Nash The Slash & FM (And The Dishes)

Nash The Slash; All good punks know that prog-rock sucked, and was in fact one of the reasons why punk happened. However in Toronto at least there was one exception, Nash The Slash and FM. They were an artsy prog-rock band with influences from the reasonably cool side of prog (like King Crimson) who were considered acceptable by most punks. This was partly due to Nash's "Mummy wearing a tuxedo" persona (although he did not start out that way) but also due to FM's reasonably non-pretentious air and their willingness to be part of the scene at all. Unlike the British Progs who ran screaming from punk. Nash (whose real name was Jeff Plewman)was even supposed to play the legendary "Last Pogo" concert which was recorded and filmed, he is even listed on the concert listings. Unfortunately he injured his hand and could not play. It helped that FM was formed in 1976, concurrent with punk, and like the punks had to struggle to find places to play at all in Toronto's (and Canada's) live and radio scene at the time which was focused on tired cover bands. FM recorded one album, "Black Noise" and scored an appearance on TVO (an Ontario version of PBS best known for children's programing like "The Polka-Dot Door" and revivals of classic B&W movies) before breaking up and sending Nash off to an eccentric solo career in which he would play literally every instrument, even on stage. He recorded several solo albums with moderate success in Canada and Britain where he was cited as an influence by Gary Numan and John Foxx's Ultravox. These alternated with FM reunions and shows in which he played soundtracks to silent horror films like "Nosferatu". Off stage he was a nice polite balding middle aged guy with glasses. One of the first shows I went to was actually an FM show at the Copa Klub, which is now long gone.

FM ~ "PHASORS ON STUN" (ON TVO 1976);


FM ~ "BLACK NOISE"


Another not-quite-punk-but-still-kinda-punk band of the late 1970's Toronto scene was The Dishes. One of the first bands on the Toronto scene, the Dishes were definitely of the early Roxy Music art school genre (also openly gay) that many these days don't consider punk at all but at the time they were an important part of the scene, for a lot of the same reasons as FM; lack of places to play, lack of record company support, lack of radio airplay, media hostility and willingness to support other such bands. They recorded an album, played a lot of gigs, managed to appear on TVO and then broke up and missed playing the iconic Last Pogo. After they broke up drummer Steven Davey formed another band called the Everglades in which he sang. They actually did play the Last Pogo and appear on the long out of print album, but not the movie. Then they broke up too and he went on to be a music writer for the Toronto Star. Later he moved on to Food Critic for Now Magazine he died suddenly this past week.

THE DISHES ~ "TWILIGHT ZONE";


THE DISHES ~ "MONOPOLIES ARE MADE AT NIGHT";

The Everly Bros & Some Other Early Rockers Pass On

Phil Everly died January 3 2014 at age 74. One half of the 1950's Everly Brothers duowith his brother Don who had iconic hits like "Cathy's Clown", "When Will I Be Loved", "Wake Up Little Suzi", "All I Have To Do Is Dream". They had massive hits on both side of the Atlantic and were cited as influences by the like of The Beatles (who they also toured with), Byrds, Hollies, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkle and Linda Ronstadt and later Rockpile (who both covered "When Will I Be Loved") for their harmony singing. Although they were too clean cut to be really be cool sex symbols.

THE EVERLY BROTHERS ~ "ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM" & "CATHY'S CLOWN";


Originally from Kentucky the Everly's actually came from a long tradition of Singing Brother Duos which included the Stanley Brothers, Louvin Brothers, Lilly Brothers, Delmore Brothers and The Monroe Brothers with relatively little R&B or Gospel influences and it's likely that they would have sounded pretty much the same even if Rock & Roll never happened.

