Slander - "Hemi-Conscious" LP

SLANDER represent part of Hamilton’s unwritten past. And it is kind of crazy because they were one of a few bands to get a full length out back in 1981. That is a feat unto itself. But they had a lot of other things stacked against them. They weren’t entirely well liked among their peers. There was an animosity that existed between some members and TEENAGE HEAD. And yet somehow they incorporate part of the TEENAGE HEAD sound, which makes me think that there is something in that Hamilton harbour water. Songs like “No Place to Go” exhibit the bands shared love for 50’s rock ‘n roll, which was a big signature on TEENAGE HEAD’s sound. And this is not the only band’s cover. They do a Neil Diamond song that was originally written for the Monkees in “I’m a Believer”. They cover “House of the Rising Sun” by the ANIMALS. They even did a cover of the BEATLES “8 Days a Week” which in an era where the Viletones chanted “No More Beatles, No More Stones, We want the Viletones” was a pretty ballsy thing to do. Either that or stupid. The band also displays a FORGOTTEN REBELS sound which makes sense given that the key guitar player was originally in the REBELS. But there is also lots of Johnny Rotten inflections in the lyrics like “I want you’re woman to be free”. There was 5,000 of these pressed and the members never saw a dime. This is the age old story within the music industry. It’s just that this guy Bill McDowell wasn’t industry. He may have had money but he didn’t have the record industry apparatus around him. That didn’t stop him from being a dick to this band. Seems like management was a curse in this instance and so many others. But there was a record that did come out. And North Shore Records was named after the posh area of Burlington that Bill was from. And there are some great originals like “Jail-Bait” or the ode to Hamilton in “Rockin’ on Main Street”. A blog named "Girls from Tahiti" has a download of this out of press full length. The songs are:

1. Destination
2. Jail- bait

3. Good Thing
4. No Particular Place to Go
5. 8 Days a Week
6. I Need You
7. I Want Your Woman
8. Petticoat Junction
9. Rockin’ on Main Street
10. House of the Rising Sun
11. The Pigs
12. I’m a Believer
13. Upside Down
14. Ghetto
15. It’s Over