's demo as we shift from Montreal to Toronto. The Cheshyres evolved out of The Beaumonts (covered last week) and never released any vinyl, which is a major shame. Singer Wayne Pattern moved to London Ontario and played in The Evil Hoodoos before finishing school and heading out west. Drummer Ken Anderson went back to NYC to play in The Optic Nerve and The Ultra 5. He is presently in a folk duo with his wife, Hungrytown and they travel the world via the folk scene.
10. Drums Along The Gardiner...Bad Times...late 80's demo, and another offshoot of The Beaumonts. These guys mixed punk, garage, metal and just about everything else to create what was a unique sound at the time.
11. Drums Along The Gardiner...Girl, TV and Beer...another late 80's demo and the title sums up life for many.
12. The Chessmen...He'll Go Away...from their self titled LP on Zapp Records as we move westward to Hamilton Ontario. The Chessmen appeared on several What Wave compilations as well as a Nardwuar comp.
13. The Bards....Hey Little Bird...early 90's demo from this band that could do it all. Gaven Dianda was part of this combo and he went on to many many bands of which The Saffron Sect could be the most well known.
14. Girl Bombs...Come Back...from a mid 90's 7" on Misty Lane Records from Italy. One of the very few all girl garage combos from the era and there is a very good chance the band may reunite in the very near future.
15. Frankenstein 5...Writing On The Wall...from a self released cassette. We go westward to London Ontario for this garagepunk combo that kept the scene going in sleepy London Ontario. 2 of the members are still active to this day, one in a Toronto soul/mod combo, The Reply, and another in Hamilton based garagepunk The noble Savages.
16. The Evil Hoodoos...Back In The USA...early 90's demo from this band that seemed to have a revolving door for members, but one thing remained constant, cool music!
17. B5 Blue...Borderline...recorded live in the early 90's. This band evolved from The Boy From Nowhere whom we covered last show.
18. Lost Patrol...No Escape...from their first 7" from 1986. This band evolved from a straight 60's influenced combo with the swirling organ, to a more bluesy based/hard rock yet still garage influenced sound. Always a fun time to see them live.
19. Dragsville...Royal Drag...recorded live at Brennan's 11/3/12. Slight musical interlude as Dragsville and The noble Savages were playing the night after this show aired. Country influenced combo from London Ontario.
20. The noble Savages...She's So Serious....demo from this Hamilton Ontario based garagepunk combo who played the night after this show aired.
21. The noble Savages...Fire In the World...as above.
22. Leather Uppers...Carne Mysterioso...from a split 7" with The Icky Boyfriends. The Leather Uppers were a Toronto 2 piece that helped evolve the garagepunk sound in a trashier direction. Over the years, The Leather Uppers released many records and toured the world, but i'll always remember seeing them at their first out of town gig. It was right here in sleepy London Ontario at the grungy Brunswick Hotel, where they lasted only one night of a weekend gig as they were asked to leave by management.
23. The Vindicators...No Worries...from their OG Records 12" from 1989. Out west to Calgary we go, as this town has always had a scene that welcomed the garagepunk sounds. The Vindicators (not to be confused with the France combo of the same name) dug the Texas sound of 1966 and drummer Bryce Dunne went on to The Smugglers and presently The Tranzmitors.
24. Color Me Psycho...Black Corvair...from It Came From Canada Volume 3 on OG Records. These guys released several records/CD's and appeared on many compilations and members went on to many other Calgary based combos, Forbidden Dimension being one of those.
25. Huevos Rancheros...Gump Worsley's Lament...from the Rockin' In The Henhouse 7" on One Louder Records from the UK...instro combo influenced by The Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, but they had a harder edge to them.
Damn, out of time, but certainly not sounds and storys. We're going to stop the Canadian Garagepunk Sandwich for now, but revive it at a later date to continue this story. Thanx for all the amazing feedback for these 2 shows!! Back next week with more noise to annoy.
Here's a link to the podcast: