The legendary Heatwave Festival happened 40 years ago this weekend: August 23 1980. 100,000 people turned up for the Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, The B-52s, Rockpile, Teenage Head & more (but not the no-show headliners, The Clash).  It was not only my first fest and one of the best single-day bills I would ever see, it was the centerpiece of an insane long weekend adventure that saw me stranded and broke in the middle of nowhere on Sunday morning after two days of partying and mass-imbibing. For Episode 10 and on the occasion of the festival’s 40th anniversary, I not ..read more

After years of devoted fandom, I finally get to see the one and only Siouxsie Sioux and her plucky Banshees in a cavernous—but wonderfully air conditioned—venue on Toronto’s outskirts.  I’d been following Ms. Sioux since the early days of punk rock reporting in the UK press, and fell in love with their debut 45, “Hong Kong Garden” in 1978.  It was a UK smash hit and remains one of my favourite singles of the ‘70s. I was a Banshees nut from then on, and when I finally got to see them live in 1984, I was pretty damned stoked. HOWEVER ………. this gig is Another in an ongoing sub-thread in ..read more

Birmingham UK’s reggae outfit UB40 made two trips to London, Ontario, in the mid-80s, playing to a packed and joyous Centennial Hall on March 7, 1984, and then returning a year later almost to the week, to pack out Alumni Hall on the Western University campus on March 14, 1985.  The first show came on the heels of their international breakthrough with the “Red Red Wine” single and its accompanying covers album, Labour of Love, while they were riding high in the local charts with their Gefferey Morgan album for the ’85 show.  Special Guest Phil Robinson returns with his always splendi ..read more

The Stray Cats arrived to rock London, Ontario in 1983 at the peak of their fame. With this episode, I’ve once again jumped backwards in my story, just not as far back as that cabaret show I saw with my parents in the UK in 1977 that was the focus on EP 31, Mum’s the Word. This time, I jump back to March 26, 1983, when the Stray Cats rocked Alumni Hall here in London, Ontario. Technically this should have been Concert no. 16, falling between no.15/EP 21 on The Gang of Four at Wonderland Gardens on March 5th and no. 16/EP 24 on The English Beat/R.E.M. at Alumni Hall on April 23rd.  Howev ..read more

With this episode, the series jumps back in time to a Cabaret show I saw in Portsmouth, UK, in August 1977 with my parents when I was 14.  The cabaret took place between my first (Roxy Music at the London Arena, February 8, 1975) and second (Bob Seger at the London Gardens on May 19, 1978) official concerts.  My initial plan was to include it as part of an upcoming compilation episode.  However, I’ve decided that this cabaret was a unique live performance along with being the only one I ever saw with my now 96-year-old mother.  Therefore, I am giving this show its own ent ..read more

My final 1983 gig-going-entry recaps a couple of shows I took in during a crazy/nuts four-day trip to NYC.    While I will be discussing the performances by hardcore titans The Circle Jerks and post-Throbbing Gristle offshoot Psychic TV, I’ll also be looking at the madcap trip to Manhattan as a whole, recounting the hijinks that MZ, Miss B, myself, and others got up to.    If you’ve heard or read EP 25 on the Flipper show at Fryfogle’s, then you’ll have somewhat of an idea of what to expect. Tune in for destroyed hotel rooms; terrified cousins; "Peace, Love and Groove ..read more

This is the big one! THE ultimate! The single most anticipated show I ever attended, when I—along with my co-hort Miss B—and 60,000 other fans, all of whom who were going Absolutely Freakin’ Bananas, moseyed on down to a packed CNE Exhibition Stadium during a sweltering Labour Day weekend in 1983, for David Bowie.  He was on his global Serious Moonlight tour for his worldwide smash hit album, Let’s Dance, with the great Rough Trade opening the show and warming up the troops.  On the exact same weekend a year earlier, I had seen The Clash at this same venue (EP 18).  Now I was b ..read more

David Bowie’s Labour Day Weekend concert in 1983 at Toronto’s CNE Stadium remains the most anticipated and exciting show I’ve ever attended. He was on his global Serious Moonlight tour for his worldwide smash hit album, Let’s Dance, with the great Rough Trade opening the show and warming up the troops.  I discuss the show itself in Part 2—(EP 29b, no.22b) Let’s Dance: David Bowie with Rough Trade, CNE Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Saturday September 3, 1983.  First, however, in this prelude episode, I not only take an in-depth journey through his recording career from 1964’s “Li ..read more

Ten days after the final Police Picnic in Toronto at the massive CNE Exhibition Stadium, I took in a more intimate, but hotly anticipated, show by the legendary Marianne Faithfull. The by-then gravel-voiced ‘60s pop icon and former Jagger paramour was in the final throes of a triumphant, early ‘80s comeback.   She was undertaking her first-ever tour of Canada, where her records had performed very well, conveniently beginning her tour at my local watering hole here in the Forest City.   The episode also features a four-minute interview that I did with Marianne six years after this gi ..read more

It’s the third and final Police Picnic on August 5, 1983, once again at CNE stadium as well as the 4th and final consecutive summer of attending a huge, open air festival.   This time around the fest featured James Brown, Peter Tosh, King Sunny Adé, Blue Peter, and The Fixx along with the titular hosts.  While the first fest ran overlong but otherwise smoothly, the 1982 edition was the worst concert experience of my lifetime, even if the music was good.  As was also the case with 1982, this 1983 excursion came complete with a drug misadventure …. wait, scratch that last bit. Wha ..read more