For a limited time only: drop by and
receive Odyssey "money" discount
coupons for our vast selection of import
albums, posters, t-shirts and books.
r' k,
&Lw*lt
While visiting check out Vancouver's
largest selection of import 12" singles
at the lowest prices in town!
Come to us for the latest U.K. albums -
new releases now selling at $13.88 -
with specials reaching as low as $ 10.99!
P M
1
asp'
VANCOUVER'S FOREMOST NEW MUSIC STORE •VOL 2 NO.12
^mjJSIVK^W±i&^^
KTHffWS
V
WmlMiiJ^SMM
SMWi$10
back
in «4_14
(&8
J
REGULAR FEATURES
8m****> 6
^^ jSSSSSS8>SSSSSS8SSSSSiSSSSS W
HUNICKIl HK>\T
*************************
18_ Pr°gRaM gui°e
yij^amuiimMi 24
2 ^SINGULAR SPINS
Demo Derby 29
ll_JM II M d
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
January 1985
•AT AMERICA'S IflHCH
'Now km is something tlwt I Scue n«ir understood
i M| Mb. How -thirteen females c«n gtf into m^
1 sett look Irene I know you thir* I'm jrtt a
dumb bwnmf from 4rKee%es. M I'm not from Arkansas."
DiScORDER
*I soid ne, C^frfhia. pejfyroieiare netaft rw*l
Issue #24
EDITOR Chris Dafoe
WRITERS
Steve Robertson, Ammo Fuzztone, Mark Mushet,
Gord Badanic, Sukhvinder Johal, Beverly Demchuk,
Jeffrey Kearney, Dave Harper, Jerome Broadway,
Rob Simms, Brian Maitland, Jim Main
PICTURE EDITOR Jim Main
PHOTOS
Dave Jacklin
CARTOONS
R. Filbrandt, Susan Catherine, Carel Moiseiwitsch
PRODUCTION Dave Ball
LAYOUT
Harry Hertscheg, Dorothy Cameron, Robert Van Acker
PROGRAM GUIDE
Val Goodfellow
TYPESETTING
Dena Corby
COVER
Robert Van Acker
ADVERTISING/CIRCULATION Harry Hertscheg
ACCOUNTS Linda Scholten
DISCORDER, c/o CITR Radio, 6138 S.U.B. Blvd., Vancouver, B.C., V6T 2A5
Phone (604) 228-3017
DISCORDER—A guide to CITR—is published monthly by the Student Radio Society of
the University of British Columbia.
CITR fm 101.9 cable 100.1 broadcasts its 49-watt signal in stereo throughout the Vancouver
area from Gage Towers on the UBC campus. For best reception, attach an antenna device
to your receiver. CITR is also available via cable in Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Maple Ridge and
Mission.
DISCORDER circulates 12,000 free copies at selected locations throughout UBC and
Vancouver—and beyond. If you're interested in either advertising in DISCORDER or having
some copies dropped off, call (604) 228-3017, Twelve month subscriptions are available at
the following rates: $9 in Canada, $12 outside Canada. Send cheque or money order payable
to 'DISCORDER'. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, cartoons and graphics are also
welcome, but they can be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed return envelope
carrying sufficient Canadian postage. We do not assume responsibility for unsolicited
contributions.
DISCORDER and CITR offices are located in room 233 of UBC's Student Union Building.
For general CITR business enquiries or CITR Mobile Sound bookings, call (604) 228-3017.
The music request line is 228-2487 or 228-CITR.
AVAILABLE FREE AT OVER 100 LOCATIONS
DOWNTOWN
A&A Records & Tapes
Arts Club on Seymour
Black Market
Bronx Clothing
Cafe Zen
Camouflage Clothing
Check-It-Out Clothing
Collector's R.P.M. Records
Concert Box Offices
Duthie Books
The Edge
F 451 Books
The Gandydancer
Kelly's Electronic World
MacLeod's Books
Montgomery Cafe
Odyssey Imports
Railway Club
Revolutions
Studio Cinema
Vancouver Ticket Centre
The Web Clothing
Whittaker's On Seymour
GASTOWN
Smilin' Buddha Cabaret
The Waterfront Corrall
Zeet Records & Tapes
ZZ. West
EAST SIDE
Bikes On Broadway
Camosun Aquaria
Changes Consignment
Clothing
Collector's R.P.M. Records
Highlife Records & Music
iggy's
Kelly's Electronic World
(Oakridge)
Neptoon Collectors' Records
New York Theatre
Octupus Books East
Vancouver East Cinema
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
Western Front Lodge
POINT GREY
A Piece of Cake
Cafe Madeleine
Dunbar Theatre
Duthie Books
Frank's Records & Books
University Pharmacy
Varsity Theatre
Video Stop
The Video Store
West Point Cycles
KITSILANO
Bill Lewis Music
Black Swan Records
Broadway Records & Tapes
Bullfrog Studios
The Comicshop
Deluxe Junk Clothing
Cabbages & Kinx Clothing
Deluxe Junk Clothing
Firehall Theatre
Golden Era Clothing
Minus Zero Leather Works
M.S.R. Records
Phunk 'n Hair
Pow-Wow Clothing
Re-Runs Recycled Apparel
The Savoy Nightclub
Sissy Boy Clothing
NOTICE: We're now looking for out-of-town spots to drop off DISCORDER. We
can't guarantee personal delivery, but we will get them to your store somehow—
and at no charge! We'll also put your business name on our circulation list
above. So give us a non-collect call or drop us a line and be the first shop on
your block to have a spot for DISCORDER.
The Eatery
Hollywood Theatre
Lifestream Natural Foods
Long & McQuade
Mushroom Studios
Neptoon Collectors' Records
Octopus Books
Ridge Theatre
Scorpio Records
Videomatica
X-Settera Select Used Clothes
Yesterdays Collectables
Zulu Records
WEST END
The Bay Theatre
Bayshore Bicycles
Breeze Record Rentals
Camfari Restaurant
Denman Grocery
Downtown Disc Distributors
English Bay Book Co.
Little Sister's Book & Art
Manhattan Books & Magazines
Melissa's Records & Tapes
NORTH SHORE
A&A Records & Tapes
(Park Royal)
KeUy's Electronic World
(Park Royal)
Sam the Record Man
(Capilano)
Deep Cove Bike Shop
RICHMOND
A&A Records & Tapes
Cubbyhole Books
Paul's Music Sales & Rentals
Sam the Record Man !»5a«
«2SS^'5
H?S^^^C^;^^^^
S\ssVB°^caiTne
--tot. ^ _ <■ DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
...And the seige continues. It
seems that Adele Hawley has
opened up a rather large can of
applesauce. Obviously, some of
it has spilled and burned a hole
in the floor here at CITR. So here
it is, all red hot, behind the
scenes dirt on the stars (?) of
DISCORDER. Enjoy.
Dear Airhead,
Hurrah for Adele Hawley who
wrote you last month running down
DISCORDER (and CITR) as being
sexist. I should know. In the past,
I have submitted copy (on time) on
record reviews for two different
issues only to discover at the
beginning of each month that Vinyl
Verdict sentenced me to the floor
of the editing room. Seems the infamous editor Chris Dafoe (of the
male species) neglected to provide
an explanation. In my frustrated fits
of despair, I refrained from screaming out in vain, "Dafo-ck it!" But
upon reviewing the contents of
previous DISCORDERs, I decided
to push harder against these walls
of sexual discrimation.
Before I knew it I found myself
working under the more superior
leadership of slave-driver Dave
Ball, laying about the layout room
as the Program girl-Guider (the
bondage role-playing was quickly
solved with the purchase of a glue
stick). At least I now have a source
of input with the publication. But
how long can a lonely Program
Guider survive behind the scenes
lacking the support of more
talented women?
Certainly it's a man's world up
here at CITR but I'm sure more
equality can be established without a full scale sex war by simply
working together with mutual
respect.
It seems I'm incapable of writing
anything up to DISCORDER's
trashy standards. Besides, there's
little room left after all the CD articles are included (oink, oink). I
wonder how much of this letter (if
any of it) will surface in the next
issue. I assume I won't know until
January, unless of course, Mr.
Dafoe has the "Dave Balls" to inform me of his decision to cut me
out.
Ah, the joys of working on DISCORDER. Not only are we trying
to overcome DISCORDER's increasing growing pains and improve its format, but we are also
open to any adjustments with the
fine tuning.
A minority member,
Val Goodfellow
Dear Airhead,
As a regular contributer to DISCORDER, as well as doing DJ
work at CITR, I took strong exception to the letter from Adele Hawley in December's issue. I feel that
VouKE 5ut>f NOT
Mof?MAU If VoU
PO/V'f K£At>
rh8a>
c/o CITR Radio
6138 S.U.B. Blvd.
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 2A5
the response to her remarks on
sexism in CITR's programming
was valid, but far too kind. I have
just finished going through some
of my own recent playsheets—of
an average total of 43-49 titles per
program, 50% OR MORE were
written, performed and/or produced by women. Perhaps my own
sentiments could best be expressed in the words of Annie Anxiety
(a woman):
"...Sisters, if you
present yourselves
to the world as
"WOMAN", subjugating self and basing
decisions on genitalia, you're simply
perpetuating the
very bondage that
has been used to
separate, classify
and contain women
AND man for thousands of years...
when will we grow
beyond division?"
Sincerely,
Larry Thiessen
Dear Airhead,
You stated in the
December DISC-
ORDER that CITR
chooses music based on merit rather
than gender. Such a
statement doesn't
really mean very
much in a sexist world. Each of us
has been taught that so-called
"masculine" qualities are superior
to so-called "feminine" qualities.
Therefore, whatever is considered
to have merit is going to reflect
that. Besides, who decides what
has merit? CITR's Music Directors
and most of the DJs are male. In
order to get any airplay, a female
artist has to prove to the men in
charge that her music has merit by
their lop-sided standards. Sure,
sexist men can easily accept
women who believe in the
superiority of "masculine"
qualities, because that is what they
believe in themselves.
But that is not equality. Real
equality involves each one of us
accepting our complete selves.
Each of us is made up of qualities
that the world has labelled "feminine" and qualities that the world
has labelled "masculine." Because
of childhood conditioning, most of
us are over-emphasizing half of
ourselves and suppressing the
other half of ourselves. A person
who accepts their entire personality knows that one aspect of
themselves is not superior to any
other aspect of themselves. A person who accepts all of their own
personality has no problem understanding or accepting the idea of
equality.
Every issue of DISCORDER
seems to contain some criticism of
feminists. This backlash comes
from men who feel threatened by
the idea of feminists having any
power. It symbolizes the suppression of the "feminine" part of
themselves; the part of themselves
that they have been taught to be
ashamed of. Violence is very appealing to men who are denying
the "feminine" part of themselves.
Getting to be a complete human
being is a very individual thing. It
simply requires accepting all aspects of your own personality without labelling certain things as acceptable and other things as unacceptable. This can take time to
understand because most of us do
not even know that we aren't accepting all of ourselves. But I don't
think there is a person alive who
has not been taught to suppress
some parts of themselves. So, my
hope is that each one of us will
keep searching for the missing
parts of ourselves. And the place
to look is the inside of our own
hearts and souls, not outside in the
fucked-up world.
Yours truly,
Marie Carlson
Have you checked behind the
sofa cushions? January 1985
Dear Airhead,
I should first like to say that I am
an avid reader of DISCORDER, although when I read "THNCK Of
The Night," dated December 1984,
I was upset, then offended, and
then I saw red. I am referring, Sir,
to Ammo Fuzztone's off-the-cuff little remark, "...And R.I.P. to Mink;
with friends like yours, who needs
enemies?" I imagine Mr. Fuzztone
thought he was fairly brave saying
a risque thing like that—so brave
he wouldn't even sign his goddamned name!
It is obvious from the flippancy
of the remark that Mr. Fuzztone
had not even met Mink, and did not
know the circumstances of his
death. I suppose in the loosest of
terms, Mr. Fuzztone, you would call
yourself a journalist, although I
consider the terms "gossip columnist," "name dropper," and "garbage sifter" are more appropriate
descriptions of your style of 'writing.' As a journalist, you must know
the facts and consider the consequences of your writing before you
publish it for all and sundry to
read—it is obvious you did neither.
We, his friends, were deeply offended and infuriated by your smug little aside. We are all still deeply
upset by the loss of a dear friend,
and then you, a complete stranger,
come along and make a cheap, ignorant, self-righteous and vaguely
accusatory statement like that.
Why didn't you think before you
wrote, you insensitive bastard. I
shake with rage and my blood boils
at the very thought of your unthinking, irresponsible, snotty little
comment.
I am not unreasonable. A formal,
written retraction and apology will
suffice. In the meantime, why don't
you try to get a job with National
-wm-
Dear DISCORDER,
It is extremely gratifying to us here at FOXCO that you young broadcasters look up to us so much that you want to give us head.
Best regards,
Pete Taylor
Promotions Director
C-FOX
No, sorry, we don't smoke.
t.«ugg$@a&}
I**11 "MIm
Enquirer? I think you'd be more
suited to their style of insidious
crapola.
Yours angrily,
Sean Newton
I would not presume to provide
authoritative clarification on
behalf of Ammo Fuzztone, for
any of his remarks. In this case,
however, I think a comment is
necessary. Speaking for myself,
I found the remark more poignant than offensive. That is undoubtedly because I took it in a
figurative rather than a literal
sense, and I am pretty sure that
it was the former in which Mr.
Fuzztone meant the comment to
be taken. Whether he knows you
or anybody else who knew Mink
is immaterial; that's not what he
is talking about. The "friend"
and ultimate enemy to which
Ammo is referring is heroin—a
shitty, stupid, dangerous drug.
***■>
UBC GRAD CENTRE
JANUARY 18 9pm
TICKETS: $5, AT DOOR AND USUAL OUTLETS
Presented by the UBC Anarchy Club
■ oi|p»nioi|(i ii oi|pn II ^%! OJ^H'OH^M
Mink should know, it killed him;
not to mention countless others
unfortunate (and stupid) enough
to associate themselves with it.
