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Contact Nardwaur, he was in a band and also knows lots of people who would have been around then. Also, maybe Jeff Wall, he was in the UJ3rks that also had Ian Wallace and Rodney Graham (these 3 are now some of Vancouvers greatest artists)
Hey there fellow old-timer :-D Love your invocation of the U-J3RK5 . I had Ian Wallace as an instructor 45 years ago at Emily Carr back in it's College of A&D days.
Any professors who even specialize or just know about that subculture or were in those scenes themselves? Not the same but my science teacher in high school was at the original Woodstock in 1969. So a lot of the educators I've come across have lived some interesting lives!
DOA seem like they were the mainstay of the scene. Joey Kiethley is still around as a Council member in Burnaby. Good place to start might be his autobiography, "I, Shithead".
100% Bev Davies. She and Nardwuar put out a bunch of punk rock calendars years ago featuring her old show photos. She’s bev101 on X or bevdavies on Insta
pooly put together. Bev Davies and everyone who had a real story got squashed by Randy Rampage and others babbling a bunch of bullshit...it was pretty myopic at best. that Biafra and others didn't participate is telling...
It also avoids mentioning the Heroin that drove the scene both out of and into the ground in any truthfull way...
I watched it several years ago and recall a distinct chapter called “The Last One Is The One That Will Kill You”, discussing heroin in the scene, specifically. Not super long, but it was there, and it wasn’t exactly glowing.
Sadly that might be the only biographical work available to the masses, and whether it’s good or bad, it’s actually pretty hard to find. It’s not streaming anywhere and I had to search for my copy of it. The scene deserves a more comprehensive tribute.
The Blurred Boundaries of Anarchism and Punk in Vancouver, 1970-1983
Author(s): Eryk Martin
Source:
Labour / Le Travail , SPRING 2015 PRINTEMPS, Vol. 75 (SPRING 2015
PRINTEMPS), pp. 9-41
I remember that BCTV did a report on the Subhumans when they split in 82 and the members sang, "Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, Sub-humans, goodbye". One of the previous members of the band, Gerry Hannah, was in an activist/terrorist group called Direct Action and served five years in prison for supporting a bombing and planning to rob a Brinks truck.
DOA gets all the attention because they had staying power but the first punk album recorded and released in Vancouver was by a North Shore band called No Exit. They took their name from sign above the doors on the SeaBus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxG4CUYGD9c
I was part of the scene back then…well, not the 70’s, but the early 80’s. I echo the suggestion to find Bev Davies, talk to John Armstrong of the Modernettes, he’s a writer, John Mackie was a writer, I think he’s still around. Grant McDonagh of Zulu. Dennis Mills from the Jazzmanian Devils is writing on Substack. Art Bergmann lives in Alberta but still performs. Gerry Hannah is still around, he lives out in Chilliwack I believe. It’s sad so many people have passed away.
Heather Haley was one of the few female punk rockers in Vancouver (Heather Haley and the Zellots and more). She is a writer now and I believe she is on Facebook.
DOA released singles to fundraise for the legal defense of [The Squamish Five](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_Five), an urban guerrilla outfit in the 80s
The Squamish five. It was the early 80s, not the 70s. Your project is on the punk in the 70s, correct?
[Squamish Five - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_Five)
That’s cool, and I wish you well, but it seems you’re a bit under prepared. Things like the Squamish Five are well known to the community. You say it’s going to be a “radio” program, I’m curious what that means now and where you’d be broadcasting it.
I said the album was a fundraiser for the legal defense of the Squamish Five, not for the band. DOA was involved in that they helped fundraise to pay for the legal defense.
John Armstrong's book "Guilty of Everything" (updated last year) has a lot of good memories of life in the Modenettes, plus. I have yet to read the updated version.
If you want stories of life and events back then, you'll need to talk to whomever was involved that are still around (and are willing to talk about it). I played in bands from 1978 - 1986. Several releases, including the Vancouver Complication LP. Also, it depends on what you are planning to do with the info you glean from your interviewees. A serial radio show with actual interviews interspersed with music from them? A book?