THE EVERLY BROTHERS ~ "WAKE UP LITTLE SUZI";


In spite of their clean cut image the boys lived the rock and roll lifestyle. Like Elvis they spent a brief spell in the Army and then got hooked on speed. Don had at least one nervous breakdown. Divorces and fist fights followed until they effectively broke up in the 1970's. After middling solo careers they reformed but behind the scenes the brothers were not on speaking terms. I know someone who booked them in the 1980's and he told the story of working with them. They arrived in separate planes, stayed in separate hotels, they took separate taxis to the venue, skipped a sound-check, entered the stage from opposite sides and after the show they left that way. At no point did they actually speak to each other. They aren't the only duo who acted that way, Sam & Dave and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee did the same. Still they weren't actual brothers. That must have led to some awkward Christmases. Anyway they did apparently reconcile for good when they were invited on tour with Simon & Garfunkle in the 1990's.

THE EVERLY BROTHERS ~ "BYE BYE LOVE";


THE EVERLY BROTHERS ~ "WHEN WILL I BE LOVED"


Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith; Western Swing/Hinky Tonk guitarist from the 1940's, 50's & 60's. Did the original "Guitar Boogie" (which has been covered numerous times as well as having the riff reused even more) and "Dueling Banjos" ~ 93

ARTHUR "GUITAR BOOGIE" SMITH ~ "GUITAR BOOGIE";


ARTHUR "GUITAR BOOGIE SMITH" ~ "CHICKEN STRUT";


George Shuffler; Guitarist with Country/Bluegrass duos Stanley Bros, Bailey Bros ~ 88

THE STANLEY BROS ~ "WORRIED MAN BLUES";


THE STANLEY BROS ~ "HOW MOUNTAIN GIRLS CAN LOVE";


King Fleming ~ Jazz/R&B pianist and band leader from the 1940's, 50's & 60's. Played with Wynonie Harris on Apollo, Johnny Alston and His Orchestra, Oliver "King" Perry's Pied Pipers ~ 91

WYNONIE HARRIS ~ "ROCK MISTER BLUES";


WYNONIE HARRIS ~ "PUT IT BACK";


JOHNNY ALSTON ORCH ~ "RED LIGHT";


Freddie "Fingers" Lee; British guitarist who played on 1960's recordings by Gene Vincent, Screaming Lord Sutch and Marty Wilde ~ 76

GENE VINCENT & THE BLUECAPS ~ "BLUE JEAN BABY" & "SEXY WAYS";


GENE VINCENT & THE BLUECAPS ~ "RIP IT UP";


SCREAMING LORD SUTCH & THE SAVAGES ~ "JENNY JENNY" & "TRAIN KEPT A ROLLIN";


SCREAMING LORD SUTCH & THE SAVAGES ~ "JACK THE RIPPER";


Ceer Veerman; Singer Guitarist with 1960's & 70's Dutch Psyche-Pop band The Cats and The Mystic Four ~ 70

THE CATS ~ "LET'S DANCE";


Gary Burger; Singer with 1960's American/German Garage Band The Monks 72;

THE MONKS ~ "MONK CHANT";


THE MONKS ~ "OH HOW TO DO NOW";


Jerry Corbitt ~ Guitarist with 1960's Folk Rock band The Youngbloods ("Come Together")

THE YOUNGBLOODS ~ "GET TOGETHER" & "SUNLIGHT";


Paul Goddard ~ Bassist w/1970's Southern Rock Band The Atlanta Rhythm Section ("Spooky", "So Into You") ~ 68

THE ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION ~ "Spooky";


Roy Campbell Jr. ~ Free Jazz trumpet player, solo and played with Don Cherry,Yo La Tengo, William Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Matthew Shipp ~ 61

PETER BROTZMAN QUARTET;

A Couple Of Canadian Music Scene Figures Pass On

Richard Carstens ~ Singer/Guitarist with 1980's & 90's Indie Bands Madhouse, Wammee and Granny as well as solo ~ 54

THE WAMMEE ~ "WALKIN SIDE WAYS";


MADHOUSE ~ "MISERY";


Doug Queen ~ Accordionist with Country Rock Band Jughead, best known for "The Hockey Song" ~ 49
JUGHEAD ~ "THE HOCKEY SONG";




Dave Gregg ~ Guitarist with Canadian Punk band D.O.A. ~ 54

DOA ~ "WORLD WAR 3";


DOA ~ "THE PRISONER";

Pete Seeger ~ RIP

When Pete Seeger died recently at age 94 it obviously came as no surprise, he was 94 after all. The tributes were lengthy and well deserved, Pete Seeger was one of the truly towering figures of 20th century music.

