Talk's Cheap...The Story of The Demics...Show # 308

In 1977, The Demics formed in London, Ontario, Canada. The band consisted of Keith Whittaker on vocals, Rob Brent on guitar, Lain Atkinson-Staines on bass, and J.D. Weatherstone on the drums. Lain and Whittaker were both from the England area (Keith from Manchester, Lain from Cambridge), while the other two members (Brent and Weatherstone) were from London, Ontario. The bands name came from Whittaker, a demic was s slang term in Manchester meaning "dork" or "loser". The band quickly became part of London, Ontario's emerging Punk scene.

The Demics released their first EP, Talk's Cheap in 1979. One of the songs on the EP, "New York City" received airplay recognition on college radio stations, especially at CFNY in Toronto. The song which is of a slower tempo, but still falling within the Punk Rock realm would become the bands signature song. In 1979, the Demics played their final shows in London and Toronto with the original band line up. After the bands final show in London, Ontario several audience members formed bands of their own, following that some of the band relocated to Toronto. Another version of the band would re-emerge with Steve Koch on guitar in 1980. They would record a self titled album in the same year. Many have said that the album was over produced. Despite this, The Demics has good qualities to it. The album incorporated other musical elements into the bands already established Punk sound such as Garage Rock, and Rockabilly. By 1981 with tensions amongst band members rising, they split up.

In 1996, a CD compilation entitled New York City was released. On this compilation all of the bands original recordings were compiled. The song "New York City" still receives airplay and was voted in a reader’s poll as the greatest Canadian song of all time by Chart. In the same year Keith Whittaker passed away to cancer related illness, a compilation of his final recordings were released by Bullseye Records in August of 2007. The twelve song CD was entitled Drink to Me. While The Demics were a short lived Canadian Punk band, they crossed paths with many renowned Punk bands at the time. They opened for the likes of The Viletones, The Dead Boys and Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers in 1979 at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.

Play List:

1. Modern Lovers - Modern World
2. Fire Engines - Discord (Peel Session 1981)
3. The Only Ones - Trouble in the World
4. Gardez Darkx - Heartbeat
5. The Demics - The Least You Can Do
6. The Demics - New York City
7. Lost Patrol - See Me Now
8. The Manvils - Substation
9. The Kills - Fried My Little Brains
10. The Superfantasics - Van Gogh
11. The Sights - It'd Be Nice (To Have You Around)
12. The Almighty Defenders - She Came Before Me
13. The 5.6.7.8's - Arkansas Twist
14. Wavves - King of the Beach
15. Blue Peter - Same Old Place
16. The Fall - Cowboy George
17. New York Dolls - Private World
18. Laughing Clowns - The Only One That Knows
20. Dave Dubois - Song 3
21. Simply Saucer - Yes I Do (Live)
22. The Dark - John Wayne
23. The Dishrags - Can't Wait
24. The Police - Nothing Achieving
25. The Hentchmen - Ham & Oil
26. The Misfits - TV Casualty
27. Wreckless Eric - The Whole Wide World


To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 13th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.