Airhead,
I am continually amazed and appalled at the cynical approach
DISCORDER often takes toward
the local scene. I, for one, am getting pretty bloody sick of seeing
local talent brushed off, ignored
and insulted by some copy-boy too
insecure to put his actual name
behind the words. As far as "The
Observer" is concerned most
bands don't "win" SHiNdig, they
just "lose the least."
"DEMO DERBY" usually has its
fair share of cheap shots. "Be hip:
be negative" seems to be your
creed. It is not only callous to treat
emerging talent so shabbily, but
downright stupid and self-destructive to attack the very scene which
creates outlets such as CITR and
DISCORDER. But hey, self-destruction is hip, too.
Regards,
Greg Holfeld
Oh, c'mon now, this is a bit of a
blustering rant, isn't it? Let's
remember that it was CITR who
organized SHiNdig so that these
bands could have a place to play
in the first place. Inevitably,
some are better than others, but
I don't think we've written off any
of the participating bands because it's hip to be negative. It's
just that it's hard to get excited
about a band that you don't like
and better to say what you think
than maintain some lukewarm
sense of false decorum just
because it's local. We will write
press releases but we must be
paid. No C.O.D.s please. DISCORDER a guide to CITR tm 102 cable 100
HUNK HUH HAT
*••••••••*•**•••••*•••••••••••••
This month BUNKER BEAT brings you the ten records from 1984
various CITR DJs would take with them in the event of a nuclear
war. BUNKER BEAT will return in its regular format next month.
MICHAEL SHEA - CITR Music Director
(Sat. 12-4 p.m.)
JAMES BROWN & AFRIKA BAMBAATA Unity 12"
LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS Rattlesnakes
THE FALL Oh Brother 12"
THE GO-BETWEENS Spring Hill Fair
HOLGER HILLER A Bunch Of Foulness In The Pit
MIKE CLUB My Dream/Riff Rap/Slippin' Out Demo
Tape
SHRIEKBACK Jam Science
THE SMITHS How Soon Is Now 12"
SPECIAL AKA Nelson Mandela 12"
STAPLE SINGERS Slippery People 12"
(Indicative of the fact, methinks, that I have been working in a discoteque for the past year, too.)
CHRIS DAFOE (Thurs. 9:30-Midnight)
REPLACEMENTS Let It Be
POISONED Poisoned Cassette
R.E.M. Reckoning
PRINCE Purple Rain
LAURIE ANDERSON Mister Heartbreak
MINUTEMEN Double Nickels on the Dime
LINTON KWESI JOHNSON Making History
NO FUN Snivel
54/40 Set The Fire
HUSKER DU Zen Arcade (if only for "Turn on the
News")
LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS Rattlesnake
JEFFREY KEARNEY (Mon. 6-9:30 p.m.)
Some favorites that spring to mind. There were a few
others but this year was missing something. Why? I
hope people aren't giving up!!
54/40 Set The Fire
SPECIAL AKA In the Studio
LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS Rattlesnakes
POISONED Poisoned Cassette
R.E.M. Reckoning
WORK PARTY Work Song
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN The Killing Moon
STYLE COUNCIL Introducing the Style Council
THREE O'CLOCK Sixteen Tambourines
THE BLUE NILE A Walk Across Rooftops
ANTI-SOCIAL WORKERS In A Positive Style
KENT RECORDS Everything. Finding So(u)lace in
things I missed.
LARRY THIESSEN (Wed. 1 a.mr4 a.m.)
ANNIE ANXIETY Soul Possession
HOLGER CZUKAY Der Osten Ist Rot
SPK Auto de Fe
FILM NOIR AMERICAN STYLE Compilation
LIFE AT THE TOP Compilation
SEVERED HEADS Since the Accident
VOICE OF AUTHORITY Very Big in America Right
Now
PORTION CONTROL Stimulate Sensual
PRINCE Purple Rain
NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS Viral Shedding
GORD BANADIC - CITR President
(Tues. 6-9:30 p.m.)
THE REDUCERS The Reducers
THE CRAMPS The Smell of Female
THE YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS Songs of the
Pacific Northwest
SID PRESLEY EXPERIENCE Public Enemy
Number One
AGENT ORANGE When You Least Expect It
THE RESIDENTS George and James
PiL (with Keith Levene) Commercial Zone
THE 3 O'CLOCK 16 Tambourines
VARIOUS The Rebel Kind Compilation
JOHNATHAN RICHMAN Jonathan Sings
NOMEANSNO Self Pity
Honourable Mention: BOLERO LAVA, THE
FLUNKEES
MARK MUSHET - FAST FORWARD (Sun. 9:30-1:00)
DEBILE MENTHOL Emile au Jardin Patrologique,
Rec Rec (Switz.)
ART ZOYD Les Espaces Inquiets, Cryonic (France)
VARIOUS Film Noir Compilation, Ding Dong
(Netherlands)
VARIOUS Made To Measure Vol. 1, Crammed
(Belgium)
CTI Elemental 7, Rough Trade (UK)
NEWS FROM BABEL Worked Resumed on the
Tower, Recommended (UK)
STEVEN BROWN Music for Solo Piano, Another
Side (Belgium)
HET Let's Hetl, Woof (UK)
ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN Les Sillons De La Terre,
Turbo (France)
PYROLATOR Wunderland, Ata Tak (Germany)
Please note that this list is in no way completely representative of the material heard on FAST FORWARD.
There were hundreds of incredible releases this year
that went unheard, for various reasons, elsewhere. This
is just a sample of some of the more popular releases
that seemed to make it to the turntables and tapedeck
more often than others.
DEAN PELKEY - CITR Music Director
(Tues. 10:30 a.mrl p.m.)
RAMONES Too Tough To Die
SPECIAL AKA In The Studio
TOM VERLAINE Cover
FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Welcome to the
Pleasuredome
HOODOO GURUS Stone Age Romeos
JASON & THE SCORCHERS Fervor
KING KURT Oohwallahwallah
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL Eden
ASWAD Live and Direct
METTALICA Ride The Lightening
BITS OF BLACK TAPE (DJ Without Portfolio)
MINUTEMEN Double Nickels on a Dime
HUSKER DU Zen Arcade
M.I.A. Murder in a Foreign Place
SPECIAL AKA In the Studio
YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS Songs of the Pacific
Northwest
NOMEANSNO Mama ('83 I know, but I bought it
last year.)
LINTON KWESI JOHNSON Making History
SID PRESLEY EXPERIENCE Public Enemy
D.O.A. Bloody But Unbowed ('83, I know, but...close
enough for country...)
Tie Between:
THE FLUNKIES Pleasant Valley Sunday
CRUCIFUX Demo (as in Hinckley Had a Vision)
NICK TOLCHIK Britanarchist Demo (poetry/music)
TWISTED SISTER Stay Hungry (somebody had to
put it on their list) happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
...when my wife says, "see you in a bit" I always
reply, "I'm not a horse," but she's usually hung
up the phone by then...and all my friends have
been trying to tell me "nothing weird is really happening, Ammo, it's all in your imagination," and
for once I'm going to agree with them, that the
truth is too horrible to tell, for the Night is young
and we don't want to scare off the innocents...
oh, the joys of being an aging rocker—of having
this absolute need to really get out there, at the
same time as knowing you mustn't make too
much of an ass of yourself, so you tiptoe on this
precipice over the Abyss of Loneliness (don't
laugh, I got it out of my Grade One Piano book)
aiming to Get Down and Do What's Right and
some yahoo with his head in the shit starts yelling "faggot!" between songs, or "we wanna
rock!" or, better yet, "get off the stage!" as if his
peculiar tastes and prejudices should be accom--
odated at all times...no, there wasn't much head-
banging going on at the 3-night INDEPENDENT
MUSIC FESTIVAL presented by COLLECTORS
RPM down at the New York Theatre. Lots of
scapegoats for that; the snow, high ticket prices,
Christmas, the snow...must we go over this old
argument again? Van. is not a "small scene"; it's
just highly incestuous, always in need of "fresh
blood" and deathly afraid of getting AIDS from
the transfusion...the track marks I saw on one
young girl's wrist looked amazingly like some wild
moviemaker's impression of suppurating sores
left by Dracula's canine incisors—later that night
I woke up in a sweat, to note down the scary
dream I had in which my friends were turning
into the Living Dead. Extremely cinematic times,
these...like, I was watching the black bits between
the frames as a bottle hurtled end over end above
the dancing fools at the BLOWOUT Nov. 30 at
the Grandview Legion, right for the cranium of
Jim Cummins, the "I" in I, BRAINEATER: if I
was on the light board I would've thrown in the
strobes—and the old trouper didn't miss a beat.
How could he, with powerhouse drummer ANDY
GRAFFITI bashing away beside him? What an
animal! Quick as a wink up pops Jim's goon
squad from backstage, all astrut with storm
trooper boots and wrist bands atwinkle, scanning
the hushed masses for signs of struggle. Then
down the stairs they go, after the oh-so-polite
Western Front bouncers, to settle a demon back
into the dust; there's one droog who won't be
chucking empties for awhile...my press pass
holds no water with the Video Inn doorstaff, but
Western Front personnel are much more understanding to poverty-stricken intellectuals like my
other self...still, I missed the JAZZMANIAN
DEVILS again! From all reports, this cross between Bolero Lava and Rhythm Mission plays
postpunk '50's bopjazz, if you can stand it, and
I think it would appeal to me, but there's no
accounting for tastes. Does Vanessa really sing
Billie's hit "Easy Livin'?" Wow, what a crossover
...Though the sheer.volume of the BEVERLY
SISTERS' set at the Legion knocked me off my
seat and tumbled me passed-out into a corner,
I had a tolerable drunk with the fellas Dec. 14
at the annual Emily Carr College Christmas bash
in the Concourse of that fine institution...this time
the Bevs were downright funky, and I had a
plaster grin plastered across my plastered
face...quite a change from the scene at the
WAREHOUSE BIG BASH December 11th at the
Heritage Hall, Main & 14th. I'm talking respectable here...these two performance nights were
held to raise money for the hydro bill at the
WAREHOUSE SHOW, and if you don't know
which warehouse I mean, go back to the beach,
you ostrich. The performers were prevented from
doing shows at the Warehouse by the Fire Marshall so organizer Eric Wyness rescheduled it;
the evening I attended opened up quite innocently with some modern piano pieces and a solo
flute spot by Janet Brown, followed by four very
amusing songs sung by alto Charlotte Kennedy,
sort of music hall stuff, including "I'm In Love
(With a Gay Man)" which comes off like "A Bicy
cle Built For Two." A 45-minute one-woman one-
act play ensued, called DIGRESSIONS, done by
Sharon Broccoli. She is a very funny woman,
entirely self-possessed, totally captivating. It was
the monologue of a "star" before her mirror,
reveling in her fantasies of all the other stars she
hangs out with and complaining about the harshness of the real world. She drinks, smokes,
dresses and makes up till you believe she could
handle the life of a star despite her evident
neuroses. At last she changes into (gasp!) a
grocery store cashier's outfit. A tour de farce...
PAUL PLIMLEY's OCTET finished off the evening, leaving me to wonder why I bother going to
hard core gigs. I mean, these guys can really
play! Graham Ord on alto sax is the man to
watch, and Plimley himself displays virtuoso
technique on the vibes through some incredibly
complicated charts written by himself and tenor
saxophonist Coat Cook. With this calibre of
musicianship available, discriminating audio-
philes in Vancouver need not feel they're stuck
in some hick town nor anarchist ghetto; sure,
some places have a dress code, but what's your
wardrobe for...the handbill for PSYCHOSCHI-
ZOID's performance last night at King Studio
said to wear black and I did, but mainly because
my car died. They were terrible. I guess they
meant to be. For this I missed four decent bands
at the York?...admitting you have a problem is
the first step towards solving it. The next is wanting to cure it. Scott & Josie of HUMAN BEING
SONGS say "wake up, it's time to go to sleep."
My shrink would approve. They're celebrating a
year of togetherness, but as Josie was heard to
sing, "I want more." To which poetess Diane
Wood extemporized, "she wants more/more of
what/more of this/U cant Xtend/momentary bliss"
...so a lot of MINK's real friends got upset
when I sniped on his false friends last THNCK.
Well, all I can say is, you know who you are, and
you know who they are, and may the twain never
meet again...unless it's in the thick of The Night,
with no-one to watch and no-one to keep the
score...Good-bye to 1984; may it remain my
leanest year! Happy New Year
yours ever, the irrepressible
—Ammo Fuzzton&
BRING IN THIS AD FOR A 10% DISCOUNT UNTIL JAN. 31, 1985 .And then it was all over but the crying. After 3 months of competition, the
26 bands that entered SHiNdig had been reduced to 3. These 3 bands—Red
Herring, Rhythm Mission, and My 3 Sons—played at the Savoy December 10 for
prizes of recording time and equipment. Here are the results, and here are the
finalists...
++ *
+ + +
1 Red Herring
t> i rt art of the thing about Red Herring is that we make it a point
■ not to do anything we've heard before," says RH singer Enrico
Renz. "That seems to be the one aesthetic standard we really stick to.
So while all of us have strong roots in different styles of music, we make
a point of not using them. It does make a difference if you know a lot
and make a point of not using what you know. I think that sort of puts
you on the frontier of creativity."
Interesting idea, Enrico. Perhaps not too practical or realistic, but
definitely interesting. I have my doubts whether anyone can escape the
influence of all the sound with which one is bombarded over the years.
Surely Red Herring haven't spent the last 25 years huddled away in
sound-proof caves in the Andes, taking the cotton batting out of their
ears only to practice and play. Still, an interesting idea.
But "the frontier of creativity?" I don't know about anyone else, but
when I hear rock bands (or funk bands, or performance artists, or dishwasher repairmen) speak of themselves as being at "the frontier of
creativity" I make a break for the door. I don't mind a little hype, but "the
frontier of creativity" is just a little too precious for my palate.