On purely musical terms he was not especially note-worthy. His rather weedy voice and rudimentary guitar and banjo playing were not what made him important, it was his tireless work as a folklorist, civil rights leader and activist.

Born in Manhattan in 1919 of a middle-class family, his parents Charles and Constance were respected composers, musicologists and educators. Charles was also a pacifist who lost his job at University of California Berkley for his opposition to World War One, Pete's uncle Alan Seeger, a noted poet, died in that war. During the Roosevelt administration Charles got a job as an ethno-musicologist (a new discipline he helped pioneer) with the WPA as would John and Alan Lomax. Charles and Constance would divorce in 1932 and Charles would marry Ruth Crawford, a respected composer, and they would have four children, all of whom would become folk singers in their own lights.

THE WEAVERS


In spite of this background young Pete did not immediately take to music as a career, although he did learn how to play guitar, banjo, ukulele, and harmonica, he instead trained as a journalist and painter. By 1938 however he had dropped out of college as he was spending too much time on political activities. He had become a supporter of left-wing causes; civil-rights, anti-war, pro-union, anti-facist, anti-racist and a supporter of the loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He had also become a friend to left-wing folk singers like Woody Guthrie, Cisco Huston, Josh White, Harry McClintock and Leadbelly. Throughout the 1930's and 40's Seeger would play many rallies and benefits for various causes and in 1936 he joined the Communist Party. He would leave the party in the aftermath of World War Two (during which he enlisted in the Navy and spent the war entertaining the troops) differing over the party's slavish devotion to Stalin. In spite of this falling out, during the 1950's McCarthy Red Scare Seeger would steadfastly refuse to denounce his old comrades when called up to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1955. His refusal to answer HUAC's questions earned him ten one year jail sentences for contempt of congress. After a long court battle this sentence was overturned on appeal in 1962, during this time his movements were greatly restricted and his passport was revoked. Worse he found himself largely banned from the radio and TV and had many shows cancelled.

PETE SEEGER W/ SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE McGEE ~ "ROCK ISLAND LINE";


By this time he had become a well known musical figure. He formed the Almanac Singers in 1941 with Lee Hays and Millard Lampell and a revolving cast that would include the likes of Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Josh White. By 1950 the Almanacs had evolved into The Weavers including Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. The Weavers would become the first successful folk group scoring several major hits with songs like "Goodnight Irene" (a cover of a Leadbelly song), "So Long It's Been Good To Know You" (by Guthrie), "Sixteen Tons" (by Merle Travis), "On Top Of Old Smokey", "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", "Turn, Turn, Turn" (later covered by The Byrds), "Kumbaya" and "Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)", a cover of a South African song by Solomon Linda later redone as a doo-wop song by The Tokens. Their "Live At Carnegie Hall" album was one of the biggest sellers of the 1950's. However the bans and blacklists as a result of HUAC effectively made it impossible to continue and Seeger left the group. The Weavers would struggle on for some time with various replacements but their place on the charts would be taken by the non-controversial Kingston Trio.

PETE SEEGER'S "RAINBOW QUEST" TV SHOW ~ GUESTS ROSCOE HOLCOMB & JEAN RICHIE:


In the late 1950's and early sixties the blacklisted Seeger made ends meet as a music teacher and writing a column for for "Sing Out!" magazine. But his lifeline came when Folkways Records signed him to a contract by which would record as many as five albums a year. Even with no radio airplay he would play the college and coffee house circuit as the early 60's folk revival led to a revival. Seeger would play a prominent role in the 60's folk scene and would champion such younger singers as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Peter, Paul & Mary and Ramblin Jack Elliot as well as lesser known figures like The Hillmen (featuring future Byrd Chris Hillmen) and The Town Criers with future Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin. Equally important were older singers now being rediscovered such as Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, Skip James, Merle Travis, Roscoe Holcombe, Reverend Gary Davis, Cousin Emmy, Doc Watson and The Stanley Brothers.

