Roxanne Tellier: My Toronto – Part Two

Toronto was a different place in the late 1970’s and early eighties. Although it’s easy to look back with rose coloured glasses, it was, in fact, a watershed time for Toronto musicians. Everywhere you turned, you were surrounded by outstanding music, made by dedicated and very talented players, who enjoyed the freedom to create their art, and make a living at the same time.

 

 

Cameron Carpenter: The ABC’s Of Rock – Missing Music Venues

Let’s continue our journey of missing musical venues. We were (and still are) very fortunate in and around Toronto at the amount of great clubs at our disposal. Some of the best (and worst) are long gone. When all of these clubs were at their heights beer was cheap and usually sold in ten ounce glasses by the tray and there was outrage when the price of cigarettes went up to a dollar in the cigarette machines. The air was thick with smoke and the stale scent of smoke and beer soaked carpets hit you like a ton of bricks when you walked thru the door.

Segarini: When Radio and Records Ruled the World Part 12: From Funky Town to Punky Town: The Great Disco Backlash.

Part 11 can be found here

In 1975 radio and the record companies were experiencing an almost mystical amount of musical innovation and genre-bending creativity, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the mid ‘60’s. British Rock, Southern Rock, Pop, Soul, Dance, and Country all had a piece of the action, records were flying off the shelves, and radio was the focal point of teen attention, local music scenes, and pop culture in general. Musically it was a watershed year in many ways, and personally, it was the beginning of a short, but intense period in my musical career that began with a new band that, in Montreal at least, could do no wrong.

Jaimie Vernon: Life’s A Canadian Rock – Part 8

SWINDLE COMES ALIVE
By the time I’d returned from summer school and my 2 ½ weeks of work in 1980 my band’s drummer, Jim Greeley, had purchased his new Westbury drum kit. With the riches from my Canadian National Exhibition job burning a hole in my pocket, I bought myself an amp. It was very small portable 7 watt Yamaha G-5 guitar amp that wasn’t excessively loud but it was mine and we soon dubbed it The Lunchbox of Sound.