Oi! Toronto's Punk Music Past

The Toronto Reference Library is hosting two punk music programs and a photography exhibit during June and July. Join us for these free events to get a flavor of that intense and discordant musical flowering known as Punk:

On the Edge of the World: Photos and Talk by Nick Smash (photo exhibit on 3rd and 5th floors) – June 20, 2019 at 6:30 pm, Toronto Reference Library.

Tomorrow is Too Late: Toronto's Hardcore Punk in the 1980s: Kreative Kontrol "Live" Podcast – July 23, 2019 at 6 pm, Toronto Reference Library.

Toronto had a vibrant punk / new wave music scene in the 1970s and 80s. Local bands like the Viletones, the Spoons, Rheostatics and the Diodes played at venues like the Edge, Larry's Hideaway and the El Mocambo. We were also on the concert circuit for more international acts.

Alternative style: According to some readers; the punk movement has undergone radical change. One writes; Many punks are sensitive; intelligent; articulate individuals with an acute awareness of the socio-political situation in which we live; who see our counterculture as an attempt to create a positive alternative to (our) sexist; racist; homophobic; militaristic society . . Toronto Star Photograph Archive, 2984. Photo by Ron Bull

On the Edge of the World: Photos and Talk by Nick Smash

June 20th, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the Beeton Hall, Toronto Reference Library.

The photographs taken by brothers Simon White and Nick Smash at the Edge, one of Toronto's legendary clubs during 1979 – 1981, document a venue that some feel has been badly overlooked in the annals of Toronto's music history. Nick Smash, who also played percussion in the post punk band Rent Inc Boys, chronicled Toronto's post-punk scene in his book Alone and Gone– The Story of Toronto's Post Punk Underground 1979-1984.

ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. More fun and photos 20 June 6:30 at Beeton Hall at The Ref Library. This time the boom box will be regaling you with music as diverse as Sun Ra, Ultravox!, Fred Frith, Mink Deville and those punky Viletones. Photos provided by Simon White and Nick Smash taken at The Edge 1979 - 1981.



The Edge was seen as the premier New Wave (new wave or post punk) club in Toronto. With a capacity of only 200, the venue attracted some legendary names and future multi-million dollar selling artists within a year of playing there. The Police, Ultravox and XTC, were the cream of the New Wave in 1979 and all 3 played at The Edge within a few months of each other. Legends like William Burroughs, Nico, Sun Ra and John Cale, also performed at The Edge.

The impact The Edge had on a younger generation may have been overshadowed by the El Mocambo and The Horseshoe Tavern, two of the most internationally acclaimed venues Toronto had to offer, perhaps because The Rolling Stones played in one and Stompin Tom Conners in the other. The Edge was also instrumental at helping to start the careers of many local Toronto bands such as The Spoons, The Rheostatics and Letranger (which featured Charlie Angus and Andrew Cash – two future members of Parliament). The Edge closed in 1981.

Simon White and Nick Smash photo exhibit on the 3rd and 5th floors of the Toronto Reference Library - these are a sample of gig photos and reproduction posters up on the 5th floor.

The photo display part of 'On The Edge Of The World' is now up on the 3rd floor (towards the back on the right hand side) of The Reference Library.

Rent Boys Inc. Live Toronto 1983: Beauty is Above The Law.





Tomorrow is Too Late: Toronto Hardcore Punk in the 1980s

Tue Jul 23, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at the Beeton Hall Toronto Reference Library





Join us for a live podcast and panel discussion of the book, Tomorrow is Too Late: Toronto Hardcore Punk in the 1980s, recently published by UXB Press.



The panel will consist of Derek Emerson (MSI guitarist), Shawn Chirrey (Still Thinking fanzine/records), Simon Harvey (Ugly Pop Records), Fran Grasso (Urbain Grandier Records), Sue McCluskey (Partner and Communications Director at Goods & Services), and it will be hosted by MC Vish Khanna. This event is for all ages and it's free.

See also these reviews of the book:

Books on Punk and Rock Music in Canada:

Alone and Gone – The Story of Toronto's Post Punk Underground 1979-1984. By Nick Smash and photos by Simon White and Nick Smash.

