Review - Clash in Toronto: A selection of photographs 1979 - 1984

This is the latest in curated books by Nick Smash of Smash It Up zine. This book follows up all the speaking engagements about the CLASH at the Rex Danforth Theatre. This book is a collection of stories and artifacts about all four of the CLASH shows in Toronto. 

Nick outlines the tour details of the ones that brought the CLASH through Toronto - i) "Pearl Harbour" tour at the Rex Danforth Theatre in February 1979, ii) "Take the Fifth" tour at the O'Keefe Centre in September 1979, iii) "Combat Rock" tour at the CNE Grandstand in September 1982, and iv) "Out of Control" tour at Maple Leaf Gardens in April 1984. 

Nick covers events from the Clash's itinerary that were effecting at the band at the time. Important context.

A collection of newspaper articles with pulled out quotes usually misunderstanding the CLASH. 

And then the photographers recollect their thoughts. Brother Simon has some choice nuggets about the Rex Theatre. Don Pyle explains how he got those shots at the O'Keefe. Some of the photographers talk about technical details of cameras, lenses, and aperture speeds. But the stories and reflections are the gold to be mined out of this book. Ivor Levene even transcribes a back stage interview with Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from memory. And Mike Coffey recollects the stories from his departed brother Joe. Joe had told these stores to his family with a lot of proud about shooting the Clash at the Rex Danforth. 

Good attempt at a CLASH exhibit in the Smash museum of music for the T. Dot.

Zine - EXD - Volume 15, Issue 1

It has been a while since a radio zine has come out. The new features an interview with the School Jerks that tries to sum up their history to here. We talk about all sorts of things but mostly about the new LP. The interview was an attempt to look at the band to date and was initially prepared for MRR, but that never materialised. You can download a PDF of the zine here.

Zine - Art Through Intimidation: An Introduction to the flyers of Black Flag

Art Through Intimidation: An Introductionto the flyers of Black Flag

This amazing zine was put together by someone locally and was inspired by their love for Raymond Pettibon artwork. In an interview we did with the author this love developed at an early age reading some of Pettibon’s early zines. As the author started collecting Pettibon flyers the author found that a lot of collectors didn’t share the same curiosity for meaning behind the artwork. All the artwork found in this zine has been collected by the author and purchased. He has made a special distinction between original flyers and copies, so only original pieces have been commented on. Anyway, the author has applied a sophisticated art analysis to Pettibon’s artwork with  a look at the evolution in stages compared through Black Flag’s history. He points out that Pettibon never drew artwork for Black Flag. It was used by Black Flag so his artwork should be looked at on it’s own. This is a book that the author wished was around when he was a kid and has been pulled together through correspondence with the Charles Dukowski and other sources listed inside. Here is a PDF download of Art Through Intimidation. 

Zine - EXD, Volume 14, Issue 1

The new issue of the EXD zine is out and this issue features an interview with two members from Creative Zero who were a hardcore band from the early 80's that formed in the Peterborough area. James Zero, who played guitar, and Joel Wasson, who played drums, were the interviewees. They fill us in on the band tell us about moving to Toronto, give us stories about the shows they played, the bands they played with and the clubs that this all happened in. They also inform us that they were recorded for a second T.O Hardcore comp that never came out. But they were in "Not Dead Yet" so that is part of the narrative. Tim Freeborn transcribed this beat of a discussion. We also included a few reviews of an ealry Toronto punk zine called "Smash it Up" with links to on-line versions so that you can download them for yourself.

Zine - EXD - Volume 13, Issue 01

The new issue of the zine is out. This issue features D'Arcy's on-air interview with the TV Freaks back a few years. there was some great stuff in their. TV Freaks have just released their second album so the release of this issue is somewhat timely. Tere is also lots of reviews to be find inside and a complete listing of Not Dead Yet on the back cover. Feel free to download the issue as a PDF.