Perhaps I shouldn't damn the man for four words. After all, Enrico and
the rest of Red Herring: Stephen Nikleva (guitar), Martin Walton (bass),
and Steve Lazin (drums) have just come off winning first place in the
SHiNdig finals and can, as such, be forgiven for being a little inclined
towards hyperbole.
The road to the SHiNdig finals has been a long one for Red Herring.
While they've only appeared in public since August, the band has been
a project for Enrico and Stephen since 1980.
"It's actually almost exactly four years since Red Herring really started,"
says Renz. "Stephen and I met in 1980 and immediately got pretty
enthused about what one another were doing. As far as I'm concerned,
Stephen is a really an unusual guitar player. He's very creative, and he's
very well studied. He's done just about everything you can do to get good
at playing guitar."
"He's also crazy," adds Walton.
"Yeah, he's also crazy." continues Renz. "Anyway, he liked what I was
doing as well. So while we both were involved in other projects during
that time, Red Herring was always on the back burner as the main project,
■Rico Renz January 1985
2
R
h
y
t
R
h
h
m
y
M
t
h
1
m
S
S
M
1
i
0
s
n
s
/
0
n
——Dennis Mills
* * *
A little while after the New York Dolls split up, their guitarist, Johnny
Thunders did a version of the Shangri-La's hit/'Give Him a Great
Big Kiss." This is perhaps the best example ever of a song that is so
bad that it is very good indeed. Thunders, in general, is a good example
of a guitarist who was usually great live or, on occasion, out of control
and sloppy, but still great because of the energy and the attitude. This
brings us to a new Vancouver Group, My Three Sons, who took third
place in the recent SHiNdig finals. They're one of a number of great new
bands, like Out of Proportion, or the Reptiles, whose energy and live
performances more than make up for the fact that their songs could,
at any time, crash headlong into chaos.
My Three Sons is Jay O'Keefe on bass, Scruff on guitar, Eric Smith
on drums, Steve Richards on lead vocals, Jody MacDonald and Angela
Horsfall on backing vocals, and Fabrice Rauhue on rhythm guitar. The
band started in the late summer of 1983, when Jay and Scruff started
jamming together with Fab and Steve. After auditioning countless drummers, Jay bumped into an old friend, Eric.
"I walked into the Comic Shop," says Eric, "where Jay worked, hocking all my cymbals and figuring I'll never play drums again and Jay saw
me and said 'Wow, a cymbal. Do you play drums? Why don't you join
> our band, we're gonna play Iggy Pop and Lou Reed songs.' So I joined."
By February of '84 the band decided to add backing vocals, in order
to augment Steve's singing and fill out the overall sound. Both Jay and
Steve were big fans of the '60's girl-group sound, and wanted to add
that element to the band, both musically and for onstage excitement.
The band has been playing live and working on original material ever
since, drawing on a lot of influences, from early Elvis to '60's American
pop to the New York Dolls. The group is, of course, often compared to
the Dolls, as well as the Velvet Underground, early Blondie and "a bad
high-school band," but when asked to describe themselves, Jay says,
"If Motown had a Heavy Metal band, we'd probably be it."
Heavy Metal?
"Yes," says Scruff, "Jay and I started off doing AC/DC covers." Jay
adds, "Judas Priest are great...everyone should see them live. It's hilarious
watching all those heavy metal greaseballs punching air to 'Hellbent on
Leather' Especially when you consider that they'd freak out if they knew
half the band was homosexual."
Rhythm is their method, Mission is what they're on. Up until now they
were Vancouver's best kept musical secret. A dance band. A band of
contradictions. A band with a big beat. A beat with a big band. A band
apart. Six members with diverse backgrounds and tastes. Take four parts
AKA, two parts Exxotone, one part Payola$. Stir occasionally. The
resulting mix yields six servings of Jazzmanian Devils, Rockin' Fools,
and until recently, Naked Edge. It's actually much more involved than
that, but you're probably confused enough already. So we now move
on to the matter at hand.
Rhythm Mission are, in no particular order: Dennis Mills, ex of AKA
and now also leading the Jazzmanian Devils, who sings, writes, and plays
a brutal alto sax. He is also a pastry chef at a "politically correct"
restaurant. The amazing beat brothers are Warren and Warren—Ash on
drums, Hunter on bass. Both are also ex of AKA and Exxotone and of
Trevor Jones' recent outfit, Naked Edge. Scott Harding and Lee Kelsey
(ex PayolaS) are the real live musicians of the group. Scott on guitar,
Lee on the dancing keys. Not to end it there, we have the amazing Andy
Graffiti, also ex of AKA and currently with the Rockin' Fools. Andy sprays
the icing on the cake with some of the tastiest percussion heard this
side of Deep Cove. The North Van pop mafia strikes again!
Formed in late 1981, Rhythm Mission played some forty gigs before
disappearing in late 1982. They resurfaced this past summer with renewed enthusiasm and a new member, Andy Graffiti. Gigs are somewhat
sporadic due to the number of ongoing band commitments on the side.
Things look good however...
While Lee and Scott have had the "formal" training, Dennis proudly
proclaims himself and the "Beat Brothers" as "authentic punk musicians!" As well as being extremely dynamic live, Rhythm Mission are
tight and well orchestrated. One is hard pressed to separate the "punks"
from the virtuosos. A dance band they definitely are. Delight and dilirium
ensue at each and every gig, the musical integrity and thoughtful, clever
lyrics raising this band far above the norm.
3 My Three Sons
■My Three Sons
For the third place in the SHiNdig finals My Three Sons won 24 hours
of recording time at Profile Sound Studios, which fits perfectly with the
band's future plans. The band get along really well with, Bill Barker (owner
of Profile and, incidentally, former singer for The Scissors) and were
going to record at Profile anyway. Time and money permitting, the band
will release an EP.
"Being realistic about it all," says Jay, "I just consider this a hobby.
I'd like to be successful enough to pay our expenses, tour and make
records, but we don't expect to be super-duper rich and famous."
"I," says Steve, "just Want to be on the cover of Teen Beat magazine."
—Gord Badanic DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
January 1985
ytAi^C/i^n^yr^^
Imagine yourself:
you're in a swamp
the water is bubbling and boiling all around you
your blood is boiling inside you
Because of the constantly changing nature of the song structures, you
can never come away from a Rhythm Mission show humming the tunes
you just sweated to. Beware though!! Once inside, YOU'RE HOOKED!!
YOU'RE HOOKED!! Dennis goes on to explain: "Entertainment. To me
it's the bottom line. People are there to be entertained and you can entertain them in a way that is thoughtful, a way that makes them look at things
just a little bit differently, to make some sort of connections in an honest
way."
"Stick it Out," "Life's Level," "Blood Beach," "Hip Alone," "Medula-
oblongadda Davida," and a song that strikes fear into the hearts of those
living in B.C.'s perverted little beehive—'The wild, wild, wild, wild WEST
END!" Many of the songs have a peculiarly local feel to.them and are
often laden with Dennis' sardonic sense ot humour. "I think I'm one of
the few writers in Vancouver that tries to write satire. The lyrics are quite
satirical. It's not sloganeering or going tor the quick laugh. Sometimes
there's some intricate word play and sometimes it's for word play alone."
And what of social commentary? "I consider myself to be a humanist.
Some of the songs may be sexual, but they're not sexist. There are certain power relationships between and within the sexes and I explore them
in some of the songs I've written. I've written some songs that I think
were sexist, in retrospect, and I've written songs that I feel were racist,
in retrospect. I don't sing those songs anymore. That's just part of your
ongoing personal and political education."
As well as the interesting lyrical concerns, there is the question of the
blending of accessability and experimentation. The danceability of their
music almost belies their diverse musical interests. Mind you, this isn't
standard dance music by any stretch of the imagination. Speaking of
THE REGGAE
WINTERFEST '85
with
Ini Kamoze*Freddie McGregor
John Holt
and The Studio One Band
JANUARY 11 • 8:30PM
Commodore
Ballroom £>
Tickets: Zulu,Odyssey, +^>*'.»»£i£.
VTC/CBO and •73wv£
all Usual Outlets. JTrX^J^
Info: 280-4411 Charge by
Phone: 280-4444 PRODUCED BY PERRYSC0PE
imagination, it's something you need a lot of when dancing to Rhythm
Mission (besides an unfathomable amount of energy). Where does the
groove stop and conscious limb-climbing come into play? "My favorite
thing is creating melody from dissonance as much as possible!" states
Warren Hunter gleefully. Ash adds a counter point: "Not having any training, we don't know, really, what is standard. We know when we're right
on the mark and sometimes not. I'm not that big on doing wild, experimental things. I have very mainstream tastes." Dennis adds, "It can be
really fun to be self-indulgent. We all have our pre-arranged parts but
sometimes we set out certain sections of a song where some of us can
go totally wild. Some people think we've sold out! Rhythm Mission SOLD
OUT! I mean..." laughter abounds "...if they think Rhythm Mission sold
out, they must think that the Jazzmanian Devils are the Devil's music..."
more laughter "...and they're right, it is the Devil's music." Dead silence...
The Jazzmanian Devils are comprised of.two-thirds of Rhythm Mission. Scott, Lee, Andy, and Dennis. Scott's brother Brian adds trombone
and Finn Manniche plays cello. Basically, the JDs are representative of
Dennis' pop explorations of jazz and he emphasizes the independent
nature of the project. "They're two really separate bands and there are
two totally different focuses of where they're both going. The JDs started,
basically to fill a void because Rhythm Mission had broken up, though
I had been doing a few different things, sort of pseudo-poetry readings
and performances, just trying to do something, because I always like
to perform."
Why did Rhythm Mission break up in the first place? Warren Hunter
offers one of several reasons: "It seemed that we were in a rut. Because
we hadn't recorded, because we hadn't taken the time to get serious
about recording, because we hadn't travelled. We were playing to the same
audiences constantly." Dennis elaborates. "It wasn't that we were bored
with the music necessarily, it's just that everybody grows, musically, at
different rates and as you start to progress and come up with individual
ideas that you want to work into a group context, you see things going
one way and somebody else sees them going in another. It's really hard
to find a group concensus." Warren Ash adds his perspective: "It's good
that we're all playing in different bands. I wanted to play more mainstream
rock and roll, which I started to do in Naked Edge, whereas some of the
others wanted to pursue a more jazzy sound and they're able to do that
with the JDs. You get it out of your system to a certain extent." So with
all of that presumably out of their collective systems, I offer that it should
therefore be easier for a group sound to gel when Rhythm Mission get
together. Ash continues: "No. Actually it was Warren and I that used to
argue the most over arrangements and we were the ones that went to
play together in Naked Edge. I think the biggest problem Rhythm Mission have had is that we are in Vancouver and the audience is just really
small. It doesn't take much to lose your head of steam."
Of course, this gets'back to the question of having a record out that
would enable the group to get out on tour in its support. Dennis feels
he's simplifying matters but..."It seems to me that those bands that have
records out do one of two things. Either somebody in the band, or a
parent, has money, or they all don't work and are on welfare or whatever,
and that (the band) is all their life is. We've never had that sort of dedication." The last statement obviously rules out choice number one in
Rhythm Mission's circumstance. "If we had started recording a couple
of years ago..." states Ash, "...we would either have realized the hooeless-
ness of playing live, original music or else we would have realized the
brilliant success of it and have moved on to bigger and better things.
I think not doing it a while ago was a mistake."
Without a record, the only way a band can grow in Vancouver is to
gig constantly and garner support from the "alternative" media. Constant gigging is difficult for Rhythm Mission because of the obvious diversions. The media aspect still needs resolving. Dennis comments on the
group's problem in this area. "Self-promotion has never been our strong
point. Our strong point is performance. It limits our audience and it's
a limiting attitude but it's a matter of being able to connect with people
you can bring in to help yourself out. I think that's starting to help us
now." So what is it that Rhythm Mission are trying to accomplish? Ash:
"We want it to be a dance band!" Dennis: "We want to make people
move, we want to move people. That's the idea behind Rhythm and Mission. It's the RHYTHM that makes ya move and it's the MISSION that
moves ya!" All chime in: "AMEN!! HALLELUJAH!!" Ash takes to the floor:
"Let's all bow now and pray...to the BIG BEAT!"
MARK MUSHET happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
^iX^ yfuA^A/r^O^^
just as soon as we could get the right people."
Renz occupied his time by writing, and playing drums in Kathy Korvette.
Nikleva hit the road, travelling, visiting India to study the sitar.
Along the way they kept looking for the right people, people they could
work with, and people who could work with them. Things started to come
together about a year ago.
"We met Martin last year, so for a while the three of us were Red Herring. Then Steve Lazin, our drummer, came along last July. We played
the basement all of July, and after that we came out as a band."
Having come out Red Herring didn't waste any time. By the end of
August they had recorded a live tape at the Waterfront, sent it off to CITR,
and entered SHiNdig. And the rest, as the people on the bus say, is
History.
Red Herring won first prize in SHiNdig, 24 hours of recording time
at Inside Trak studios, edging out heavily favoured Rhythm Mission. Along
the way they found new listeners who were attracted by the band's busy,
eccentric dance music. The Red Herring sound is based on a strong
bottom end: funky basslines, insistent drumming. But Renz's quirky vocal
style, and especially Nikleva's guitar style—sometimes jagged,
sometimes crystaline, always interesting—provide the real interest in Red
Herring's music. Despite Renz's claim of not doing anything that's been
heard before some influences seem evident. Nikleva often sounds like
a more delicate, precise Andy Gill, while Renz's vocals are reminiscent
of any number of quirky voices from the late 70s. But the influences are
well enough absorbed and digested to make Red Herring worthwhile
listening. And, as the band gets used to playing together, it seems likely
that they will get better.
Renz agrees that Red Herring has a lot of maturing to do. "Part of
the deciding of what a band will do when exploring new music involves
developing a core audience that works like a mirror for them. Right now
our core audience knows us as people as well as musicians, so if we're
not communicating it's not as apparent, to them or to us. I think it's really
important that we get a larger audience, something that would act as
a stronger mirror.
