Cancon; New Wave Edition;
STURM GROUP ~ "TO THE BALTIC";
Sturm Group were a Toronto band in the 1980's who were basically in a similar genre to artsy post-punk groups like PIL, Joy Division, Wire, Pere Ubu, Section 25, Modern Eon, Clock DVA, Jass and Section 25. They put out three albums along with an earlier cassette before breaking up in the early 90's. There was also a side project named Norda who put out an ep. Bassist Walter Sobzjack went on to be a producer and play in Raggadeath in the 90's.
STURM GROUP ~ "TWENTY";
For both these instrumentals I used two George Melies films from the 1900's.
SIMPLY SAUCER ~ "MOLE MACHINE";
Simply Saucer were an Art Punk/Noise band from Hamilton in the late 70's somewhat similar to the Fall and Wire with a heavier Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. They only released a single but did record an album that was released some years after the band broke up. This instrumental track uses a 1920's German Dada Art film by Walter Ruttmann.
FM ~ "STARLESS";
FM with Nash The Slash were part of the first wave of Toronto Punk scene of the late 70's although they were really more of a Prog Rock band. They recorded one album before Nash quit and the band carried one for a couple more albums with Ben Mink. This King Crimson cover is from the early Nash era and uses a George Melies space travel film which seems fitting as Nash was also known for composing music for silent film showings.
THE SPOONS ~ "NOVA HEART";
The Spoons were one of the few bands of the Toronto early 80's scene to find some degree of international success. They started out as a similar vein to early Simple Minds and Ultravox before adding more layered keyboards similar to the Human League and OMD when the had a couple of hits like "Nova Heart" and "Arias & Symphonies". After that there sound became more mainstream and less interesting although they did have a few more hits. This vid uses an art film from the 1970's be George Cupp and Steve Elliot.
Showing posts with label Sturm Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sturm Group. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 August 2019
Monday, 16 June 2014
Pages Turned And Stages Seen
This has been another hard spring for bookstores in Toronto. In April the iconic World's Biggest Bookstore closed after thirty four years while in the same month Book City on Bloor also closed. Before they had even shuttered their doors the giant flagship Indigo/Chapters on John st announced they would be closing up at the end of May. Another Chapters at Runnymede closed in February and yet another, albeit smaller store, NDJ on Younge south of Wellesley will be closing at the end of June.
LAST CALL AT WORLD'S BIGGEST BOOKSTORE
World's Biggest has always had a special place in my heart. I know it was garish and tacky but growing up in Scarborough it (along with various indie record stores and head shops) was one of the reasons I would trek all the way downtown, regardless of the weather, just to look at, and sometimes actually buy books.
World's Biggest was started up in 1980 by Jack Cole who owned the Cole's Books chain, then ubiquitous in Ontario shopping malls. It was like a mall store on steroids, big, ugly, tacky, with constant sales. Purists sniffed that it was like if Honest Ed opened a book store. Read the rave reviews;
“A short, brassy dropout.”
“A crass money-maker.”
“Schlockmeister.”
"A sharp merchandiser whose only interest is to make the largest profit possible for himself.” (that one from Pierre Berton)
(hey; I have that Naval Warfare book)
It may well be true Cole was only following the lead of Sam The Record man who similarly used the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach of "volume, volume, volume" to sell culture to folks who might have been put off by the traditional small cluttered bookstores scattered about. Assuming they could find one. Berton himself would have to admit he sold a lot of books there. And what is the point of writing them if you can't sell them? Canadian book publisher Mel Hurtig certainly saw that.
"Source: the Toronto Sun, November 4, 1980.
