Picture My
Face: The Story of Teenage Head Directed by Douglas
Arrowsmith Felt Film; TVO
Films 86 minutes, 2020 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tngA205-4Bg
Every city’s music scene has a band (or bands) that
turned the knob to the next notch. For the Glam-to-Punk phase of the 1970s in
New York, it was the New York Dolls. In Boston, it was arguably Willie Loco
Alexander and the Boom Boom Band. And for the Toronto-Hamilton area, Ontario,
there was Teenage Head, who took their name from an album by a West Coast version
of this same principle, the Flamin’ Groovies.
Thanks to then-rock-writer Dawn Eden, a friend who
also wrote for my ‘zine, I got to see the Hamilton-based Teenage Head play in a
small club called Tramps in New York in the late-1980s, though it was after
original lead singer Frankie Venom left the band and was replaced by the
effervescent Dave Rave (aka Dave Desroches), who still does the vocals to this
day (along with his many other projects) and appears with his ever changing
hair length in this documentary on the band.
It’s hard to
explain just how important Teenage Head was to the Toronto metropolitan scene. Without
them, there may not have been the Diodes, the Viletones, and so many others
(check of Liz Worth’s excellent 2009 oral history of the Toronto scene, Treat
Me Like Dirt after you watch this film).
You
say you’ve never heard of Teenage Head? Well, first of all, this is your
clarion call to go and check out their amazing catalog, including my fave cut,
“You’re Tearing Me Apart” (which is not used here). But more importantly,
whether directly or indirectly, much like Johnny Thunders, the sound of their
influence goes beyond their name, especially for bands in Eastern Canada.
The
film opens up with archival footage of the band playing at the Heatwave
Festival in the heat of summer of 1980 in Bowmanville, Ontario, just west of
Toronto, before delving into the history of the band’s formation. What I like
about this approach, is that rather than a series of talking heads (more later),
we meet the band as people rather than either super rock stars or seriously
flawed humans (think of docs you’ve seen about, say, Janis, Jimi or even Sid
V.). The band convenes at late lead singer Frankie Venom Kerr's grave (d. 2008; cancer) as we are introduced to guitarist Gord Lewis, bassist Steve Mahon, and
current members vocalist Dave Rave and drummer Gene Champaign.
There
is some loose chronology to the documentary, as it follows along their near-fame
trajectory that was sidelined first by a highway crash that temporarily paralyzed
Gord, which took them out of their touring mode and the recording of their
third album, as other bands filled the spot that was meant for them (but not as
well).
A
large portion of the film deals with Gord’s struggle with depression following
Frankie’s passing, the second major hit the band took. This reminded me of the
film New York Doll (2005), which focused on Doll’s bassist Arthur “Killer”
Kane’s similar issues. The fact that his back was shattered in that crash which
caused the band to slip out of momentary prominence I’m sure is part of that as
well.
As I said, the film does not glorify the band,
nor vilifies them, but rather shows them dealing with adversity while being incredibly
talented musicians who just never got the wide-scale recognition they deserved
through no direct fault of their own. I believe that this documentary is all
the more captivating because it makes it identifiable, not with some
pie-in-the-sky lifestyle that most can never achieve, but by bringing it down
to both the human scale and the humane.
There are some talking
head interviews thrown in, including Nina Antonia who arguably wrote the
definitive books on The New York Dolls (Too Much Too Soon, 2005) and
Johnny Thunders (In Cold Blood, 1987), and rock writer Jon Savage,
author of the British punk history England’s Dreaming (2004). Showing up
sporatically is Marky Ramone, who worked with the band on their 2008 CD Teenage
Head with Marky Ramone. He states at one point, “Frankie Venom was like
Johnny Rotten,” but I respectfully beg to differ, as I feel Frankie was closer
in movement and ferocity to Stiv Bators. Rotten would lean into the mic and
roam around like an angry bull, but Stiv would be all over the stage and was oft
jumping in the air, much like Frankie. Also making an appearance is guitarist Rob
Baker of the Kingston band The Tragically Hip, who gives some insights into
what it’s like when your lead singer is gone, with the passing of the Hip’s
vox-meister Gord Downie in 2017.
