Cameron Carpenter: Past and Present Tens – Take Off Your Shirt And Jacket

One of the perks working in the music business is (was) the free clothes. Tee-shirts, hoodies, hats, toques, scarves, you name and some label or artist would find a way to incorporate their logo on it. The big score was always the record label or band tour jacket. In the days of big record company conventions one of the first thing you would do was check your hotel room as more often than not there would be a swag bag waiting for you full of all kinds of treats. Some of these I still possess and others have long disappeared or been given away to friends.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Ring the Damn Bell

Before we head back to my 1970’s high school I wanted to congratulate my old friend Randy Lennox on his upcoming new job as President of Entertainment Production & Broadcasting at Bell Media.

Cam Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – High School Confidential

This week we rewind to high school in more ways than one. Buried deep in a box of rock memorabilia I stumbled upon a collection of my high school newspapers. Calling them a newspaper is a bit of a stretch as most of them are four or five sheets of mimeographed white or green paper and almost faded into obscurity.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Driven To Tears

 

This week we have a short rewind back to 2008. I had a few opportunities to write for the Canadian men’s lifestyle magazine Driven, whose editor-in-chief, Gary Butler, was an old friend. As you can tell from the quality of the copy, he is a great editor and elevated all who wrote under his watch.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Knack Knack – Who’s There?

This week we rewind to November 1979 and a story I wrote for Music Express. It was in the same issue where I had written the cover story about an artist by the name of Segarini. I certainly was in my “pure pop for now people” phase. Please pardon the grammar, I was young and needed a good copy editor.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Days Of Future Past

I am happy to report that Mom came through her surgery with flying colours and we await her return, with her shiny new knee, to the ABC (Arsenal Breakfast Club) at the Balmy Beach Club in the coming weeks.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – The Thin White Duke Looks Sharp!

Before we rewind to a couple of record reviews in the New Music Magazine circa 1978/9, something a little more modern. By this time next week many of us will be knee-deep in the 33^rd annual Canadian Music Week. From its start as the David Farrell run “Record Conference” the Neill Dixon show is a massive multi-format event which touches all aspects of the industry, but, more importantly, is a huge social gathering of old friends from around the world.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Styx Are Poles

Somehow I managed to get a byline in The Eye Opener at the then community college Ryerson. It was the school I wanted to attend as their journalism course was highly regarded; however, I was not accepted and ended up attending Centennial College. This story appeared February 23, 1978.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – Cam Goes To College

As hard as it might be to believe I did attend college, and, studied Journalism. Sure, I only went for one year before I was hired by Quality Records, but, I was the first in my family to get any sort of post-secondary education. Luckily my children took University a little more seriously and the family now has a Dalhousie and a McGill graduate in their ranks.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – In Goddo We Trust

This week we re-wind to June of 1979 and once again to The New Music Magazine. One of the things I loved about writing for them was I could help bring local acts to a cross-country audience. To welcome Greg Godovitz, and his new custom made pair of shoes, back to Toronto (after living in Calgary for the last eight years), I give you “In Goddo We Trust”.