"It's very much like a writer when he starts writing, early in his career.
His experiences of the world are as strong and as valid as they'll ever
be. But the only way to be a better writer is to write all the time and see
how people react. Because communication is really a craft, it's something
that is learned through experience.
J'So we're really looking forward to that maturing process, 'cause there
is a correlation between how you mature musically, as a band, and how
you mature as a group of people. We want to reflect the community that
we are. Part of that is seeing if anarchy can really work. We're trying
really hard not to have a boss in the band, and to spread the responsibility of making the music evenly.
"While we all feel we've come a long way, no one of feels we've come
close to realizing our potential."
One hopes that the prize of recording time will allow Red Herring to
realize that potential. The band seems to have enough experience behind
them to have interesting ideas about music ("the frontier of creativity"
aside) but are fresh enough not to have succumbed to the cynicism (some
call it business acumen) that can foul a band's musical progress.
At this point we will give the last word (as we did the first) to Enrico:
"To us, at this point, process is almost more important than product.
Like I said before, we try to do things that haven't been done before.
That involves going down to the basement and jamming, and working
on songs that way, rather than Stephen or I bringing songs in.
"It's hard to decipher why one particular combination of sounds we're
making seems to be truer, more meaningful, more right on than anything
else we're making. But when it does, those are my favorite songs."
305 W CORDOVA
685-5754-
'OPEN 7 daws a week'"
you COULD DO this youR UUAy
Sc-ioll
WHAT'S NEW?
Tuesdays 8-10 pm
THEALLMLEBUFFET
for ladies only
Wednesdays 8-10 pm
FASHIONS 1985
Thursdays 10-11:30
AIRBANDUPSYNC
CONTEST
681 - S201
1255 W. PENDER DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
//
"Let me tell you, back in '84...
The year in local music
Sukhvinder Johal gets nostalgic
Orwell overlooked Vancouver's
non-commercial music scene. Had
he not, his most famous piece of
scribbling might not have been so
frightfully doom-laden. Not that we
didn't have our fair share of suicide
-inducing moments; after all, there
are only so many SHiNdig be-
tween-band tell-a-joke sessions
one can tolerate.
On the whole, however, this
writer felt privileged to have been
in this lovely city this past year. At
times, it felt as though our homegrown talent was responding to the
general malaise that had afflicted
non-commercial music world wide
for the previous couple of years.
Perhaps the biggest nod of appreciation, this year especially,
should go to those who are all too
often overlooked in retrospectives
such as this: to Janet Forsyth and
The Savoy, where new management's policy of original music not
only made SHiNdig possible, as
well as providing a venue for alternative acts from out of town. Let's
not forget the recording studios,
retail outlets and promoters who
contributed incentives for SHiNdig.
To the Railway Club's continued
involvement and success.
To AI Hyland and The Waterfront, whose Waterfront Compilation album on Hyland Records pro
vided a valuable vinyl forum for
many young artists who otherwise
could not have afforded the luxury
of a permanent documentation of
their contributions before breaking
up or moving ahead.
To Laurie Mercer and Collectors RPM who, as a promoter and
record label, achieved some of the
year's major coups in terms of gigs
such as 45 Grave at John Barleys,
Animal Slaves/NoMeansNo at the
Luv-A-Fair and the Independent
Music Festival at the New York
Theatre, and in terms of recorded
output: Undergrowth '84, the double cassette complilation.
To Dondub Records and Zulu
Records, to MoDaMu and to
Nettwerk.
To John Barleys and yes, even
the much-maligned Luv-A-Fair,
everybody's favorite scapegoat,
despite a shakey step into the
world of record labels, they featured some interesting gigs. More
please.
If, as the lunatic from the moral
Animal Slaves
majority said, music is a vice, then
all the above helped keep vices up
and prices down. Thank you.
On, then, to the meat and potatoes of Vancouver's alternative/
non-commercial / underground
music scene—those who actually
make the music. The trio of big
hopes, Art Bergmann and Poisoned, 54/40 and Bolero Lava
remain just that—hopes.
Bergmann had, and has, an
especially large burden of expectations to bear. An illustrious but
ultimately fruitless history combined with an overly zealous media
with all its Poisoned column inches
and air time (for which CITR must
share the blame) have put him in
a seemingly unenviable position;
who wants to buy his cassette
release when you can hear it ail the
time on your friendly neighbourhood campus radio station?
Fortunately for Poisoned, many
do: his is easily the biggest seller
of all the many cassettes released
in this year's glut, easily outstrip
ping tne second-placed Undergrowth '84. Fortunate, too, is Bergmann's own cautious approach to
all the attention: "I don't know. I just
wanna get back to playing live and
do some recording...then we'll see
what happens... Yeah, we'll see January 1985
what happens."
Despite a good album in Set The
Fire, 54/40 didn't sustain '83's
momentum. They played live to
sustain people's hope and interest,
but you can't live off hope and in-
wrong.
A late but interesting addition to
the 1984 catalogue of local record
releases was provided by the fledgling Nettwerk Records. Three 12"
EPs by the resurrected Moev,
terest of the non-financial kind for
very long. I hope they don't end up
like the Young Canadians, 'Pops
and others: all hyped up with no
place to land a major deal; and
then you just...fade away. Or worse,
like D.O.A., where ever you accept
your lot in life and just chug along
...forever... Meanwhile, listen to
CITR for "Cha Cha," one of my
favorite 54/40 offerings, taken from
the cassette version of the album
on Dundub Records.
Bolero Lava, too, had much
media coverage. They had to suffer all the tedious references to
their being 'an all-girl band,' as if
it really mattered. What mattered
was their music: infectious pop
with something to say. '84 was
definitely their year: they won the
Hot Air Show, put out a well-reviewed 12", Inevitable/Click of the Clock
with the prize of studio-time, and
were one of the most popular local
live acts.
On the horizon of 1985, amidst
the eager hype and energy, lies a
growing uncertainty, in my mind at
least, regarding Bolero Lava's ability to keep it rolling. I hope I'm
Cummins broaden his niche with
/ Hear Where You, a cassette
release of I, Braineater live at UBC;
art shows at the Pitt and the Montgomery, gigs, an X-Mas party and
M.Cring the Independent Music
Festival, as well as brief sabbaticals to Toronto and Paris. The word
prolific springs to mind. By no
means can I confess to having liked everything he put out in 1984,
but having a below-average boredom threshold, I must bow to one
who keeps me interested in most
of his many projects. In 1985, 'eat
brain and live!'
Orwell's favorite year also saw
three mid-range veterans either
changing ships, treading water or
sinking. Madeleine (ex-Moev) Morris came together, in more ways
than one, with the Addington clan
of Insex fame to form Family Plot.
Whilst not without their teething
problems, the result, as indicated
by their cassette release, was far
superior to either of their previous
projects.
Meanwhile, Trevor Jones lost
his naked edge but continued to
get airplay on CITR after the official
release of his cassette. By year's
end the material had become
sonar; being well-intentioned doth
not a rock star make. In the ancient
mysticism of the Eastern country
from whence this writer hails,
there's a saying: A change is as
good as a rest.'
In 1984, D.O.A. were... well...
D.O.A. Their biggest hit was blowing Pi L off the stage, but at least
PiL won't be here year after year
after year after....
A strange phenomenon happened in Vancouver's non-commercial
music scene this last year: the
emergence of a solid hardcore
scene with bands like House of
Commons, Bill of Rights, Death
Skinny Puppy and the Grapes of
Wrath hailed the arrival of an
organization catering to another
vital cog in the Vancouver music
machine, the electro-experimental
scene. Nettwerk, Dondub et al. reasserted in 1984 the fact that anyone with enough initiative and interest can promote local art.
No retrospective of Vancouver's
contemporary underground art-
music scene would be complete
without mentioning I, Braineater,
once fondly referred to in 1984 as
'the grand-daddy of the scene.' Be
that as it may, the year saw Jim
dated whilst the Bowie comparisons never abated, and Trevor did
well to move on to the White Orpheus Project, whose impact remains to be seen.
The well-intentioned Actionauts
fluttered about like a bat without its
Sentence, Immoral Minority,
Sudden Impact, etc. Strange,
because although we've always
had at least one or two hardcore
standard bearers, there's never been the cohesion or strength-in-
depth that the hardcore scene has
now. Why now? Seven years after
the fact!
It would appear that hardcore,
distinct from its more nebulous
parent, punk, will become an everlasting form of rock music, a bit like
rockabilly. 1985 will be an interesting year.
Malcolm MacLaren's vision of
cassette releases was prophetic in
Vancouver's case. With limited
financial resources, more and
more locals chose to make their
work available in this format. Quali-
THE \
TOWN
PUMP
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
ty varies and there's still the lack
of consumer attraction that cassette covers have beside record
covers, but rather something than
nothing. Aside from those already
mentioned, many others give us an
excuse to take our ghetto-blasters
to the beach, including Emily, No
Fun, Glenn Scott, Peter Archer,
Asiyah, Hirosho Yano, and 5 Year
Plan.
Aside from Emily, who also took
her innovative electronic sounds
around the club circuit before becoming somewhat disillusioned
with her solo material and recruit-
66 WATER
ST.
7-ANNETTB4 J LU nS*
^^ YSisterS
I**¥d-- ".T5i*^BSta&J3B 23-30
FABULON
ing additional players, the other
major front of interest vis a vis,
cassette releases must surely be
Red Herring, pioneer of
'quirk-funk.'
Red Herring will remember the
latter half of 1984 with relish (Herring, relish, gettit?). From nothingness in August through successive
victories in SHiNdig in October and
November to the final victory over
Rhythm Mission on December 10.
The year of their much-heralded
comeback ended on a downbeat
for Rhythm Mission. While they
pick up the pieces for '85, Red Herring find themselves the latest
media darlings, causing one to
congratulate, caution and encourage them all in the same breath.
Meanwhile, in September, on a
distant outcrop of land known as
5S Osborne-54/40
Point Grey, a previously eight-page
foldout rag called DISCORDER
became a fully-fledged thirty-two
page magazine, complete with
removable ink! Much hard work
and hustling from all involved led
to an infusion of talent in writing,
graphics, and layout. Equally as
important, the apathy among readers/listeners began to crack in
1984, as more and more letters and
z
E
I-
^vGALLERY
f EM\ Open
W Wm WM ] Mon-Thurs, 7 am - 10:30 pm
■ ^i I Friday 7am - Midnight
/ Saturday, 11am-10:30pm
/ Sunday, 11am - 6:00 pm
y LUNCH SPECIAL $2.95
820 HOWE STREET 683-5122
general feedback came our way.
Keep it up, along with your much-
appreciated support for SHiNdig!
As for Radio Hell itself, well,
change is always difficult, it needs
input, support and commitment
from everybody...get involved!
Make it come alive in '85! (I just
had to get a corny slogan in somewhere.)
Without doubt I've forgotten a
few important mentions. My apologies. You know who your are. Include yourselves. happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
We lost Mark Mushet last month amid the
fuss and fury of Musicity. Mark found his
own way back and filed this brief report.
Then he collapsed, spitting up half-digested
program notes from the festival.
Yes, I am untangled. And yes, I
have something to report. Musicity
is HISTORY. MUSICITY was a
huge success.
Am I not mistaken or were the
Warehouse Show and the Artcity
activities not THE most conspicuous events in our great sleepy city
throughout the month of November? Did the mainstream not sit up
and take note after the glove had
fallen? Do moles have gills?
What did we have here? Only the
perfect opportunity to see a broad
cross-section of Vancouver's new
music community all in one go,
over a week of scheduled concerts.
Courage of Lassie provided some
beautiful, romantic cafe music.
The Flying Undercups showed us
just how free-improvised music can
sometimes get a bad name. The
Cassation Group treated us to
some highly accomplished sonic
variety (albeit possibly subtitled:
The Exorcist, Part III). Lyn Vasey
couldn't have done a better Floor
Show with his guitar, ail the while
being genuinely charming. GX
Jupiter-Larson made clear the
fact mat M.8. did it first, and better. Alex Varty overcame grave injury to bring us the dictionary
definition of the word "drone," m a
pleasant manner. Doug Shmidt
showed us just how flexible an
instrument the accordian really is.
Orchestra in a box anyone? Tom
Hajdu managed to perform on a
night when I couldn't attend (the
only one though. Sorry, Tom). Hex-
tremities (minus two) ignored any
preconceptions and biases to perform some very enjoyable and ec-
ctectic improvised music, restrained though it was. Excellent.
Such diversity, the whole lot.
MUSICITY made some very important connections and left everybody with a real sense of optimism
for new music performance in Vancouver. All we need now is a j
MUSIC GALLERY where more of
these people can be heard. For
now, radio seems to be the only
consistent forum for such music.
Stay tuned to FAST FORWARD
during the month of January and
February for special features on
Musicity participants including the
work of Paul Dolden "The Melting
Voice Through Mazes Running."
And to all those who weren't there
that should have been: how about
at least putting in an appearance
next time around?
—Mark Mushet
T TV 7
IMAGES IN VOGUE
I IV
with guests fABULON
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11
8 pm SUB BALLROOM, UBC
advance tickets $5.00
Odyssey, Zulu, AMS Box Office
Produced by AMS Concerts
TRAVEL
CUTS
Going
YouiWiiy!
AIRLINE TICKETING
AMSTERDAM
STUDENT FARES
CHRISTMAS CHARTERS
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENT ID CARD
LONDON
STUDENT CHARTERS
PARIS
CULTURAL PROGRAM
RAILPASSES
SKI PACKAGES
STUDENT WORK
ABROAD PROGRAM
SUNSPOT VACATIONS
WORLDWIDE
STUDENT FLIGHTS
TRAVEL CUTS
VANCOUVER
Student Union Building
University of British Columbia
Vancouver British Columbia
V6T 1W5
604 224-2344 $
ft
o.
An Me&MTm l^ttizo$6 fog Atfmrwt fbd<Sf
UHWb
OM-UM SHAVES
PAltffG) tyMK.
6hlXH£,lt6lVe.
