Tuesday 31 January 2012

Coughin' Nails: Live at the Westward Club (1988-89)

Murray Greig of the Coughin' Nails sent in ten live songs, recorded at the Westward Club. The first two tracks are from 1988, the rest are from '89.

Track listing:

For the Love of Ivy (Jeffrey Lee Pierce/Kid Congo Powers)
Gears of Love
Green Door (Bob Davie/Marvin Moore)
Kaleidoscope Lobotomy
Mr X
Pandora's Sin
Ptarmigan (Gerald V. Casale)
Pumpin' for Jill (Iggy Pop/Ivan Kral)
Road Runner (Bo Diddley)
Talk About Me (Screamin' Jay Hawkins)

The band:

Bob Firmston: vocals
Murray Greig: guitar
Colin Forsyth: guitar (on 1989 tracks)
Case Caulfield: bass
K.C. Halas: drums

Thanks tonnes for digging this up, Murray! There's lots more to come from the Greig archives in coming days, too.

Get nailed here.

Monday 30 January 2012

Legendary Few: Live (1986)

Another one from the Murray Greig archive/car trunk, and it's a killer: a 20-song set from Th' Legendary Few, live from the legendary-ish stage of either the Ace of Clubs or the Westward Club. (Anyone know which?)

Th' Legendary Few were:
Bill Firmston: vocals
Jon Sawyer: guitar
Rob Joyce: guitar
Brent Beatty: drums
Doug Boland: bass

Track listing:

Lute Suite in D Major (Bach)
[title unknown]
Better Days
Poo Poo Pee Pee
High School
I Know Your Name
Can't Judge a Book (Diddley)
Little Pink Dot
The Witch (The Sonics)
Diggin' the Scene on Campus
I Go to Pieces
Frenzy (Hill/Stevenson)
You're Gonna Miss Me (Erickson)
Bedlam for Boris
Christmas Cookies
She's A Little Cruel
That's Love
Thirteen Minutes to Wait
River Deep Mountain High (Spector/Barry/Greenwich)
Surfin' Bird (Frazier/White/Harris/Wilson)

Thanks, yet again, Mr. Greig!

Legendary, indeed!

Sunday 29 January 2012

Choads: 4 Songs Live in Bill's Basement

Murray Greig sent us four unreleased live Choads tracks from the band's early days (around 1991? 1992?) before the Forbidden Dimension's Jackson Phibes brought his, er, organ to the party. "There were a lot more songs on that cassette," writes Murray, "but time and the trunk of my car have not treated it well."

The Choads were largely made up of Th' Legendary Few and Color Me Psycho alums, so they're an honourary '80s band in our books. Also: They were an awesome thing to behold. (If you're not hep to the Choads' one official release, The World Ain't Round, It's Square, you'd best rectify the situation pronto.)

Tracks:

He's Waiting (The Sonics)
Money (That's What I Want) (Barrett Strong)
Tombstone Bed
Why

Choad blast!

Saturday 28 January 2012

Li 150's: "Destiny" (1989)

We've been trying to get our dirty hands on the Li-150's tape for a while, and have yet to connect with a guy on a scooter who claims he has it for us. So, in the meantime, we'll re-post this track from Golden Rock.

"Destiny" appeared on the compilation Oh God, My Mom's On Channel 10!, released on 12" vinyl by Nardwuar the Human Serviette Records (CLEO1).

[Courtesy of Rocks in My Pocket.]

Get it here.

Friday 27 January 2012

Vindicators - The Vindicators (1989)



According to the venerable Wikipedia, this 12" was the last release by Montreal's Og Music. We're also told that this was the first album cover that Tom Bagley did for a band that he wasn't in. So, for every ending, there is a new beginning.

Whatever. Here's Golden Rock's transcription of the back cover:

I
If I Were You (Carlson/Dunn/The Vindicators/PROCAN)
24 Hours Everyday (The Headstones)
Early in the Morning (Carlson/The Vindicators/PROCAN)

II
I'm Gone (The Magic Mushrooms)
No Worries (Carlson/The Vindicators/PROCAN)
Searching For My Baby (The Haunted)

Chris Carlson—Vocals, Guitar
Bryce Dunn—Drums
Daaren Boreham—Guitar, Vocals
Colin Forsyth—Organ, Guitar, Vocals
Dave Mariacci—Bass

Gerry Timmins—Drums on "Searching"

Produced & Engineered by Shane Connelly at Inear Sounds, Calgary

Thanks to: Val, Ben, Brent, Glenn, Paul, Kent, Nardwuar, Soul Shack, What Wave, TomB, Mr. & Mrs. C. Roli


Salmon Breath: "Cadillac" (1988)

"Cadillac" appeared on the compilation It Came From Canada Volume 4, released on 12" vinyl by Og Music (OG17).

From the liner notes by Del Picasso:
SALMON BREATH are sort of sick country-rockabilly from Calgary. They're Sid Garbitch, vocal, guitar, and Poly, drums, but they don't sound like Deja Voodoo.
Nope, they sure don't!

Thursday 26 January 2012

Vindicators: "Thinking of Birds," "You're Too Much" and "Hate" (1989)


One of the Calgary bands we've never been able to get enough of is the Vindicators. Thankfully, Golden Rock collected their compilation-only tracks for us to enjoy.

"Thinking of Birds" (Vindicators PROCAN) appeared on the compilation Mister Garager's Neighbourhood, released on 12" vinyl by What Wave and Og Music (OG21).
From the liner notes:
A fine example of young minds warped by over-exposure to 60's punk records. Chris Carlson—vocals and guitar, Darren Borehan—guitar, Colin Forsyth—organ, Ben Sherazi—bass, Bryce Dunn—drums. In What Wave #16.
"You're Too Much" appeared on the compilation It Came From Canada 5, released on 12" vinyl by Og Music (OG25).
From the liner notes by Del Picasso:
The VINDICATORS are Canada's second-best-known 60s-garage trash teens. They formed in Calgary a couple of years back, playing farfisa-driven 60s covers and originals. They're singer-guitarist Chris Carlson, guitarist Daaren Boreham, organist Colin Forsyth, bassist Ben Sherazi, and drummer Bryce Dunn.
"Hate" appeared on the compilation Oh God, My Mom's On Channel 10!, released on 12" vinyl by Nardwuar the Human Serviette Records (CLEO1).

Chris Carlson and Ben Sherazi went on to Big Gulp, while Bryce Dunn skipped town to join the Smugglers. Daaren Boreham stayed here and formed Pussy Monster and one of Calgary's best ever garage rock cover bands, the Gaye Rage.


Wednesday 25 January 2012

Color Me Psycho: "Black Corvair" (1987) and "What's Your Phobia?" (1988)


In addition to releasing a bunch of amazing records by Deja Voodoo, Montreal's Og Records made a massive contribution to our country's record output with its five It Came From Canada compilations. Our pals in Colour Me Psycho were included on two of those compilations, and we're presenting the tracks here (if you want to find the full albums, they're out there - and Google is your friend (this time around (maybe))).

"Black Corvair" appeared on the compilation It Came From Canada Volume 3, released on 12" vinyl by Og Music (OG13).
From the liner notes by Del Picasso:
Calgary's Color Me Psycho play sweaty 80s-style garage rock in the tradition of such great groups as UIC and the now-defunct Enigmas. Aleister Hex (vocals/guitar), Edgar Allan Crowe (bass/vocals), John Rodent (keyboards), and S.P. Larkin (drums) recorded "Black Corvair" at R&L Studios.

"What's Your Phobia?" appeared on the compilation It Came From Canada Volume 4, released on 12" vinyl by Og Music (OG17).
From the liner notes by Del Picasso:
COLOR ME PSYCHO are one of Calgary's rockin'est bands, with a tough, sweaty sound that borrows from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. They're working on an LP. Aleister Hex, vocal, guitar; Edgar Allan Crowe, bass, vocal; John Rodent, keyboard; S.P. Larkin, drums.

We believe that it's former Golden Calgarian Dan Hayes playing keys on these two tracks. But we might be wrong.

Og!