PETE SEEGER'S "RAINBOW QUEST" TV SHOW WITH JOHNNY & JUNE CARTER CASH:


To promote folk music he started a new magazine, "Broadside" and hosted a syndicated TV show called "Rainbow Quest" which had most of the above singers as guests as well as younger singers like Johnny and June Cash, Donovan, Buffy St Marie, Tom Paxton and Judy Collins. Many of these shows are now available on DVD. He had earlier made a short documentary with Alan Lomax in 1947 which included Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee and Texas Gladden.

HEAR YOUR BANJO PLAY ~ 1947;


Pete Seeger never gave up his commitment to civil rights and the anti-war movement. He would continue to play rallies and protest marches, sometimes getting arrested well into his 80's. He would popularize the old black hymn "We Shall Overcome" as a civil rights anthem. In 1967 he was famously banned from TV for playing the anti-war song "Waist Deep In Big Muddy" on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Comedy Hour". After wide protest the network allowed him back on the show a year later. By the 1980's he would add the environment, anti-apartheid and farm-relief to his causes and he in fact played a Farm Aid benefit just a few months before his death joined onstage by Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Earlier in the year he had played at Occupy Wall street rallies. By that time he had recorded at least fifty albums both solo and with The Weavers.

PETE SEEGER'S "RAINBOW" QUEST TV SHOW WITH DONOVON AND RAVI SHANKAR:

Prof. Kitzel's Time Machine Record Label Profile; Paramount Records

CHARLIE PATTON ~ "SHAKE IT & BREAK IT";


Paramount Records was the premiere label for blues, jazz and country music during the Roaring Twenties, helping to create the mass market for blues and country and recording some of the biggest names of the era.



Jellyroll Morton ~ "SIDEWALK BLUES";


Early Years ~ 1916 ~ 1922~ Paramount was founded in 1916, growing out of the Wisconsin Chair Company ,which was itself founded in 1888 in Port Washington, Wis. , making both phonograph players as well as records. Paramount's early recordings were light classical pieces, sentimental ballads and patriotic anthems of the day. Most of these records were a financial flop and by 1922 the label was deep in debt and desperate.

MA RAINEY (WITH LOUIS ARMSTRONG) ~ "SEE SEE RIDER BLUES";


Urban Blues & Jazz on Paramount ~ In 1922 Paramount looking to turn around their flagging fortunes hired Englishman Art Satherly who began recording urban Vaudeville Blues singers such as Ma Rainey, Trixie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Hattie McDaniels & Moanin' Bernice Edwards as well as Hot Jazzmen as JellyRoll Morton, Clarence Williams, Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone, Jabo Williams, along with Boogie-Woogie pianists Roosevelt Sykes, Jimmy Blythe, Meade Lux Lewis, Charlie Spand and the white pianist Kansas City Frank Melrose. Satherly boosted Paramount's roster of black artists by hiring Mayo Johnson, an ambitious and well connected talent scout who would later go on to found rival Black Patti Records Paramount also arranged a licensing deal with the failing Black Swan label which included important and big sellers as Ethel Waters & Fletcher Henderson. When Black Swan folded in 1924 Paramount bought out their catalog.

TRIXIE SMITH ~ "JACK I'M MELLOW";


Rural Blues on Paramount ~ As important as the urban recordings were in keeping the label afloat their biggest (and musically most important) recordings were it's rural blues catalogue. Mostly scouted and discovered by Mayo Williams, a black former executive from Black Swan, Paramount became the first label to score a hit with a rural blues artist starting with Papa Charlie Jackson and quickly growing to include most of the major names of the era including Blind Blake, Pappa Charley Jackson, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Skip James, Ramblin' Thomas, Gus Cannon, Frank Stokes, Big Bill Broonzy, Tommy Johnson, William Moore, Bo Weavil Jackson, Bumble Bee Jackson, Henry Townsend, Freddy Spruell (who recorded the first version of "Milkcow Blues"), James Wiggins (who did the first version of "Keep a' knockin") and Bo Carter & the Mississippi Sheiks. The young Tampa Red and Josh White got their starts on Paramount. Soon the rural market was so important to Paramount that they started the "Broadway" budget label to introduce new acts.

PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON ~ "YOU PUT IT, I'LL TAKE IT OUT";


Old Time Country on Paramount ~ Although known mostly for their "race" records Paramount also recorded a large number of Old time Country artists starting with among the earliest OTM recordings through the budget "Broadway" label in 1922 and later including Wilmer Watts, Charlie Poole (briefly), Arthur Tanner (brother of famed fiddler Gid Tanner), Earl Johnson, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, Emry Arthur, Davey Miller (AKA The Blind Soldier), Welling & McGhee, The Blue Ridge Highballers and George Washington White.

WILMER WATTS & THE LONELY EAGLES ~ "BEEN ON THE JOB TOO LONG";


Spirituals on Paramount ~ An important part of Paramount's "Race" catalogue were a number of Spirituals and Sermons with The Norfolk Jubilee Quartet and The Rev J.M. Gates being big sellers. Other frequent artists included The Jubilee Gospel Team, Rev. Beaumont, Blind Willie Davis, Blind Connie Rosemond and Rev. Johnny Blakey AKA The Son Of Thunder. Some of the blues artists also recorded spirituals including Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and Skip James, albeit under assumed names since many religious people would not buy records from "sinful" blues singers. Some of the white Old Time Country artists also recorded Gospel songs, however unlike the Blues artists the OTM artists recorded under their usual names. Notable OTM-Gospel artists included Sid Harkreader, Joe Reed, Welling and McGhee and The Kentucky Thoroughbreds. Classical baritone Carroll Clark also recorded classic spirituals in a staid, dignified style similar to that of Paul Robeson.

REV. J.M. GATES ~ "DEATH'S BLACK TRAIN IS COMING":


Concert Singing on Paramount ~ Besides the Jazz, Blues, OTM and Gospel which is most treasured by collectors today Paramount also continued to record what was then referred to as "Concert Music" which meant traditional songs such as Stephen Foster songs, Spirituals and light classical ballads and lullabies sung in a stately, restrained carefully enunciated style. Several black artists continued in this style well into the Jazz Age, many had originally recorded for Black Swan and were kept on by Paramount. Best known examples would include Carroll Clark, Florance Cole-Talbert and The Harmony Kings. While these records did not sell as well as the Jazz, Blues and Gospel records they evidently sold well enough to keep them in print for the duration of the label's life.

CARROLL CLARK ~ "OLD DOG TRAY";


Cajun Music on Paramount ~ Paramount also recorded a few early Cajun artists as part of their OTM catalog including Leo Soileau & Robin Moise, John Bertrand & Milton Pitre and Roy Gonzales.

SOILEAU & ROBIN ~ "EASY RIDER BLUES";


The decline and fall of Paramount ~ Like all labels that relied on black or poor white listeners Paramount was hit hard by the Great Depression of the 1930's although the label was already struggling by then. Paramount was hit by the defections of Mayo Williams in 1927 to found his own "Black Patti Records", and Art Satherly in 1928 to start his own "QRS Label". In 1929 Paramount lost it's biggest distributor in Artophone to bankruptcy with others following as the depression deepened. The label was also rocked by the deaths of their biggest seller Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1929 as well as Jimmy Blythe and Charlie Poole in 1931. Paramount cut back on it's staff and recording until shutting down all new recordings and advertising at the end of 1932 although they continued to run an office until 1935. The inactive label was bought out in 1942 and run as a reissue label until much of it's catalog entered the public domain in the 1970's.

BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON ~ "MATCHBOX BLUES";


The aftermath ~ Many of Paramount's artists fell on hard times during the depression with most of the rural artists being forced into retirement. Many important ones did not survive the depression and war years including Blind Blake who died in 1933, Charlie Patton in 1934, Papa Charlie Jackson & Ma Rainey in 1938, Johnny Dodds in 1940, Kansas City Frank Melrose (murdered) & Jelly Roll Morton in 1941, Trixie Smith (car crash) and Wilmer Watts in 1943 and Jimmy Noone in 1944, and Rev. J.M. Gates in 1945. Carroll Clark appears to have died during this time. However a few did maintain careers into the R&R era such as Roosevelt Sykes, Tampa Red, Josh White, Fletcher Henderson and Ida Cox. A few survivors saw their careers revive with the folk boom of the 1960's including Son House, Skip James, Alberta Hunter and Henry Townsend who kept performing until his death in Dec. 2006.

SKIP JAMES ~ "CROW JAMES";


Today ~ The Paramount catalog is widely available on a number of re-releases, comps and box sets and the original 78's are highly collectible. The building which housed The Wisconsin Chair company and Paramount Records was demolished in 1959 and is now in ruins in an open field with a plaque to mark the spot. In 2014 Revanent Records, in collaboration with Jack White, released perhaps the elaborate box set of all time; a suitcase sized box replica of a Gramaphone containing a lush book, coloured vinyl and an mp3 stick holding over 800 songs form most musical genres. It retails for around $500, which is more than many of the artists actually made in the first place.



SON HOUSE ~ "DEATH LETTER BLUES";

A Few New Wave & Punk Figures Pass On

Bob Casale ~ Guitarist for American New Wave icons Devo ~ 61

DEVO ~ "WHIP IT";


DEVO ~ "SATISFACTION";


Marty Thau ~ New York music producer, promoter and founder of Red Star Records. Manager of The New York Dolls, producer of Suicide, Fleshtones, Brian Setzer ~ 75

SUICIDE ~ "DREAM BABY DREAM";


SUICIDE ~ "GHOST RIDER";


THE FLESHTONES ~ "SOUL CITY";


THE NEW YORK DOLLS ~ "PESONALITY CRISIS";




THE MIDDLE CLASS ~ "OUT OF VOGUE";


Joe Young ~ Guitarist w/ North Carolina Punk band Antiseen ~ 54
ANTISEEN ~ "WAR HERO";

CKLN's Tax Fraud Revisited;

CKLN's Tax Fraud Revisited;

Back in 2008, when I was working at CKLN, the former radio station based at (but not owned by) Ryerson University, was a time of unbelievable turmoil as a group of far left activists backed by the Ryerson Student Unions (The RSU and CESAR) engaged in a prolonged campaign to seize control of the station. This led to more than a year of organized harrassment, threats and intimidation, I myself was personally pushed, shoved and spat on by swarms of demonstrators. The public excuse for this thugish behavior was to stop CKLN management's supposed "Corporate Agenda". Exhibit number one of this mythical agenda was the decision to end CKLN's so-called "Tax Trustee Status".

This will require some explanation; CKLN, like all community stations, relied on fundraising campaigns, however CKLN (unlike the U of T station CIUT) was not a registered charity and so could not issue tax receipts in exchange for donations. Since applying for charitable status would have required making their books public CKLN decided to take a short-cut. Thus a decade or so ago CKLN entered into an elaborate scheme with a charity called "Tractors For Our Daily Bread" by which CKLN would do it's annual funding drive, then give the money to "Tractors" who would then take ten percent and return the rest with tax receipts under their name. Thereby CKLN could pretend to be a charity and use these tax receipts as fundraiser incentives. From the beginning there were questions raised about the legality of this arrangement and a few actual complaints. Typically at CKLN these were dismissed as coming from "The Right Wing" but around the early 2000's Ryerson University and RSU were concerned enough to insist that all mention of this scheme were to be removed from the website, which at that time was shared with RSU. That should have been a warning sign, but CKLN continued to issue these bogus tax receipts and Ryerson and RSU looked the other way.

