Punk in that era was a label given to music that was different to the terrain of the day. To put it into perspective you have to figure that over bloated dinosaur rock was big in the day like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Wings etc. Bands were being formed in garages at rapid rates, bashing away on 3 to 4 chords. When “Punk” first existed, that label was not actually attributed to this “new” (I use this word sparingly because isn’t it all just rock and roll?) form of music. Eventually many bands that by today’s standards would not be considered Punk were thrown into the melting pot. Anything that was different or was challenging the doldrums of FM radio got rubber stamped Punk. For example in NYC The Talking Heads were thrown into the mix and were labeled punk. It was new and vibrant in a sense. People were not following formulas they were playing from the gut, soul and heart and did not give a fuck.

Major cities in Canada were important in the overall beginnings of Punk. Toronto being close to NYC got many bands like the Ramones and the Dead Boys; thus developing important partnerships with their American counterparts. Vancouver at the time was a hot bed of activity spewing out bands like DOA, Subhumans etc. That is not to say that smaller cities in Ontario and out West were not also adding fuel to the Canadian Punk artillery (Hamilton, London Ontario, Winnipeg, Calgary etc).

Punk History Canada has compiled a compact disc full of gems without having to pay exuberant record collector prices. Twenty-Three songs in total and not clunker in the bunch. From the opening chords of Way Down South by the House of Commons to Get Away from Me by the Hot Nasties, only proves that Punk existed in Canada and could rival the major Mecca’s of the day (NYC, London etc). Some of the artists on the compilation such as Teenage Head and D.O.A are still going in some form today. With the success of this release, there is hope that more volumes will be released in the future.

Kudos must go out to Punk History Canada for taking the time and effort to produce an excellent product with informative liner notes to boot.

Fans of Punk when it was actually considered “dangerous” would consider this an essential purchase.

10 middle fingers out of ten

http://sugarbuzzmagazine.com/Uncensored/canadapunk.html