G20 Toronto

...Regardless of what you've seen in Canada's over-sensationalized media, the police and the protesters got along quite well this weekend. It was an atmosphere of peaceful tolerance and mutual respect. There were some really great people that came out this weekend, representing some really important issues. It's a shame much of this got lost due to the antics of a very small number of individuals. I'm also very disappointed in the way our local media chose to portray this event, a very poor job to say the least. There were mistakes made by both sides, that much is certain, so lets just leave it at that.

...There are very few villains here, mostly there are just good people exercising there democratic right to voice their opinion on some very important issues, issues that should matter to all of us. Estimates are that this summit cost the Canadian tax payer about 1.4 billion dollars, off the record I'd say it's probably closer to 2.5 billion, but that just my opinion. Think of all the homeless that could have been sheltered, think of all the hungry that could have been fed, think of the Hospitals, and schools that could have been built, that's what pissed me off. There's been alot of bad feelings created this weekend for no good reason, and that's shame, a real bloody shame...I think both the police and the protesters need to be commended for a very orderly weekend in which not a single injury was reported...back to our regularly scheduled program...

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Images In Vogue

....From safety pins to synthesizers, someone once used this term to describe the transition of music from the punk rock 70's to the New Wave 80's. While there may be some truth to that, I seriously doubt you'd find any music fan that would agree that punk transformed into New Wave. Rather New Wave was born as a result of it, and just like punk it was the necessity to express ones self in a unique, independent and often rebellious way that made it so appealing. Canada like so many countries a the time, produced it's fair share of New Wave bands, the pool of talent during the 80's developed, and prospered on many different continents, and a myriad of nations were represented by bands of all sorts and styles, today this is of course no longer the case.

...One of the more unique and original sounding New Wave bands of the 1980's was Images In Vogue. The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon, synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton. They are a Canadian band of exceptional talent, from the very beginning they showed a willingness to pushed the creative envelope, blending synthesizers, guitars and electronic drums, moving back and fourth across that imaginary, and often dangerous line that separated innovative New Wave from Pop.

...I think "Lust For Love" is one of the best New Wave songs ever written, it also happens to be the most widely recognized song by this band. ...This is also one of the Coolest video's of the 80's...Enjoy...

circa 1977: The Diodes

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An Extraordinary Independent film

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Friday June 25, 2010 at Oz Studios Toronto

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This short notice, but if you can free up some time this Friday night, it'll be well worth your while, and you might even learn somethin... Much of the following info is re-blogged from another site, the link to which I will include below...

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After a successful, sold out screening at the NxNE Film Festival, circa 1977: The Diodes will be shown a second time this Friday, June 25 at Oz Studios, 134 Ossington Ave. Toronto. The screening times are 8:00 and 9:30 pm - seating is limited so get there early.

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NOW Magazine gave the film a 4 out of 5 star rating and said that "in just under half an hour, circa 1977: The Diodes creates a vivid picture of the Toronto punk scene 33 years past."

Produced by Ralph Alfonso and Nick Cushing, this is a new release by Independent film maker Aldo Erdic that documents the Toronto Punk scene through the past 33 years and in particular The Diodes, one of Canada's first punk bands.

A Synopsis of the film...

Formed in October 1976, the Diodes were one of Canada's first punk bands who, in the span of one year, opened Toronto's first punk club, became the first Canadian punk band to sign with a major label and had their debut album released before the Sex Pistols and other first wave UK punk bands. The Crash'n'Burn club they opened helped inspire new bands to form and catalyzed an explosive local punk scene that proved to be of the same caliber as the early New York and U.K. scenes. However, by 1981, the band was worn down by an indifferent Canadian music industry, a worsening economy and a lack of touring venues.

The Diodes are...

John Catto.......Paul Robinson.......John Hamilton.......Ian Mackay

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Directed by Aldo Erdic.
A Bongo Beat Films/ToBeScene Production
Running Time: 28 minutes.