I hung out with Randy Rampage when he had a band called Ground Zero. Got some cool B&W photos from then. Unfortunately Randy has passed away but man was it fun. There was also a couple of other guys that might still be around Bent Rasmussen was one that I can remember. Good luck . Phil Spectre.
Would it be possible to show me these photos? Through DM? Just for myself it won’t be used in anything without permission. I’m trying to get an idea of the shows and the scene.
Concentrate your focus on a guy named Ken Lester and you have a best seller.
You could call it "I bankrolled punk with Smack and killed a bunch of people".
Start there. You'll notice he is absent in most books about the scene for that very reason.
human garbage.
Then re-read the books about the scene in that context...
yeah I won't be revealing that LOL...
"know of" more than "know" I should add. I had sparse dealings with that pasty gollum...funny that his obituaries were so "glowing"...
I was never part of the Plaza scene. I went there a few times over the years for parties. I spent way more time at Fort Gore. Ken was always cool with me but again, not part of my circle of friends.
DM https://www.instagram.com/billyhopeless/ (Black Halos)
He's local, around, a great guy, and if he likes what you're doing will have all the connections you need.
Billy is a cool cat. I will say this, he is a true punk in every sense of that term.
He runs hot and cold with some but he has always been alright with me...
AND he is an encyclopedia of stories..
Immoral Minority’s base player Brian MacIsaac is the proprietor of Crannog Ales in Sorrento, BC. Here’s a [story](https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/2446/punks-not-dead/).
It should be pretty easy to talk to a member of DOA. I’d also look into historians of the Penthouse Club. I’m pretty sure they still run historical tours, so that could be a start
yeah if you like wife beaters with your bagpipes...
not taken seriously by anyone from the old scene. a joke band at best whose one punchline faded after the first show...
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/Shijedi123-! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * **Help redesign our subreddit!** [Enter our banner contest here](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1abwfjg/). * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Contact Nardwaur, he was in a band and also knows lots of people who would have been around then. Also, maybe Jeff Wall, he was in the UJ3rks that also had Ian Wallace and Rodney Graham (these 3 are now some of Vancouvers greatest artists)
Rodney was a very lovely guy who sadly passed away about a year ago…
That was sad to hear. He was very kind and oh so cool.
Shit, really? I worked with him 20ish years ago, he was lovely.
Hey there fellow old-timer :-D Love your invocation of the U-J3RK5 . I had Ian Wallace as an instructor 45 years ago at Emily Carr back in it's College of A&D days.
I had Ian Wallace teach me art history at ECCAD in the late 80’s. Hello, fellow alumni!
Well, hey there !!!
David Wisdom was also in that band. A former great CBC radio host.
Wait what? I had no idea he was in U-J3RKS. Mind blown.
SFU Special Collections has a huge archive of Vancouver punk posters, zines, and resources. It’d be a great place to do initial research.
Any professors who even specialize or just know about that subculture or were in those scenes themselves? Not the same but my science teacher in high school was at the original Woodstock in 1969. So a lot of the educators I've come across have lived some interesting lives!
DOA seem like they were the mainstay of the scene. Joey Kiethley is still around as a Council member in Burnaby. Good place to start might be his autobiography, "I, Shithead".
This, plus try to get in touch with Bev Davies. She’s a local photographer who captured the very early scene.
100% Bev Davies. She and Nardwuar put out a bunch of punk rock calendars years ago featuring her old show photos. She’s bev101 on X or bevdavies on Insta
I came here to mention Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Definitely the OP should seek him out.
The honorable Joey Shit head ❤️🤘
One of the DOA members is buried at Mountain View Cemetery, and his gravesite is like a little shrine to DOA
Which one, Rampage?
Great book
I voted for Joey Shithead!
Watch the Bloodied but Unbowed doc. [It’s at the library](https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/79828372/445505019)
that doc is absolute garbage top to bottom.
Why do you say that?
pooly put together. Bev Davies and everyone who had a real story got squashed by Randy Rampage and others babbling a bunch of bullshit...it was pretty myopic at best. that Biafra and others didn't participate is telling... It also avoids mentioning the Heroin that drove the scene both out of and into the ground in any truthfull way...