Inhabiting the former home of the Olympia bowling alley on Edward Street (the last set of lanes downtown until The Ballroom opens next month), Cole proceeded to create a seventy-thousand-square-foot bookstore which contained seventeen miles of shelving to house a million books divided among one hundred thousand titles. The store would be bathed in bright colours and contain enough lighting that, Cole hoped, it would never be necessary to turn on the heat (a situation already in effect at the Yonge and Charles Coles). An electronic map was installed, inspired by one Cole had seen in the Paris Métro, employing an array of lights to point customers toward the section they were looking for. Rather than label the store as just another Coles, the company bestowed upon it a modest name: World’s Biggest Bookstore. Whether it really was that was debated in various ways—even Cole admitted it probably wasn’t the record setter, but he figured it was at least in the top five in the world in terms of selection. When the doors opened on November 5, 1980, the first thousand customers were given silver dollars courtesy of Hurtig Publishers. Four days of festivities followed, which included numerous giveaways and entertainment ranging from clowns to a jazz band. Globe and Mail writer William French suspected that “during lulls in the din, the ghostly echo of crashing 10-pins and the muted curses of pool hustlers could distinctly be heard as the building’s previous tenants protested the invasion of culture.” French also noted that “outside, the store is trendily done in the Toronto architecture style known as Honest Ed’s; inside, the influence is more Dominion store,” and that the lighting was bright enough “to permit a surgeon to perform a cornea transplant right in the aisle, if he weren’t too distracted by the rippling red neon and flashing white bulbs that frame some of the display stands.” Despite his reservations, which included a sense that book lovers who preferred quieter, more atmospheric independent stores would feel that World’s Biggest lacked “a certain element of breeding and class,” French was impressed with the range of titles and the organization of the store.
As customers poured into World’s Biggest Bookstore on opening day, nearby Coles locations resembled ghost towns. While lunchtime saw lineups ten deep at the half-dozen cash registers at the new store, The Star found just four customers at the branch on the southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas. The staff didn’t mind the quiet—as the assistant manager admitted, “It certainly gives us a chance to collect our wits.” Coles management planned to convert Yonge-Dundas into a specialty shop for business, technical, and academic books, while a branch in the Eaton Centre would continue to serve shoppers who never left the shopping center."
Books were my first love as a kid, even before music, and I would cheerfully spend literally hours at bookstore buried in a book. Still can actually. World's Biggest was so big in fact that it was actually quite easy to find some out of the way place to sit down and read without calling attention to ones self or ever once being kicked out for doing so, unlike some other stores I can think of. Some might say that the purpose of a store is after all to sell stuff not lend it out and so chasing out nerdy kids who have no obvious cash is only sensible. But books aren't like clothes, tools or appliances, they aren't essential in any practical sense. But once you have cultivated a love of reading those kids will always come back to buy once they get some actual money to spend. I did. And books are like potato chips, you can't stop at just one. People will eventually grow up and stop going to clubs and buy music. They will stop going to sports. They will stop keeping up with fashion. They will get married and not have the time, energy and spare cash to do so. But they never grow out of books. I haven't.
Technology however has been a challenge;
(from the same article);
"When asked, shortly before World’s Biggest opened, about the future of bookselling, Cole sounded optimistic. He bragged that his low-cost, highly commercialized approach to selling had helped publishers and played a part in creating an audience that supported a far larger number of independents than when he entered the business in the 1930s. Predictions during the 1950s that television would kill books never came to pass. Visions of a “wired city” world where computers ruled didn’t faze him: “Books will provide the basis of information to be programmed.”
Cole couldn't foresee the extent of downloading, or online buying. However the real deciding factor in so many bookstore closings has been the rising costs of rents in Toronto. World's Biggest has been bought by a developer who intends to change it into a restaurant. I am truly going to miss this place and so is my fifteen year old self.
On the other hand least this is one piece of Younge street that Ryerson didn't get it's Borg-like claws on.
Rising rents were also cited as the reason Indigo/Chapters is closing it's giant flagship store opened with much fanfare in 1999.
(from CTV.ca);
“After lengthy negotiations, we have made the difficult decision not to renew our lease for Chapters Festival Hall,” Janet Eger, vice-president of public affairs at Indigo, said in a emailed statement.Egar said the company is “actively looking for new real estate options in Oakville, downtown Toronto and Bloor West Village” that will better suit its needs.
She also said Indigo will help its employees through the transition process. It’s not yet known what will be built at the location.
The Chapters store, which opened on July 15, 1999, is located beneath the Scotiabank Theatre in the city’s downtown’s core near the busy Queen Street West and across from the iconic MuchMusic building, now owned by CTV."