As much as this is a film about their history,
including some great live footage and archival interviews with Venom, this is
also about their reformation 40 years after they started, now with Dave Rave
out front (whom I’ve had the honor to know casually over the years), thanks to
Warner Bros releasing to some success a collection of lost tapes from when the
band was at its peak, Fun Comes Fast, in 2017.
We
watch them prep to play at a bar I had always wanted to visit in Hamilton, This Ain’t Hollywood,
which closed during the summer of 2020. But as the film begins with the huge
Heatwave Festival in 1980, it concludes with the gigantic CFL Labour Day
Classic Halftime Show (Hamilton vs. Toronto) in 2019.
This is certainly not the feel-good film of the year
as far as the cult of celebrity goes, but it is important. Teenage Head are a
band that deserves recognition, both for their sound and also their non-music history.
They are four dudes trying to make the best of their lives, and that message is
presented in a palpable form that is neither depressing nor exalting, which is
the perfect pitch. Great job.
Trouble in the Camera Club: A Photographic Narrative of Toronto’s Punk History 1976-1980 By Don Pyle Introduction by Steven Leckie ECW Press (Toronto), 2011 300 pages; USD/CDN $29.95 ISBN: 978-1-55022-966-0 ecwpress.com troubleinthecameraclub.com donpyle.com
Every scene instigation has its photographer. In Buffalo from the ‘70s on, it was Eric Jensen. In Boston in the ‘80s, it was Peter Parka (aka Rocco Cippilone). In New York, well, there were many, including myself. Perhaps someday, my book will come.
One such photographer and fan to the nascent New York scene was Mariah Augier [d. 2005], with whom I was acquainted. By the early-‘80s, I had lost touch with her. Years later, around 1996, I ran into her at a party for a mutual friend and we started talking about “the days.” She said something to me that changed my entire perspective of my photographs: “When I started taking photos,” paraphrasing what Mariah stated, “I was just doing it for fun. Years later, I realized what I had wasn’t a collection of pictures, it was a body of work.” I identified with that. Obviously, on his own, so did Don Pyle.
Pyle was a music-obsessed teen with a new camera who pointed his lens on whatever bands he was interested in, which turned out to be just about everyone that matters in the Toronto scene, and more. Hot on the heels of Liz Worth’s excellent book, Treat Me Like Dirt: The Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981 (in which Pyle is not only often quoted, but his photo is on the cover, a self-shot piece which also appears in Camera Club, and, in part, to the right of this paragraph), comes this unofficial and welcomed companion.
Actually, referring to this book as “a photographic narrative” is a bit of an understatement. Yes, there’s over 300 of Pyle’s photos, but there is so much more, such as 200 other images of ticket stubs and show flyers, and sometimes scalding, other times self-reflective – and occasionally self-depreciating – stories of what led him to certain bands, and what turned him off about others. There are the occasional pictures of friends, some of his early and experimental shots of the city, all on levels of varied expertise: he was learning to work a 35mm camera by photographing shows, much as I was; his first was Iggy supported by Bowie, mine the Ramones at CBGBs. Similarly, he also starting out taking pix with a cheap instamatic (him: Ramones and BOC; me: Roxy Music, and stalwarts of the NY scene like the Cramps, Dead Boys, and Wayne County). Heck, we even both took some shots off the television of the same program (Joan Jett and Kim Fowley on The Tomorrow Show). I get the feeling that if we had lived in the same town at the same time, we may have been friends.
Though he was in Toronto and I was in New York, apparently we saw many shows of the same tour (e.g., Gary Glitter, the Troggs, Iggy Pop), and it was interesting to hear him describe what I was feeling back then (such as how bad and boring the Police were on stage). Fortunately for him, he also got to see way more of Toronto’s local bands than I did. While I saw the Dave Rave period Teenage Head, he followed the original Frankie Venom Kerr (d. 2008) era, along with the Viletones (great band, and Pyle took a lot of shots of them; the lead singer, Nazi Dog – aka Steven Leckie, wrote the brief intro to this book), the Diodes, the Curse, the Demics, the Ugly, and so many more that I would have loved to have seen, but have to rely on stills like these, and their released vinyl (which often, according to Pyle, did not live up to the live band performances).
So, you’re not familiar with the Toronto sound and bands? It doesn’t matter, because Pyle’s interest went beyond that, as he took his camera to shows by international groups that were touring, like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, 999, the Stranglers, the Runaways. Then there are the amazing shots of some of the New York bands that made it up there, like the Ramones, the Heartbreakers (Johnny and Walter, but no Jerry), Blondie, the Patti Smith Group, the Fast, David Jo and Sylvain, and the Dead Boys.
