Arc Records & Shows # 712, 713, 714, 715

Arc Records was a Canadian independent record label that had its beginnings in Toronto in 1958. Founded and owned by Philip G. Anderson, Arc Records was a subsidiary of a distribution company called the Arc Sound Company Ltd. that distributed records for many American record companies. Arc Records began pressing their own records in 1959. In 1961, Arc set up Precision Manufacturing Ltd. in order to press their own records and 45 RPM singles. The label released many covers or tributes of pop hit songs of the day performed by Canadian artists and specialized in regional artists. Arc would also find success in the US music market, as well as regionally.

Arc Records released music by many top recordings artists in Canada in the 1960s such as Anne Murray, Terry Black, Abbey Tavern Singers, Dublin Corporation, Catherine McKinnon, Richie Knight & The Mid-Knights, and Ronnie Hawkins to name a few. Two other artists of note to have music released on Arc Records were Newfoundlanders Dick Nolan and Omar Blondahl. Nolan was born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and the music that he made combined elements of country music, traditional Newfoundland, Maritime and Irish folk music. In 1959, he moved to Toronto where shortly after he and his band, The Blue Valley Boys, performed at The Horseshoe Tavern as the venue’s backing band. They often backed up US country musicians such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare and Charley Pride when they came to town. Nolan would sign to Arc Records and record 14 albums for the label between 1959-1969, two of which (I Walk The Line (1962), Folsom Prison Blues and Other Johnny Cash Songs (1968)) were Johnny Cash tribute albums. Some of his notable songs were the Newfoundland folk songs “I’s the B’y” and “Aunt Martha’s Sheep”, in addition to country material that he recorded. Omar Blondahl was born in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, but it wasn’t until getting a job at a radio station in Newfoundland that he discovered the folk songs of Newfoundland. He became fascinated by the then largely unrecorded folk songs of Newfoundland and helped to popularize them. Several albums (Songs of Sea and Shore (1959), Favorite Folk Songs From Here … And There … And Everywhere (1960), Folk Songs From Around The World (1961)) of his were released on Arc Records.

Terry Black was a Vancouver born musician who scored a high charting single with the song “Unless You Care” at the age of 15. The song written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri led to an album in 1965 produced for Terry Black called 16. It was released on Arc Records, along with several singles and an album of outtakes and alternate versions of songs in 1966 called, The Black Plague. Richie & The Mid-Knights, an R&B band from Toronto, while they had many songs released through Arc, are perhaps best known for their high charting hit single “Charlena”. The song was originally by the Los Angeles based band The Sevilles and was a song that the band heard at a Toronto dance hall. They learned their own version of this song, mostly from memory. It became a favourite at live shows and caught the attention of Arc Records vice president Bill Gilliland. The song became a number one single on CHUM radio’s chart in Toronto for two weeks straight in the spring of 1963, being the first single by a Toronto band to do so at the time.

A subsidiary of Arc Records was the Yorkville label. This label released more garage rock and psychedelic rock oriented material by artists such as Toronto’s The Ugly Ducklings, Stych In Tyme, The Secrets and many others. Ugly Ducklings had a series of national hits with songs such as “Nothin’”, “10:30 Train” and “She Ain’t No Use To Me”, while Stych In Tyme was a band from Nova Scotia that only ever released a few singles for Arc/Yorkville, but one of their songs, a version of The Beatles “Got To Get You Into My Life”, became a national hit as well. The Secrets are known for recording their 1966 single “Cryin’ Over Her”. Backed with the slower, psychedelic based song “He Treats You Bad”, this single would be the last recorded by the band as The Secrets. The band themselves were another band in the Toronto music scene at the time. Although they formed in 1959, they got their start in recording by recording a novelty song in 1966. “Clear the Track Here Comes Shack” was a song about Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Eddie Shack and was credited to Douglas Rankine & The Secrets. In addition to their “Cryin’ Over Her” single, The Secrets recorded an album of Monkees covers that was anonymously released through Arc entitled A Little Bit Me (Plus 9 Other Tail-Hanger Favorites) in 1967, an album of Christmas songs entitled The Story of Snoopy’s Christmas and Other Favourite Children’s Songs in 1968 on Arc Records, but by this time the band was going by The Quiet Jungle. Changing their name to avoid association with their early novelty single, as The Quiet Jungle, the band released their first single “Ship of Dreams/Everything” in 1967. The psychedelic tinged track had a modest success, but after their second single, “Too Much in Love”, The Quiet Jungle was essentially over.

