The Ugly Ducklings "Nothin'" & Show # 443

“Nothin’” was the first single released by The Ugly Ducklings, a Garage Rock band that originated from the Yorkville section of Toronto. This raw sounding single was released in 1966 on the York Town label and was recorded in the style of British R&B bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Yardbirds. The song is often called a Proto-Punk classic and everything about the song rectifies that statement whether lyrically or musically. The song was recorded in just a couple of hours by this five piece Canadian Garage group and self funded by guitarist Roger Mayne for just over $300. The song was recorded live with few overdubs to capture the bands live sound on tape. Singer Dave Bingham had this to say of the song and its content in book The Top 100 Canadian Singles by Bob Mersereau:

“I was one of those guys that was always rebelling against something. So Roger and I thought, what are gonna write about? Because we really hadn’t lived a life yet that we could write about, so I said “Why don’t we write about nothin’?” The idea of writing a song called “Nothin” was just perfect and anti to me.”

Shortly after its release (backed with a cover of Bo Diddley’s “I Can Tell”) the single was a small local hit in Toronto reaching number 70 on the Canadian singles charts. The Ugly Ducklings would release several singles and one full length album entitled Somewhere Outside. In 1967 they released the single “Gaslight” which was an even bigger success across Canada reaching number 17 on the RPM Charts and #1 at CHUM 1050 AM in Toronto. Following the “Gaslight” single the band broke up in 1968. The Ugly Ducklings experienced a resurgence in popularity by the late 70s Punk scene and would reform around this time releasing an album entitled Off The Wall in 1980. Most recently an album was released called Thump & Twang which was a series of live studio demos that were going to make up a second album following 1967’s Somewhere Outside, but once the band broke up in 1968 the album was scrapped. “Nothin’” still remains a lost Canadian Garage cult classic and was featured on numerous Garage compilation albums. While it may not be that well known these days, “Nothin’” stands on its own as a Garage Rock song filled with a rebellious R&B Punk attitude, lyrically it emphasises the need to rebel against a bad relationship in order to have personal freedom, even if that results in having nothing.

This Week's Play List:

1. Painted Ship – And She Said Yes
2. King Beez – Found and Lost
3. The Secrets – Cryin’ Over Her
4. 49th Parallel – Citizen Freak
5. The Cryptics – You’re Evil
6. The Ten Commandments – Not True
7. The Bohemians – I Need You Baby
8. The Esquires – It’s A Dirty Shame
9. Tom Northcot Trio – Just Don’t
10. Munks – Long Time Waitin’
11. The Worst – Get That Thing
12. The 14th Wray – Your Face Is On My Mind
13. The Polyester Explosion – Madeline
14. The Beaumonts – She Treats Me Right
15. The Smugglers – That Is Rock ‘N’ Roll
16. Prehistoric Cavestrokers - You're In You're Out
17. The Legend Killers – Born Loser
18. Deja Voodoo - Monsters In My Garage Got Married
19. Great Scots – Ball & Chain
20. The Haunted – 1-2-5 (Original Version)
21. The Northwest Company – Eight Hour Day
22. The Gentle Touch – Visitors Parking Only
23. The Ugly Ducklings – Nothin’
24. The Ugly Ducklings – I Can Tell
25. The Ugly Ducklings - Gaslight
26. The Gruesomes – I’m Searching

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 12. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.