While I realize I have woven myself into this review (more than usual, anyway), it’s because I feel an affinity for the period, the photos, and the Pyle’s process and story. After going through the book and reading all the text (which alone would have been enjoyable), I went through it again just admiring the images. Sure, there are blurry shots (like me, he did not use a flash for a long time), weirdly composed ones, and just plain lucky ones, but mostly he innately presents the performer in the action that gives the photos life, rather than just some shots of a band in concert or backstage.
As the ‘70s turned into the ‘80s, Pyle started to lose interest in being behind the camera, and instead chose to be on the stage in bands with brilliant names like Crash Kills Five (vox) and the Juno Award winning Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (drummer) who played the theme song to the Kids in the Hall show; he also became a music producer (the Sadies, John Doe, Iggy Pop, Andrew Gold, etc.). While Pyle may have left the camera behind, but he also left a legacy that we can still enjoy.
This collection is a superb entranceway to the Toronto scene, and yes, beyond.
Below are some samples of the photos in this book.
Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, 1977-88 By Liz Worth; Edited by Gary Pig Gold Bongo Beat Books (Montreal), 2009 383 pages ISBN: 978-0-9813694-0-2 www.bongobeat.com This will be, what, the third punk oral history I have read? And like Please Kill Me (N.Y.) and We Got the Neutron Bomb (L.A.), it is also named after a song (from the chorus of Simply Saucer’s “Bullet Proof Nothing”). And, also like the other two, this one is excellent.
Treat Me Like Dirt is extensively detailed by those who lived through the scene, either directly day-to-day, or sometimes in spurts, such as Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome or Lydia Lunch. Told generally chronologically, jumping sections broken up from band to band and back, the handy reference of people - listed alphabetically - explains who they are and their association to the scene, in a very handy reference right up front. I’m happy to say I personally know a few, some of whom I call friend.
Liz, who was born the year after the period this book technically ends, has done an above-and-beyond, exemplary job taking a complex multi-character / band situation and made it possible to follow the story of each of the bands covered, in almost a narration. Sure, I had to go back and forth to remember who some of the huge cast was, but as the book progressed, that needed to happen less and less, as the people became so familiar. This is especially important for those who are not very familiar with the inhabitants who were involved with the scene.
As with any scene, there are the “big boys” and the “second tier” bands (my quotes); for example, in New York, every history seems to be about the Patti, the Ramones, the Dictators, the Heartbreakers, Television, and Blondie, but there were many other groups just bubbling under, such as the Mumps, the Marbles, and tons of others who were also important, but still never went anywhere. This is also true of the Toronto / Hamilton scene, where the first level is discussed, such as (in no particular order) Teenage Head, the Viletones, Simply Saucer, Forgotten Rebels, the B-Girls, the Ugly, the Demics, plus others, and she also delves into the secondary level with the Secrets, the Curse, the Androids, and the Poles (though I’m surprised there isn’t more about Johnny and the G-Rays), etc.. There are a number of tertiary bands that get mentioned, but not really covered, such as the Loved Ones (editor Gary Pig Gold’s band), the Eels, the Shakers (who were on the pop side), and some great band names like Crash Kills Five, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and my favorite name listed in the book, Dick Duck and the Dorks (perhaps some of these were later than the 1981 cut-off, I’m not sure).
The presence of Liz’s voice in the book is among (or, for the Canadian readers, amongst) the least, with but page-long preface about her undertaking to write and publish this tome, and another page of acknowledgements / thank yous that is mostly the names of those quoted.
As Bruce Mowat (whom I had sort of expected, and I say this bemusedly, would write his own history of at least the Hamilton phase, as he did for FFanzeen many years ago) rightfully says in his review of this book at his gmole.blogspot.com, “A couple of pages of historical context from the author, a discography and a time line might have helped.” [As I’m wont to digress, please permit me to do so here: on a dark and gloomy day in 2006, Bruce led me on a tour of Hamilton, and many of the places he took me are mentioned here, such as the Lanois Brothers’ house in Ancaster, the spot on Hillview Street where the Teenage Head first played, the place in the Jackson Square Mall where Simply Saucer had their noted performance, and he even brought me to meet Simply Saucer’s Edgar Breau at Edgar’s house.] This is the only close-to quibble I have about the book, as well.
