Radio What Wave Playlist Feb /12 2015. The Last Pogo Jumps Again Part 4. The London Ontario Years
As the title suggests, this is the story of London Ontario punk/new wave from before ground zero, right up till 7:30 PM when we run out of time. This show covers the very early years, further shows will carry on from where we end on this one.
1. Nihilst Spasm Band....No Canada...from their very first record in 1967. Home made instruments, no musical experience, no talent and 50 years later these artists are still playing every now and then! Proof there is life in London Ontario.
2. Peter Tangredi....Life Is A Crazy Passion....from the Demics Tribute CD. Pete was in a band called Crash 80's whom we'll hear on the next part in this series. His outlook, as expressed by the lyrics in this song, summed up what life was like for us when punk started!! A breath of fresh air!!
3. Eddie And The Hot Rods....Ignore Them....recorded live at Fryfogles Tavern, London Ontario 11/7/1977. Part of a 3 night residency, and the very first 'punk' band from out of the country to play here. These guys instructed us in how it was done. "Get outta your chairs and dance and stop watching your 21" colour television" Barry Masters shouted at the crowd. People listened and we started to get it! For those that aren't aware, the change to punk from mainstream was monumental in every way! Fashion, art, music, clothing, outlook, ideology. One of the biggest movements of the 20th century and overlooked for so many years by mainstream.
4. Eddie and The Hot Rods....Beginning Of The End....as above. Got an email from someone who was at the show and was blown away as he remembered the Hot Rods doing this song!! Only on Radio What Wave!
5. The Curse....Killer Bees....recorded live at Forest City Gallery, 11/25/1977. The first all female punk band to play London....in fact one of the very first all female punk bands. From Toronto, lots of attitude and a 7 song set. Unfortunatly The Ugly (also from Toronto) didn't arrive at the gig and The Curse had to play their same set 3 times. They changed the order of the songs for some variety. Watch out for that raw meat aimed at the band!!
6. The Demics....Get Me To The World On Time....recorded live at The Cedar Lounge fall 1978. Our first ever punk rock band here in London. One of the few elements of London Ontario punk rock that all seem to remember. There was a lot more to see/hear/remember of the local scene and that's why we're doing these specials. Should mention, this is a cover of the Electric Prunes, a so called 60's garage band. Most of the 70's punk bands were influenced by the 60's garage sounds a decade prior.
7. Uranus....Cruisin'....recorded live off CFNY 1980. Our other major local band and the band that started it all! Uranus, the name is a piss take on the band names of the day, was a band with not only a sense of humour, but really good musical taste. They were around prior to the so called punk/new wave thing, playing real rock'n'roll when that was NOT the cool thing to do! Playing covers of Johnny Burnette, Ricky Nelson, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Flamin' Groovies and so much more, they had crowds up and dancing when this wasn't supposed to happen! They were the first band to play the Blue Boot, which became the Cedar Lounge and brought The Demics into this place. Ground Zero!!! Believe it or not, they made the top 10 in Canada in 1980, a fact that is forgotten in London, except on Radio WW! I confess, this is THE BAND that did it for me!!! And they were the choice band of the bikers! The gangs, not the wannabees!
8. Uranus....Shake Some Action.... as above. One of my all time fave songs and in the top 10 lists of many music geeks!! Sometimes i indulge....
9. The Regulators....Bar Room Bore....recorded live at The Cedar Lounge 1979. Once the gates were opened, bands formed and this was one of the first. Heavily influenced by Velvet Underground and Lou Reed in look and sound these guys (and gal) released one 7" that didn't live up to their live sound. That's why we played a live track!
10. The Regulators....Sherry Share-It.... as above. Enjoy the live sound!
11. The Stoves...Look Through Any Window....recorded live at the Cedar Lounge. Another one of the first local combos. These guys had 3 part harmonies, tight instrumentation, could write great songs and then broke apart. One of the bands that could have and should have. As Demic singer Keith used to say when intro-ing them 'THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING BAND IN LONDON". And Keith was right!!
12. The Stoves....Roller Coaster... as above. Just couldn't get enough of these guys, and after The Hollies cover above, had to prove to you they could write great songs!!!
13. Nihilst Spasm Band....This Is A Test....from a CD whose title is hieroglyphics. And this was the end of the show test.
Here's some books on the local scene well worth picking up, if you're interested:
1. At The York.....Wayne A Johnston This is an oral history of The York Hotel, which is now Call The Office.
2. Treat Me Like Dirt.....Liz Worth....This is an oral history of the Toronto and area punk rising. There are many references to London and the story of The Demics forming is included.
3. Graphic Underground: London 1977-1990.....Brian Lambert. This was the book that accompanied our art display of the same name in Oct/Nov 2012. It covers the posters, zines, epherma of the mentioned time period.
4. What Wave 24.....O'Halloran....This is the band history of London Ontario from about 1976 up to about 1992. There are band trees, history, band members, look at the venues etc. Also comes with a 90m cassette of unreleased music from London Ontario during the above time period. Highly recommended, although i could be slightly biased on this one.
Huge Huge thanx for all the crazies that phoned in during this show!!! What a load of memories we all shared!! Who woulda thunk over 35 years later, we'd still be digging these sounds!!
And a HUGE thanx for all the emails, facebook messages etc......we were overwhelmed and still are. Radio What Wave listeners are the ABSOLUTE BEST!!!!
Not on next week, our good pal, Ryan In The Red will be filling in and doing a bang up job as he always does!! Thanx Ryan!!
In 2 weeks, Feb 26th we've got a special guest on for the entire show....Mr Dave Rave!!! Former member of The Shakes, Teenage Head, Dave Rave Conspiracy, Angelii and Rave and so many more! We've had Dave on before, almost 2 years ago and that was one of our most highly listened to shows!!! So we're gonna do it again and Dave promises to bring his guitar along, so just about anything can and will happen.
In 3 weeks, Mar 5th, we'll be bringing the next part of the London Years to your ears. On that show, we hope to be playing; The Hippies, Crash 80's, Radio 4, Generics and so many more great local bands from that era!! Facebook event has been set up.
You can hear the archives here:
http://chrwradio.ca/programs/radio-what-wave