Zine - EXD - Volume 12, Issue 4

Start Dancing was an all ages punk dance organized by kids in the scene. Vera Bigall and Paul Dakota were the main organizers. Gerry Doyle provided the sound system, Dan Hughes provided the music, and Mark Sanders did security. Andy Ford would help lug the equipment down to the space whatever it would be. Sometimes it was a Legion Hall, other times it was a church basement or a synagogue. Start Dancing was like a high school dance but for punk rockers and mods. They happened between 1981 and 1985 every Friday night and soon they added bands to the mix. When i think back upon it now I think that Start Dancing had something to do with why Toronto has a propensity towards all ages shows. be a reason for why Toronto has always had such a strong all ages scene. They were a lifeline for a kid like me who didn't know how to get fake ID but still wanted to meet kids like me. One of my main recollections was the way that people brought records and put them on this portable turntable. It was a great way to turn people onto your new singles without everyone having to go out and buy the single. Money was tight. It was like a community jukebox. Thanks to Mark Sanders for agreeing to get everyone together with exception of Paul Dakota. This interview originally ran on the radio show, but I really wanted more people to know about this special part of Toronto's punk past. You can download a PDF of the zine here.
http://archive.org/download/Volume12-Issue4/Volume12-issue4-small.pdf

Zine - EXD - Volume 12, Issue 03

CHRONIC SUBMISSION were from what I consider the legendary first wave of the Toronto hardcore scene. They were kids at the time and not taken very seriously, that is until they hit the stage. They played a start and stop style of hardcore unheard of in our local scene until bands like MDC and DRI made it through town. They would later pick up on the metal side forging a local crossover sound which characterized material after their second tape. There were some unsavoury stories to this period, as well, which is better to hear from them. This PDF contains the story of CHRONIC SUBMISSION so click on the cover and download the issue.

Zine - EXD - Volume 12, Issue 2

Here is the June 2012 issue of the Equalizing-X-Distort zine. This issue features the interview with Arson. There is also reviews of Das Bande zine, the Ta Yeule fanzine, and Violent Future demo. Click on the cover to get a download of this issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 12, Issue 01

This is Volume 12, Issue 01 for the Equalizing-X-Distort zine and is the issue on Sons of Ishmael. Sons of Ishmael were a little known band from Meaford, Ontario and they released a number of EPs, a 10", an LP, and a bunch of compilations. They were best known for the "Hayseed Hardcore" EP which came out in 1985 and more recently played a reunion show in 2011. We got to speak to them in 2010 and featured the interview in our first issue for 2012 complete with loads of artwork. Click on the cover to download a PDF of the zine.