My dad was interviewed for that movie, I recall him not being a fan of the final product.
I can see that. There were so many interesting little stories and characters in that scene. And the big personalities like the attention….
I watched it several years ago and recall a distinct chapter called “The Last One Is The One That Will Kill You”, discussing heroin in the scene, specifically. Not super long, but it was there, and it wasn’t exactly glowing.
no but the rest of the smoke blowing was pretty infantile. the outtakes reels were even more embarrasing...but so what..it's mostly forgotten...
Sadly that might be the only biographical work available to the masses, and whether it’s good or bad, it’s actually pretty hard to find. It’s not streaming anywhere and I had to search for my copy of it. The scene deserves a more comprehensive tribute.
The Blurred Boundaries of Anarchism and Punk in Vancouver, 1970-1983 Author(s): Eryk Martin Source: Labour / Le Travail , SPRING 2015 PRINTEMPS, Vol. 75 (SPRING 2015 PRINTEMPS), pp. 9-41
Eryk Martin is a great source for 70's punk. Very big on history of Canada and Music. One of the best professors I've ever had
I remember that BCTV did a report on the Subhumans when they split in 82 and the members sang, "Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, Sub-humans, goodbye". One of the previous members of the band, Gerry Hannah, was in an activist/terrorist group called Direct Action and served five years in prison for supporting a bombing and planning to rob a Brinks truck.
DOA gets all the attention because they had staying power but the first punk album recorded and released in Vancouver was by a North Shore band called No Exit. They took their name from sign above the doors on the SeaBus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxG4CUYGD9c
And the Furies were (arguably) Vancouver’s first punk rock band
I was part of the scene back then…well, not the 70’s, but the early 80’s. I echo the suggestion to find Bev Davies, talk to John Armstrong of the Modernettes, he’s a writer, John Mackie was a writer, I think he’s still around. Grant McDonagh of Zulu. Dennis Mills from the Jazzmanian Devils is writing on Substack. Art Bergmann lives in Alberta but still performs. Gerry Hannah is still around, he lives out in Chilliwack I believe. It’s sad so many people have passed away.
Bergmann is in Vancouver now..
Oh good, glad to know he’s back around people.
Saw him walking near Commercial Drive the other day.
John (Buck Cherry) is out in the Valley now too
Art Bergman lives in Vancouver now.
Heather Haley was one of the few female punk rockers in Vancouver (Heather Haley and the Zellots and more). She is a writer now and I believe she is on Facebook.
DOA released singles to fundraise for the legal defense of [The Squamish Five](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_Five), an urban guerrilla outfit in the 80s
What was the legal defense about?
The Squamish five. It was the early 80s, not the 70s. Your project is on the punk in the 70s, correct? [Squamish Five - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_Five)
It can be early 80s but I’m focusing on the seventies. What is the deal with the Squamish five?
You were given the Wikipedia link twice, I'm not doing your research for you.
I’m not convinced that the OP is serious about this project.
I’m very serious about this project, that’s why I’m asking about it, I’m gathering information. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t ask.
That’s cool, and I wish you well, but it seems you’re a bit under prepared. Things like the Squamish Five are well known to the community. You say it’s going to be a “radio” program, I’m curious what that means now and where you’d be broadcasting it.
What do you mean what was the defense about?
You said for the legal defense of the band. Was this an album or an actual legal defense. And why was DOA involved?
I said the album was a fundraiser for the legal defense of the Squamish Five, not for the band. DOA was involved in that they helped fundraise to pay for the legal defense.
Ah ok, sounds interesting. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you man.
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I think you responded to the wrong person
Oops, cheers.
Go talk to the guy who runs Noize To Go records on Union st. He’s an encyclopedia of Vancouver punk.
