Revolution Rock: Radio Brain Drain & Episode # 574

On August 16th, 1974 Ramones played their first show as a four-piece band at CBGB’s. To celebrate this fact CJAM FM hosted a selection of programs from August 16-22 that focused on punk music of all forms. Revolution Rock hosted two programs celebrating the spirit and influence of the music created by Ramones.

Revolution Rock: Radio Brain Drain Edition

On Saturday August 22nd, Revolution Rock aired a two-hour program featuring a mixed selection of Ramones songs, including live and demo recordings. There was also music from bands that were influenced by and covered Ramones music and some of the bands that influenced the Ramones.

Saturday Night Radio Brain Drain Playlist (Show 574):

1. Ramones - Judy Is A Punk (Live At The Roxy 1976)
2. Ramones - Cretin Hop
3. Ramones - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
4. The Seeds - Try To Understand
5. Shangri-Las - Hate To Say I Told You So
6. Ronettes - Why Don’t They Let Us Fall In Love
7. The Beach Boys - 409 (Original Mono Long Version)
8. Frank Black - I Heard Ramona Sing
9. Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up
10. Tom Waits - The Return Of Jackie & Judy
11. Tom Waits - Danny Says
12. Teenage Head With Marky Ramone - Let's Shake
13. Teenage Head With Marky Ramone - Some Kinda Fun
14. Ramones - Everytime I Eat Vegetables I Think Of You
15. Ramones - I Need Your Love
16. The Strokes - Life’s A Gas
17. Sonic Youth - Beat On The Brat
18. The Who - I'm A Boy
19. New York Dolls - Trash
20. Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born To Lose
21. Ramones - Chinese Rock
22. Ramones - I Can’t Get You Outta My Mind
23. The Undertones - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (Live At The Casbah 1977)
24. The Dishrags - I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You
25. The Action - TV's On The Blink
26. Lowlife - Thinking Naturally
27. Stark Naked & The Fleshtones - I Broke Her Heart, She Broke My Arm
28. The Real Mackenzies - Dropping Like Flies
29. Sleater-Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
30. Ramonetures - I Wanna Be Well
31. Elvis Presley - Trying To Get To You
32. Ramones - Slug (Demo)
33. Ramones - Chainsaw
34. Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for August 22. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

As a side note and for those keeping count, episode 573 of Revolution Rock was a repeat episode that originally aired back in April 2015. You can download that episode here and find the playlist in this post.

Revolution Rock: The Last Pogo Jumps Again Edition

In December 2014, I interviewed Colin Brunton who along with Kire Paputts directed The Last Pogo Jumps Again. This is a documentary chronicling the early Toronto punk/new wave music scenes form 1976-1978. I re-aired this interview with a selection of bands from the early Toronto punk/new wave music scenes for this special episode of Revolution Rock that aired on Tuesday 18.

Here is an excerpt from a review I did of the film:

From what began at a theatre that used to show B-movies entitled the 99 Cent Roxy in conjunction with the Ramones playing a series of shows at a venue called The New Yorker, a chord was struck with aspiring musicians and artists alike. Both of these venues were run by who are referred to as the two Gary’s (Gary Topp and Gary Cormier), who both supported the scene and booked acts and many of the venues that they would run throughout the early parts of this scene. The Last Pogo Jumps Again leaps into coverage of several of the heavyweights in this early music scene such as The Diodes, who took their power pop influenced punk sounds to CBS Records Canada, becoming the first Canadian punk band signed to a major label and The Viletones. They took punk to new extremes, both literally and musically.

Read the full review here.

Check out the interview I did with Colin Brunton:



LPJA Playlist (Show 573):

1. The Diodes - Shapes Of Things To Come
2. The Secrets - Rock Music
3. The Poles - Prime Time
4. The Dishes - Summer Reaction (Crash & Burn)
5. The Curse - I Accuse You (Demo)
6. The Fits - Bored of Education

COLIN BRUNTON: THE LAST POGO JUMPS AGAIN INTERVIEW

7. The Government - Flat Tire
8. The Scenics - I'm Hurt
9. Cardboard Brains - Babies Run My World (Live)
10. The Mods - Step Out Tonight (Live)
11. The Viletones - Possibilites

Download this episode here.

The Last Pogo Jumps Again Interview & Show # 536

The Last Pogo Jumps Again begins with images of fans jumping around to bands playing music while in the background we hear The Demics “New York City”. This song, when not taken at surface value reveals a message of independence and creativity within one’s environment. As we see fans jumping or pogoing in erratic fashion we are led into the beginnings of the documentary. Directors Colin Brunton and Kire Paputts show the building of a scene from nothing. The beginnings of the documentary are juxtaposed with the building of Toronto’s CN Tower and the events that led up to the Toronto punk/new wave scene in 1976. The uniqueness of a music scene like this is covered in great detail and depth. There were a lot of factors at play that resulted in the rise and fall of many of the bands that were involved in this scene that was truly DIY and alternative to the mainstream.