This store was almost as big as World's Biggest but more upscale with comfy chairs and a Starbucks (of course). By contrast World's Biggest once had signs bragging they had "No comfy chairs", which has to be first in marketing. I could usually find an out-of-the-way (if hard) spot on a rarely used staircase in the extreme north-east corner to read in peace. World's Biggest also had varied selection with lots of history books as well as music, film art and a good kid's section. True if you wanted something rare and exotic you would have to look elsewhere, but who can afford that when you're fifteen? World's Biggest had stuff you could actually afford.
Chapters was airier and carpeted but had less actual books. I can't imagine it having the same memories as World's Biggest, and not just because it wasn't around for as long. Still I while I rarely went a special trip down there I did enjoy camping out there in a comfy chair with a pile of books more than once.
Book City on Bloor also went back to the 1980's and had a coterie of loyal followers (including many past employees) who posted fond farewells. Unlike World's Biggest it never had detractors. It was a cosy two story indie store with a good selection and knowledgeable staff, unlike World's Biggest and Indigo who often hired students who weren't necessarily bookworms. However the farewells were somewhat sated when it was announced that Book City will be reopening at another locale, so that's good.
At the other end of the spectrum NDJ on Young was another one of those tiny independent used bookstores that used to dot Young, Bloor and Queen streets. I'm not sure how long it had been there, years definitely. It was cluttered, disorganized, dusty and sometimes overpriced and may not be a huge loss but I often stopped in there over the years and stumbled onto some cool finds.
Speaking of disappearing landmarks; another big, gaudy eyesore I spent way too much of my youth in will be closing at the end of the year.
The Guverment/Kool Haus was a huge warehouse turned night club down by the docks that was an important live venue throughout the 1980's (when it was called The RPM Club) and 1990's. I saw a lot of bands there over the years including;
BAUHAUS ~ "STIGMA MARTYR";
Bauhaus, The Ramones, The Gun Club & The Lawn, Killing Joke, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Skinny Puppy & Severed Heads, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Wire, Rancid, Bad Religion, Motorhead, Motley Crue, Screaming Blue Messiahs, The Fleshtones, Jack Grishom (of TSOL) & The Joykiller, Bouncing Souls, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Nick Cave, The Butthole Surfers, Anthrax, Fishbone, Sturm Group, Breeding Ground, Nina Hagen, Sick Of It All, H20, The L.A. Guns, Life Of Agony, Circus Of Power, Speedball, The Dik Van Dykes, The Blue Hawaiians, The Bolshoi, Groovy Religion, and Type O Negative (who sucked BTW) plus more I can't recall right now or didn't save ticket stubs from. I also was supposed to see The Virgin Prunes but they broke up before they got there, and Offspring but I had to work that night for a CKLN benefit as I recall.
KILLING JOKE ~ "EIGHTIES";
It was a bitch to get to since you had to basically walk down from King street under the Gardiner Expressway which could be quite a trek in the snow or rain. Especially if you were not exactly sober. It was also a pretty barren place at the time since the giant Lablaws next door did not get built until sometime in the 2000's.
The place was too cavernous to really have good sound, although Bauhuas managed to sound great. The ceiling was so high that they were able to hang dioramas from it including at one point a recreation of the Kennedy assassination complete with an actual vintage convertible car.
THE GUN CLUB ~ "JACK ON FIRE";
A few random memories;
The notorious Jesus And Mary Chain "riot" in which somebody threw a bottle at a drunken Jim Ried who responded by clocking the guy upside the head with a mic stand making a satisfying clunk which I could hear from well back. We emerged to find a dozen cop cars to deal with the resulting ruckus. Reid and the bottle thrower were both charged and the whole silly mess ended up with a judge ordering the two tipsy twits to apologize to each other. That is so Canadian.
THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN ~ "NEVER UNDERSTAND";
Dee Dee Ramone dealing with a fan who was spitting on him by merely stopping and pointing so the Ramone's large roadies could drag the punter out.
Interviewing Fishbone and trying and failing to make any sense out of them.
Interviewing the singer of Life Of Agony who wasn't much better.
Jack Grishom (of TSOL) giving the crowd a lecture on how to properly stage dive then demonstrating only to have the crowd back away so he landed on the cold hard pavement with a loud splat. Then he got right back up and finished the show. Although he did say the crowd were pussies. Fortunately I had already done a great interview with him earlier.