The link to the official blog is below, check it out. You'll find a wealth of information on this important Canadian band and this important Canadian film....

http://circa1977thediodes.blogspot.com/

The link to TObeScene.Com is below, it's great place to get some valuable info on the latest independant Music, Film and Art. There's also alotta really cool video of some really cool bands to check out as well.

http://www.tobescene.com/content/index.php

NXNE Toronto 2010

This really is the kind of event you need to take the entire week off work to truely experience. NXNE runs from June 14 to June 20 and features roughly 650 bands playing on over 40 different stages across Toronto. The North by Northeast Music Festival features something for just about everyones taste, and it's more than just a massive music festival, it features that lastest ideas in film, interactive media, and attracts artists from all over the world. You can click on the images to see them full size, except for the one directly below, for some reason it won't enlarge, not sure why... but I don't feel like re-uploading it so yer just gonna have to live with it. Have a nice day : )

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NXNE has it all, you'll see everything from well established bands, to garage bands, and even a few bands that can't yet afford a garage, and they all did a fantastic job bringing the city to life.

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Iggy Pop and the Stooges hit the stage at about 9:30 and the crowd went absolutely nuts. The amount of energy he has is unbelievable. Hard to belive he's 63.
. Iggy and the Stooges put on a hard rockin 90 minute show, it's easy to see why many consider them the greatest punk band in history. In March 2010 the Stooges and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's about f_-kin time.
. The Raveonettes took the stage before the Stooges, a very impressive Danish alternative rock group that I would describe as a cross between Bauhause, Siouxie And The Banshees, and The Jesus And Mary Chain.

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The Raveonettes formed in Copenhagen in 2001 and have to date recorded four studio albums, plus a number of EP's. They are an exceptional band.
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WOW, what a crazy-ass party last night at NXNE. Headlining a free outdoor concert was Iggy Pop and the Stooges who came on stage at about 9:30 pm and put on a wild 90-minute show. The all day concert featured many different bands, and attracted more than 10,000 to downtown's Yonge-Dundas Square. The pictures I took kinda sucked, its hard to shoot in world's biggest mosh pit, but I did my best. Along with the absolute chaos, there was the sweltering heat to contend with as temperatures hit 32 degrees last night. Never-the-less the Stooges put on as great show, as did all the bands. What an amazing event.

Bring On The Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen

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Jimmy Brown made of stone, Charlie Clown no way home. Bring on the Dancing Horses, headless and all alone...

...Echo & The Bunnymen had so many great tunes over the years it's hard to decide on a favorite, but I think if I had to choose this would probably be it. I also like the video, it's really f----n weird, I'm not sure who came up with the concept, but it's bloody brilliant, Perhaps it's politically motivated, or perhaps they were just smokin a little too much &!!#@, you make the call.

...For those who don't know ( and I hope that ain't many of ya) this band is from the great northern realm of Liverpool. They are one of the truly fantastic alternative bands of the early 80's. This tune was released as a stand alone in 1985 but was never actually part of an album. It was included on Songs to Learn & Sing, which was a singles compilation released by the band in November of the same year. I'm Still looking for the 12'inch single of this one, preferably a UK Import... I'm sure I'll find it eventually.

Duel - Propaganda

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....From Düsseldorf, Germany, who can forget this single, absolutely incredible work. Once again depending on who ya talk to, Propagada's either a New Wave band, a Synthpop band, or an Industrial band. Ain't it great the way everything was classified back then, everything fell neatly into it's own little category. Actually, come to think of it, things haven't changed much, they still do the same sh-t today. Personally, I'd classify them as New Wave, but you can call them what what ever the hell ya want, as long as ya call em good.
....This is the second single released by Propaganda, it features great vocals, fantastic keyboard work, and a heavy Industrialized beat. It's also the band's most recognisable release, the most successful single in the UK, and my favorite song by Propaganda. As was the norm in the 80's alot of time and effort went into the design for the record sleeve, this is as much a piece of art as it is a 12' inch single. In addition to being beautiful, the sleeve was also made of thin flimsy paper, so finding a copy of this EP without a crease in the cover is next to impossible, even mine has a couple of dents.

