I was shocked and deeply saddened last week to learn of the passing of Dave “Obie” O’Brien. Most of you would not have known him as he wasn’t in the music industry (he was a tax lawyer) and unless you went to Malvern Collegiate or Neil McNeil, or perhaps played lacrosse for Beaches (we both were inaugural members in 1968) your paths likely did not cross.
(Editor’s Note: Cam
is tied up this week, and rather than let you be Camless for a week, I thought it would be fun to rerun Cam’s first ever column for DBAWIS from September 22nd, 2011. Have we really been here that long? The Camster (Carpenter to the Stars) will return next week with an All New Column…in the meantime, here is Cam’s maiden voyage from the long forgotten past exactly as it appeared almost 4 years ago….)
We left you last week at the lobby bar of the Sheraton with Bobby Curtola, Jay Sparrow and Greg Godovitz. As with most conventions the premium site for socializing is the lobby bar (and, in more recent years, the outdoor smoking area).
This week we rewind to June 8, 1978. If I am not mistaken this was the first story I was ever paid for (and looking back they paid far too much). It appeared in the debut issue of The New Music Magazine which arrived in mailboxes across the country in August of 1978. It was produced by the CHUM radio chain and I was fortunate to write in every issue.
Seven has always been a bit of a magical number. Craps players can toss a seven on the first throw and instantly win but must avoid the number once their point has been determined. There are the seven deadly sins to consider, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Who could ever forget “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” the album from Duran Duran which gave us “The Reflex” (the video was shot at Maple Leaf Gardens) and “New Moon On Monday”. Here’s seven more from the world of rock’n’roll.
When most of us we young the six minute song was a rarity. For those of you from my vintage the charts of the rock’n’roll world were dominated by the two and three minute ditty. It was not unusual for hit singles to be under two minutes with the Rolling Stone’s “Not Fade Away” clocking in at 1.48 and “Do You Want To Know A Secret” from The Beatles stretching the clock all the way to 1.57.
It’s so hard to believe it has been five years. I still expect to see him on Queen Street East and catching a glimpse of that smile that was like no other. It seems like yesterday when we and our kids would watch the Beaches Easter Parade as we huddled into the front booth of Scratch Daniels chowing down on chicken wings while Yasmin, Kari, Kyle and Sean would be filling their mouths and pockets with the chocolate being given away on the parade route.
If you are expecting a thousand or so words about the 1986 Huey Lewis & The News album prepare to be disappointed. It was a fine little pop album and moved Huey and the boys from small halls into the arenas and state fairs.
I think it is fair to say the triple album is officially on the endangered species lists. For the most part this beast roamed the earth during the sixties and seventies and by the time the eighties turned into the nineties it was overshadowed by its bastard cousin the double CD. Since then the CD has been replaced by the download and the download now finds itself struggling to swim up the stream. So many changes and so quickly, no wonder the record companies are having a hard time.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 