By 2007 there had been a change in management and the new CKLN management (and our lawyer) took a look at this arrangement and decided it was basically an illegal money-laundering scheme and announced that it would be immediately cancelled. This was to be done quietly to avoid attracting attention to the fact that CKLN had been issuing these bogus tax receipts for a decade. That's when the shit hit the fan. A group of leftist activists had been stirring up trouble for awhile. They were largely organized by CKLN's paid staff who were in contact negotiations and looking for raises and were therefore hoping to replace CKLN management with one of their own choosing who would then hand them the raises and benefits that they were demanding. The ending of CKLN's "Charitable Tax Trustee Status" (as they called it) was to be the rallying point for various left wing activists which would include RSU. According to their conspiracy theroy the ending of CKLN's "Charitable Tax Trustee Status" was part of a larger "Corporate Agenda" that would force CKLN to "sell-out" to corporate sponsors and advertisers. You would think this sort of nonsense would be easy to dismiss but you should never understand the willingness of activists (whatever their ideology) to live in a paranoid fantasy world of all-encompassing conspiracies.

When CKLN's annual funding drive came up in October 2007 CKLN's paid staff and many of the volunteer hosts flat-out refused to follow the decision to stop issuing the tax receipts and promised them anyway. On the air and online. During one of many hostile staff meetings the Funding Co-ordinator, Daniel Vandervoort (who also happened to be the Treasurer and Board member of Ryerson's other student union, CESAR) produced a copy of the contact, signed by himself, between CKLN and Tractors and used it to to claim that CKLN was legally bound and would be sued by Tractors if we pulled out of it. This turned out to be a mistake since a quick glance showed that the contract had a cancellation clause, but there were bigger issues which I spotted right away;

a) The central clause stated that the funds raised would be used to finance "The charitable activities of CKLN Radio Inc." which was a serious problem since CKLN had no charitable activities at all. All the funds would go right back to CKLN, mostly to pay staff, which was fraud on it's face. When this arrangement was set up there were in fact some vague ideas for CKLN to find some sort of somewhat chartiable activities to sponsor such as benefit shows etc. and a "CKLN Foundation" was set up to manage this. Naturally nothing much ever happended and no money went out. As mentioned charities must open their books to Revenue Canada to prove they are using the money raised properly and CKLN could clearly not do so.

b) It turned out that there were problems with "Tractors For Our Daily Bread" as well. Firstly it was no longer listed as a legal charity in Canada, although it had been earlier and a seperate branch did exist in America. The stated pupose of "Tractors", with it's unwieldy name, was to raise money to buy tractors in Canada, then refurbish them and send them to Africa to be used there. This sounds fine but it would seem that only a small number of tractors actually got sent to Africa which is not a good sign. I also noticed that "Tractors" was not only a charity, but a Christian Ministry which along with the tractors was also sending bibles to Africa. Just because they were a Christian Ministry does not mean they were not a charity of course and this would not be a problem for them per-se but it would be a big problem for CKLN who was not disclosing this religious aspect to their donors. Much of CKLN's left-wing membership was made up of atheists, gays, Wiccans, Muslims and the occasional Satanist and it is safe to say they would have objected to the discovery that ten percent of the money raised was going to covert the heathens in Africa. CKLN had an absolute responsibilty to disclose this both to their membersip and to donors and their failure to do so was another legal timebomb waiting to go off.

c) Vandervoort did not have legal signing authority to sign a contact of this nature anyway. Even better was my jawdropping discovery that Vandervoort and Tractors CEO Eto Ekpenyong Eto had actually acted as witnesses to each other's signatures which was blatantly, even laughably illegal.



We had actually been searching for a copy of this contact for months only to be met with obstruction by CKLN's paid staff and prior management who claimed all copies had been lost, so it's sudden appearence came as a surprise and he tried to take back all copies before anyone could get to close a look. Luckily I saved a copy and sent it to CKLN's lawyer who took one look and insisted that it be cancelled immediately. When this was explained to CKLN staff one replied with the profound comment that "This is why we don't consult with lawyers". Other volunteers insisted that such money laundering schemes were common practice in small non-profits.