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Band Members for Propaganda at this time (1985)...

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Suzanne Freytag
Ralf Dörper
Claudia Brücken
Michael Mertens

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Produced by S.J. Lipson and Boby Krausbar

Musical Director Trevor Horn

Sleve Design....London Design Partnership with z.t.t.

Photography by David Levine (screams) and Peter Brown (skin shots)

ZTT Records London England.

London Calling - The Clash

... The Clash formed in England formed in 1976 and are largely considered to be a punk band, although I'm not entirely sure I agree. While their music does contain elements of punk, they draw off a wide variety of styles that include ska, dub, funk, rap, dance and rockabilly. In the end, I just like to consider them a really great band, and part of the second British Invasion that exploded onto the North American music scene during the 80's. This is a great tune and a fantastic raw edged, no bullshit video, you won't see any special affects or choreographed dancing girls in this one. This is of course the title track of their third album, it's not surprising the Rolling Stone declared "London Calling" the best album of the 1980's, and the Clash as one of the greatest bands of all time.

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Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys have continued to retain their fan base over the years, and their history is well documented. They are perhaps the most famous of all American Punk bands, The Kennedy's, as they were called form in San Francisco in 1978. The were heavily influenced by the British punk rock scene, and bands like the Sex Pistols. Their songs mixed shocking lyrics with sarcastic criticism of social and political issues of the 1980's. Many people including Christians, and right-wing politicians considered them the most dangerous of all hardcore bands at the time.
....On March 25, 1980, Dead Kennedys were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in front of music industry executives in order to give the event some "New Wave credibility", in the words of the organizers. They were to play, their underground hit, "California Über Alles", after about 15 seconds into the song, frontman Jello Biafra said, "Hold it! We've gotta prove that we're adults now. We're not a punk rock band, we're a new wave band". The band, who all wore white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing a new song "Pull My Strings", a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry, which contained the lyrics, "Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star?". The song also referenced The Knack's biggest New Wave hit, "My Sharona". The song was never recorded in the studio but this performance, the first and only time the song was ever performed, was released on the compilation "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death", which I actually own and will write about at some point.

....In 1985, the band was involved in perhaps their most famous incident of all, an incident that brought the band even more notoriety. An obscenity trial over the artwork of their fourth studio album, "Frankenchrist", which included with the album was a poster of the Swiss artist H.R. Giger's illustration of penises and anuses. In 1987 the case ended with a hung jury and was eventually dismissed.
....Among the bands other accomplishments was the formation of thier own record label, Alternative Tentacles, in 1981, the first release under this label was the EP, "In God We Trust". After realizing the potential for this independent label, they started releasing records for other bands as well. Alternative Tentacles continues to exist today, and is still owned by the bands ex-lead singer Jello Biafra, many hard core punk bands past and present are signed to this label.

....The Dead Kennedys released a total of four studio albums, one EP, three live albums, plus some compilations, not bad for eight years work. In January 1986, frustrated and alienated their own music scene, the Dead Kennedys broke up, they played their last concert on February 21, 1986. The bands history is a turbulent one, fraught with in-fighting among members, along with legal disputes over royalties and commercial activities. Never-the-less the band has maintained a loyal cult following over the years. They actually reformed in 2003, although the reformation did not include original lead singer Jello Biafra. In August of 2008, the band announced that they will no longer be touring in the foreseeable future due to health related issues of several members...the final chapter may well have been written for this band...

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Dead Kennedys former members...

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East Bay Ray (Raymond John Pepperell)
Klaus Flouride
D. H. Peligro
Jello Biafra
Brandon Cruz
6025 (Carlos Cadona)
Ted (Bruce Slesinger)
Jeff Penalty
Ron "Skip" Greer
Dave Scheff

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The bands web site...

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http://www.deadkennedys.com/