Monday 23 January 2012

Enemy Mind Feel - Wintermute (1988)

















Yesterday's Enemy Mind Feel post seems to have roused the sleeping giant that is Golden Rock, and prompted them to post a tape that they've been using as a pillow for the last two years. Yep, turns out Ken Kittlitz sent them this tape years ago, and they've just remembered it. Their sloth is our gain, perhaps? 'Cuz now this is a CCPS post, rather than a Golden Rock post. That's the way hostile takeovers go!

This was released on cassette with customized j-card artwork (two samples above). No drums on this, which makes the version of "Church of the One Electron" on here no less compelling that that on their 7" single. Speaking of compelling, check out the liner notes:
Enemy Mind Feel is Calgary's first "cyberpunk" band. They live the "cyberpunk" lifestyle: anarchistic computer geeks by day, rock gods by night. Their twisted brand of noise/punk/no-wave rock makes even the most seasoned listener cringe with delight. The band members believe that Armageddon will come in a blast of feedback.
Enemy Mind Feel has been together for 9 months, and has placed select live dates in Calgary. The first performance occurred after the band had been together for only a week. As a means of developing new material, they regularly do improvisation performances in the studio, during gigs, and on live campus radio.
Thanks to Ken Kittlitz for sending this to Golden Rock. Next time, though, skip the middle man!

Sunday 22 January 2012

Enemy Mind Feel - Halflife 10,000 Years (1989)

 

We're picking up a Golden Rock post that we're hoping to get some more context on shortly (in the form of a tape! Hooray!). For the interim, we'll just leave this here for you to enjoy.

Because some nights, that's just all we can pull together.

Saturday 21 January 2012

Huevos Rancheros - Live at the Night Gallery (2000)


We're going to zip forward almost 20 years in the Brent Cooper story to this video, which we've, er, borrowed from Rock Is Dead

It looks like this is video from the Huevos Rancheros (RIP) 10th Anniversary show at the Night Gallery (RIP). The video is great - a bit wobbly and kind of distorted, just like our favourite memories of Huevos shows. We weren't at this (sadly), but wish we had been - about three quarters of the way through the set, Graham Evans re-joins the band... on second guitar! Also, the Dino Martinis' Pat McGannon is on keys. We're not sure who shot the video, but clearly someone from the scene. 

Here's great little clip, that ends with Coop giving the proto-douchebags in the audience a lesson in how to behave at a rock show:


Rock is Dead has the links to download the full video - all links were working at the time we posted this. It's a big download, but well worth the bandwidth.

Well, the link was working when we wrote this, at least. Since then, the American Government has decided that file sharing is bad. So you can watch Part One, Part Two and Part Three of this on Youtube. Until the American Government shuts down Youtube. 

Friday 20 January 2012

will... - causa sui (1983)


Quite possibly one of the best things about a good night at Broken City is the fine selection of tunes that Djewel Davidson plays. In fact, it's pretty noticeable the nights when he's not there - the music in between acts just isn't the same. 

But one of the things we've never heard him play is this almost 30-year-old LP featuring a cover photo of very young Brent Cooper (or is that Bruce McCulloch?). There's something questionable about using William Blake poetry as lyrics, but we're going to overlook that lapse in judgement in favour of the contributions that both Davidson and Cooper have made to the scene.

Thanks again to Golden Rock for transcribing the back cover:
Side AFunky Babylon 3:39
Live in Animation 3:24 (davidson/King/Cooper) 
Side 1The Empty Cabinet 3:29
The Final Reward 3:15
The Garden of Love 2:51 (Wiliam Blake/Ducky King) 
the will... are:
Peter the kid Balkwill: Banging and Thomping
Brent Cooper: Rude Noises
d.jewel davidson: Painful noises
Ducky King: Low pitched noises 
Don Pennington: Noise control 
All songs written by d.jewel davidson and Ducky King, except where noted otherwise.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Cryin' Helicopters - "Go West Young Bee" and "Move" (c.1984)

Since we've been talking Cooper, we think it's time to go back to the Golden Rock archives for this. These are two songs from Ken Kittlitz's '86 mix tape, again re-mastered by Cheeba. Big thanks to both fellows!