NIFTi
sun-peg.
SMI PACK
of
TSUJESCS '
•50C1CS-
(i&ccoMeM>e[>
HAiEcur coug^y
HYPO.
(pgcoEAnorJ
festive.
60-AWSUJHQ2e BRIEFS.
NAIL£0-Oti
MlWAeLslrW&t*
OLOVZ. happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
PROGRAM GU|DE
">A guide to CITR fm 102
CABLE 100
MUSIC OF OUR TIME
SUNDAYS
8 AM till NOON
DECEMBER SHOWS
January 6 Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Ingram Marshall: Gradual Requiem
Pierre Boulez: Domains
Marius Constant: 14 Stations
January 13 Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach
(Complete)
January 20 Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 4
Zoltan Kodaly: Harry Janos Suite
Steve Reich: Music For 18 Musicians
Iannis Xenakis: Antikhthon
Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1
January 27 Ellsworth Millburn: String Quartet
Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 3
("Kaddish")
Frederick Myrow: Songs from the Japanese
Toru Takumitsu: Corona
Hosted by: Jay Leslie, Ken Jackson And Sandra Thacker
JANUARY
HIGH PROFILES
High Profiles are 45 minute documentary style
music
specials, heard Monday through Saturday
evenings at 8:00.
Tues
1
The Undertones
Wed
2
Some sneak previews of
local underground films
Thur
3
TBA
Fri
4
Battle of the Punx
Sat
5
23 Skidoo
Mon
7
Barracudas
Tues
8
Stiff Little Fingers
Wed
9
The Planets
Thur
10
Suicide & Alan Vega
Fri
11
Battle of the Punx
Sat
12
Asmus Tietchens
Mon
14
Kearney's Albums
Tues
15
Cron Gen
Wed
16
TBA
Thur
17
Hunters and Collectors
Fri
18
Battle of the Punx
Sat
19
Tones On Tail
Mon
21
The Yardbirds
Tues
22
The Ralph Record Label
Wed
23
Battle of the Frankies
Thurs
24
Dax Record Label
Fri
25
Battle of the Punx
Sat
26
The Times
Mon
28
Kink's Kollectables
Tues
29
3 hour special: 25 years of
girl groups
Wed
30
TBA
Thurs
31
Toxic Reasons
***
LIVE SPORTS BROADCASTS***
CITR SPORTS starts with the old and brings in
the new as we step into the new year. The first live
sports broadcast of the year features a hockey
contest between the Thunderbirds and the Saskatchewan Huskies on Jan. 11. One week later, CITR
shifts to regular season basketball, courtside at
War Memorial Gym. Here is what you can expect
from CITR SPORTS this month:
HOCKEY - Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre
Fri. Jan. 11 7:30 pm SASKATCHEWAN vs UBC
Fri. Jan. 25 7:30 pm CALGARY vs UBC
Sat. Jan. 26 7:30 pm CALGARY vs UBC
BASKETBALL - War Memorial Gym
Fri. Jan. 18 7:15 pm SASKATCHEWAN vs UBC
Sat. Jan. 19 7:15 pm ALBERTA vs UBC
Sun. Jan. 27 1:55 pm ALASKA-JUNEAU vs UBC
For more info, contact Monte Stewart at 228-3017
LISTEN TO THUNDERBIRD
SPORTS BROADCASTS ON
CITR AND WIN PRIZES FROM
ROOSTERS
QUARTERS
Gourmet Cookies
and Cappuccino
Student Union Building UB.C.
Tel. 222-3511
"Montreal
Style"
B.B.Q. CHICKEN
836 DENMAN ST.
VANCOUVER, B.C. DISCORPER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
PrOgRaM guide
m guide to CITR fm I02i
CABLE 100
fCITR
102 FM
10& cable
SUN
MON
TUES
WED
THUR
FRI
SAT]
Q:00
O 35
MUSIC
OF OUR
TIME
WAKE UP REPORT WITH NEWS. SPORTS AND WEATHER
..:. .....„,•!• .: V:!•;•• • l .:■,:: 1. :■■ •••,;,.••
GENERIC REVIEW GENERIC REVIEW GENERIC REVIEW
9:
PUBLIC AFFAIRS PUBLIC AFFAIRS PUBLIC AFFAIRS PUBLIC AFFAIRS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
tmrn&xiwt ;■;,,, 1 , ,,-■■•. ---^v:< I "■ ■ '.v,v,vl;;.;:;;,:.:.;m.,:,.,,;mm■-■
CITR INSIGHT EDITORIAL CITR INSIGHT EDITORIAL
1000
MORNING REPORT WITH NEWS. SPORTS AND WEATHER
| -
1 1 am
Bt
NOON
NEWS
:>|11|11
NEWS
SUNDAY
THE
PLAYLIST
SHOW
■| :0O
THE
ROCKERS
SHOW
LUNCH
REPORT WITH
NEWS.
SPORTS AND WEATHER
1 pm
r\ oo
M:: -|r-:;
O :0°
O;30
TUNES
-R-
US
^^1.^*¥^¥^^
/' • J ; :...
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS
mm ■ i i '••'-••:
A :00
4 3°
,.,.,... 1. ._ -I- :•••• ■■■■■■■■■■-■ i . • ...••I-:-:-.•••:....:. ••:•:
SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS
r" :00
0 35
;
GENERIC REVIEW GENERIC REVIEW GENERIC REVIEW
JT :00
\J :30
SUNDAY
MAGAZINE
FOLK
DINNER REPORT WITH NEWS. SPORTS AND WEATHER
SATURDAY
MAGAZINE
CITR INSIGHT EDITORIAL CITR INSIGHT EDITORIAL
"T :00
/ :30
INTERN'L
PROPAGANDA!
goo
SUNDAY
NIGHT LIVE
HIGH
PROFILE
HIGH
PROFILE
HIGH
PROFILE
HIGH
PROFILE
HIGH
PROFILE
HIGH
PROFILE
Q oo
:•:•:•:•:::•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•:■
THE
BIG
SHOW
IIBSBBi
FAST
FORWARD
JAZZ
SHOW
AFRICAN
SHOW
10w
11 z
JAZZ
FEATURE
RANDOM
CACOPHONY
AFRICAN
FEATURE
MEL BREWER
PRESENTS
#1 PLAYLIST
ALBUM
MID
NIGHT
JAZZ
SHOW
THE MID
SHOW
u''&:<!'v*vv '•'*?&•?• -iyl
'*• %£ ,'y#i
1 :00
LIFE
AFTER
BED
'■■ . • ' '.' . :;'.:"
, :: . s^
Q :00
Q :00
\J om
CITR broadcasts daily at 102 FM and 100 cable FM from 7:30 AM to 4:00 AM program gUPe
—REGULAR PROGRAMS
African Show
(Wednesday 9:30 pm-12 am)
A program featuring African music
and culture. Every week, with
news, current events and local
African music events. Feature at 11
p.m.: specific artists, the music of
specific African countries.
Fast Forward
(Sunday 9:30 pm-1 am)
The latest in the exciting and
vibrant world of experimental, independent, minimalist, electronic,
avante garde stuff. Actually, this
program is yet another alternative
to CITR's general "alternative"
sound. Keep abreast of independent cassette releases around the
world, as well as listening for rare
live recordings or more well known
non-mainstream artists. Hosted by
Mark Mushet.
Folk International
(Sunday 6:30 pm-7:30 pm)
Traditional folk music from Canada
and around the world Hosted by
Lawrence Kootnikoff.
Generic Review
(Weekdays at 8:35 am and 5:35
pm. Also on Saturday and Sunday
Magazine)
A critique of local entertainment,
theatrical events, movies, and
exhibits.
High Profile
(Monday through Saturday 8 pm)
Spotlighting one artist's music and
career. Refer to High Profile listing
for artists.
Insight
(Weekdays 9:43 am and 6:13 pm)
An editorial comment on current
issues open to the community. If
you have something to say, call
228-3017, ask for Doug Richards.
Jazz Show
(Monday 9:30 pm-1 am)
An evening of varied traditional and
avant garde jazz on one of Vancouver's longest running all-jazz programs. Now that C-JAZ has become "FM97" this is one of the only places you can hear jazz on the
radio before midnight. Hosted each
week by Gavin Walker. Feature
albums, artists, interviews at 11
p.m.
Lite After Bed
(Sunday 1:00 am-4:00 am)
All kinds of awakening sounds for
the night crawlers and insomniacs.
Mel Brewer Presents
(Thursday 11 pm)
A program featuring exclusively the
newest and best in local talent with
new demo tapes, live interviews
with groups and local music figures, debuts of new released and
lotsa hot juicy gossip.
The Mid-show
(Wednesday Midnight-1 am)
The Mid-Show presents a diverse
and sound fluid mesh, from candy
to explicit, engineering a release
ghetto. Directed by the magnetic
loneliness of audio art, video art,
poetry, prose and indigenous
music, the movie soundtracks,
young and old pop and rock,
foreign lingo hits and country jos
tle about looking for conversation.
Listen in and get a piece of the
action. Hosted by John Anderson.
Music Of Our Time
(Sunday 8 am-12 pm)
Music of the 20th century in the
classical tradition. Hosted by Ken
Jackson, Jay Leslie and Sandra
Thacker.
News and Sports (Weekdays)
Local, national, and international
news and sports. News and sports
reports at 8 am, 10 am, 1 pm, and
6 pm. Newsbreak and Sportsbreak
at 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm. On Saturday and Sunday, regular newscasts air at 12:00 noon
Playlist Show
(Saturday 12 pm-4 pm)
The countdown of CITR's weekly
top 40 singles and albums, featuring new additions to the Playlist.
Listen for Michael Shea.
Propaganda!
(Saturday 6:30 pm-9:30 pm)
News, reviews, previews, interviews, recitals, debates, music,
humour, politics. Write to Propaganda!, c/o CITR, 6138 SUB
Boulevard, UBC, Vancouver, B.C.,
V6T 2A5, and suggest a feature on
anything that may be of interest to
CITR listeners. If you're an artist
of some sort, or you're involved in
some project or other and you feel
you may benefit from an interview
or on-air performance or a story on
Propaganda!, let us know about it.
Get involved, even if it's only to
recite something interesting you
read somewhere, or wrote
yourself. Do it, 'cause talk minus
action equals zero.
Public Affairs
(Weekdays 9 am)
Current events and issues around
Vancouver, as well as in depth
coverage of social problems, political events and public figures.
Random Cacophony
(Tuesday 11 pm-1 am)
The second radio show in the history of civilization dedicated to
solving all of the world's problems.
Rockers
(Sunday 1 pm-3 pm)
The latest and best in toasting,
rockers, dub and straight forward
reggae. Hosted by George Barrett.
Saturday and Sunday Magazine
(Saturday & Sunday at 6 pm)
Weekend magazine shows presenting special news, sports and entertainment features.
Sunday Night Live
(Sunday 8 pm)
Rare live recordings of noted local
and international artists.
Voice of Freedom
(Sunday 6:30 pm-7:30 pm)
Satirical broadcast from a mythical
radio station on a secluded American military base (Diego Garcia)
where all the records are twelve
years out of date.
Membership Application
INTERESTED IN PROGRAMMING?
ADDRESS
POSTAL CODE
PHONE
AGE
ARE YOU A UBC STUDENT?
UBC STUDENT NO. .
Y N
For your membership, send $20
(students) $25 (non-students) or
$15 (unemployed) in cheque or
money order to:
CITR-FM
6138 SUB Boulevard
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T2A5 22
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
January 1985 I
THE TOP SINGLES OF 1984
THE TOP ALBUMS OF 1984
SPECIAL AKA
Nelson Mandela CHRYSALIS/MCA
SHRIEKBACK
Jam Science
ARISTA (UK)
TREVOR JONES
icky Ya Ya/The Void In Boys QTJ
FORGOTTEN REBELS
This Ain't Hollywood
STAR
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
The Killing Moon KOROVA/WEA
LAURIE ANDERSON
Mister Heartbreak
WEA
NOMEANSNO
Self-Pity "DEMOTAPE"
TOM VERLAINE
Cover
VIRGIN/WEA
LEDERNACKEN
Amok! VIRGIN/POLYGRAM
VIOLENT FEMMES
Hallowed Ground
SLASH/WEA
RED GUITARS
Steeltown SELF-DRIVE (UK)
54/40 ■
Set The Fire
MO DA MU
POISONED
Vultura Freeway/Poisoned POISONED
R.E.M.
Reckoning
IRS/A&M
BEVERLY SISTERS
TheWaii "DEMOTAPE"
JASON & THE SCORCHERS
Fervor
CAPITOL
MALCOLM X
No Sell Out TOMMY BOYS (US)
SPECIAL AKA
In The Studio
CHRYSALIS/MCA
JOOLZ
War of Attrition ABSTRACT (UK)
FAD GADGET
Gag
MUTE (UK)
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Blind Society NO RIGHTS
THE THREE O'CLOCK
16 Tambourines
FRONTIER (US)
MIKE CLUB
My Dream/Riff Rap "DEMOTAPE"
LINTON KWESI JOHNSON
Making History
ISLAND/MCA
SPEAR OF DESTINY
Prisoner of Love BURN. ROME/CBS(UK)
THE SMITHS
The Smiths
SIRE/WEA
THE SMITHS
How Soon Is Now? ROUGH TRADE (UK)
ESG
Come Away
99 (US)
THE ART OF NOISE
Beat Box ZTT(UK)
BEVERLY SISTERS
Beverly Sisters EP
DADA DOG
JAMES BROWN &AFRIKA
23SKIDOO
Urban Gamelan
ILLUMINATED (UK)
BAMBAATAA
Unity • TOMMY BOYS (US)
BILL LASWELL
Baselines
ELECTRA(US)
MALCOLM McLAREN
Madame Butterfly VIRGIN/POLYGRAM
PALAIS SCHAUMBURG
Parlez-Vous Schaumburg?