TSOL ~ "DARKER MY LOVE" & "WASH AWAY";
Seeing some long forgotten shock-rock glam band from Florida called The Impotent Sea Snakes who had a clown on stilts juggling flaming dildos while a midget barbequed hot dogs at the side of the stage. They also had strippers and fireworks. I think there may have been a few songs as well.
The Fleshtones taking to the stage by dancing through the audience tossing packs of Lucky Strikes to the crowd. And later leaving the same way, carrying their instruments.
THE FLESHTONES ~ "SHADOW LINE";
The singer of Sturm Group mooning the audience.
Nina Hagen with her squirt-gun bra.
Meeting Wire and getting them to sign my import 12 inch which was so limited edition they didn't even have a copy.
WIRE ~ "HEARTBEAT";
The Severed Heads with their giant video screens and elaborate industrial projections.
THE SEVERED HEADS ~ "DEAD EYES OPENED";
The Butthole Surfers with enough screens, lights, smoke, fire, strippers and noise to cause acid flashbacks in people who never take acid.
Skinny Puppy opening the show by staging a hanging of the singer and thinking to myself "I wonder what they do for an encore?"
Finding out it included the spraying of various unidentifiable fluids.
SKINNY PUPPY ~ "ASSIMILATE";
Thinking; "You know what? Motorhead really are too fucking loud".
Thinking; "Boy; Type O Negative are really boring".
I have to admit I haven't been there for several years since it was being used as a dance and rave club rather then a live venue but RPM was a valuable venue for a while. It's place as a mid size live venue has been filled by The Opera House and as well as the equally venerable Phoenix.
No word yet on what will become of the site but everyone assumes it will be waterfront condos.
STURM GROUP ~ "TO THE BALTIC";
LAST CALL AT WORLD'S BIGGEST BOOKSTORE
World's Biggest has always had a special place in my heart. I know it was garish and tacky but growing up in Scarborough it (along with various indie record stores and head shops) was one of the reasons I would trek all the way downtown, regardless of the weather, just to look at, and sometimes actually buy books.
World's Biggest was started up in 1980 by Jack Cole who owned the Cole's Books chain, then ubiquitous in Ontario shopping malls. It was like a mall store on steroids, big, ugly, tacky, with constant sales. Purists sniffed that it was like if Honest Ed opened a book store. Read the rave reviews;
“A short, brassy dropout.”
“A crass money-maker.”
“Schlockmeister.”
"A sharp merchandiser whose only interest is to make the largest profit possible for himself.” (that one from Pierre Berton)
(hey; I have that Naval Warfare book)
It may well be true Cole was only following the lead of Sam The Record man who similarly used the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach of "volume, volume, volume" to sell culture to folks who might have been put off by the traditional small cluttered bookstores scattered about. Assuming they could find one. Berton himself would have to admit he sold a lot of books there. And what is the point of writing them if you can't sell them? Canadian book publisher Mel Hurtig certainly saw that.
"Source: the Toronto Sun, November 4, 1980.
Inhabiting the former home of the Olympia bowling alley on Edward Street (the last set of lanes downtown until The Ballroom opens next month), Cole proceeded to create a seventy-thousand-square-foot bookstore which contained seventeen miles of shelving to house a million books divided among one hundred thousand titles. The store would be bathed in bright colours and contain enough lighting that, Cole hoped, it would never be necessary to turn on the heat (a situation already in effect at the Yonge and Charles Coles). An electronic map was installed, inspired by one Cole had seen in the Paris Métro, employing an array of lights to point customers toward the section they were looking for. Rather than label the store as just another Coles, the company bestowed upon it a modest name: World’s Biggest Bookstore. Whether it really was that was debated in various ways—even Cole admitted it probably wasn’t the record setter, but he figured it was at least in the top five in the world in terms of selection. When the doors opened on November 5, 1980, the first thousand customers were given silver dollars courtesy of Hurtig Publishers. Four days of festivities followed, which included numerous giveaways and entertainment ranging from clowns to a jazz band. Globe and Mail writer William French suspected that “during lulls in the din, the ghostly echo of crashing 10-pins and the muted curses of pool hustlers could distinctly be heard as the building’s previous tenants protested the invasion of culture.” French also noted that “outside, the store is trendily done in the Toronto architecture style known as Honest Ed’s; inside, the influence is more Dominion store,” and that the lighting was bright enough “to permit a surgeon to perform a cornea transplant right in the aisle, if he weren’t too distracted by the rippling red neon and flashing white bulbs that frame some of the display stands.” Despite his reservations, which included a sense that book lovers who preferred quieter, more atmospheric independent stores would feel that World’s Biggest lacked “a certain element of breeding and class,” French was impressed with the range of titles and the organization of the store.