From what began at a theatre that used to show B-movies entitled the 99 Cent Roxy in conjunction with the Ramones playing a series of shows at a venue called The New Yorker, a chord was struck with aspiring musicians and artists alike. Both of these venues were run by who are referred to as the two Gary’s (Gary Topp and Gary Cormier), who both supported the scene and booked acts and many of the venues that they would run throughout the early parts of this scene. The Last Pogo Jumps Again leaps into coverage of several of the heavyweights in this early music scene such as The Diodes, who took their power pop influenced punk sounds to CBS Records Canada, becoming the first Canadian punk band signed to a major label and The Viletones. They took punk to new extremes, both literally and musically. In addition to the music factor of the scene, many of the artists also connected through other art related means such as fashion. Marion Lewis who was a local artist at the time describes the early parts of this scene adding further to the images supplied in the opening parts of this documentary:

“There was no culture here. There was just European based culture or American culture. So we were starting from scratch, you know. We had to start with a crumpled Twinkie wrapper on the side of the road, there’s no other place you can start. You got to start there and then you’ve got to use your intellect and your sense of yourself and your sense of your destiny to build .”

The Last Pogo Jumps Again executes the feelings of alienation and the searching for something new at the time with razor-sharp precision. Additionally, it showcases the growing of this music scene, while at the same time covering some of the bands that were perhaps not as well known to the general public back then. For example, The Scenics had their own unique sound, but were criticized by some for it. This including several other bands that had a different aesthetic such as The Government, Drastic Measures and The Curse, among others are contrasted with the conflicts of bands and situations within the scene, which caused a separation of sorts. At the beginning of the documentary the pogoing fans in the audience jump to the beat of a song at a different tempo. Throughout this documentary we see many artists moving to their own beat musically and artistically, even if there is a clash between them.

Brunton and Paputts started this project in 2006 and after six years of work the result is an informative and revealing documentary of epic proportions that clocks in at approximately three hours and twenty minutes. The Last Pogo Jumps Again burns bright with its coverage of a scene that has been grossly overlooked by many. This film searches for meaning in the spirit of the music and the scene as it moves, with every drop of sweat and every sobering grain of film.

The Last Pogo Jumps Again was recently released on DVD with an extensive amount of extras. Get your copy at www.thelastpogo.net.

Check out the interview I did with Colin Brunton:



Saturday Night Play List:

1. Drastic Measures - Flowers (Live 1978)
2. The Ugly - All Because Of You (Live 1978)
3. Brian Eno - Dead Finks Don't Talk
4. Acid Baby Jesus - Row By Row
5. Tyranna - Back Off Baby
6. The Curse - Killer Bees
7. The Viletones - Screaming Fist

COLIN BRUNTON: THE LAST POGO JUMPS AGAIN INTERVIEW

8. The Diodes - Red Rubber Ball
9. The Government - Acute Angle
10. The Scenics - Bubbles
11. Thee Oh Sees - Wait, Let’s Go
12. Bob Dylan & The Band - My Bucket's Got A Hole In It
13. Bob Dylan & The Band - I'm Not There
14. SQÜRL - Funnel Of Love
15. Damaged Bug - Photograph
16. Simply Saucer - Get My Thrills
17. The CADs - Do The Crabwalk
18. Sonny Vincent & Spite - Disinterested
19. Sleater-Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
20. Ramones - We're A Happy Family
21. Marching Girls - First In Line
22. Teenanger - Fly On The Wall

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 6. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

The Rebel Kind ... Canadian Punk From The Late 70s/Early 80s & Show # 522

On August 16, 1974, the Ramones played their first show as a four piece band at CBGB’s and using that as a starting off point CJAM FM celebrates the 40th anniversary of punk rock with a variety of programming from August 16-22nd 2014. For Revolution Rock, I decided to take a closer look at some of the bands that were involved in the first waves of the punk/new wave scenes of the late 70s and early 80s. Here is a short summary of some of the places (not all of them) in Canada that had various music scenes influenced by the punk rock attitude and ethos put forth by the loud, fast Ramones.

Toronto, Ontario

The Diodes were notable in the Toronto scene for two things, one for being the first Canadian punk act signed to a Canadian major label and secondly for running the Crash ‘n’ Burn, Toronto’s first punk club. This short lived club, also served as the band’s rehearsal space and was the subject of a 1977 film entitled Crash ‘n’ Burn, which can now be seen on Youtube. The Diodes released three albums, 1977’s The Diodes, Released in 1979, and Action-Reaction in 1980. There was also an outtakes compilation released in 1982 entitled Survivors. Several other releases have been put together and released through Bongo Beat Records. The Diodes along with many other bands in Toronto at the time such as The Viletones, The Ugly and The Scenics helped to define the early scene.