PHONOGRAM (BRD)
IGGY POP
Repo Man SAN ANDREAS/MCA(US)
SHANGHAI DOG
Clanging Bell EP
CD
FABULON
Life On An Island LUV-A-FAIR
LOU REED
New Sensations
RCA
GRANDMASTER FLASH
White Lines SUGARHILL/QUALITY
HOLGER CZUKAY
Der Osten Ist Rot
VIRGIN/POLYGRAM
THE FALL
Oh! Brother BEGGARS BANQUET(UK)
KING CRIMSON
Three of a Perfect. Pair
WB
BOLERO LAVA
Inevitable/Click of the Clock MODAMU
400 BLOWS
I;„lf 1 Kissed Her.."
ILLUMINATED (UK)
ASSOCIATES
Schampout WEA (UK)
X
More Fun In The New World
ELECTRA
SCRITTIPOLITTI
Wood Beez/Absolute VIRGIN/WEA
AGENT ORANGE :
When You Least Expect It
ENIGMA (US)
THE SMITHS
This Charming Man ROUGH TRADE (UK)
JOHN CALE
Caribbean Sunset
ZE(UK)
SINGING FOOLS
The Apocalypso A&M
BLACK UHURU
Anthem
ISLAND (UK)
HUNTERS & COLLECTORS
Follow Me No More EPIC (UK)
BILLY BRAGG
Life's a Riot With Spy vs. Spy
UTILITY (UK)
LEDERNACKEN
I Want To Eat You STRIKE BACK (UK)
JONATHAN RICHMAN
Jonathan Sings
SIRE (US)
EAST BAY RAY
Trouble In Town ALTERNATIVE TENTS(US)
NO FUN
Snivel
WEREWOLF T-SHIRT
JERRY JERRY
■ Baby's on Fire/Gospel Surfer "DEMO TAPE"
LLOYD COLE & THE
STAPLE SINGERS
Slippery People . PRIVATE l/CBS (US)
COMMOTIONS
Rattlesnakes
POLYDOR (UK)
CAPTAIN SENSIBLE
Glad It's All Over A&M (UK)
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Red Hot Chili Peppers
EMI/ENIGMA (US)
FAMILY PLOT
Gravedigger FAMILY PLOT
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN •
.Ocean Rain
KOROVA/WEA
BEAT PAGODAS
Men & Women "DEMOTAPE"
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Patriot EP
COMMON
THE SMITHS
What Difference Does It Make? ROUGH TRADE (UK)
PiL
Commercial Zone
PiL (UK)
FLESHTONES
Screaming Skull IRS (UK)
RAYBEATS
It's Only a Movie
SHANACHIE (US)
GO FOUR 3
Seventh Victim "DEMOTAPE"
RANK & FILE
Long Gone Dead
SLASH/WEA
CABARET VOLTAIRE
Sensoria SOME BIZARRE (UK)
NINA HAGEN
Angstlos/Fearless
CBS
FRANK CHICKENS
We Are Ninja/Shellfish Bamboo KAZ (UK)
HERBIE HANCOCK
Future Shock
COLUMBIA
EMILY
Moments of Glory/Calls My MODAMU
Name
THE REPLACEMENTS
Let It Be
TWIN-TONE (US)
1984 REGGAE TOP TEN STYLEE
TOP TEN AFRICAN ALBUMS OF 1984
1. SMILEY CULTURE* Police Officer
1. HUGH MASAKELA Techno Bush
2. BLOOD FIRE BAND** Every Possee Get Flat
2. JULUKA
Stand Your Ground
3. THE GLADIATORS Serious Thing
3. KING SUNNY ADE &
4. FRANKIE PAUL*
South Africa
HIS AFRICAN BEATS Aura
5. ASHER SENATOR* Fast Style Origination
4. GEORGE DARKC
Highlife
Time
6. BARINGTON LEVY Under Me Sensi
5. MANU DI BANGO Abelle Dance
7. INI KAMOZE
Statement
6. SONNY OKOSUNS &
8. SMILEY CULTURE* Cockney Translation
OZZIDDI BAND
Which Way Nigeria?
9. MIKEY DREAD
Pave The Way
7. HI-LIFE INTERNATIONAL Music to Wake the Dead!
10. GREGORY ISAACS &
8. ERIC AGYEMANG Wonko Menko?
DENNIS BROWN
Judge Not
9. SEIGNEUR TABU LEY Live (In
10. CHIEF COMMANDER
USA & Canada)
*12" 45 **7" 45
EBENEZER OBEY & HIS
INTER-REFORMERS BAND Solution You saw Red Herring win round one of...
f^ at the ^^
SAVoy
6 Powell St.
Now round two begins...27 original bands
battling for recording time and concert dates,
and new for '85, comedians every Monday.
CITR is providing recording time
and musical equipment for the top
three bands.
Perryscope will book the winning
band at the Commodore Ballroom.
Commercial Electronics is
recording the entire finals of SHiNdig.
Watch for the album:
•SHiNdig L/Ve at the Savoy"
on the ZULU-BIRD label in July.
Bands you'll sec in January
14 Dead Cats
Bob's Your Uncle
I.Zacks
21 Hands of Fate
NG3
Doctors
28 Bongo Gestalt
David Domino
Coppertones
I
BANDS
DO YOU WANT TO ENTER
Call Jay or Dave 228-3017
COMEDIANS
DO YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES OF
ORIGINAL MATERIAL?
GET INTO
Call Jay or Dave 228-3017
©kW(%!
produced and presented by
fmioa DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
V-T: N- Y-L
V-EKD3- 0 T
Skinny Puppy
Remission
Moev
Alibis
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
(Nettwerk Prod., Can.)
Vancouver has a lot to brag about in any conversation about music. Fortunately there are a
lot of people out there who aren't satisfied to
leave it at that. The recently formed Nettwerk Productions label, based in Vancouver, has given
Vancouver's music scene a strong boost towards
maintaining its towering credibility with the record
releases of three local bands.
Moev is no stranger to anyone who's been in
Vancouver for any period of time. Their Touleyev
EP earlier this year came in the wake of their
fragmentation/reformation, and unfortunately was
sub-standard by anyone's measure. Happily with
Moev's new extended 12" Alibis there is a return
of the quality of music so obviously lacking with
the earlier release. 'Alibis" is a dance tune with
a driving bass line, overlayed with staccato drum
rhythms and chiming synth keyboards. The tune
is infectious, and judging from the response on
the dance floor of a local club, already quite
popular. The production and mixing are top
notch, serving to further enhance Moev's crisp
synth and electronic sound.
The Grapes of Wrath are originally from
Kelowna, but have recently moved to Vancouver.
The band's name conjurs up images of Steinbeck's novel and appropriately their music has
the same effect in a round-about sort of way.
"Down Under the Wire" sounds like what I would
imagine U2 would sound like if they were from
Inisfail, Alberta. While the other three songs on
this EP are not that strongly image-evoking,
there's lots of ringing/tinging guitar sounds with
a solid bass and rhythm support, and minimal,
if any, keyboards or electronics. Although musically strong, the vocals are contrastingly weak,
and are mixed way back into the music. Still,
GoW's tunes are catchy and easily hooked into
one's preconscious, as I found myself humming
"Laughing Out Loud" at the bus stop one day.
Nettwerk's final member of the triumverate is
Skinny Puppy. There has been an interesting
reaction to the music on this six-song EP. As I
listened to it in CITR's listening room one evening, everyone who happened to wander through
commented on it. One person likened it to
Images in Vogue, and another pointed out a
similarity between it and Nocturnal Emissions'
"Viral Shedding." Throughout the evening the
list grew to include Ledernacken, New Order and
Xmal Deutchland. I don't know if I agree explicitly
with any of those likenesses, but there is undoubtedly something about the music that grabs
your attention and racks your brain. Kevin Cey
and Nivek Ogre handle all the electronic sounds
and treatments that are such a pervasive part of
Skinny Puppy's sound. Their hallmark undoubtedly is Nivek's vocals which have a throaty
quality, like he's being throttled. It makes me want
to cough and clear my throat. But, strangely
enough he still manages to remain crudely
melodic, complementing nicely the crisp electro-
synth sound of their music. As with Moev's
"Alibis," "Smothered Hope" from the EP has
gained immediate, strong acceptance on the
dance floor. The remaining five songs are just
as intriguing and musically sharp, and I expect
it is only a matter of time before they start getting the heavy airplay they deserve. Certainly one
of the most unexpectedly good albums to come
out in a while.
Nettwerk Productions can be contacted by
phoning (604) 687-8649, or by writing to Box 330,
1755 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada,
V6G 1C9.
—Beverly Demchuk
Lloyd Cole and
the Commotions
Rattlesnakes
(Polydor UK)
Each year I wait, with some expectation, for
a set of songs such as this. A set of songs well
written, well played, and which function as a unit
rather than a collection of 45s is a rarity. And
when those songs arrive, and are attached to a
charismatic person like Lloyd Cole it is little
wonder that Rattlesnakes has so easily seized
a prominent spot on my turntable.
Their sound is traditional rock much as would
be written by The The, Elvis Costello, Tom
Verlaine, or Poisoned. Singer Lloyd Cole loves
the Staple Singers, Bob Dylan and the Velvet
Underground. Naturally all those influences are
heard here.
Lloyd Cole's voice. This.voice has great texture. It is velvety smooth without being perfect. January 1985
It is unprocessed. It is unbelievable. His voice
reminds me awfully of Matt Johnson (The The)
and Ian McCulloch at his best.
The songs on Rattlesnakes have as much
character and resonance as their singer's voice.
As a lyricist, Cole impresses both his dry sense
of humour and his poignant insights into relationships both personal and political. As musicians,
the Commotions infuse their white folk rhythm
and blues (ha!) with a liveliness and depth only
occasionally heard on today's chart toppers.
Their sound is a guitar based sound but it's
also a spacious sound. The guitars are gentle
and warm, much like electrified acoustic instruments. Other sounds are used to make a richer
song without creating needless instrumental clutter. On songs such as the enigmatic and moody
"Speedboats" a wonderfully mysterious organ,
reminiscent of early Tom Petty records, adds
character.
"Four Flights Up" finds the organ competing
with rampaging banjos and acoustic guitars.
Elsewhere, strings accent songs. They float gently and unobtrusively in and out, adding levity to
the music. "Rattlesnakes," the recent 45, is
driven by those strings. Horns are similarly used
to excellent effect throughout. And always,
whether on "Four Flights Up" or on the languid
"Heartbroken," the Commotions are great.
Melody, lyrics, instruments and production—all
reach a high standard on Rattlesnakes.
I agree with Lloyd Cole. Records are hard to
get attached to. I get attached to people.
Today often the only attachment
I understand reads $$$$$. Lloyd Cole and the
Commotions offer more. They don't pretend that
they are going to change your life with music
(FRAUD). They are normal people singing about
their normal lives. They are people and songs
to become attached to. Get the album Rattlesnakes, and it's 45's "Perfect Skin", "Forest Fire,"
and "Rattlesnakes." (No domestic release
imminent.)
Looking like a born again/ Living like a heretic/
Listening to Arthur Lee records/ Making all your
friends feel guilty/ About their cynicism/ And the
rest of their generation/ Not even the government
are gonna stop you now/ But are you ready to be
heart-broken/ Pumped full of vitamins/ On account
of all the seriousness/ You say you're happy now/
You can hardly stand/Lean over on the bookcase/
If you really wanna get straight/ Read Norman
Mailer/ Get a new tailor/ HEARTBROKEN What
would it take to wipe that smile off your face.
—Jeffrey Kearney
UB40
Geffery Morgan
(Virgin)
Inside a courtroom, somewhere soon. ■
• •••
"Read the charges," blurts Judge John I.
Masses (T for Informed) at the end of a weary
day deciding the fates of those before him.
"The group UB40 is hereby charged with the
composition and production of commercially
viable musical records," spouts the bailiff.
"How do you plead?" asks Masses, not facing the accused.
"Not guilty!" harmonize the members of the
band (all the same folks—right down to Astro—
the fellow named after George Jetson's dog).
"The prosecution will now present its case,"
says Masses.
The public prosecutor, Philip Skeptic, steps forward and says, "Your Honor, I call as my first (and
only) witness one Mr. T A.M. Jock." (T for
Typical.)
With a flurry of grunts and snorts a bald,
middle-aged, overfed creature waddles up to the
witness box and oozes into his seat. He emanates a constant, high-pitched scraping noise
indicating that both his neurons have whipped
into action and are now furiously analyzing his
situation.
"Tell me what you think of UB40," queries
Skeptic.
"Oh wow, UB40! Like, is that really them? Can
I get their autographs? Can I give them mine?"
spews Jock, "I mean these guys are totally
awesome y'know! And that new hit tune "If It
Happens Again" is climbing our charts like a
monkey with four arms!"
"Where did you first hear about them?" asks
Skeptic.
"Hey, like where else do music-smart dudes
like me hear new bands—on American Bandstand,' of course," jets out Jock, now speaking
so quickly that he spits with each word.
"Thank you, Mr. Skeptic," says Judge Masses.
"Will the defense now present its case."
A scrawny, sickly looking chap steps forward.
Though he insists he's a lawyer, he goes by the
name 'Doctor X.'
"These charges are absolute rubbish m'Lud—
no truth to them at all," says X in his mid-
England, industrial-strength accent. "These lads
don't TRY to produce commercial music. They've
been playing the same stuff for years, but have
only been accused of commercialism since the
success of their last album Labour of Love. Is it
their fault that they sell well in North America?"
Suddenly George Jetson's dog leaps out of his
seat and begins chanting, "A moshun for de
oshun and a fakshun for de akshun!"
"Down Astro!" shouts X, "You had more than
your share of time for that on the latest release.
That and your persistent clicking and clapping
noises drove us all crazy... Please excuse Astro
m'Lud. He hasn't been the same since he left
Jamaica and his Rastafarian roots to play in this
white reggae band—I guess that's why he changed his name."
"Carry on," says the Judge.