These are just some examples of music released by Arc Records. You may not like everything that was released on the label, but there are all sorts of records by different types of bands that have been released with the Arc imprint. The label and its subsidiaries released a wide selection of top 40 covers, novelty songs and music from differing genres such as country, R&B, pop, folk, garage, by Toronto artists at the time, other Canadian artists and artists from the US. A lot of Arc’s material was recorded by Canadian record producer and guitarist Brian Adhern. He left the label in the 70s when he relocated to Nashville and would record material with Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Emmy Lou Harris. Ben Weatherby was also a producer and musician associated with the label. He was the original house producer for Arc and has been credited on numerous releases. In the 70s Arc Sound Ltd. and all of its related subsidiaries were combined into one company called AHED Music Corporation Ltd. and expanded to sell guitars and amplifiers. Arc and AHED ceased operations in 1986. While nowadays you will most likely find Arc Records related releases at thrift shops in used record stores in Canada, they are still around in some way. You just have to know where to look.

For more information on Arc Records, please visit the following websites:
Arc Sound Company
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Garage Hangover (Arc Records)
Garage Hangover (Yorkville)

Show 715 Play List (Arc Records, The Black Angels & The Black Lips)(Originally Aired On March 31st, 2018):

1. The Electric Vomit - Treasure Hunt
2. U.I.C - Lite It N' Fly It
3. Ramones - I Don't Care
4. The Cure - Grinding Halt
5. Papermaps - Terminal
6. Sloan - All of the Voices
7. The Phantoms - Ghost Riders In The Sky
8. Richie Knight & The Mid-Knights - Homework
9. Ronnie & The Hi-Lites - The Fact of the Matter
10. The Cheshyres - Shake Your Money Maker
11. The Cryptones - Lolita
12. Juliana Hatfield - A Little More Love
13. Lou Reed - Wait
14. Baby Giant - Minnesota
15. Baby Giant - She Don't Want To Fall In Love
16. Dick Nolan - Truck Driving Man
17. Dick Nolan - All Over Again
18. Diane Motel - Get Through To You
19. X - I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
20. Sonic Youth - The Empty Page
21. Syd Barrett - Octopus
22. The Garry's - Burger Buoy
23. The Black Angels - Currency
24. The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
25. The Black Lips - Drugs
26. The Black Lips - Again & Again
27. The Black Angels - Winter '68
28. The Black Lips - O Katrina!

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for March 31.

Show 714 (Preoccupations, Captain Beefheart & Bob Dylan)(Originally Aired On March 24th, 2018):

1. The Velvetones - Static
2. The Charades Band - Christina
3. Mark Malibu & The Wasagas - Twelve Year Surf Itch
4. Mike Mikus - Figured As Much
5. The Men - The World
6. Superchunk - Dead Photographers
7. The Polymorphines - Saucer Eyes
8. Preoccupations - Solace
9. Preoccupations - Disarray
10. Preoccupations - Newspaper Spoons
11. Melody Fields - Rain Man
12. Ten Million Lights - Red Tornado
13. Razorhouse - Mortality Vs. The Accountant
14. Jeff Rosenstock - All This Useless Energy
15. Lychi - Serf In U.S.A
16. Ricky Hell & The Voidboys - Apartment 9
17. Captain Beefheart - Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles
18. The Oblivians - Oblivion
19. The Gories - Smashed
20. Deja Voodoo - Private Eye
21. The Gruesomes - 3 Men 1 Coffin
22. Le Kidd & Les Marinellis - Camille
23. The Cheetahs - Girl of Doom
24. Bob Dylan - Highway 51 Blues
25. Bob Dylan - Talkin' New York
26. Car Seat Headrest - Sober to Death
27. Ponctuation - Unhemlich
28. Simply Saucer - Dance The Mutation

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for March 24.