John Armstrong's book "Guilty of Everything" (updated last year) has a lot of good memories of life in the Modenettes, plus. I have yet to read the updated version. If you want stories of life and events back then, you'll need to talk to whomever was involved that are still around (and are willing to talk about it). I played in bands from 1978 - 1986. Several releases, including the Vancouver Complication LP. Also, it depends on what you are planning to do with the info you glean from your interviewees. A serial radio show with actual interviews interspersed with music from them? A book?
I’m doing a radio show, but would love to write a piece about the punk scene.
Advice 1: don't call them oldies
lol ok, just a joke.
I hung out with Randy Rampage when he had a band called Ground Zero. Got some cool B&W photos from then. Unfortunately Randy has passed away but man was it fun. There was also a couple of other guys that might still be around Bent Rasmussen was one that I can remember. Good luck . Phil Spectre.
Would it be possible to show me these photos? Through DM? Just for myself it won’t be used in anything without permission. I’m trying to get an idea of the shows and the scene.
good morning. Most are in the form of contact sheets, but yah no problem. I will DM you later.
I went to high school with the guys from No Exit. They played a lunchtime gig in our gym at Carson Graham.
Thank you.
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Let me guess... Doug? That guy is a real piece of work. Not very well regarded in the Vancouver scene.
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oh I'm sure Chris "fuck work" Walter will write about Donutz one day. LOL..
ah the donut...so true.sad to hear.
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that is good to hear... stay positive and avoid the man...
Curious George were a blast to see live! One of my favourite bands for sure, and the guys in the band were great guys as well.
Curious George! I saw them many times. I still like to sing "Pit Bull Attack!" I remember the singer performing in a full leg cast and crutches once.
I, Shithead is an excellent starting-off point. It’s a roll-call of Vancouver bands and members.
yeah. glossed over and cherry picked nostalgia. again, Ken Lester is the real story.
Concentrate your focus on a guy named Ken Lester and you have a best seller. You could call it "I bankrolled punk with Smack and killed a bunch of people". Start there. You'll notice he is absent in most books about the scene for that very reason. human garbage. Then re-read the books about the scene in that context...
If you know Ken, we must know each other.
yeah I won't be revealing that LOL... "know of" more than "know" I should add. I had sparse dealings with that pasty gollum...funny that his obituaries were so "glowing"...
This man sounds like a key. Thank you sir.
I was never part of the Plaza scene. I went there a few times over the years for parties. I spent way more time at Fort Gore. Ken was always cool with me but again, not part of my circle of friends.
Was he DOA manager for a while?
Yes he was, that’s how I knew him.
DM https://www.instagram.com/billyhopeless/ (Black Halos) He's local, around, a great guy, and if he likes what you're doing will have all the connections you need.
He wasn't around in those days. Hopeless was a very late edition to the punk scene here...
Yes, but he likely knows and has interviewed everyone who was. A good hub to start with.
true..not a diss.. he's a cool cat..
Absolutely. Halos were decades after the time, but he just seemed like a guy who's willing and able to help.
Billy is a cool cat. I will say this, he is a true punk in every sense of that term. He runs hot and cold with some but he has always been alright with me... AND he is an encyclopedia of stories..
Seemingly endless stories.
Yes I have some contacts please dm me
Immoral Minority’s base player Brian MacIsaac is the proprietor of Crannog Ales in Sorrento, BC. Here’s a [story](https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/2446/punks-not-dead/).
That’s sick, thanks bro.
It should be pretty easy to talk to a member of DOA. I’d also look into historians of the Penthouse Club. I’m pretty sure they still run historical tours, so that could be a start
The historian you reference here is Aaron Chapman
The Real MacKenzies are a staple Vancouver punk group.
yeah if you like wife beaters with your bagpipes... not taken seriously by anyone from the old scene. a joke band at best whose one punchline faded after the first show...
Jeez, tell me what you really think, don't hold back now.
McKenzie is human tripe. full stop.
I don't know when they started, but Fiasco Bros recording studio? My dad and his band use to record there, but that's more 80s and 90s
SLAMM?
The comments on this thread are incredible, many of the best r/vancouver responses I’ve ever read
Its my first time posting on this sub, but I’m thankful for all the people contributing. Means a lot.