The Cryin' Helicopters were one in a string of bands featuring guitar whiz Brent J. Cooper (falling somewhere between his stints in The Will... and the Ted Clark Five?), best known for his work in instro outfits Huevos Rancheros and the Ramblin' Ambassadors. In fact, Huevos recycled "Go West Young Bee" on a 7" (b/w "Girl from N.A.N.A.I.M.O.," Top Drawer, 1994) and the Dig In! album (Mint Records MRD-007, 1995). More info on the Helicopters, and hopefully more tracks, to come soon. In the meantime, might we suggest you buy the fabulous new Ramblin' Ambassadors disc, Vista Cruiser Country Squire?

Update 07/30/2008: Not surprisingly, walking music encyclopedia David Veitch remembers the Helicopters roster:

Brent Cooper - guitar
Dave Stevenson - drums
Dave Hatfield - bass
Tom Wolfe - vocals

Stevenson, Veitch notes, also did time with Cooper in The Will... Hatfield and Wolfe were formerly of Grey Nun.

Go West!

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Forbidden Dimension - Promotion Factory (1990)


Yesterday, we featured Bagley with Cooper on the side. Today, we've got Bagley with Cooper behind the board! Or something.

This is a big-sounding set of basement demos that Cooper recorded with Tom around the time of Mars is Heaven. But what freaks us out - and we don't freak out that easily, despite what the guys at Golden Rock may say - is the full-band treatment of songs from the same era. Although, it kind of does sound like Igglesden is doing his best drum machine impression on much of this.

This set pulls nicely from Tom's early material (he pointed out that he's now spent over half of his life in FD, which he may/may not appreciate us sharing with you). This really sounds terrific, with meaty-sounding guitars and drums. And the right amount of effects on Tom's voice to make his sound extra demented.

A potential improvement on his usual, somewhat demented-sounding voice. Potentially.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Jackson Phibes - RadioSonic Session (1998)


As you've probably noticed by now, we're nothing if not obsessive - not to mention shameless about posting the same thing twice. We have little/no reason to break from our usual patterns, so here we go again.

We kind of overlooked the inclusion of this in the FD tape that Chris Zuk sent us a while back. At some point after the rest of FD quit the band to form the Daggers, Tom put out a single under the Jackson Phibes moniker and recorded this great session. That's Coop playing a nicely fuzzed-out bass and Tom's old pal Larry Van Halen keeping the beat.

What else do we like about this? "A Wolf's Gotta Learn," which doesn't see an official release until 2007's Cool Sound Out of Hell. Oh, and speaking of releases, did you get their new CD/download yet? Or are you waiting for the vinyl to drop, like we are?

Monday 16 January 2012

Forbidden Dimension - CBC Session (1994)


We're going to skip back to some new tape content, and give you a break from the Golden Rock reposts for a bit. But we're not going to relent with our obsessions over Tom Bagley!

Tom was good enough to invite us into his lair last month, and gave us a few things that we hadn't heard before. The first is this, a session that he and his ghoulish companions recorded for the sadly-departed Brave New Waves, shortly after the release of their first Cargo cassette.

What's amazing about this is hearing the full-band treatment of one of our absolute favourite FD tracks, "White Line Reaper," as well as Tom taking on one of his all-time favourite tracks, Blue Oyster Cult's "This Ain't the Summer of Love." There's also a previously-unreleased instrumental, "Say You Love Santa." If we'd had our crap together, we would have posted this prior to the holiday season. But, sufficient to say we did not have our crap together.


This tape also has us pondering the other Calgary bands that did sessions for the CBC. We know Huevos Rancheros did a set around this time as well - who else? If anyone out there has tapes of any other Brave New Waves sessions, we'd love to hear them.

Just like we're sure you'll love to hear this.

Sunday 15 January 2012

Color Me Psycho - H+R Block Recordings w/ Live @ The National (1985)


O Canadarm! has a bunch of early Color Me Psycho recordings, collected under the rubric "H+R Block." Why? According to CMP frontman Aleister Hexxx, "We used to practice at the H+R Block in a Forest Lawn strip mall in the off-tax-season. We had to move after we practiced during work hours one day (we had a show that night at the U o' C), causing a dentist next door to file a complaint (and probably a few teeth he hadn't planned on)! The H+R Block stuff was done over the course of a weekend towards the end of the summer of '85. We had only been playing for a few months at that point, and there are lots of sucky tunes that got dropped right away after we started playing out more. Playing out is always the best way of sorting out what works and what don't."

