Radio What Wave Playlist June 19/2014
This show we go back to the first wave of Toronto punk/new wave combos with an emphasis on the artier side as we pay tribute to Steven Davey. Former member of The Dishes and The Everglades, both early influential bands at the very begining of what was to become a scene. Long before the testosterone and suburbanites invaded, Steven was creating a scene and gently pushing bands to form and get out of the rehearsal studio and onto the stage. Thanx for the push and encouragement!!!
1. Nihilist Spasm Band....This Is A Test...London Ontario's longest lasting art/punk band(???) who were around long before anything resembling new wave was even considered.
2. Keith Whittaker....Drink To Me...from the CD of the same name. This was Keith Whittakers last recordings. Assembled, recorded and guitar playing by Steven Davey, who was a good pal of Keith's prior to his passing. This was put together for the 10th anniversary of Keith's passing.
3. Keith Whittaker...Hungover You.... as above.
4. Keith Whittaker...Beef Stampede....as above.
5. The Dishes....Walky Talky.....from their Fashion Plates EP from 1977.
6. The Everglades....I'm In A Coma....from The Last Pogo LP from 1978. There's a movie of the same name that documents the Toronto and area punk/new wave scene in the late 70's. It was done by Colin Brunton who was there and comes highly recommended! Haven't seen it yet, but they did use a couple of my pics (with permission of course) in the movie.
7. The Dishes....Monopolies Are Made At Night....from the Fashion Plates EP. BTW, there is a Dishes compilation CD on Bullseye Records that's on my want list.
8. The Everglades....Rock'n'Roll Cliche...from The Last Pogo....this was the first Toronto compilation LP i bought way back when that really turned me on to some of the early Toronto bands!
9. The Diodes....DOA...from the Sony Greatest Hits CD that manager Ralph Alfonso compiled. Steven got The Diodes onto the stage and out of the rehearsal studio for their first show.
10. The Diodes...I'm In A Coma....from the Survivors LP from 1982. A Steven Davey tune that you heard earlier in the show.
11. The Diodes...Shape Of Things....from the Time Damage LP on Rave Up Records.This is the 1978 live to air as played on CHUM FM back in 1978. This was the first Toronto new wave band to actaully get airplay and accepted (well, somewhat) by the mainstream. A huge stepping stone for the Toronto scene!! Although rumour has it, this was only broadcast so that CHUM could do a similar event with Elvis Costello.
12. The Viletones....Possiblities....from their 1977 7" EP.
13. The Viletones....Rebel....as above and written by Steven Davey for the Viletones.
14. The Viletones....Never Feel Sad...from the OPM CD. This is 1977 recordings souped up by Peter Moore and Chris Spedding. Peter Moore was active on the London Ontario scene in the late 70's/early 80's recording bands and he also had a show here on CHRW. He went under the name Simon Less as he was kicked off the air occasionally for lack of professionalism (he said FUCK on the airwaves). One of the greatest shows ever on this station and he would sometimes play live recordings of local bands, some of which i taped and have used on shows several times.
15. Zoom....Massacre at Central High...from an early 7" and predates the shootings at high schools by a good 25 years. The members of Zoom went on to bands like The Viletones, Diodes, Secrets and others.
16. The Secrets....Suzie Peroxide....from the Teenage Rampage CD. This is members of The Viletones (without singer Steven Leckie) playing 60's style powerpop and doing an excellent job!! These guys were way ahead of the curve and didn't get the expected response.
17. The Curse....Shoeshine Boy....from their only 7" and the first all female Toronto punk/new wave combo. They took a lot of flack for this one, as it chronicles an incident that actually happened in Toronto. The Curse were the 3rd punk band to play sleepy London Ontario, the first being The Diodes and the next Eddie and the Hot Rods (although they are considered pubrock, but at the time we considered them punk).
18. B Girls...Boys Are Drinking....from the OPM CD, Who Says Girls Can't Rock. Produced by Mick Jones of The Clash, The B Girls were a band that coulda and shoulda but somehow didn't make it big. They had a record on Bomp Records, opened for The Clash on the east coast, one of them was the girlfriend of Stiv Bators (Dead Boys) and even had a London Ontario connection in Marcy Saddy on the drums.
19. The Cads....Do The Crabwalk...from the 7" EP of the same name from 1978.
20. The Scenics...O Boy....from the unreleased Last Pogo recordings from 1978. Artpunk at it's finest and way different than anything else happening in Toronto, yet welcomed into the punk/new wave scene. We had singer/guitarist/bassist Andy onair many years ago when they did their first reunion tour.
21. The Government...Hemingway Hated Disco....form their first 7" from 1979. Another band that didn't fit as they were heavily into video long before VCR's were available for the average home. A personal fave, didn't get to see these guys until late 1981 and by that time, they were a shadow of their glory days.
22. The Ugly....Streanded In The Laneway....from their lone 7". Way different from the chaos of their live shows, this is really good powerpop and not at all what you would expect The Ugly to record. If you want chaos, check out their OPM CD that has all that and more little girl.....right here on the floor.....
23. Cardboard Brains....Caesar Drives A Fast Car....from their 12" EP.
24. The Hi-Fi's....Look What You've Done....from their only 7", but there's rumours they recorded more back then, so if anyone can get me copies of those recordings, i have lots to trade. The Hi-Fi's went on to become the darlings of Canada's alt-country/pop as Blue Rodeo. Back in The Hi Fi days, they were an incredible band live and i caught them a few times at the Cedar and Larry's in Toronto.
Well that was a fun show, and once again, just the tip of the iceberg as there is so much good music from that era. Hope you enjoyed the show and thanx for listening and putting up with my screwups and mumbles.
And thanx for all the phone calls, emails, facebook messages and Heys!!!! And thanx to all the crazies that tune in every week while they do the dishes!!
See ya next week!
And here's a link to the podcast:
http://chrwradio.ca/programs/radio-what-wave
