The other day I did something I haven’t done in a while. A long, long while. After taking a break to gulp down my standard late-afternoon frothy chocolate shake, a friend decided to drive us spur-of-the-moment clear cross-town to… a record store. Yes, a record store. Remember those?
Ten so long years ago, a random gathering of some of the best musicians from Canada’s greatest musical berg threw themselves onstage as part of the annual Locke Street Festival. Spearheaded by veteran Hammerhead Tom Wilson, said ad-hoc combo was busy rocking and rolling things all the way up that street as the sun slid down when suddenly, a most familiar figure was spotted nearby.
The lead singer of the one, the only, Teenage Head.
I just want to walk right out of this world,
coz everybody has a poison heart
(Dee Dee Ramone, Daniel Rey)
Time to go listen to “Wart Hog” again…
(musician-actor-fan Robbie Rist)
His speech was inarticulate;
His songs were not
(Carl Cafarelli, “This Is Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio”)
Dee Dee was the most important musician in the history of punk rock,
and probably the most overlooked
(John Holmstrom, editor/publisher of PUNK Magazine)
As hard as it may seem today to fathom, there was a time, in the not too distant analog past, when starting up a record company required more – much more – than just a domain name and the nearest GarageBand™ software.
Yes, there was a time when starting up a record company required actual brick and mortar (or at least some office space), telephones, pens, pencils, typewriters and reams of 20 lb stationery (plus desks to put them all on and, ideally, a staff of people to use them) …not to mention, in the case of at least one of the two record companies mentioned below, a full Cordon Bleu kitchen staff equipped with a £600-a-month-at-least liquor allowance.
HIGH SCHOOL MADNESS
or
HOW CAN YOU DRIVE TO TWO PLACES AT ONCE:
I can now hereby unequivocally state I was one of the proud, the brave, and yes, the subsequently unemployable by-products of the Peel County Board of Education’s early-Seventies flirtation with that dastardly “open curriculum.” “Open” as in “Let the kids take whatever courses they want and show up to class only when they feel like it …maybe that’ll prepare ’em for University life; if not, at least we can lay all our career counselors off and spend more on the football field.”
It was two score (that’s forty years) (I think) and several tens of thousand dollars ago (of that I’m sure) that I decided to get into the Record Business. For real. (Sort of.) I mean, Frank Zappa, Frank Sinatra, even those Beatles had their own labels. Why not me ??!
It was only last month that Iggy turned 71, remember?
This month however, we virtually celebrate the Birthday of a crooner of an entirely different stroke, but one no less impressive and influential in his own unique way than that head, headstrong Stooge.
But Don’t Believe A Word I Say! For today we turn the fond reminiscences and frank remembrances completely over to a proud parade of Pig pals who pay tribute to the one and still only Pierino Ronald Como, who could have – nay, should have been celebrating his 106th on the 18th…
Bullseye Records of Canada