"As I was saying m'Lud, these boys still sing
about the same things—the ills of Western society, unemployment, the class sytems, media brainwashing, suppression of the masses, apathy and
so on. They're also experimenting with some new
things—cuts like "Knomo A Go Go" use African
beats a la King Sunny Ade and "Your Eyes Were
Open" and "The Pillow" are as much jazz as
reggae. They even have their own record label,
which allows them the freedom necessary to
define their own musical destiny. Besides, if they
can get their message out through record sales
and still write pretty good music, is that such a
bad thing?" Doctor X returns to his seat.
• •••
The verdict? Well, I'll let you be the judge of
that. If you're a die-hard UB40 fan, I think you'll
agree Geffery Morgan is not the best they've
done, but it has its moments.
—Dave Harper
Penguin Cafe
Orchestra
Broadcasting From Home
"Really, Magnum! Your penchant for loafing
is MOST abhorent!"
Something about this line of work always appealed to me. Job security certainly isn't it, but
something...maybe the fact that I had the run of
Robin Master's estate for the weekend had something to do with it. Molokai beckoned, I was "in
between" cases, and an old army buddy I'd met
in 'Nam had left a copy of the new Penguin Cafe
Orchestra record at the estate with no explanation. Rick and T.C. had gone to the mainland in
search of fresh herring. The best thing to do
seemed to be to just rest on the beach by the
lagoon and take in the sun along with RC.O.'s
Broadcasting From Home. I should have known
by their enthusiasm for performing such a mundane task, that Rick and T.C. were quite content
to leave me to the torment of Higgins' reminiscing pathos.
It was the first lazy day I'd had in weeks. I know
that if I was a regular "Dick," I'd be all over the
islands scouting for a case of missing Auks last
seen in a colony of sea lions or something to that
effect. As it was, the luxuries afforded me by
Robin Masters had taken their toll on my initiative.
The fact that he had a Ferrari specially outfitted
for a driver with webbed feet and stubby flippers
tells the story. Now was the perfect time to just
relax amongst the swaying palms and feel the
ocean mist caress my face. I had taped the P.C.O.
album earlier on in the day and was now listening, with sheer delight, on my grotto blaster (the
name"for a portable tape deck that I heard a
cousin of mine use when I last visited him in the
Antarctic). The only thing that could possibly
have ruined a peaceful afternoon was...
"Magnum! I'm quite taken by your surprising
show of good taste. What IS this DELIGHTFUL
music you're listening to?"
"It's by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra." The irritability in my voice was barely concealed.
"Really, Magnum. I asked you a straightforward question..." insisted Higgins.
"That's the name of the group. It's the brainchild of multi-instrumentalists Simon Jeffes and
Geoffrey Richardson. The album is called Broadcasting From Home and DON'T ask me..." I try
to stay the hand of inevitability.
"Why do they call it Broadcasting From DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
January 1985
Home?" finished Higgins as if he were reading
lines from a script.
I hadn't the heart to tell Higgins that the title
is the result of a whimsical suggestion on the part
of one of Jeffes' friends. In the middle of this
trivial exchange, the grotto blaster had clicked
to a halt as the tape ended. There would maybe
some time to indulge in the disc later.
"Well, anyway..." continued Higgins, "it's
wonderful stuff. I haven't heard anyone play the
ukelele like that since 1943. It was in North Africa
just after Tobruk. As I recall, we were camped
out beside a great mud hut which we were later
to find out was the local bordello. Well, it's a funny
thing really, what with our being a group of battle-
weary troops and all..."
At this point I almost wished Rick and T.C.
would get back with the herring.. I could at least
bare to have my musical euphoria dissolved by
the promise of a good nosh.
"HIGGINS! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! JUST
LEAVE ME ALONE!" I snapped.
To my surprise, he took heed, said he was going to the local record hut, presumably in order
to buy a copy of this record so that he too could
have his faith in the sheer delight of listening to
music restored.
The next thing I know, I hear the sound of an
approaching gun ship. Visions of 'Nam shatter
my newfound peace of mind. It was an old trick
we used to use to rile the VC. out of hiding. We'd
play tapes of all this shrieking and howling over
a loudspeaker from the chopper's window and
the V.C. would think it was a visit from their evil
demons. But this...this was different. It was
soothing, beautiful, like it was sent from above.
It was. The chopper touched down. Rick and T.C.
get out of the cockpit, both smiling, carrying bags
of fresh herring.
"Very funny, guys!" I called, in a somewhat
shakey voice.
"We just thought you could use a good practical joke," they chortled. Well, I have to admit
that it DID make things interesting. As it had turned out, I was right. It was the same trick we'd
used in 'Nam, only they were playing a track from
the new Penguin Cafe Orchestra album out of
the chopper's window. It was called "Isle of View
(Music for Helicopter Pilots ).
I looked down at the bags of herring.
"Lets DIG IN!"
—Magnum Opus P.I.
(Penguin Investigator)
David Johansen
Sweet Revenge
Dear Anne:
My fourteen year old son Tom, not his real
name, is a devoted fan of Twisted Sister and Billy
Idol. He has their records and posters splattered
all over his room and it's becoming unbearable.
Lately, I've been trying to convince Tom that his
favorite bands are just trying to imitate the late
great New York Dolls. I've also been trying to convince him that the N.Y. Dolls former lead singer
David Johansen, is an exceedingly cool and decadent rock 'n' roller. The kind of individual that every
adolescent boy should try to emulate. Unfortunately though, I just picked up the latest David Johansen album, Sweet Revenge, and noticed that D.J.
has donned a bozo-gelled-fashion-dance-haircut
look. I'm now very worried that David may have
gone wimpy, and that my attempts to impress my
son will only earn his contempt and mistrust.
Sign me,
WORRIED ROCK MOM
Dear Worried:
Wake up and smell the coffee. So what if David
looks like he's preparing for an Entertainment
Tonight interview, he can still serve up some pretty solid rock. This album, his fifth since leaving
the Dolls, is a well-rounded and honest effort that
should impress even the most Foxed-out adolescent.
Sweet Revenge is composed of nine songs, all
D.J. originals. The best cuts on the album include
"Heard the News," a political love song with
enough veiled references to El Salvador that it
should have mom contemplating Central America, while it's sexual references should have
young Tom contemplating that certain girl at
school. "Big Trouble'—a tune that Tom and his
friends should have blaring from their Walkmans
as they get ready to vandalize their school on
a Friday night. "Stinkin' Rich'—a song which
should serve as a remedy for anyone sick of the
Ghostbusters theme. Instead of asking who ya
gonna call, this song asks who ya gonna hate?
You got it. The stinkin' rich. And the last cut on
the album, "N.Y. Doll," serves not only as an
acknowledgement of Dave's old transvestite days,
but also reminds us not to expect any more high
heels and mascara. Dave has left all that garb
behind for the outdated heavy metal cement-
heads.
Sweet Revenge is in some ways just that. On
D.J.'s two previous albums, Live It Up—a live
album—and Here Comes the Night, he made
stabs at attaining commercial airplay. Now, D.J.
seems to have decided to ignore his critics' and
detractors' demands for commercial pop, and
has instead put out a really solid rockin' kind of
album. Sweet Revenge won't get David FM
airplay or interviews on MTV, but then Dave
doesn't care. Because, like he says on this
album, his sweet revenge is that he doesn't want
to become part of the stinkin' rich. As for any further advice to Worried Mom, well, if listening to
Sweet Revenge does not convince you and your
son Tom that David Johansen is still exceedingly
cool, then I suggest that you have bats in your
belfry.
—Jerome Broadway's Aunt
Scraping Foetus Off
The Wheel
Hole
Self Immolation (UK)
Disgusting. I mean the name of the band,
which should cause godfearing folks to toss (at
least Morgentaler had the sense to chuck 'em
in the garburator). And the album title, which
could mean anything, but considering the content, likely refers to that slag term for female
genitalia. And the cover art. Some yummy examples of Maoist Chinese "Socialist Realism" (you
know, Girl meets Tractor. Yuk).
The person responsible for this apparent
travesty is a single-minded young man who calls
himself Jim Foetus. Reputedly a NewZealander
by birth, Mr. Foetus records with a number of
band names, the best known being You've Got
Foetus on Your Breath. All of these bands had
a love for manic thrash in the tradition of Australia's Birthday Party. (What makes these transplanted Antipodeans so strange?)
In spite of the deliberately hideous concept
and packaging, the actual record is very good,
although not to everyone's taste. The music is
raw and uncompromising, with enough variation
to be interesting over a whole album, and competently executed by an anonymous group of
musicians.
The lyrics are multi-layered, with differing
degrees of sexual, social, and political commen- happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
tary in each song, expressed in Mr. Foetus'
unique (deviant? not playing with a full deck?)
style. In spite of occasional incoherence, the
lyrics express a certain degree of common sense
in attacking the world's, and Mr. Foetus' own,
problems.
Mr. Foetus' singing (screaming? ranting?) is
largely understandable, but the lyric sheet is
sometimes helpful. He treads the fine line between control and loss of control; this contrast is
one thing that makes the album intriguing.
The album has light touches, such as in
"Sickman," where Mr. Foetus talks about someone he doesn't like, and then goes into a mutant
version of "Batman," ending with "na na na na—
Sick-Maaan!" I find this silliness integrated with
a serious subject appealing, because it is fun,
and it takes the piss out of those boring jackoff
music makers who think they are Thomas Mann,
or someone equivalent^ deep and pompous
(with disasterous results).
Unfortunately, I only had a chance to give the
album a couple of brief listens, but I don't think
Hole will get boring with more spins. A desire to
hear more of a record is almost always a good
sign. This record proves that Mr. Foetus is not
a candidate for postnatal abortion.
—Rob Simms
suppose).
Like This is by no means a musical departure
for the dBs. In fact, it is much the same as Repercussion and Stands for Decibels, their two
previous albums—dominated by bouncy hook-
filled pop. Lots of guitars, catchy as hell. This
time, however, it's the Peter Holsapple show.
Previously, Chris Stamey had shared the songwriting duties with Holsapple and the balance
of their individual skills was a good one. Here
the tunes all belong to Holsapple, and they're
all further proof of his immense talent. Gone is
some of the more obvious madcap quirkiness
and experimentation that characterized Stamey's
work, but that essential feeling of uplifting melancholia is still intact. Like This is a must record for
every rainy day dance party.
I suppose tnat if I was forced to make a distinction between Like This and the band's previous
work, I would cite the production and the playing. Uverall the sound is much looser and
breezier but there's still enough energy to keep
the angst sufficiently in check. However, the band
are undoubtedly in search of the hit record which
they so richly deserve. In fact, they seem so
determined to get some chart mileage out of
"Amplifier" (from Repercussion) that they've
included it, virtually unchanged, on the new
album.
Speaking of hits, the new dBs single "Love is
for Lovers" was recently featured on American
Bandstand's Rate-a-Record and came off not too
shabbily, tied in points with that week's latest
smarmy faceless disco wavochartbuster, whatever it was. If it's toward the mainstream pop
music that the dBs wish to turn, the sanction of
Dick Clark and those like him is certainly cause
for encouragement. I'd love to hear the dBs on
AM radio because, in an ideal world, that's where
they belong.
Let's face it, if half the drivel we now call
"mainstream" was of the calibre of an average
dBs song, I think that we'd be inclined to view
the whole notion of "mainstream" with less of
the repugnance and resignation that we do now.
Good Luck. —Steve Robertson
The dBs
Like This
It's never over until it's over. Was it Yogi Berra
or David Bowie who said that? Probably Bowie.
I was beginning to think that it was the bottom
of the ninth and two outs for the dBs, victims of
perhaps the most glaring oversight in the history
of the pop music industry. Here was a band that
had, by 1982, released two excellent albums and
a string of wonderful singles. Everybody who
heard them, liked them. The problem was that
not too many people got the opportunity to hear
the dBs because their records were never released in North America—and they're Americans.
Only in Britain, you say? Pity.
Despite Peter Holsapple's denials, I was convinced that the dBs had effectively disbanded
sometime last year.
What a pleasant surprise then, after a two-
year respite, to witness the re-emergence of the
dBs, albeit minus guitarist Chris Stamey, who has
left to pursue a solo career. They don't seem to
miss him too much on their third album, Like This,
released on Bearsville Records, an American
label (they couldn't be all totally dense, I
YOURSELF.,
TO NEW MUSIC.'.'
BREEZE 11EG01U)
RENTALS
DAVIE at DENMAN. A NEAT PLACE ! ^08297 DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
January 1985
This month reviewed by Brian Maitlarf from "Over The Wall" headquarters.
BILL OF RIGHTS - Meltdown '85 EP (No Rights
Records)
Six solid hardcore tunes (not thrash) comprise
this excellent 7" EP. The sound quality is great,
especially the guitar sound which is a cross between Agent Orange and Social Distortion.
"The Core" is the best song on the record featuring a gutsy bass line framing some good lyrics:
"politicians talking backwards." "C-9" starts off
with ten seconds of the Batman theme and is
guaranteed for maximum slamming in the pits.
Then, of course, no Meltdown record should be
left without its anti-nuclear message which
"What Do You Say" provides. All in all, Bill Of
Rights have provided Vancouver with an
energetic follow-up to their first single ("Decide")
and local or otherwise, this is a good disc to spin
on your turntable.
LES CALAMITIES - A Bien Abbatue 12" EP
(Posh Boy)
Finally a French group that doesn't sound like
Charles Aznavor. This three girl/one guy group
churn out eight classic pop tunes. You have to
hear them sing "The Kids Are Alright" and
"Teach Me How To Shimmy" in their delightful
French accents. But surprisingly the standout
cuts are the originals such as "Malhabile" and
"Toutes Les Nuites," which are bright pop in the
Dolly Mixture vein (this also proves that understanding lyrics is not utmost in enjoying pop
tunes). So not only do the French have fine taste
in American bands (i.e. witness the releases on
Lolita and New Rose Records), hopefully this is
the tip of the iceberg of French talent soon to be
infiltrating the airwaves.
