Hi, my name is Pat Blythe…..just in case you forgot!
Welcome to 2021! It’s been five weeks…..five columns since you’ve heard from me. Such a lot (and that’s putting it mildly) has happened globally, but especially south of our border. Every major news network is on it…..so I’m not. Today’s column will be one of lightness and fluff…..maybe a little fairy dust and little nonsense. I feel we could use some twaddle and trivia.
A million years ago (okay, it was 32) I had an idea to start a music magazine to promote Canadian music. The idea didn’t come out of nowhere and there was a catalyst to light the fire. It started as a newsletter in 1989 to promote my rock band Moving Targetz. It was called the M.T. Head Express and was mailed to our fans monthly to let them know about gigs, recordings, and all our shenanigans as a rock band. My ex’s mother, Gail Benson (RIP), said to me one day, “You should expand your news letter to cover other Canadian bands, not just your own.” And, so I did. In early 1990, I launched a 24-page fanzine called Great White Noise Magazine. My ex and I bought a brand new PC with a dot matrix printer for $1320. I had to take out a loan at my credit union to do it. It would take me until 1993 to pay it off! Continue reading
In 1967, the Song of the Year was “Canada” by The Young Canada Singers. I was a geeky, gawky Montreal teen with cats eye glasses and a bad perm. My season’s pass to Expo 67 made me feel like a citizen of the world.
But in Toronto, another kind of world was coming together; one of young, talented musicians who’d flocked to Yorkville to find fame, if not fortune.
Grant Fullerton was one of them.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 