As customers poured into World’s Biggest Bookstore on opening day, nearby Coles locations resembled ghost towns. While lunchtime saw lineups ten deep at the half-dozen cash registers at the new store, The Star found just four customers at the branch on the southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas. The staff didn’t mind the quiet—as the assistant manager admitted, “It certainly gives us a chance to collect our wits.” Coles management planned to convert Yonge-Dundas into a specialty shop for business, technical, and academic books, while a branch in the Eaton Centre would continue to serve shoppers who never left the shopping center."
Books were my first love as a kid, even before music, and I would cheerfully spend literally hours at bookstore buried in a book. Still can actually. World's Biggest was so big in fact that it was actually quite easy to find some out of the way place to sit down and read without calling attention to ones self or ever once being kicked out for doing so, unlike some other stores I can think of. Some might say that the purpose of a store is after all to sell stuff not lend it out and so chasing out nerdy kids who have no obvious cash is only sensible. But books aren't like clothes, tools or appliances, they aren't essential in any practical sense. But once you have cultivated a love of reading those kids will always come back to buy once they get some actual money to spend. I did. And books are like potato chips, you can't stop at just one. People will eventually grow up and stop going to clubs and buy music. They will stop going to sports. They will stop keeping up with fashion. They will get married and not have the time, energy and spare cash to do so. But they never grow out of books. I haven't.
Technology however has been a challenge;
(from the same article);
"When asked, shortly before World’s Biggest opened, about the future of bookselling, Cole sounded optimistic. He bragged that his low-cost, highly commercialized approach to selling had helped publishers and played a part in creating an audience that supported a far larger number of independents than when he entered the business in the 1930s. Predictions during the 1950s that television would kill books never came to pass. Visions of a “wired city” world where computers ruled didn’t faze him: “Books will provide the basis of information to be programmed.”
Cole couldn't foresee the extent of downloading, or online buying. However the real deciding factor in so many bookstore closings has been the rising costs of rents in Toronto. World's Biggest has been bought by a developer who intends to change it into a restaurant. I am truly going to miss this place and so is my fifteen year old self.
On the other hand least this is one piece of Younge street that Ryerson didn't get it's Borg-like claws on.
Rising rents were also cited as the reason Indigo/Chapters is closing it's giant flagship store opened with much fanfare in 1999.
(from CTV.ca);
“After lengthy negotiations, we have made the difficult decision not to renew our lease for Chapters Festival Hall,” Janet Eger, vice-president of public affairs at Indigo, said in a emailed statement.Egar said the company is “actively looking for new real estate options in Oakville, downtown Toronto and Bloor West Village” that will better suit its needs.
She also said Indigo will help its employees through the transition process. It’s not yet known what will be built at the location.
The Chapters store, which opened on July 15, 1999, is located beneath the Scotiabank Theatre in the city’s downtown’s core near the busy Queen Street West and across from the iconic MuchMusic building, now owned by CTV."
This store was almost as big as World's Biggest but more upscale with comfy chairs and a Starbucks (of course). By contrast World's Biggest once had signs bragging they had "No comfy chairs", which has to be first in marketing. I could usually find an out-of-the-way (if hard) spot on a rarely used staircase in the extreme north-east corner to read in peace. World's Biggest also had varied selection with lots of history books as well as music, film art and a good kid's section. True if you wanted something rare and exotic you would have to look elsewhere, but who can afford that when you're fifteen? World's Biggest had stuff you could actually afford.
Chapters was airier and carpeted but had less actual books. I can't imagine it having the same memories as World's Biggest, and not just because it wasn't around for as long. Still I while I rarely went a special trip down there I did enjoy camping out there in a comfy chair with a pile of books more than once.
Book City on Bloor also went back to the 1980's and had a coterie of loyal followers (including many past employees) who posted fond farewells. Unlike World's Biggest it never had detractors. It was a cosy two story indie store with a good selection and knowledgeable staff, unlike World's Biggest and Indigo who often hired students who weren't necessarily bookworms. However the farewells were somewhat sated when it was announced that Book City will be reopening at another locale, so that's good.
