IMANTS KRUMINS:
Above-ardent Fan, Collector and Champion of Good Music
(and Credit Risk Analyst for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by day)
born April 6, 1952, Leamington Spa, England
died June 9, 2011, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
age 59
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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.
It’s Tuesday. It’s sunny. It’s summer…..with a vengeance! It must be “writing day” since it’s not raining and miserable. As I sit and stare out the front window my mind is a complete blank, overwhelmed with the proverbial “to do” list, my brain is at the point where it’s decided to wipe itself clean. The human hard drive. No back up. Just select “reformat” and be done with it. A blank page which is basically what I’m looking at. As my mind drifts into nothingness, you know that stare you get when you’re looking but not really “seeing”. Yep, that’s it. I could close my eyes and…..God forbid!!!!……nap!!!!
Originally posted April 3rd, 2011….
Being in a rock band can be fun, rewarding, stimulating and an adventure. It can also be tedious, frightening, life threatening, and rife with danger. No matter how well you plan, no matter how prepared you are, there are forces at work which will occasionally just fuck you up. Sometimes, it can be someone who is a stranger, or worse, someone in the support system of the band who causes the problems. Sometimes…it can be you…and when I say you, I mean me.
This Sunday evening the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will hand out the Juno Awards for the 45th time. The Saddledome in Calgary will be packed Sunday night as the awards go live to air at 7 PM Eastern on the CTV network. Making sandwiches for the luncheon honouring Canadian music would now be a year-long job for Stan Klees’ mom (a few old timers will understand).
Excerpted from the upcoming Bullseye Records 30th Anniversary book “Bullsography”
I was plugging away on an old Underwood electric typewriter out of a one-bedroom apartment in Pickering Village in the late 1980s putting out a fanzine called Great White Noise magazine when I received correspondence from legendary Pig Paper fanzine guru Gary Pig Gold….
Wellllllll……all I can say is “I was there”. Up in the nosebleeds with the rest of the folks in the so-called “cheap seats”. My date for the evening and I had a direct aim at the stage(s), perfect viewing. I have no idea what you couch potatoes were seeing at various stages of the programme, but it was definitely different from the TV version.
This week we re-wind to October 15, 2008.
It was a very sad day for Canadian rock’n’roll and especially those of us who grew up in the Ontario punk rock scene, Frankie Venom had died.
Last week’s ramble down Toronto’s musical memory lane seems to have touched a chord in those who were there, or wish they had been. The list of other musicians and bands from the 70’s and 80’s, many of whom became friends, then or since, is endless. Such a roster of incredible talent! It’s heartening to see how many of those great players are still around, and still entertaining their fans, either on record or live.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 