You may ask, “Why Toronto of all places?” Well, if you don’t know (in which case you really need to get this book), Toronto (in this review, when I say Toronto, I’m including Hamilton because even though they are separate cities, they have overlapping and cross-pollinating scenes) is arguably one of the four concurrent places where punk really started on its own at the same time, including New York, Boston, and London (UK)., even while New York was considered the “leader” thanks to the early signing of bands).
One aspect interests me is that while comparing the New York and Toronto scenes, as presented in this book, they pretty much followed a similar path, where it started insular with a few bands, and then it exploded with crowds from the surrounding areas (and the increasing gentrification of those slum areas since); likewise, the early bands came from nowhere and most of them burned out pretty fast, be it from infighting, lack of label attention, or substance abuse (as is chronicled in Treat, there was lots of booze, and eventually heroin). As Ralph Alfonso wisely points out in the book, at the time, “you’re dealing with bands and a genre of music which is completely based and derived from, and owes all of its existence to, music by bands who had failed. So when you’re talking about the MC5, Stooges, Flamin’ Groovies, Dictators, Velvet Underground even, these are all bands that, in their time, were commercial failures. None of them sold records and they all got dropped. But they were so influential that they were responsible for punk. So, ergo, the cycle will repeat itself” [p. 344]. In other words, in most scenes there is the initial bands that come out that are mostly ignored by their contemporaries and they pass quickly, but are still the artistic foundation of the bigger bands to follow. Some groups do survive on some level (e.g., Teenage Head have more than a dozen albums), but many more schism.
A theme that runs throughout the book is that at some point, after the first year covered (1977), there is sure to be someone who says, “This is the moment that punk rock ended in Toronto.” That sentiment comes up often by numerous people, nearly from the beginning. I certainly remember that happening in New York, as well. “Oh, the Ramones signed to Sire; the scene is dead!” “Blondie has a disco song that’s a hit; the scene is dead!” Here it’s the end of the Crash ‘n Burn club, the signing of bands, a riot at a public concert, the entrance of a gang of bullies, the introduction of rockabilly (to North America what reggae was to the U.K.), what-have-you. Another theme is that it seems that no band was happy with their first album for whatever reason. Yet these records today are considered classics.
Also, as with most scenes in the four cities, in the Toronto area there was a division between the art students and the, well, not. Here in New York, it was the experimental Talking Heads and Theoretical Girls types vs. the Ramones and Dead Boys anti-intellectuals. In Toronto, it was the arty and experimental Diodes and the Dishes, vs. the Viletones and the Ugly. Similarly, even though they both resented each other and there was strong jealousy, they often shared bills and, on some level, supported one another because they needed each other.
One of the outstanding elements of Treat is that the quotes are thorough enough that the personalities definitely shine through. You can feel the excitement of when the members talk about their bands starting up and the early scene, and the tiredness of when they are held back by circumstances (e.g., label indifference, car accidents, squabbling). But there are more subtle nuances that one can “read,” such as how in-the-moment some were, such as Mickey DeSadist and Freddy Pompeii, and how self-promoting and pretentious are others, so in love with their image, such as Steve Leckie (Nazi Dog, of the Viletones) and Michaele Jordana (of the Poles). Leckie has jumped image a number of times, from Bowie-clone to punk to rockabilly, and even though he pushes the envelope in each phase, it’s more calculation and self-promotion than living in the moment and being. This is evident in some of the earlier pictures, where he consistently refuses to look at the camera during group shots; he’s too cool, I guess. I believe, in the context of this book, he comes across as the person most widely disliked for his manipulation of people. That being said, I cannot underscore enough how much of a seminal work their first EP was, especially “Screaming Fist,” which may be the first hardcore punk record on this continent. With Jordana, well, it’s just pretention and self-glorification all the way: “We created the look and the sound and the language of new wave, which survived…I am an artist. I’m not really meant to be totally commercial. I’m more of a seer.” If you watch the very last video below, you can see the artiste overshadow the artist.