Yes, it looks like some of these are the same version that we previously posted here. But we don't mind duplication in this case, because appended to the practice set is a live show from the National Hotel. 

Aleister Hexxx thinks this show was around Halloween '85: "I'm thinking we'd played the ACA H'we'en dance the night before, which went smashingly, and I faintly recall being a bit put off by the not-so-enthusiastic National crowd." Our favourite moment in the set is their cover of Fire's "My Father's Name Was Dad."

It looks like O Canadarm!'s link is still active, so you can grab the download from them (or here, if you're lazy).

Saturday 14 January 2012

Color Me Psycho: Demos (1987)


Direct from Aleister Hexxx, six songs recorded in the summer of '87. (Note to CMP completists: "Two Towers" doesn't show up anywhere else.) "The demo was done at the same place as the LP (exactly a year apart)," writes Hexxx. "I actually prefer a couple of the demo versions to the LP ones ("Give Ya the Gears" has more spontaneity for sure). It was all fun though." We also prefer these a bit, as well - the recordings are a bit beefier. Which makes us wonder if the LP was recorded to plywood rather than tape.

Track listing:

Sacred Valley Penetration
Mother's Worry
Two Towers
Six Foot Jane
Black Corvair
Give You the Gears


Also: thanks to Mr. Lärkin for the cover art!

Get CMP's demos here.

Friday 13 January 2012

Color Me Psycho - Pretend I'm Your Father (1988)


That last compilation has sent us into a bit of a tangent (as we're prone to), so we're going to take a detour through some Bagley-related posts over the next while (including some new stuff, rather than all these re-tread posts from Golden Rock). Tom tells us that the band was basically broken up by the time this record came out - he was already playing with Forbidden Dimension (that band's first 7" would come out in the same year as this LP).

Our favourite Punk Rock Librarian complains endlessly about the sound quality of this recording, but our own vinyl is in fairly dodgy shape, so we can't really tell. All we know is, this thing has some of our favourite Bagley tracks ("Let's Play Doktor" is an absolute treat).

From the liner notes:

Jack Keen: noise bass, background yelling
Johnny Twelvefingers: visceral organs
S__ P____ Lärkin: drumbs
Aleister Hexxx: eyesore guitar, hootin' and hollerin'

Produced and directed by Randy "Needle" Parker and Color Me Psycho at R and L Studios, Calgary 1988. All songs written by Hexxx, Keen, Larkin, Twelvefingers—except + (Haze, Hexxx, Larkin, Keen 1986) and * (Hexxx, Keen, Larkin, Dez 1985)

Because God told us to... CAPAC REG.



There was talk from Lance Rock Records a few years ago about re-mastering and re-issuing this. Until that happens, you can enjoy this rip instead.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Various - Writing-On-Stone: The Alberta Compilation (1987)


This 1987 compilation brought together bands from both Edmonton and Calgary (Calgary bands marked with * below), and was given a name of a southern Alberta landmark. Highly confusing, but it does give us an excuse to post another track from one of our favourites, Color Me Psycho.

Bands and track listing:

Side One
Euthanasia: "Grub"
Color Me Psycho: "Thirteen is my Lucky Number"*
Broken Smile: "Open Up Your Heart"
Ted Clark 5: "Number Ten Nirvana"*
Disciples of Power: "Aggressor"
Liquid Light: "I'm So Glad About Dyin"*

Side Two
This Fear: "Killing Time"
No Limbo Lasso: "A Part of the Tide"*
Big House: "Nothing to Understand"
th' Legendary Few: "Bedlam for Boris"*
Shadow Project: "Desert Spirit"
Eden's End: "Heaven and Hell"*


Get it here.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Various - Tones: The Calgary Sampler Album (1988)



Here's another compilation from Golden Rock Records, featuring four bands from the late 80's. Maybe this shows how far the scene had evolved. Or something.