MUDMEN - Back From Papua EP (Irian Barat
Records)
Wow! And double wow! This record blows the
tribal headdress off King Bunny Lemonaid and
his overindulgent Nigerian rhythms. Minimalistic,
primitive and untouched by civilization make this
record a Third World delight. To think such
sounds could be emanating from Oceania boggles the mind. The dance rhythms are totally
unique and from Australian fanzine reports I've
been perusing lately, these guys are amazing
live. Touches of Talking Heads' guitar rhythms
appear on "Fire Wind," while on the standout
cut "Subsistence," we get unique drum patterns
that certainly set a feverish pace guaranteed to
get you up on the dance floor. If you can't dance
to this record then you must have rigor mortis.
IAN McCULLOCH - Cookies and Mussels
Echo and the Bunnymen's leader has seen
fit to branch off to record this single. WHY? It
sounds nice on an Irish pub song level with a
nice accordian sound all put to a sea shanty like
backdrop. Maybe it's the Captain Sensible syndrome which seems to hit every British band with
one member branching off to seek star recognition. Ian, please go back to work on the next Bunnymen LP we are all anxiously awaiting and stop
this drivel.
A *°CK' A
Poc<>ed
2936 W. 4th Ave.,
Vancouver, B.C. V6K 1R2,
Phone 734-2828
YOUTH BRIGADE - Who Can You Believe In
Anyone who saw Youth Brigate in August will
know they put out a lot of energy live and this
record is no different. The driving bass line
powers this song along while the vocals are a
bit reminiscent of TSOL's lead singer in their
darker days. The tuneful guitar suggests Youth
Brigade are changing direction a little with a
slightly more Doorsy doom and gloom vein coming to the fore.
STRETCH MARKS - Bad Moon (Rising) (Head
But Records)
This hardcore punk outfit from Winnipeg burst
out with a fast and furious tune. The drumming
here is your basic fast hardcore beat but the
guitar is strong and varied. The vocalist sounds
like he gargles with motor oil but the tune still
rips. The repetition of the title line gets monotonous after awhile but I could listen to that burt
of guitar anytime.
SISTERS OF MERCY - Walk Away
(WEA Records)
The singer sounds like a Bowie clone but the
guitar sound is impressive with touches of New
Order here and there. In fact if these guys picked up the pace a little, this would be a killer
single. It's just that I can only take so many Bowie
clone singers. Wasn't Peter Murphy enough?
TOXIC REASONS - God Bless America (Sky
Saw Records)
No, Toxic Reasons have not gone all Kate
Smith on us. This is their anti-tribute to the country we all love to hate. The drummer smashes
and thrashes away keeping the tune fresh, and
the lyrics hit the appropriate targets from Billy
Graham to the CIA. And to top it off, they may
have the slogan of the year: "Land of the free,
Home of the slaves."
FEARGAL SHARKEY - Listen To Your Father
(Virgin)
I love the Undertones but hated the Assembly
single and now Feargal has gone totally upfront
and solo with no better results. God, this sounds
like something off "Sin Of Pride" (the last Undertones LP) and in fact has the guitar sound even
more buried under horns, horns, and more
horns. Feargal still has that great quavering quality in his voice but without "Jimmy, Jimmy"
guitars, it is nothing. Feargal states "I bet you
never listen to your father," and I bet a lot of
Tones fans will change that to "I bet we'll never
listen to our Feargal again!"
MOEV - Alibis/Ha!/Chairman 12" single
(Nettwerk)
Run of the mill electroslop from local fave raves
(by whom - Ed.) and no wonder given the loss
of the ever wonderful Madelaine Morris. This is
really a tuneless wonder and no wonder Madelaine left this rubble.
The song "Ha! (Bible Belts)" is possibly the
worst political songwriting attempt by any band
let alone local. The lyrics are indiscernible so why
bother titling it at all? The rest all sound totally
un-unique from any other faceless technocrap.
This is destined to be local frisbee of the year. happy new year
DISCORDER a guide to CITR 1m 102 cable 100
NO FUN - Talkin' Bout The
Mundane/Crocodile Tears
If B.C. had ever had a Stiff record
label, No Fun would've been on it.
Then we could've had our very own
Wreckless Eric. Unpretentious, uncluttered pop with an edge provided by a sardonic, wry humour. A
worthy successor to Me and Warren Beatty, No Fun is quite the
opposite.
•*•••••••••••••
NG3 - Fuckhead/Sheltered World
More gargle-on-drano vocals,
more guitar reverb and distortion;
the only words I could make out on
"Fuckhead" were 'You're so
stupid, stupid, stupid'... On
"Sheltered World" he comes quite
close to actually singing. It's generally more tolerable, if only
because it's not as heavy metal as
a lot of this sort of stuff tends to be.
How does that rhyme go, 'Something borrowed, nothing new,
everything's old an' I'm so blue'?
At just over two minutes apiece, at
least the songs are mercifully
short.
••••••••*••••••
OUT OF PROPORTION - Radio
Void
Bolero who? If they tread carefully to avoid anything that resembles
Lava, these folks could go places.
On the strength of just the one
song, perhaps that comparison
and that hope are somewhat premature; I don't know, I'd have to
hear more. Raw, urgent pop-funk
with some original touches that I'd
like to see them develop.
•••••••••••••••
SECOND LANGUAGE - Strange
Atmosphere
Harmless, inoffensive pop. Nothing striking or original to make it
stand out, but it's by no means a
write-off. Keep working and let's
hear your next one.
• •••••• • ■• ••••*•
THE RAYVE - On The Hunt
U2 meets a deep-voiced Nik
Fiend, who gleefully slips the
Rayve a free pass into The Batcave. Vocals are buried in the
guitars, but that's okay, at least you
can dance to it, I think. I wonder
what it was they were on the hunt
for...? Ah well, I've heard worse. '
•••••••••••••••
THE WEST - Face Of The Earth/
I No Show
Vancouver Gripped by Dancefloor Craze! Panic in the Nightclubs! Why?! Who Cares?! AM
Radio Stations! Who Else?! Er...
•••••••••••••••
CELEBRITY DRUNKS - Ode To
A Dreamer
Easily the demo of the month.
Since their debut single "Laugh 'til
I Cry" with it's gruff vocals and
general party-atmosphere dispos-
ability, The Drunks (don't you just
love inventing pet names?) have
added a female singer and gotten
serious. Using just bass, acoustic
and electric guitars and some tape
effects, they weave a slow, compelling landscape, a mood piece,
neither rock 'n' roll nor industrial-experimental. Just as the
mournful vocal makes you feel em-
pathetic, a harsh, upfront guitar
rakes your spine to keep you engrossed—but from a distance.
Destined to become one of the
more popular local releases of
1985. It's very original, very interesting and very good.
—Sukhvinder Johal DISCORDER a guide to CITR tm 102 cable 100
The Roving Ear $
J| ^ 2 -this month from T.O.
(t was brought to our attention here at the Mag
that our little ears have been roving in a
decidedly North-South manner. They have twice
ventured deep into the heart of Texas and have
twice again visited our Western brothers in
Calgary and Edmonton. Bearing this in mind and
knowing that our Eastern kinfolk develop deep
feelings of inferiority when they feel slighted by
the West, we decided to remedy the situation.
The DISCORDER jet was fuelled (the cheap
ink and paper is just a front, you know), the Fatty Arbuckle suite at the Royal York reserved and
yours truly dispatched to Trana (pronounced Toe
Ron Toe).
You would tend to think that in a city like
Toronto—a city full of wealth, power and glamour,
a city filled with the best things: the Toronto
Maple Leafs, a lake you can walk on (even in
summer), the world's largest phallic symbol—
an air of complacency would set in. But no,
wherever M.O.R. raises its ugly head an alternative will be put forth (hopefully).
The key to T.O.'s thriving music scene is the
clubs themselves. There is such an abundance
of them that bands—no matter how obscure,
eccentric or even obnoxious—have audiences
and specific venues that cater to them.
My first foray into the night was an evening of
cultural extremes. After witnessing a stellar performance by Ricki Lee Jones at stately old
Massey Hall I was directed up Young Street
(read: cesspool) to Frankenstein's. Modelled after
London's famed Bat Cave, Frankenstein's is a
black abyss that sports a barbed wire ceiling,
dismembered dolls, a bartender who is literally
behind bars, and is a premier club to catch good,
fast hard core. On my initial visit I caught sets
by someone known simply as The Pope doing
a one-man show a la I, Braineater, and the most
blistering set of music I have witnessed this year
by a band called Destruction. On subsequent
trips i caugnt the ADSoiute Whores killing an
Elvis song for you, and The Viletones, who
host a hard core jam on Sundays.
Larry's Hideaway also sponsors Sunday hard
core jams but have a more diverse booking policy
the remainder of the week with acts ranging from
Omette Coleman to locals Terraced Garden
who successfully practice the lost art of progressive rock with two LPs Melody and Menace and
Braille to their credit.
A four or five block area of Queen Street West
houses the trendiest and most ecclectic of Toronto's venues. The newest addition to the area is
the Bamboo Club. Although obstensibly a big
money club-they have opted for (deep breath)
'50's hi-tech Polynesian decor replete with grass
awnings and a glitzy paint job. The tropical ambience happily extends Into the Bamboo's band
selection as they draw extensively from Toronto's abundance of Jamaican and Caribbean
bands.
I attended a benefit for the Black Music Association oi Canada and was treated to a great
night of reggae featuring The Militants and esso
Jackson. Wednesdays are reserved exclusively
for reggae and you are always assured of catching a good local band.
The Rivoli has almost become eligible to be
called venerable as it was one of the leaders in
the Queen Street West Renaissance. Longevity
certainly hasn't spawned apathy though, as the
Riv wins the diverse booking award hands down.
A typical one-week period saw performances by
Chicago bluesman Jim Brewer, a night of Brazilian film, a Hungarian folk duo followed up by
a night of beat poetry and performance by John
Giorno. This let up to a four night showcase of
local comedy, poetry and music billed as the 2nd
Annual Benefit for the Emily Stowe Shelter for
Women.
For a good night of casual beer swilling you
can't beat Monday nights at the Beverly Tavern,
where you can witness a pagan ritual known as
the Church of the Fallen Elvis. Led by the
Reverend Baby Jesus Houston, it's basically free-
form open mike and a hell of a lot of fun.
Other clubs of note: The Copa—fairly hi-tech
with a booking policy similar to the Commodore.
The Diamond—a New York style dance club
(see: expensive).
Names in the News—Stars on the Rise: Being in close proximity to The Big Apple, New York
culture abounds in Toronto and performance
poetry is currently all the range. Two noteworthy
practioners of this genre are Maja Bannerman
and Robert Priest.
Bannerman recently released a book of her
| work entitled Songs, Poems, Performance Pieces
and has been working with the Bill Smith
Ensemble.
Robert Priest is a very diverse performer
somewhat in the Jim Carroll vein, performing
sets of ambient music with Neo Chapman of
Pukka Orchestra, giving solo poetry readings
and fronting his own band Great Big Face.
Micah Barnes was recommended highly to
me and she was not a disappointment—the funk,
R&B songstress is definitely one to watch.
Drurrirner Crash Morgan has formed an all-
star reggae band called Sing Sing comprised
of local reggae veterans Pat Berthelotte (2 Pulse
3), Clif Persaud (Strike One) and Sam Weller
(Sunforce).
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are the
only Toronto band I'm aware of from the Rank
& File, R.E.M., Scorchers school of music that
we Left Coast types love so dearly.
On Your Radio and In Your Eye: Ryerson's
CKLN continues to spread the commercial free
gospel at 50 watts and 88.1 on your FM dial. In
nearby Hamilton, McMaster has resurrected
CFMU and pulled off a major coup last month
by getting the dBs to play a legion perched high
atop 300-foot Hamilton Mountain (no plans for
the dBs to travel West). CFNY, although a commercial venture, pounds out palatable music at
a staggering 100,000 watts from high atop the CN
erection.
Publications of note include The Nerve published by Ryerson, very hip, good graphics, and Now
magazine which is the weekly entertainment
guide a la Georgia Straight only with substance.
Epilogue: By the time you read this I'll be well
into my second week at the DISCORDER condo
on Maui, but fear not—we'll sacrifice another
mind next month when the Roving Ear visits
beautiful downtown....
—Jim Main
rwm-
WANMA' »*
5AHf
i
WAHtK NO
CMIXV? T>lce
i
WAHNA' NO
StRAMf DKE
PtoreNTiAU-V
U^TVAl- DROdS
WWP ~» NO COVER 7=30-900
.HAPPY HOUR 7=30-900
THE SAVOY NIGHTCLUB 6 Powell St., Gastown, Vancouver, 687-0418 THURS
JWN It
Discorder
Discorder CITR-FM (Radio station : Vancouver, B.C.) 1985-01-01
Item Metadata
Download
- Media
- discorder-1.0049882.pdf
- Metadata
- JSON: discorder-1.0049882.json
- JSON-LD: discorder-1.0049882-ld.json
- RDF/XML (Pretty): discorder-1.0049882-rdf.xml
- RDF/JSON: discorder-1.0049882-rdf.json
- Turtle: discorder-1.0049882-turtle.txt
- N-Triples: discorder-1.0049882-rdf-ntriples.txt
- Original Record: discorder-1.0049882-source.json
- Full Text
- discorder-1.0049882-fulltext.txt
- Citation
- discorder-1.0049882.ris
Full Text
Cite
Citation Scheme:
Usage Statistics
Share
Embed
Customize your widget with the following options, then copy and paste the code below into the HTML
of your page to embed this item in your website.
<div id="ubcOpenCollectionsWidgetDisplay">
<script id="ubcOpenCollectionsWidget"
src="{[{embed.src}]}"
data-item="{[{embed.item}]}"
data-collection="{[{embed.collection}]}"
data-metadata="{[{embed.showMetadata}]}"
data-width="{[{embed.width}]}"
data-media="{[{embed.selectedMedia}]}"
async >
</script>
</div>
Our image viewer uses the IIIF 2.0 standard.
To load this item in other compatible viewers, use this url: https://iiif.library.ubc.ca/presentation/cdm.discorder.1-0049882/manifest