What turned me on to oral histories, and what keeps me enticed, is certainly present in Treat Me Like Dirt, and that is since it is first-person histories, there are contradictions of stories from person to person. This goes from the mundane, such as who started a food fight with stale buns (and how it began), to the question of how the Ugly’s singer, Mike Nightmare died (everything from heart attack to being shot by the police).
In case I haven’t been clear, this is a thorough and excellent must read that will keep the reader involved. It is also well-edited by scene chronicler (and also one of my favorite music writers, as well as a damn fine musician) Gary Pig Gold (www.garypiggold.com), who ran the Pig Paper fanzine (past issues can be found here: www.archive.org/search.php?query=%22Pig%20Paper%22). Lastly, and it really does deserve mention, the book layout and design by ex-Diodes manager / Crash N Burn doorman / musician and poet / Bongo Beat publisher Ralph Alfonso, is a beaut. With two columns of text per page at (if I’m not correct, Ralph, let me know) 10 pt. Ariel Condensed type, there is a lot to read without having to trail all the way across the page, making this book an ergonomic ease on the eyes. Plus, there’s tons of pictures (quite a few by Ralph, himself).
Reading this made me think of two things specifically: one is that I would love to hear a clear CD collection of this music (below there is a smattering of some of the bands), and I wish there was some indication of what some of these people are doing now. Perhaps on a Web-site? On the other hand, I was impressed by how many of the people interviewed here mentioned Marshall McLuhan (who taught at the University of Toronto).
Now I’d like to see an oral history on some of the other important punk sites, such as Boston, Vancouver, Ohio (Akron/Cleveland),
P.S., Get well soon, Imants Krumins.
Reply from publisher Ralph Alfonso to this review: Hahaha. The font is not Arial, and the type size is 8pt. A lot of work went into the layout and trying to make it all fit in 384 pages (that's a standard book size - price goes up after that). Discographies & etc. would have ballooned the book up to 500 pages or more. The way the story line worked out, there was no real room for everyone; that can all be the subject for a follow-up, I guess. Once people actually read the book (and not count their pictures or index instances), it makes a lot of sense as a unified storyline that moves chronologically in the continuous present. We did try to insert some mentions of tertiary bands but it just didn't work and looked like it was inserted for no real reason, since they had no relationships with the main players. The public agrees - we're about to go into a third printing! Crazy! I had no idea this would happen. - Ralph
News Report ’77
Simply Saucer:
Viletones:
Diodes: “Tired of Waking Up Tired”:
Demics: “New York City”:
Teenage Head:
Forgotten Rebels: “Bomb the Boats”:
The Curse: “Shoeshine Boy”:
B-Girls (v.2):
Later perspective: [This whole series is worth watching, starting at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvxI-xOAH_M&feature=related]
The following article on the phenomenal music scene in Hamilton, Ontario was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #14, in 1986. It was written by Bruce Farley Mowat (listed as Bruce “Mole” Mowat).
This reprint is to be a companion piece to my review of Liz Worth’s excellent book, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, 1977-1981, which is currently up at jerseatbeat.com – RBF
Hamilton is the undisputed rock’n’roll capital of Canada. Affectionately dubbed “The Hammer” by the natives, it is a town of about 350,000 odd people who make their livelihood in and around the local steel mills, making it a sort of scaled-down Pittsburgh. For many, rock’n’roll is not only an escapist way to get “out,” it is a career way to get out. (Play the Animal’s “We Gotta Get Out of this Place” while reading this article…)
The musical legacy of The Hammer must start with King Biscuit Boy (a/k/a Richie Newell), one of the world’s best blues harpists, who recorded three LPs in the early ‘70s, two on the now defunct Daffodil label: Official Music, Gooduns and one self-titled LP, produced by the legendary Allen Toussaint for CBS Records, featuring the Biscuit being backed by the Meters (who featured some of the Neville Bros.). Biscuit is alive and well and released an LP, Mouth of Steel, on the Canadian Stoney Plain label a couple of years back – and touring with Kelly Jay’s revamped Crowbar.
You may remember Crowbar from a smallish hit they had in the early ‘70s, “Oh What a Feeling,” which was banned by several US stations for the alleged pro-drug line, “What a rush.”
In the mid-seventies, it was Hamilton that first answered the call of New York’s Bowery (and not the Viletones, as several Toronto punkers would have you believe).