The response from the various activist groups was even less measured. During the actual funding drive some hosts, especially the hosts of "OCAP Radio" went on air and promised tax receipts. Then afterwards used these promises to insist that CKLN was thereby legally bound to issue them. The Funding Co-ordinator was then caught trying to mail out thousands of reminder letters promising tax receipts. By the end of 2008 there was a petition drive (supported by RSU) to "impeach" CKLN's management and one of prime reasons listed was the "Ending of CKLN's Charitable Tax Trustee Status" in favour of "Corporate Advertsing". That party line became and remains an article of faith amongst the far left activists associated with CKLN.

Throughout 2008 these activist types escalated their activities in to daily picketting, on-air rants, and vitriolic on-line posts while staff meetings degenerated into screaming matches. I was personally shoved and spat as well as being targetted with a frivolous nuisance suit which I got dismissed. All of this was openly supported by Ryerson's Student Unions who refused security coverage, siezed the station's assets and by Feb. 2009 changed the locks and pulled the station off the air for nine months until eventually they could get the loyal leftist management they wanted. All of this was given favourable coverage by the Ryerson student press in the name of fight "The Corporate Agenda" of course. By the time they got back onair in October 2009 the CRTC had gotten fed up and hauled them up for hearings in 2010 which resulted in CKLN having it's license revoked and pulled off the air for good. I testified at those hearings. Which were hilarious. Good times.

Anyway the point of this background info is to bring us back to Eto Ekpenyong Eto, Tractors For Our Daily Bread and their "Charitable Tax Trustee Status" scheme. The one that we said was probably illegal and the one that the RSU and the OCAP posse swore was "standard practice". This month this little noticed news item came out from Revenue Canada;






"January 14, 2014 14:05 ET

Tax Preparer and Charity Director Convicted of Fraud
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 14, 2014) - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that, on January 10, 2014, David Ajise, a former tax preparer operating in Toronto, Ontario, was sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, to a 30 month jail term for fraud over $5,000. On July 22, 2013, Eto Ekpenyong Eto was also sentenced to a conditional sentence of two years less a day for fraud over $5,000 for the same case. Appearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, Ajise was found guilty of one count of fraud over $5,000 under the Criminal Code of Canada on June 14, 2013, while Eto pleaded guilty to the same charge on May 23, 2013.

Ajise is the former proprietor of Datronix Solutions, a Toronto-based tax preparation service. A CRA investigation revealed that, Ajise and Eto participated in a scheme which generated $5,023,456 in fraudulent charitable donations for the 2003 to 2005 tax years. In addition to a fee of $30 to $50 for tax return preparation, Ajise charged his clients 10% of the face value of the fraudulent charitable donation receipts he provided. The fraudulent receipts were claimed by Ajise's clients on 623 income tax returns and resulted in taxes evaded of $1,413,166.

Eto, in his role as a director of the Tractors for Our Daily Bread Canada charity, provided charitable donation receipts for amounts larger than the donor's actual contribution. Although Eto himself did not personally gain from his participation in the fraudulent charitable donation scheme, his actions assisted in the fraud. The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

"Our taxes pay for the high level of government services that Canadians count on," said Darrell Mahoney, Assistant Commissioner of the Ontario Region of the Canada Revenue Agency. "When someone tries to evade taxes, it affects all Canadians." Taxpayers who have not filed returns for previous years, or who have not reported all of their income, can still voluntarily correct their tax affairs. They may not be penalized or prosecuted if they make a valid disclosure before they become aware of any compliance action being initiated by the CRA against them. These taxpayers may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest. More information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) can be found on the CRA's Web site at;

www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.
Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media Room on the CRA website at www.cra.gc.ca/convictions.
Contact Information;
Sam Papadopoulos
Manager, Communications

So not only were they charged but also convicted and sentenced to jail. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. Too bad CKLN isn't around anymore to go down with them.

I know it's bad form to say "I told you so" but you have to admit; we did.

And furthermore....BWAAA-HAAA-HAAA!!!! VICTORY IS MINE!!!