Zine - Das Bande #1

Gena Meldazy, who used to be a DJ on EXD, has pulled together a zine on inspirational women in the punk scene. Das Bande contains profiles and interviews of these women who got into punk, what they think of the male over representation in the scene, what they think about the advances in technology and whatnot. It is funny because I just read this in depth interview with Alice Bag that Martin Sorrendeguy did in MRR and I was still left wanting to know more about the background of the times. Das Bande has even shorter interviews often being the equivalent of one page each. And although we live in a time were brevity is preferred I somehow feel cheated on not getting more of their story. It is like we get a teaser from Jill Bain (a.k.a. Jade Blade) about the DISHRAGS in Victoria. The DISHRAGS were one of the first all female punk bands in Canada and yet I know very little about them. I did learn that her cousin started Vancouver’s first band the FURIES around the same time, which made it easier for her to take the steps in starting up a RAMONES inspired band. However I wish I knew about who they played with and crazy show stories or scene stories about the early Victoria scene. I know that Jason Flowers attempted at capturing some of those stories with his comp “All Your Ears Can Hear”, but this too suffers from being restricted by space and so you only get one or two stories. I feel there is so much more to be said about the DISHRAGS and maybe that is the purpose of this zine. To give you a teaser that you will take and research more of. One of the profiles that I enjoyed was of Janick Varning who does the Varning fests in Montreal. Janick used to sing in an awesome band called HELLBOUND and sadly nothing is said about that in her piece. But her greater contributions of starting up the Katakombes which is a punk run space that shapes itself off the squat system in Europe does get mentioned. That is significant. And her background was interesting to learn growing up in foster homes and being inspired by Chris Boarts-Larson of Slug and Lettuce fame. Reading Sandy Miranda’s profile saddened me a bunch because she sounded down on punk. I knew Sandy as someone who was super enthusiastic about the scene and wrote a great zine that doesn’t get mentioned in here. Anyway, Sandy’s piece was very different from what I expected. Juls Generic’s piece was very good. Juls sang in MARGARET THRASHER before moving to Newfoundland where she has been in a couple of bands since. She is also a regular columnist in MRR so there have been a lot of updates on Juls regularly. But this piece is Juls’ back story. Zoe Dodd has a portrait of her in the zine and I wish someone had taken the time to get Zoe’s story to paper given she grew up in the north and moved to Toronto and sang for the BAYONETTES and did shows here. And there are a bunch of other women from the past and present that could have been included in this issue. I guess the door is wide open to continue on telling the herstories of the scene. Hopefully this is not a one off project. Tara Bursey did sketches and is responsble for the SCHOOL JERKS record covers. She also did an amazing re-make of the “Warriors” movie film poster for an EXD benefit show. Tara is a talent and I would have loved to know more about her back story. But you do get Liz Worth, the author of “Treat Me Like Dirt” and you get Megan Speers of Wanderlust who also did the cover artwork for this issue. Catherine Roussel of STRIVER is in here. And Emily Kendy of Absolute Underground. My last pet peave is the wasted pages. The zine is done on legal sheets folded in half. The inside pages are not copied on making for a full page that has not been cut out. It doubles the size of the zine and makes it difficult to flip pages. I wish that technical thing had been figured out but the size is a unique size making the zine stand out. (Gena Meldazy – gmeldazy@gmail.com)

Zine - EXD - Volume 11, Issue 06

This came out in December 2011 and featured Total Trash and Scream. Click on the cover to download a PDF of this issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 11, Issue 5

Zero and Dave appeared on the show back in 2008. Zro4 were a great punk band that formed in 1978 and brtoke up in 1986. ZRO4 was comprised of members from many early wave punk bands in the Toronto scene which included the UGLY, the VILETONES, TYRANNA, and BLUE PETER. Zero and Tony Brighton of the UGLY started up the band and they recruited Dave Joudrey on guitar and Mike Bambrick who would go on to play in the SHARKS and BLUE PETER on drums. Chris Hate of the VILETONES, Marc Gamage of the WADS / ARSON, Chick Parker and countless others would fill the ranks throughout the years. In an interview we did in 2008 with Zero and Dave we found out that ZRO4 had played almost every dive in Toronto that would give punk a chance. These places included the Turning “Learning” Point, the Pylon Theatre, The Rock (Oriental) Palace, the Horseshoe, Larry’s (a.k.a. the Head Space), the Issy, the Bev, the Cameron, the Masonic Temple, the El Mo, the Cabana Room, the DMZ and a bunch lesser known places like Scruffers, and pubs in Mattawa and Tottenham. In 1980, Chameleon Records released the song “Blood” on the “No Pedestrians” comp, but it wasn’t until the Punk History Canada comp where “Gimmie Attention” saw the light of day. This came from a number of unreleased recordings with so many great songs that Zero told us about. Photos by Anita Alksnis, Tony Brighton, Gail Bryck, Mark Leach, Wayne Maguire, Ted Russell, and Garry Vortex. Click the photo to download a copy of the zine.