"Nick Smash's Alone and Gone, which takes its name from the Dave Howard Singers' self-released 1983 cassette, is exactly what its subtitle suggests, a document of Toronto's own post-punk scene, from its early days of truly cutting-edge music following the implosion of first-wave punk to its eventual dilution and adoption as mass-marketed new wave. Which in Toronto can be conveniently bookended by the Last Pogo shows at the Horseshoe Tavern in 1978, a sort of farewell to punk by its early adopters, and the 1984 launch of MuchMusic, Canada's edgier version of MTV.



Smash and his brother Simon White were right near the epicentre of that scene, as photographers documenting many of the British acts passing through at the time and as editors of the fanzine Smash It Up, which ran from 1979 to 1983 and which often came with a cassette compilation of the city's current bands. Smash, of course, was also smashing it up himself as a percussionist for local punk-funksters Rent Boys Inc"

Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984.

"Rip It Up and Start Again is the first book-length exploration of the wildly adventurous music created in the years after punk. Renowned music journalist Simon Reynolds celebrates the futurist spirit of such bands as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, and Devo, which resulted in endless innovations in music, lyrics, performance, and style and continued into the early eighties with the video-savvy synth-pop of groups such as Human League, Depeche Mode, and Soft Cell, whose success coincided with the rise of MTV."

Treat me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, 1977-1981.

"Treat Me Like Dirt captures the personalities that drove the original Toronto punk scene. This is the first book to document the histories of the Diodes, Viletones, and Teenage Head, along with other bands (B-Girls, Curse, Demics, Dishes, Forgotten Rebels, Johnny & the G-Rays, the Mods, the Poles, Simply Saucer, the Ugly and more) and fans that brought the punk scene to life in Toronto. This book is a punk rock road map ... This uncensored oral history of the 1977 Toronto punk explosion was originally published in 2010 by Bongo Beat and is now available to the trade. Exclusive to this edition is a selected discography of all key Toronto punk releases referenced in the book."

Trouble in the Camera Club:

"Starting in 1976 at the age of 14, Don Pyle witnessed and photographed some of the earliest gigs of Toronto punk acts and many of the artists whose sensibilities aligned with this new, festering subculture. Trouble in the Camera Club features almost 300 photographs by Pyle and another 200 images of related ephemera from the earliest days of Toronto's punk scene, featuring early gigs by local bands Viletones, Teenage Head, The Curse and The Diodes, as well as visiting punks the Ramones, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, The Clash and The Stranglers."

The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: a Complete History.

"Like the Queen Street strip that has been its home for seven decades, the Horseshoe Tavern continues to evolve. It remains as relevant today as it did when Jack Starr founded the country club on the site of a former blacksmith shop. From country and rockabilly to rock'n'roll, punk, alt/country, and back to roots music, the venerable live music venue has evolved with the times and trends, always keeping pace with the music. Over its seventy-year history, the Horseshoe has seen a flood of talent pass through. From Willie Nelson to Loretta Lynn, Stompin' Tom Connors to the Band, and Bryan Adams to the Tragically Hip, the Horseshoe has attracted premier acts from all eras of music."

Dirty, Drunk and Punk: The Twisted Crazy Story of the Bunchofuckingoofs.

"The Bunchofuckingoofs were born in 1984. They were a punk band. An art collective. A bicycle gang. They were anti-establishment, anti-consumerism, and lived totally D.I.Y. They played music, made their own clothes, and lived commune-style at Fort Goof. Their name even made it onto the Berlin Wall. The Bunchofuckingoofs have been a Toronto institution for twenty-five years. Reviled by some for the punk music, hard looks, and rough lifestyle, they were hardcore with hearts. They were the kings and queens of Kensington Market. They took care of their backyard, kept drugs and skinheads out, and earned the respect of others who also called it home. They lived outside of society and within one of their own. A society where dogs ruled, beer was currency, and no one made plans beyond the next gig. This book chronicles twenty-five outrageous years of the Bunchofuckingoofs through the eyes, words, and blurred memories of the people who lived it."

Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985-1995.

Have Not Been The Same is the first book to comprehensively document the rise of Canadian underground rock from 1985 to 1995. This is an updated 10th anniversary edition with new content. See also the following titles that may be of interest:

The Last Pogo Jumps Again: Punk's Last Waltz (DVD).

"The Last Pogo Jumps Again studies the evolution of Toronto from small town to big city and it's pop/counter-culture lifestyle during the early and mid-70s. It centers around the first wave of Toronto punk rock and new-wave music, from the Ramones playing the New Yorker Theatre in '76 through the police shutting down Teenage Head and causing a riot at the Horseshoe Tavern's infamous "The Last Pogo" concert in December 1978. London had the Sex Pistols, New York had the Ramones, but Toronto had a punk movement all it's own. The Toronto landscape by the late '70s was forever changed with the infusion of the DIY/Punk/Alternative Culture(s) movement. Six years in the making, The Last Pogo Jumps Again successfully explores the whys and wherefores of what was arguably one of the most exciting but misunderstood movements in Toronto's history"

Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk.

"A forgotten musical and cultural history of drunks and miscreants, future country stars and political strategists Perfect Youth is the story of the birth of Canadian punk, a transformative cultural force that reared its head across the country at the end of the 1970s. Bands like D.O.A., the Subhumans, the Viletones, and Teenage Head -- alongside lesser-known regional acts from all over Canada -- reshaped a dull musical landscape, injecting new energy and new sounds into halls, bars, and record stores from Victoria to St. John's. Reaching beyond the realm of standard band biographies, Sutherland unearths a detailed historical context to offer an idea of how the advent of punk reshaped the culture of cities across Canada."

Talk, Action = 0 : An Illustrated History of D.O.A.

"The punk band D.O.A., established in 1978, is considered one of the founders of hardcore punk, alongside such other seminal groups as Black Flag and Minor Threat. Their raw, melodic sound, which drew comparisons to the Clash and the Ramones, has always been matched by the band's acute political sensibility; known for its uncompromising and outspoken anarchist viewpoints, D.O.A. has been active on behalf of many issues, including anti-racism, anti-globalization, freedom of speech, women's rights, and the environment. Its slogan, "Talk - Action = 0," refers to the importance of artists and others who need to "walk the walk" when it comes to their politics."

See also I, Shithead: A Life in Punk by Joe Keithley, aka Joey Shithead, founded legendary punk pioneers D.O.A. in 1978.

NoMeansNo: Going Nowhere.

"Looks at a band whose career has spanned three decades, 14 albums and produced an alter ego that's become as much a part of the Canadian consciousness as SCTV. Through interviews with band members, bit players and fans, the book will explore how one punk band from Victoria, B.C. influenced musicians across the world and continue to be force in punk rock."

Gods of the Hammer: The Teenage Head Story.

"In the late 1970s and early 1980s, no Canadian band rocked harder, louder or to more hardcore fans than Hamilton, Ontario's own Teenage Head. Although usually lumped in the dubiously inevitable 'punk rock' category of the day, this high--energy quartet --consistingof four guys who'd known each other since high school --were really only punk by association. In essence they were a full--on, balls--to--the--wall, three--chord, kick--out--the--jams band that obliterated categories and labels with the sheer force of their sonic assault, and everywhere they played they converted the merely curious to the insanely devoted."

You may also like Tom Wilson's Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home.

Smash the State: A Discography of Canadian Punk, 1977-92.

The Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection:

Read this blog post about The Alan and Thomas Suddon Collection.

You may not know about this treasure trove of approximately 5,000 posters, broadsides and flyers advertising everything from businesses to protests to concerts to...well, pretty much anything you could publicize via pieces of paper stapled to a telephone pole. Taken as a whole, it's a fascinating cross-section of social, political and cultural trends in Toronto between the 1950s and early 1990s, especially the downtown, university-dominated Annex area. Here are some samples covering punk and the 1980s and some of the venues and bands discussed above. Come up to the Special Collections Department of the Toronto Reference Library to look at these items in person.