At the other end of the spectrum NDJ on Young was another one of those tiny independent used bookstores that used to dot Young, Bloor and Queen streets. I'm not sure how long it had been there, years definitely. It was cluttered, disorganized, dusty and sometimes overpriced and may not be a huge loss but I often stopped in there over the years and stumbled onto some cool finds.
Speaking of disappearing landmarks; another big, gaudy eyesore I spent way too much of my youth in will be closing at the end of the year.
The Guverment/Kool Haus was a huge warehouse turned night club down by the docks that was an important live venue throughout the 1980's (when it was called The RPM Club) and 1990's. I saw a lot of bands there over the years including;
BAUHAUS ~ "STIGMA MARTYR";
Bauhaus, The Ramones, The Gun Club & The Lawn, Killing Joke, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Skinny Puppy & Severed Heads, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Wire, Rancid, Bad Religion, Motorhead, Motley Crue, Screaming Blue Messiahs, The Fleshtones, Jack Grishom (of TSOL) & The Joykiller, Bouncing Souls, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Nick Cave, The Butthole Surfers, Anthrax, Fishbone, Sturm Group, Breeding Ground, Nina Hagen, Sick Of It All, H20, The L.A. Guns, Life Of Agony, Circus Of Power, Speedball, The Dik Van Dykes, The Blue Hawaiians, The Bolshoi, Groovy Religion, and Type O Negative (who sucked BTW) plus more I can't recall right now or didn't save ticket stubs from. I also was supposed to see The Virgin Prunes but they broke up before they got there, and Offspring but I had to work that night for a CKLN benefit as I recall.
KILLING JOKE ~ "EIGHTIES";
It was a bitch to get to since you had to basically walk down from King street under the Gardiner Expressway which could be quite a trek in the snow or rain. Especially if you were not exactly sober. It was also a pretty barren place at the time since the giant Lablaws next door did not get built until sometime in the 2000's.
The place was too cavernous to really have good sound, although Bauhuas managed to sound great. The ceiling was so high that they were able to hang dioramas from it including at one point a recreation of the Kennedy assassination complete with an actual vintage convertible car.
THE GUN CLUB ~ "JACK ON FIRE";
A few random memories;
The notorious Jesus And Mary Chain "riot" in which somebody threw a bottle at a drunken Jim Ried who responded by clocking the guy upside the head with a mic stand making a satisfying clunk which I could hear from well back. We emerged to find a dozen cop cars to deal with the resulting ruckus. Reid and the bottle thrower were both charged and the whole silly mess ended up with a judge ordering the two tipsy twits to apologize to each other. That is so Canadian.
THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN ~ "NEVER UNDERSTAND";
Dee Dee Ramone dealing with a fan who was spitting on him by merely stopping and pointing so the Ramone's large roadies could drag the punter out.
Interviewing Fishbone and trying and failing to make any sense out of them.
Interviewing the singer of Life Of Agony who wasn't much better.
Jack Grishom (of TSOL) giving the crowd a lecture on how to properly stage dive then demonstrating only to have the crowd back away so he landed on the cold hard pavement with a loud splat. Then he got right back up and finished the show. Although he did say the crowd were pussies. Fortunately I had already done a great interview with him earlier.
TSOL ~ "DARKER MY LOVE" & "WASH AWAY";
Seeing some long forgotten shock-rock glam band from Florida called The Impotent Sea Snakes who had a clown on stilts juggling flaming dildos while a midget barbequed hot dogs at the side of the stage. They also had strippers and fireworks. I think there may have been a few songs as well.
The Fleshtones taking to the stage by dancing through the audience tossing packs of Lucky Strikes to the crowd. And later leaving the same way, carrying their instruments.
THE FLESHTONES ~ "SHADOW LINE";
The singer of Sturm Group mooning the audience.
Nina Hagen with her squirt-gun bra.
Meeting Wire and getting them to sign my import 12 inch which was so limited edition they didn't even have a copy.
WIRE ~ "HEARTBEAT";
The Severed Heads with their giant video screens and elaborate industrial projections.