The legendary Teenage Head hail from The Hammer, and you better believe it pilgrims, they are currently one of the 10-Best Live Acts On The Planet Today, especially with new idol lead vocalist, Dave “Rave” DesRoches and Blair “Mojo” Marin on traps. But let’s backtrack a bit…
Back in ’74, lead guitarist Gord Lewis and current bassist Steve Marshall were looking around for members influenced by classical rock’n’roll of both the old (’50s-‘60s) type and the new (York Dolls) type. Drummist Nick Stiparitz filled in when he wasn’t gigging at YMCAs for $20 a night with the Almost Bros. Feature vocalist Frank “Venom” Kerr was recruited on drums and sang from a microphone attached to a bird cage. For their first gig (June ’74), Dave Rave sang and Steve Parks played bass (while Marshall roadied that summer). When Steve returned, Parks moved over to second guitar and Nick assumed drum choices on a regular basis. Frank took over the front man role and Dave left to become a singer / songwriter with Rick Andrews in Fulcrum.
In 1975, the band played all the local high schools and was promptly banned from same for “an overly aggressive stage act.”
In 1976, Steve Parks was kicked out (or left, depending on whom you talk to) of the group, which contracted into a quartet that held steady for almost eight years. Steve Parks went on to join Simply Saucer, a quirky pop / rock group who released a 45, “She’s a Dog” / “I Can Change My Mind,” on Pig Records in 1978 (79?), a label run by FFanzeen’s very own columnist, Gary “Pig” Gold. All SS info can be gotten from him (plug, plug).
Meanwhile, the Head moved to Toronto to absorb and dominate the Diodes / Viletones cultural milieu. By 1979, they had released a shoddily produced but still classic first LP (which was re-mixed and re-issued in ’82) and, in 1980, they released a second LP, Frantic City, which went gold and eventually platinum, and spawned a Top-10 hit (in Canada only) with “Something on my Mind.” They were inciting riots at Ontario Place and generally looking hot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlZGyPywouw&feature=related A lot of Hamilton musicians took note of the Head’s success and the burgeoning club scene in the area. Dave Rave and Rick Andrews took note of this and, in the Fall of ’79, released the 45 “Out the Door” / “Till I’m Gone,” as the Shakers. This 45 must be ranked as one of Canada’s All Time Greatest Rock’n’Roll Records Ever. “Out the Door” features an accelerated acoustic guitar intro scrubbed out and kicks in with the rhythm section and an electric rockabilly lick. Rick and Dave kick in with Everly Bros. vocals, going at full tilt. And halfway through the song, Gord “Crazy Legs” Lewis rips a single note Chuck Berry solo with some magnificent slurs for effect. The flip is a folk / pop / rock number that drips brightness. Radio up here jumped on it, but backed off when no distribution could be arranged, and then when there was no touring band to support it, it died.
The latter problem was rectified with the addition of Tim Gibbons on lead guitar and Claude DesRoches (Dave’s cousin!) on drums. This version of the band released a live-in-the-studio EP, Rock’n’Roll (consisting of old covers), a studio LP, In Time (which includes the first 45, a 7” EP, Shake Some Action (in double-time), and another 45, “Do Anything” / “California.”
In 1982, Tim left to form the Trouble Boys (more on them later) and the band went through several guitarists before settling on Dan Gibbons (Tim’s brother!). A second full LP, Weekend, was released. But by 1983, the band had collapsed due to loss of momentum (and Dan’s vocal chords to nodes!).
Dave Rave found Tim Gibbons washing dishes in a club and recruited him on the spot to play in the Shakers. But Tim was too dominant a personality to play second fiddle (or even lead guitar), so in 1982, he started to put together his own projects. A single 45, “Good Rockin’ Tonight” / “Keep a Knockin’” was recorded under the name of the Rhythm Rockets that featured Rick Andrews on drums. The single was recorded from a cassette deck in a three-quarters empty campus cafeteria! Eventually, Tim formed the Trouble Boys and, after two years of going through rhythm sections like most people go through socks and underwear, they finally settled on Mike Williams (bass) and Ray Curse (drums). Last year (’85), they put out an LP, Pass the Bottle Baby, on Booze Records, and are currently working on a follow-up, provisionally entitled Brain Scurvy. PTBB was allegedly recorded and mixed on 13 hours of studio time won on the pool table, and features great three-chord throwaways like “Lamppost,” “Graveyard Shift,” and the manic title track.
