Radio What Wave Playlist September 28/2018. Cedar Lounge Special Part 1
First part of a tribute to the Cedar Lounge, the first punk/new wave/whatever club here in London Ontario. Located at the north west corner of King and Talbot and now the home of the 3 giant concrete (ceramic or whatever) balls on the area surrounding the Budweiser Gardens. This show is comprised of the music of the bands that played there…
- The Demics….Heart Of The City…live recording from the Cedar from 1978 and a song that to me surmises the early punk scene here in London. And one of the first songs I ever heard The Demics play live.
- The Demics….New York City….recorded live at the Cedar Lounge 10/18/1978. From the cassette compilation Domestic Animals put out by Peter Moore and Gerry Collins. These guys put out this cassette without asking the band’s permission, and many were not aware they were on a cassette until they heard their songs right here on CHRW. Peter was a DJ here on CHRW and went under the name Simon Less. He’s gone on to way grander things….like winning a Grammy Award a year or so ago for his work on the Bob Dylan re-issues!! And he’s mastered literally tons of recordings since his days recording live bands in London.
- The Demics….Oh Well…. As above and often followed NYC during live performances by The Demics.
- The Regulators…Vicious….live recording from the Cedar from 1979. NYC was written about singer/guitarist and his fixation on Lou Reed and NYC….or so says the rumour.
- The Regulators…..What Goes On…..live recording from the Polish Hall on Ann St 11/2/1979. This was a venue that was host to several punk/new wave bashes in the early years. NFG also played on this show, the infamous last show of their guitarist Larry Gifford and possibly Simon Lewis. More on this at a future date.
- Regulators…..What’s In The City….as above and this song was on their only record, a 7” on Ready Records.
- The Scenics….Waiting For My Man….from their How Does It Feel To Be Loved CD and is a live recording from the Cabana Room in Toronto 8/20/1980. This art trio played London and St Thomas many times along with The Demics and would trade Toronto gigs with The Demics. A few years after the Cedar years, guitarist/vocalist Andy had a record store at the south east corner of Queen and Clarence….think it’s a parking lot now.
- The Scenics….Oh Boy…..from the In The Summer CD and the first studio recording for this edition of Radio WW.
- Uranus….You’re So Square…..from a live recording in Toronto from 5/1980. Uranus were the first of the non-bluegrass bands to play this venue….it may have been Ricky McLagen Revue, which had a couple members of Uranus. When they first played, the Cedar was under its previous name, The Blue Boot. Name changed on June 15/1978 when Foreplay played.
- Uranus….Lonesome Train….from the You’re So Square LP from 1980. You’re So Square was a top 10 hit on AM radio in Canada in May of 1980! And Uranus toured western Canada, appeared on CBC television twice, were about to head to the Maritimes and instead broke up!
- Bop Cats….I Can’t Help It….from a 7” and featured Londoner Cameron Marshman on bass. Bop Cats played the Cedar many times, one New Years Eve show they were joined onstage by Diode John Catto!
- Hi Fis….Look What You’ve Done….from their only 7” and this band evolved into Blue Rodeo a couple years later. Only remember seeing them once at the Cedar and they were a tight powerpop combo with some early Beatles overtones.
- Teenage Head……Picture My Face….from a live recording at the Spoke and Rim Tavern at Western University 2/18/1981. This was broadcast over the airwaves of CHRW and I managed the tape the show on my cassette recorder. The event was for students of Western only so I wasn’t able to go….and that guitarist on this track isn’t Gordie Lewis as he was recovering from an auto accident and it’s rumoured to be Jimmy Huff.
- Teenage Head….Those Things You Do…. As above. Teenage Head played the Cedar many times and they would always pack the house!
- The Shakers….Out The Door….from a 7” and they were from Hamilton. Dave Rave was guitarist/vocalist and is now vocalist for Teenage Head and he was a guest a couple weeks back here at Radio WW.
- The Sinners….No Brains Required….from a 7” they released. Paul Wootton was guitarist/vocalist in this combo and went on to….
- Spiral Scratch…..No Familiar Faces….from a live recording at the Cedar 10/9/1981.
- Spiral Scratch….Gonna Rock (this might not be the proper name of this song) and as above.
- Crash 80’s…..Thrills…..from their only 7”.
- Crash 80’s…..Nowhere To Hide……from the cassette compilation Domestic Animals and a live recording from Larry’s in Toronto.
- Crash 80’s…..Waiting For The Heat….from the above 7”
- The Stoves…..Jail…..from a 1979 live recording at the Cedar Lounge.
- NFG…..At The Boot…..from a demo recording with Simon Lewis on guitar. The Boot referred to the Blue Boot, which was the prior name of the Cedar Lounge.
- 63 Monroe…..Bad Boy……from a live recording at the Cedar Lounge Easter 1981 and was supposed to be the last ever show of NFG and 63 Monroe….or billed something like that as singer Scott gave away handfuls of the old NFG buttons.
- NFG….Hi-Jack Victim…from a live recording at the York Hotel, date unknown.
- First Date…..Good In Bed….from a live recording at the Cedar 10/15/1981. This was a short lived name of 63 Monroe as they reverted back to capitalize on the release of the 63 Monroe/NFG 12” EP, part of which was recorded live at the Cedar.
- B Girls……B Girls…..7” on Bomp records and this all female combo had local Marcy Saddy on the drums. A current version of this band was in Japan recently on tour.
- Second Thoughts….Wound Up….from a 7” and features Mark Goodwin on guitar/vocals who is still active in Montreal.
- The Zellots….These Boots Are Made For Walking….from a live recording at the Kent Hotel in Guelph/Kitchener?? Recorded this one from the airwaves of CHRW, probably on the Simon Less radio show.
- The Zellots…..Let’s Play House….from a live recording at the Cedar August 1981 for Doug and Rose’s wedding party. Also on the bill of the show were Radio 4, Spiral Scratch and the first London appearance of Certain General. CG drove all day to get to London and walked into the bar, set up and started playing! Marcy Saddy was drummer for Certain General, hence the London Ontario connection.
- The Zellots…..Empty Victories….from a compilation called You Only Get One Shot At The Big Time released in Japan on the Wizzard in Vinyl imprint. This was a compilation CD of 5 bands from the late 70’s/early 80’s and features a booklet with pics of The Zellots playing here in London….Fryfogles and at a Dundas St East outdoor event from August 1980.
- The Zellots….Blades….as above.
- Radio 4….Is God A Man…..demo recording from this combo that morphed into Sheep Look Up, who I just found out, never played the Cedar but were in formation mode when the Cedar closed.
- Radio 4….4 Years….as above.
- Dead Rabbits…..Roadrunner….from a live recording at the Cedar 10/9/1981 with a slight lyric change when Wanda says ‘I’m in love with the Cedar Lounge’….so perfect for this show!
- The Enemas….Joe Wyatt….from the Animals Fight Back cassette and were from Guelph Ontario, except for bass player Brian Lambert who went on to Nach Dem Tode and he also did the Graphic Underground: London 1977-1990 Exhibit and show from 2012.
That’s the end of Part 1 of the Cedar Lounge Story, Part 2 next week. And you can see the Cedar Lounge Exhibit on right now at the London Music Hall Of Fame, 182 Dundas St….open Saturdays Noon till 5PM.
Thanx for the Tons of phone calls, texts, emails, FB messages and Heys!!!! That’s what makes it all worth while!
At some point, we might have archived shows at this link:
http://www.radiowestern.ca/index.php/program/radio-what-wave