THE SEVERED HEADS ~ "DEAD EYES OPENED";
The Butthole Surfers with enough screens, lights, smoke, fire, strippers and noise to cause acid flashbacks in people who never take acid.
Skinny Puppy opening the show by staging a hanging of the singer and thinking to myself "I wonder what they do for an encore?"
Finding out it included the spraying of various unidentifiable fluids.
SKINNY PUPPY ~ "ASSIMILATE";
Thinking; "You know what? Motorhead really are too fucking loud".
Thinking; "Boy; Type O Negative are really boring".
I have to admit I haven't been there for several years since it was being used as a dance and rave club rather then a live venue but RPM was a valuable venue for a while. It's place as a mid size live venue has been filled by The Opera House and as well as the equally venerable Phoenix.
No word yet on what will become of the site but everyone assumes it will be waterfront condos.
STURM GROUP ~ "TO THE BALTIC";
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Prof Kitzel's Time Machine Profile; Sturm Group
STURM GROUP ~ "CENTURY HO!";
Sturm Group were a fixture on the Toronto indie scene in the mid to late 1980's. Playing a unique post-punk/industrial fusion influenced by Joy Division, The Fall, Modern Eon, The Kinetic Ideals, Swell Maps, Cabaret Voltaire, Killing Joke and early albums by Clock DVA, Section 25 and New Order.
Formed in 1983 and after recording a cassette only debut they recorded their first proper lp in 1984, a moody self-titled affair similar to Joy Division and the first albums by New Order, Clock DVA and Section 25 on the tiny Green Fuse label which did well on local campus radio. By their second lp, titled "Century Ho!" in 1986 their sound had evolved into a more unique atmosperic cacophony with guitars that sounded like crashing metal, staccatto drumming, occasional washes of saxophone and dark sentorian vocals. "Century Ho!" received good reviews (from Nerve Magazine and The New Musical Express) and got much airplay on campus radio in Toronto and Hamilton ultimately selling a few thousand copies including 500 in the U.K. and earning them a spot on an European compilation album.
STURM GROUP ~ DEBUT CASSETTE;
They gigged heavily including an opening slots for Siousxie & The Banhees, Flipper, Killing Joke and The Cramps/Screaming Blue Messiahs gig at the Concert Hall in 1986 as well as the closing gig at Larry's Hideaway. Notable bands that would open for the Sturms would include Change of Heart, Chalk Circle, The Shadowy Men, A Neon Rome and The Cowboy Junkies.
The Sturms also adopted a more formally gothic all black look to go with the darker sound. However after "Century Ho!" singer Bill Mahoney left the band and was replaced bythe more theatrical Colin "Ceawin" Sitto and they delayed their followup until 1989's "Grind", a less noisy club friendly album for the larger Amok label which also contained their only cover songs; a version of The Rent Boys "Fetish" and a cover of Arthur Brown's "Fire". One of their tracks was included in a European compilation "Perdabo" and another on the soundtrack for "Roadkill".
STURM GROUP ~ "A BETTER MAN";
However sales were disappointing and personal differences lead to the band's breakup in 1989.
All of Strum Group's music is long out of print and was only available on vinyl and cassette, "Century Ho!" is considered an obscure classic of early industrial music (ie. before it turned into disco) and can be found for sale on various online sites and used record stores. To date there have been no cd re-releases or reunions. Of the former members, guitarist Tod Cutler and bassist Walter Sobczak have been involved with sound and production in Toronto. Cutler also played with the now defunct Superhalo while Sobczak was in Raggadeath. There are entries for Sturm Group on Lastfm.com and Jamcanoe.ca but that's about it.
A MUCH MUSIC INTERVIEW CIRCA 1986;
Lineup;
Bill Mahoney ~ Vox
Tod Cutler ~ Guitars & Effects
Walter "Votah" Sobczak ~ Bass
Hugo Von Levetzow ~ Drums
also;
Colin "Ceawin" Sitto ~ Vocals (on Grind)
John Lennard ~ Sax (on Century Ho!)
Brat X ~ Tymp drums
Mike Dent ~ Effects (on Century Ho!)
A "NEW MUSIC" STORY CIRCA 1985 WITH FOOTAGE OF VARIOUS TORONTO BANDS INCLUDING STURM GROUP;
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