The one band who we don't have anything else from on here is This Bicameral Mind - we remember seeing posters for them around town - does anyone know if they put out anything else?


Side One
Big Bang Theory: "The Walk"
This Bicameral Mind: "Gunning Down John"
21 Hundredz: "Now Playing"
Same Difference: "Soft in Her Silence"

Side Two
Same Difference: "Kiss of Ice"
21 Hundredz: "Today"
This Bicameral Mind: "Home"
Big Bang Theory: "Nothing"

From the back cover notes:

Big Bang Theory
Ando-Guitars
Case Caulfield-Bass
Sean McEwen-Lead Vocals
Andy Williamson-Drums, Vocals
Photo: Kate Yorga
Recording: Diz, Longshot, Caine

This Bicameral Mind
Photo: G.Boucher
Produced By T.B.M. & Cary Sadler
Recorded and Mixed At Longshot Studio, Calgary
Engineer: Cary Sadler
Special Thanks To: "Diz" who appears on "Gunning Down John"

Same Difference
Vocals-Janine Bracewell
Conga, Spoons-Dave Follett
Bass-Diane Kooch
Guitar-Chantel Vitalis
"Soft In Her Silence" Recorded at Big City Sound By Scott Willing
"Kiss of Ice" Recorded at Longshot Studio By Cary Sadler
Photos: Alexander W. Thomas
Special Thanks To: "Jumpin" Jan Turner

The 21 Hundredz
Photo: Doug Faires
Produced By: 21 Hundredz
"Now Playing" Engineered and Co-Produced by: Doug Faires, Sundae Sound
"Today" Engineered By: Jim Cretney

Executive Producer: Micheal McParland

Special Thanks To:
Ando-Jacket Design
Kate Yorga-Front Photo
Geoff Smith and The Westward Club
CJSW and VOX Magazine
James Muretich (Herald)
Dave Veech (Sun)
Ian, Paula and 'Diz' for all the assistance...!


Get it here.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Various - Calgary Compelation* (1986)



Compilations are always a tricky business. But this one - which is just over 25 years old now - seems to have hit the mark, with most of our favourite bands from the era captured. We don't know how this came about - other than it was put out on Golden Rock records, the same label that put out the first Golden Calgarians releases.

Bands and track listing:

Side One
Golden Calgarians: "Party in the Sun"
Silent Terror: "Money Makes the World Go Round"
Sacred Heart of Elvis: "Black Snake Moan"
Zero Hour: "Speed Metal"
Son of a Thousand Fathers: "Shuttle"
Think About It: "John's Piano"

Side Two
Color Me Psycho: "Stiff All Over"
No Limbo Lasso: "Trees"
Eye On You: "Human Rights"
Mules: "True Love"
21 Hundreds: "Life is Eternal"
The Will...: "Nice Try. Now Quit"
Ripchords: "Living Like Gamblers"

*[sic]

Get it here.

Monday 9 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: live at Peace Fest (1988)

Golden Rock reader Buke sent in this live recording of the Golden Calgarians performing at Peace Fest--our best guess is this was the Saturday, August 6 1988 event at Prince's Island. (Also on the bill: Liquid Light, Same Difference.) If anybody begs to differ, please let us know. Particularly notable for the inclusion of two tracks ("Surfing Down the Drain," "Hog Wild") which don't appear on any of the GC's albums.

Set list (order is speculative, except for first and last tracks):

Party in the Sun
Ballad of Blood Beach
Guitar Curse
Herpes Simplex II
I Feel Alive
My Big Truck
Sex Under Missiles
Surfing Down the Drain
Vladivostok Rock
(You're Stepping on My New) Boots
Hog Wild


Thanks very much, Buke!

Get it here.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: live at the Ace of Clubs (circa 1986 or 1987)

This Golden Calgarians set was sent to Golden Rock by Dave Degrood, bassist for the Golden Calgarians, a few years back. We think chunks of this are from the same set as this one, but there's enough difference that we're going to present it as another, separate post. Just because if we're going to overdose on Golden Calgarians posts, what's one more? Plus, Bruno's banter/rambling is priceless.