Shock rock’n’glam rock left its mark on The Hammer in the form of the Forgotten Rebels. Formed by founding member Mickey DeSadist in 1977, the band specializes in sensitive interpretations of such original material as “Third Homosexual Murder” and “Nazis,” both of which were taken from their classic first EP, Tomorrow Belongs to Us (a response to arch-rival Teenage Heads’ motto, “I’ll Take Today, You Take Tomorrow”). Released in 1979, original pressings of that now fetch $50 among collectors. The original members of that group were Peter “Treason” Lotimer on drums, who later went on to the Loudmouths, and is now in the Throbs, and bassist Chris “Suicide,” who went on to form Slander, Hamilton’s first hardcore group (they even released an LP, Hami-Conscious). Slander disbanded in 1983 (Ray Curse of the Trouble Boys drummed for them for a while and has a million stories, none of them reprintable – yet).
Meanwhile, back with the Rebs. A full length LP, In Love With the System, was released and featured a predominantly non-Hamilton line-up of Al “Mocambo” Smolak on guitar, Larry Electrician on drums, and Chris “Pogo Au Go Go” Houston on bass. Chris has just released a solo LP on Zulu Records (out of Vancouver) entitled Hate Filled Man. The other two disappeared into anonymity.
A second LP, This Ain’t Hollywood, was released in 1982, and the band’s peak achievement. This LP featured Mike “Taster” Mirabella on lead guitar (who is still in the group – and runs a restaurant in town. Shades of Zal!), Rob Allen on drums (who is retired and just hangs around with this author nowadays), and John Welton on bass (who is now in the legendary as-yet-recorded Moon Crickets). After personnel changes and several fortune reversals, the band released an EP last year, Boys Will Be Boys, and are entering the studio this year to record a full length LP. The line-up currently is Mike Mirabella, lead guitar; Bob Luman (no, not that Bob Luman), bass; Damien McGlieu (nee Dave McGee), drums; and of course, Mickey on lead vocals.
Another coffee-circuit veteran, Tom Wilson (no not that Tom Wilson), decided to go electric in ’80 and formed the Florida Razors, who have since become a staple item on the South Ontario bar circuit. Originally, a four-song 7” EP was recorded and released in 1981 with a sextet of musicians plus guests Tim Gibbons and Dave Rave. The sextet proved to be unworkable (and unprofitable) so the band was cut down to a quartet, and a 45, “Break Down Your Door” / “She’s A Real Nice Girl,” was released in 1982.
It was the quartet, featuring Grey Cannon on drums, Carl Keesee (formerly of Lazarus) on bass, and Jason Avery on lead guitar, that also cut the first LP, Beat Music, which is a must-have for several reasons:
1) The cover is a modern art original by local artist / nutcase David “Zip” Liss. You gotta see this… 2) Side two is a live recording, recorded off-the-board onto a cassette deck at the Dollar Bills lounge, in Kingston. It is of such surprisingly high quality that, well, let Tom tell the story: “I played the tape to Dan Lanois (producer of Eno and Gabriel) and he said, ‘Great, where’s the master?’ and I said, ‘That is the master.’” The LP was released in March of ’84 (as was the first issue of Mole [Bruce Mowat’s fanzine - RBF], and features strong pop / rock / blues tunes like “Take My Heart,” “Let’s Go,” and “Italian Sunglasses.”
During the Summer of ’85, the Razors recorded and scrapped a full length LP, Boom, because they felt the record didn’t reflect the band’s live show. A live-in-the-studio EP, Half a Rock’n’Roll Record, is just that: a one-sided record with the flipside bearing Tom’s rendition of the Hamilton skyline with the band’s motto, “More or Less,” engraved in the vinyl. A new LP, Kings of Clang, is slated for a Fall release.
Teenage Head, whom we dealt with earlier on in this article, have gone through traumatic times in the past 5 years. In September ’81, just as the band was about to make a serious assault on the US, the lead guitarist was severely injured in an auto accident. Replacements were used but the momentum was lost. A third LP, Some Kinda Fun (1982), was less than stellar (but still features some worthwhile tracks), and suffered sales losses due to the label changing distributors three times in six months. The band changed labels and were signed to MCA on the condition they change their name to “Heads,” as the singular was construed to be, uh, overly suggestive.