Show 713 (St. Patrick's Day, Hot Snakes, Ty Segall & The Ventures)(Originally Aired On March 17th, 2018):

1. Undertones - Wednesday Week
2. U2 - Stories For Boys (Live)
3. The Outcasts - Self-Conscious Over You
4. Protex - (Just Want) Your Attention
5. The Pogues - Streams of Whiskey
6. Guided By Voices - I Love Kangaroos
7. Nap Eyes - Dull Me Line
8. James O-L & The Villains - Wild Goose Jack
9. Titus Andronicus - Above The Bodega (Local Business)
10. Shame - Concrete
11. Ought - Disaffection
12. Hot Snakes - Death of a Sportsman
13. Stiff Little Fingers - Roots, Radicals, Rockers
14. Freak Heat Waves - Moved You Right
15. U.S. Girls - Time
16. Sliver Apples - Oscillations
17. Suuns - Baseline
18. Kim Gray - No Moonlight
19. Rec Centre - Dealer To The Stars
20. La Fete - Marine Malice
21. Microdot - Endless Doubts
22. Mount Eerie - Earth
23. Ty Segall - Alta
24. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
25. The Ventures - Dick Tracy
26. The Ventures - Journey To The Stars

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for March 17.

Show 712 (International Women's Day 2018)(Originally Aired On March 10th, 2018):

1. La Luz - Sunstroke (It’s Alive - 2013)
2. Cub - Tell Me Now (Betti Cola - 1993)
3. She Trinity - Have I Sinned (Have I Sinned/Wildflower - 1966)
4. The Detroit Cobras - (I Wanna Know) What’s Going On? (Tied & True - 2007)
5. Patsy Cline - Gotta Lot of Rhythm in My Soul (Gotta Lot of Rhythm In My Soul/I'm Blue Again - 1959)
6. Wanda Jackson - Honey Bop (Honey Bop/Just A Queen For A Day - 1958)
7. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Let It Go (Lotta Sea Lice - 2017)
8. U.S. Girls - Incidental Boogie (In A Poem Unlimited - 2018)
9. Actors - L’appel Du Vide (It Will Come To You - 2018)
10. The Brat - Swift Moves (Attitudes EP - 1980)
11. Suburban Lawns - Gidget Goes To Hell (Gidget Goes To Hell/My Boyfriend - 1979)
12. The Slits - Shoplifting (Peel Session 1977)(The Peel Sessions - 1998)
13. The Adverts - One Chord Wonder (1977 Peel Session)(The Wonder's Don't Care: The Complete Radio Sessions - 1997)
14. Bags - Babylonian Gorgon (Survive/Babylonian Gorgon - 1978)
15. Alice Bag - 77 (Blueprint - 2018)
16. Mary Margaret O’Hara - Body's In Trouble (Miss America - 1988)
17. Mary Margaret O’Hara - Dear Darling (Miss America - 1988)
18. Neko Case - John Saw That Number (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood - 2006)
19. The White Stripes - In The Cold, Cold, Night (Elephant - 2003)
20. The Beverleys - Bad Company (Brutal - 2015)
21. Eric’s Trip - Eyes Shut (Purple Blue - 1996)
22. B-Girls - Who Says Girls Can't Rock (Who Says Girls Can't Rock - 1997)
23. Teenanger - N.O.B.L.O. (Teenager - 2017)
24. The Mo-Dettes - White Mice (The Story So Far - 1981)
25. Erasers - It Was So Funny (That Song That They Sung)(Ork Records: New York, New York - 2015)
26. Danny and The Darleans - Les Fleurs Du Mal (Danny And The Darleans - 2013)
27. The Cramps - Get Off The Road (A Date With Elvis - 1986)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for March 10.