Set list:

Photograph
Sex Under Missiles
My Big Truck
Savage Love
Deviation
Happy Man
Night of Miracles
Summer of '87
Herpes Simplex II
It's Fun to Be Alive
Vladivostock Rock
I Feel Like...
Guitar Curse

Get it here.

Saturday 7 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: Brave New Waves interview (1985)


Rodney Guitarsplat Brent sent in a recording of Brent Bambury interviewing the Golden Calgarians on CBC Radio Two's seminal late-night radio show, Brave New Waves. Broadcast date: October 18, 1985. The band was on the Montreal stop of their cross-country tour. No live performances, but Bambury spun tracks from It's Fun to Be Alive, Savage Love, the "New Desperados" single and the brand-new-at-the-time Guitar Curse EP. Thanks, yet again, Rodney!

The above clipping is from the August 1985 issue (vol. 1, no. 9) of Graffiti (a slick Canadian pop culture mag--and a surprisingly hip thing to find on the Mac's newsstand) features a short front-of-book piece by Alastair Sutherland about the Golden Calgarians. This article inspired the following exchange on the October 18, 1985 broadcast of Brave New Waves:

Brent Bambury: Graffiti said you were obnoxious.

Bruno: Yeah, I don’t know where he got that from. Maybe it was just from talkin’ to him.

Jeff Smith: Maybe because it’s true.

The Brave New Waves interview also elaborates on the whole landlord/$60 story. Which you can listen to here.

Friday 6 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: Guitar Curse (1985)


Here's the third and final 12" from the Golden Calgarians. And, again, the back cover transcription from Golden Rock:

Side One
Guitar Curse
Summer of '87

Side Two
Night of Miracles
I Feel Like...

Golden Calgarians are:

Doug Smith: guitar
Bruno: vocals
Jeff Smith: drums
David Degrood: bass

Songs written and arranged by Golden Calgarians
Recorded at Smooth Rock Studios, Calgary
Engineered by Steve Graupe, produced by Golden Calgarians


Get it here.

Thursday 5 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: Savage Love (1984)



We're continuing to plow through the Golden Rock migration with this, the second full-length from the Golden Calgarians. Of note, this lineup trades one Sandwich for another, with Doug Smith taking over guitar duties from Tim Campbell.

Again, here's Golden Rock's back cover transcription:

Side One
Vladivostock Rock
Savage Love
Thousand Chains *
My Big Truck *
Sex Under Missiles

Side Two
Galaxina */+
It's OK *
Getting Weaker *
Ballad of Blood Beach *
Happy Man *

The Golden Calgarians are:

Jeff Smith: drums/BU
Dave Degrood: bass/BU
Doug Smith: guitar/BU
Bruno: voice
Mike Memorex: guitar/BU on *
Dan Hayes: synthesizer on +

Written and produced by the Golden Calgarians
Recorded at Smooth Rock Studios, Calgary
Engineered by Gabriel Boucher


Golden Calgarians bassist Dave Degrood was swell enough to send in two tracks recorded for the LP, but cut from the final album, "Ghost Town" and "Pink Sunday."


Get the full LP here and the outtakes here.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: New Desperados/7 Minutes to Heaven (1982)



We at the CCPS are puzzled by this Golden Calgarians release, which features future-Mules Brad Paffe and Rob Hayter. We'd like to think this was recorded while the band was in transition from being the Remains to their more constant line-up (with Jeff Smith on drums and either Doug Smith or Tim Campbell on guitar). But this bears the imprint number of grrr-50001, where It's Fun to Be Alive is grrr-50000.

All we really know is that "7 Minutes to Heaven" was chosen to be the song representative of the band on the 90.9 With a Bullet comp, which we've already said enough about. So grab these two great tracks here.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: It's Fun to Be Alive (1982)


Here's the first Golden Calgarian's LP, from way back in 1982. Somewhere between the Remains practice tape and this, original guitarist Scott Fawcett split and was replaced by Sandwiches/future Sacred Heart of Elvis guitarist Tim Campbell.  

