Pat Blythe – Christmas past, NYC, John Harris, N’we Jinan…and Music!

My house looks like Santa barfed up an entire Christmas store. Lights, decorations, bibs and bobs scattered about, the decorating a work in progress and I haven’t even purchased the tree yet! Chris use to chide me on the amount of Christmas paraphernalia I had accumulated over the years so I decided one year to use the minimalist approach. A week before Christmas day Chris asked me when I was going to decorate? Ya can’t win…. So, five containers, an extensive Santa Claus collection and a couple of supplementary boxes heaved up from the basement, I am now sussing and sorting, banging nails, climbing ladders, walking on the counter to get to the top of the cabinets….letting no space go “unChristmased”. Even my musical Charlie Brown Christmas Tree is back in its place of honour.

Pat Blythe – Canada Turns 150? and Canadian Music Reminders…..

A weekend (and a year) of celebrations across Canada….150 years young…..but is it really?

Oh how I love history! An item on my “to do” list before I pop my clogs is to work towards, and obtain, my BA Mediaeval History. Cambridge University is where I’d love to be (I do love England) but University of St. Michaels College here in Toronto is also an excellent choice and know for their studies in Mediaval history. The bucket list is not long, just really big projects.

JAIMIE VERNON – EVERYTHING OLD IS STU AGAIN

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There’s a Renaissance of sorts happening in the music business right now by which music we’ve lost track of, or have ignored outright, due to the current ubiquity of pop music is crawling out from the primordial ooze and is being reborn as something new. New masters, new packaging and/or new formats are moving in to replace the gaping hole left by marginilized MP3 files and the impending death of CDs.

JAIMIE VERNON – Bomb the Vaults and Free the Tapes!

During ten of the twenty-five years I ran Bullseye Records we focused on licensing and re-issuing Classic Rock and pop releases from the past. Generally it was a focus on albums that the public had loved and wanted re-mastered on CD. I approached the musicians that I knew who owned their own recordings (which is a rarity in Canada) starting with Greg Godovitz and Goddo. The band was able to enjoy a large resurgence and reconnection with their fan base as we rolled out and carefully marketed their 1977 self-titled debut, 1978’s “Who Cares?” and 1979’s “An Act of Goddo” plus their 1990s ‘King of Broken Hearts’ comeback record at the turn of the millennium. It wasn’t long before the fans were asking for a live record and a new studio album.