Pat Blythe: Women of Rock – Part 1

The impetus, for what has now become a series, was my discovery of an old vinyl record by Maggie Bell. I came across it going through one of my many purge cycles. Suicide Sal, released in 1975, was my introduction to the blues….I just didn’t know it then. I wasn’t in the habit of labeling types of music in my younger years, I just knew what I liked. Greg Simpson, who happened to be managing the now defunct Records on Wheels in London, Ontario, recommended the album, thinking I might like it. I loved it and still do. Thank you Greg!

JAIMIE VERNON – IN PRODUCTION

Of late I’ve been finding myself going through my album collection to find something, anything worthwhile to listen to during my 13 ½ hour shifts patrolling cemeteries in Toronto. I’m lucky enough to be driving a current model Dodge Avenger – which is a Dodge Charger on steroids – with a sound system that rocks. It’s fun to toss in a disc while I’m issuing fines to people for letting their dogs piss on tombstones or skiers running rip shod over graves.

Doug Thompson: WHAT, IS IT NEW YEARS ALREADY?

John Lennon said it best in one of my all time favourite songs of his: “So this is Christmas and what have you done.  Another year over, a new one just begun.”  I do so wish that Lennon was still here to continue with his amazing talent.  But some self-centered asshole with a hand gun and a diseased brain (or a mind-controlled one, for all of you conspiracy buffs) silenced that legendary voice forever 33 years ago.

Roxanne Tellier: Will You Still Need Me? Will You Still Feed Me? When I’m 64.

Tick tock, Tick tock. Time is marching on for everyone, but oh so very visibly for the Baby Boomers. And most particularly for those of us who chose careers that put us in the public’s eye. If you are lucky enough to stay on the right side of the grass, you are going to get old, and if you have a scrap book full of photos, you are going to have proof positive that aging in our society is not for the weak of heart or stomach.

Roxanne Tellier: A Victim of Fashion

After writing about fall’s wonders two weeks ago, it was odd to wake up that Monday to the beginning of a week of Indian summer. Sunny and mild, the weather was perfect for the celebrities and guests swarming Toronto’s streets for TIFF. The beautiful people and their entourages swanned in and out of event venues in their little black dresses, smart cocktail gowns, and Manolo Blahnik shoes.