Since we don't have a scan of the back cover (we're too lazy to do the whole scanning a 12" in pieces thing), here's Golden Rock's transcription:

Side X
(You're Stepping on My New) Boots
Golden Calgarians
Deviation
The Dancing Floor
Herpes Simplex II

Side Y
It's Fun to Be Alive
Desert Walk
It Could Happen
The Titanic Song
Photograph

The Golden Calgarians are:

Bruno: voice
Tim Campbell: guitar
Dan Hayes: keyboard
David Degrood: bass
Jeff Smith: drums

All songs written and performed by the Golden Calgarians
Recorded at Smooth Rock Studios, Calgary
Engineered by Gabriel Boucher
Produced by the Golden Calgarians
Art Concept & Design by the Golden Calgarians
Photography by Sue Smith
Special thanks to Menno Klassen, D.B. Smith, Ken Guise, Rob Clark & Karen Thomas

Your Olympic Band for the 1980's


It's fun to be alive, but not to have herpes simplex II.

Monday 2 January 2012

Golden Calgarians: Chicken on the Way (c. 1980)


One of the driving forces behind launching Golden Rock was to find lost CalgCon classics, those songs that were never released on vinyl or cassette, but found a home on the CJSW airwaves. Songs like..."Chicken on the Way," the Golden Calgarians' ode to the Calgary fast food institution on the corner of 14th Street & Kensington Road N.W. [Since this was originally posted three years ago at Golden Rock, we've noticed another Chicken on the Way in Forest Lawn... what's that about? - CCPS]

It took a while to unearth this nugget, but here's "Chicken on the Way," in all its lo-fi glory. Dave Degrood supplied some details about the recording: That's him on bass, Bruno singing, and Jeff Smith on drums (and on the skit portion). The guitarist was probably Scott Fawcett, who left the band just before they recorded their debut, It's Fun to Be Alive, putting the recording date around 1980. Dave's not sure where the song was recorded, but it's possible it was in the CJSW studios. (We vaguely remember hearing that DJ Wah might've been involved. Walter? You out there?) The song was written by Scott Fawcett.

Big thanks to Ken Kittlitz for sending this one in. Ken played guitar in Enemy Mind Feel, and was a longtime CJSW DJ. Back in '86, he had the foresight to make a mix tape of his favourite local stuff. Even better, he kept that cassette for over 20 years. More to come from the Kittlitz Tape in future posts. Thanks to Cheeba for cleaning up the audio.

The above clipping (no byline, photo by Brodylo/Morrow) comes from the March 1986 issue of the short-lived Calgary magazine:

Golden Bruno
In 1978, when Geoff Smith and Bruno (“just Bruno”) were students at Queen Elizabeth High, their rock band was called The Remains, perhaps a not-so-coincidental bastardization of their idols, The Ramones. Two years later, morbid punk names died and The Golden Calgarians were born.
As the contradiction in their latest album title Savage Love suggests, they play to mixed reviews. They have been described as “raunchy and loud” and “tight and passionate.” Montreal loves them.
Doug Smith plays guitar and Dave DeGrood handles bass. The raunch is Bruno, 25, lead singer and lyricist. His good looks have made him successful as a nude model at Alberta College of Art.
[photo caption] Just Bruno: Golden Calgarians' raunch component from 25-year-old singer.
Get your chicken here.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Remains: unreleased rehearsal recording (1980)

As the CCPS is taking over the archives from Golden Rock, we see no better place to start than with the band that helped give that blog it's name, the Golden Calgarians. or, in this case, the band that eventually spawned the Golden Calgarians.

Before changing their name to the Golden Calgarians, The Remains were the pride/scourge of Queen Elizabeth High School (some backstory here.) Dave Degrood (Remains/GC bass-man) sent in a Remains practice recording, which includes a few songs that showed up on GC LPs. Dave notes that the session features original guitarist Scott Fawcett, "who unfortunately quit just before the first album."

The set list:

Ballad of Blood Beach
Deviation
U.I.C.
TV Clone
I'm Sick
[unknown]
Into the '80s
Send Your Children
(You're Stepping on My New) Boots
Highway

This is pretty great, raw stuff that makes a nice companion piece to the Sandwiches tape we posted last week. Where the Sandwiches are lean and angular, the Remains are raucous and fun, even in this early form.