Zine - EXD, Volume 11, Issue 4

This is the September 2011 issue of EXD radio zine. Urban Blight is the feature interview. We did this interview originally with the band back in October 2010 just after they had gotten back from a tour in Europe. Consequently we spend a lot of time talking about the places they played. I have also been trying to get an interview with Beav about Urban Blight for years so I took the opportunity to ask him about meanings behind songs and history behind releases. I hope this covers all you wanted to know about Urban Blight. There are record reviews in here which include some new Finnish releases and some 625 releases that came in. A review of Jennifer Morton's book on BFG titled "Dirty Drunk and Punk" is in here. Nico Taus of Vicious Cycle also wrote a book about the Sudbury scene called "Songs from Nowhere" and my critiques are found in here. The big Hallowe'en fest flyer is the back cover with some of the bands playing the big three day fest in October. The show is being called "Ain't Dead Yet". Click the cover for a download of this issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 11, Issue 3

This issue was released in late August 2011. The issue features an interview with D'Arcy's most recent band, Snakepit, who released a few records and toured Japan in their sort existence. Henry Martinuk did a retrospective interview with Mark Gane and Martha Johnson of Martha and the Muffins in 2010 looking back at their early punk days. And there is loads of reviews in this issue. Click on the cover to download a PDF of this issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 11, Issue 2

This is the brand new issue of the EXD zine that came out on March 2011. I was able to pull together Andy Ford, Paul Newman, and Buzz, who were the members of the band back in December. Here is an editted transcript with some flyers and other historical pieces that A.P.B. were involved in. They mean a lot to me. When I first started getting into the Toronto scene I would see them a lot at shows.

We also have a lot of reviews in this issue which include 1981; Agoraphobic Nosebleed; A.N.S.; Apparatus; Avon Ladies; Beyond Description; Beyond Pink; Boston Strangler; Broadcast Zero; Broken Bones; Chemical Threat; Chiefs; Coke Bust; Cola Freaks; the Corpse; Countdown to Armageddon; Demon with a Dagger; Dudman; Extinction of Mankind; Digust; Gasmask Terror; Hummingbird of Death; Inservicibles; I Object; Knucklehead; The Lucky Ones; Murderess; Nekromantiker; Nervous System; Rehashed; Right Idea; Ruidosa Inmundicia; Sex Prisoner; Sick Fuckin'-O; Tense Reaction; the Welders; Xbrainiax; Buffalo Brutality; Decay; Test Patterns; Warsaw is Burning

Please click on the image to download a PDF of this issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 11, Issue 1

This is Issue 1 of Volume 11 of the Equalizing-X-Distort radio zine. It came out in February 2011 and featured an interview with Grant Slavin who was the singer and guitarist in the Toronto hardcore punk band Negative Gain from back in the mid-80's. There are reviews and a Best of 2010 section in this issue as well. Click on the image to download a copy.

Tyranna interview in MRR #330

Johnny Bubblegum and Stephe Perry were able to edit down the CIUT interview in order to tell Tyranna's story in MRR. This appeared in issue #330, which came out in November 2010. Tyranna were a punk band in Toronto that started up in 1978 and were around until 1980. "Back off Baby" appeared on the "No Pedestrian" comp and two years ago they had an ep come out on Boppa Do Down records, which is based out of Frantic City Records. They did a record release show around the time of the release of the record and this is a transcript going over some of the highlights of the band. Click on the image to download a PDF of the piece or better yet write MRR and get a copy of the issue.

Zine - EXD, Volume 10, Issue 04

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This is the September 2010 issue of the zine. The feature piece is on the Young Lions who were a hardcore band at the begining of the Toronto hardcore scene. This interview was with Chris Genest, the bass player, recounting some of the Lions stories. There are also some reviews tucked in here.

Zine - EXD, Volume 10, Issue 3

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This is the transcript of the interview that Greg Dick did back in July 2007 with Raymi Gunner, Sam Ferera, and Tony Torcher. It's finally out. Three years in the making.

Zine - EXD, Volume 10, Issue 02

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This issue features the Moterfuckers from Calgary who might have broken up by now or might be on hiatus. Nonetheless I wanted to get their interview in print because they had been around for ten years. They also had a skating side to them so I printed the Sudden Impact interview we did two years ago that I was hoping MRR would run. Sudden impact were an awesome crossover band from Newmarket and they were skaters and they did a reunion back in 2007. That is when we caught up with them to talk about the history of the band.