In 1978, a documentary film titled The Last Pogo was made by filmmaker Colin Brunton centering on what was billed as the last punk rock show at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. It featured many bands from the Toronto scene, but also other bands such as Hamilton’s Teenage Head. Recently, this film has been expanded on this premise to chronicle the Canadian punk scene from 1976-1978. Titled The Last Pogo Jumps Again, the film is “a documentary about the punk/new-wave/alternative music scene in Toronto, from when The Ramones hit the stage of The New Yorker in 1976 to when the cops gave Teenage Head the boot at infamous The Last Pogo concert in 1978. Filmmakers Colin Brunton and Kire Paputts started the project in June 2006 and logged hundreds of hours of interviews, photos and film clips. Using the 1978 film The Last Pogo as a jumping-off point, the three hour and twenty movie explores the dynamics of what was arguably the most exciting cultural explosion in Toronto’s history,” according to the film’s official website. More information can be found at http://www.thelastpogo.net


The Last Pogo Jumps Again trailer from Colin Brunton on Vimeo.

Vancouver, BC

While most people identify the popular and influential D.O.A. as coming from the late 70s punk scene in Vancouver, there were also several other influential bands from that time. Active Dog was a band that featured future members of other bands, most notably John “Buck Cherry” Armstrong of The Modernettes/Los Popularos/Lost Durangos, Gord Nicholl and Robert Bruce of The Pointed Sticks, Ross Carpenter of The Melody Pimps, Antheads, and several others. They only released one single in 1979 the Rat Race/Good Filthy Fun single before splitting up and were featured on the Vancouver Complication album compiling bands from the Vancouver scene. The power pop/punk band The Pointed Sticks, one of the band’s that featured members from Active Dog reformed in 2009, releasing a Three Lefts Make a Right in the same year. They are currently finishing up a third full-length album that has an anticipated release date of 2014. The Young Canadians were another influential band in the scene at the time. The band is notable for featuring Art Bergmann, who was involved with many bands in the scene. He would go on to become a solo artist in the 1980s and 90s. The Young Canadians released two EP’s and a single before splitting up and were originally called the K-Tels, but were forced to change their name due to legal related actions. Art Bergmann recently announced a new upcoming EP to be titled Songs For The Underclass that is to be released in 2014.

In 2011, there was also a documentary created by filmmaker Susanne Tabata entitled Bloodied But Unbowed. The documentary digs deep into the late 70s/early punk scenes in Vancouver and features many of the key members that were involved in the scene at the time. The documentary “tells a tale of rebellion and music — a fiercely independent scene created from nothing and played out in a microcosm of urban squalor,” as stated on their official website. More information can be found at http://thepunkmovie.com



London, Ontario

London, Ontario featured many bands that were influential during the late 70s and early 80s, some of which included 63 Monroe and The Demics. Taking members from one of the first punk bands in London, NFG and members of another London band The Verge, 63 Monroe was born releasing their first EP entitled N.F.G in 1980. The band often called a glam punk band still continues to perform to this day. The Demics, while they only released an EP and album during their existence (1979’s Talk’s Cheap EP and the 1980 album The Demics) were formed in 1977 in London, Ontario and relocated to Toronto in 1978. They are perhaps known for their song and breakthrough 1979 enigmatic single “New York City”. This is a song sung with attitude and aggressive guitars, despite it’s catchy and memorable chorus.

It is also worth noting that throughout the mid 80s and early 90s London had a zine called What Wave, which was a fanzine celebrating Canadian and sometimes non-Canadian garage/garage punk acts. Several of these issues also came with compilation albums on cassette and sometimes vinyl records. Currently CHRW, a campus radio station in London, Ontario has a program hosted by What Wave Dave (who ran the What Wave zine with his wife Rena from 1984 to 1996) called Radio What Wave, which airs Thursday nights from 6:00 - 7:30 PM, featuring music from the What Wave archives and several other garage and punk related acts. In November 2012, What Wave # 24 was published with a cassette compilation featuring London, Ontario bands from 1978-1992.






Saturday Night Play List:

1. The Spy's - Underground
2. The Dry Heaves - South Windsor Punk (No Funk)
3. 63 Monroe - After
4. The Viletones - Rebel
5. The Dishes - Monopolies Are Made At Night
6. The Diodes - Time Damage
7. The Hot Nasties - I Am A Confused Teenager
8. Young Canadians -Automan
9. D.O.A. - Kill, Kill This is Pop
10. The Melody Pimps - Shell Out
11. Corsage - Rome
12. Tim Ray & A.V. - Quarter To Eight
13. Exxotone - Big Shot
14. Active Dog - Rat Race
15. Active Dog - Good Filthy Fun
16. The Verdix - Media
17. The Sturgeons - Punk Rock Virgins
18. Crash 80’s - Thrills
19. Tyranna - Back off Baby
20. The Scenics - Do The Wait
21. The Secrets - Teenage Rampage
22. B-Girls - High School Dance
23. The Mods - Step Out Tonight
24. The Government - Hemingway (Hated Disco Music)
25. Drastic Measures - Mr. America
26. The Pointed Sticks - I’m Numb/What Do You Want Me To Do (Live June 1980)
27. The Nils - Freedom
28. The Unusuals - Hit And Run
29. The Curse - Shoeshine Boy
30. The Bureaucrats - She’s An American
31. The Dishrags - Past Is Past
32. Teenage Head - Picture My Face
33. The Modernettes - Barbra
34. The Forgotten Rebels - This Ain’t Hollywood
35. The Demics - New York City

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for August 16. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.