An EP, Tornado, was released in May of ’83, and was even released in the USA. Unfortunately, it was the group’s nadir performance, and when So. Cal.’s Agent of Fortune Irving Azoff (Eagles, etc.) took over MCA, Heads rolled (‘scuse the bad pun).
It was around the end of ’83 that Dave Rave started gigging as rhythm guitarist / back-up vocalist (as documented in Mole No. 3); somewhere in the middle of ’84, he became an official member (the exact date is lost in an alcohol-induced stupor) and he appeared on the live / greatest hits package, Endless Party, recorded New Year’s Eve ‘83/’84, in Hamilton.
Naturally, under such conditions, the band came up with an ace LP. Some of the live versions of material on this LP eclipse studio version…in other words, it cooks.
However, the band continued to have problems. Management ties were severed and the band proceeded to record a final LP, Trouble in the Jungle, during the beer strike of ’85. Under such conditions, the band bogged down. Nick Stipanitz, in particular, sounds especially leaden, and the resulting LP sounds murky and listless, although their choice of material is always impeccable. And their version of Bobby Fuller’s “Let Her Dance” should have been a hit this year.
Nick must have been depressed because he quit and, finally, in March of ’86, Francis Hannah Kerr, official left to form Frank Venom and the Vipers, with Nick and Zeke Taylor (of the Bopcats / Rock Angels). A single is due out this summer.
Meanwhile, the revamped Head is busy recording demos in preparation for yet another full length LP (slated for Autumn release later this year). New Blood Blair Martin on drums and Dave Rave on vocals have given this band a new lease on life, and they are setting sights on the US of A again.
Lately, there have been a slew of new acts popping up in the area. From the old Loudmouths / Bad Apples / Mad Daddys / Untouchables alumni have spring two bands: The Throbs, featuring ex-Daddys Jeff Campbell, guitar, Mike “Dupe” Lotimer, bass, ex-Rebel / Loudmouth Pete “Treason” on drums, and Ron Collie on lead vocals (who comes from Toronto). An EP (12”) will be out by the time you read this. The band has a Stooges / Ramones approach (Proud To Be Loud, Precision Records).
The other offspring of this branch of Hamilton’s musical mayhem crew are the (Legendary) Moon Crickets, featuring ex-Rebels’ Turk Thrust, bass, and Joe Rockhead, drums, ex-Daddys / Untouchables / etc., etc., DL Lee, mouth, and Dave Howitt, lead guitar (same as DL for band credits).
This band could be pegged as a ‘60s garage band except that their timescope goes both ways. They will probably never record for Midnight or Bomp!, and they don’t want to. They have turned down more gigs / record offers / etc. in the past three months than most bands receive in a lifetime, and are looked upon by Those In The Know as the Next Big Thing from Hamilton.
Just to close things off and generate Mouth Foaming Controversy, I’d like to say that Hamilton bands blow away 90% of the competition on the East Coast of the US, and when they come to your town, you will pledge allegiance to the Hamilton Sound.
The following article/interview with Canadian rocker and Hamilton, Ontario legend Dave Rave was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #15, in 1988. It was taken from a May 1987 CFMU-FM broadcast in Hamilton, Ontario. I’ve seen him play a number of times now, and he’s a blast, whether he’s doing his rock stuff, his softer material with Lauren Agnelli, or when he shows his jazz side with Mark McCarron. For a while, back starting in 1985, Dave had replaced lead singer Frankie “Venom” Kerr (d. 2008: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztWlilC-e70&feature=related) in Teenage Head, until Frankie eventually came back. Dave has had many bands and projects over the years, and is still heavily recording and touring. I recommend picking up both of his collected works from Bullseye Records of Canada, Dave Rave Anthology I and II. All Web links are, obviously, added in for this revision.– RBF, 2010
[Teenage Head at Tramps, in New York] Teenage Head is Canada’s best-known and potentially its best ever rock’n’roll band. In the past couple of years there has been a personnel shake-up. This is a conversation with Dave “Rave” DesRoches, the new lead singer for “The ‘Head.”
Currently living in Saskatoon (email at RBF55@msn.com for address). From 1977-88, I used to publish a print version of a music magazine in New York called FFanzeen, which dealt with the wide-ranging independent music scene. I also photographed many bands from the period (and since). Now I write this blog. And the beat goes on.
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