Zine - Photo Drome #2

 This is a photozine compiled by Rita Laberto. When Photo Drome came out it reminded me of “Welcome to Cruise Country” which was a photo zine that MRR did at the time. The theme of “Cruise Country” was to capture photos of the European bands. There was lots of attention on the North American bands, but MRR wanted to demonstrate the greatness of activity in other countries. Most photozines were limited to their local scene. That was what was easiest for photographers. Shoot pictures of local bands and the bands that came through town. This was the second issue for Photo Drome and I think Rita had made contacts from the first issue with photographers from around the world. Issue 2 got to incorporate photos from some scenes in Europe.  So although there were pictures of bands from Toronto which included D.O.G., M.S.I., BSL, the Nunfuckers, and Missing Link there were photos of bands that had played in Toronto like Life Sentence from Chicago, Hyper as Hell from Ohio, Pillsbury Hardcore from Pomona, SNFU from Edmonton. There were also international bands in this zine. Larm from Holland, Indigesti from Italy, the Skeezicks from Germany, Heresy from England. The list goes on and it is an impressive one. It was impressive to us back then because these were bands we had only read about. Photo Drome  was a window to the international hardcore scene. Photo Drome made us feel like we had something special in our scene. The zine was professionally printed with colour on the cover which was rare back then for underground zines. And Photo Drome was bound so pages didn’t come apart from the staples not holding. It was just an all round awesome hardcore scrapbook. Click on the cover above to witness the late 80’s hardcore scene in Toronto, the bands that passed through and the bands that inspired us. Here is a list of the bands photographed:

- Alternative Inuits
- Life Sentence
- Youth of Today
- Straight Ahead
- Capitalist Alienation
- Scream
- Indigesti
- Negazione
- Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers
- Stinky Rats
- Wolf Pack
- New Balance
- Confront
- Pillsbury Hardcore
- Kina
- Larm
- Dead Brain Cells
- Missing Link
- D.O.G.
- Raw Power
- Hyper as Hell
- Nunfuckers
- The Ramones
- Heresy
- False Hope
- SNFU
- Bad Brains
- Guilt Parade
- Circus Lupus
- MSI
- Skeezicks
- G.I.
- Accused
- Outface
- Dead Milkman
- Agnostic Front
- Crach Box
- P.E.D.
- Half Off
- B.S.L.
- Henry Rollins Band
- the Doughboys

Photos: Nunfuckers

I'm not sure what show I took these photos at but it was for sure at Ildiko's, given the back drop to the stage. Here's a shot of the singer Rob Purdie, mid air.

Here's a shot of Dave on guitar and Rob doing some pose, which he only started doing at the end.

Flyer - Saturday December 19, 1987

Flyer - Saturday November 21, 1987

Various Artists "Progress?!" ep

This comp was put together by a group of kids who did a fanzine titled "Still Thinking". The zine was hardcore in focus but also covered issues of a political nature. The group decided to put together a local comp and make it a benefit comp for an organizatin called "Tools for Peace" who worked at bringing in educational aid to Nicaragua, when America waged their secret war against the Sandinistas.



MSI was the first band and they contributed three songs. The first two run into each other. "Choke" was a song that a joke punk band played on an episode of "Quincy" which trashed punks. MSI learned the song and did it as a cover. The song it runs into is an original called "Infection" which is a song about violence. It is a theme as that what "Fighting for Nothing" is about. John provides an explanation in their page below. Click on it to enlarge.

Death of Gods had a new line up and were recording for a 7" but these songs may have come from their demo. They contributed "Corporate Fuckheads" and "This is God" and their ep had not come out yet. But Scott Williams, their guitar player had just lost his life. He had been killed by a hit and run.

Sons of Ishmael were working on the "Pariah Martyr Demands a Sacrifice" LP. Their page uses some of the artwork that would appear on the cover of that release so this was the next release after "Hayseed Hardcore". It was with a band that was a newer line up than the first ep. The song they do is called "Slow Children Playing" and is a song about the Cold War.

The Nunfuckers were from Kitchener / Waterloo. They had just released the "Dead and on the Floor" ep and "Be Yourself" was on it. It was one of the band's best known songs. They also had a cover of "Purple Haze" played super fast and done long before Snuff did their version.

Guilt Parade had just moved to Toronto from Fredericton. They contributed a cover of Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel". This was before the LP that was to come out on Fringe.

Nunfuckers "Dead and on the Floor" ep

The NUNFUCKERS formed in July of 1985 in Waterloo, Ontario. The first practice was in Bob’s garage - Bob on drums, Dave on guitar, Ian on vocals and Todd on guitar. Practice went for a couple of hours. When Todd got bored and left, Ian, Bob and Dave wrote and recorded the “Today is a Good Day” demo (on a tape recorder). At least one song on the demo had lyrics about actually fucking nuns. Ian’s dad was transferred to Calgary the following month and Ian left the band. Derek joined as bassist in the fall of 1985, followed by Rob on vocals. The NUNFUCKERS played house parties around Waterloo before playing their first show at Chuggy’s in Hamilton (now Hogtown) opening for the RESISTANCE from Vancouver. A few months later, the NUNFUCKERS recorded the “Into the Pit” demo at CKMS in Waterloo. Copies of the demo were made on low-end blank tapes stolen from CKMS while recording. One copy was given to members of BUNCHOFFUCKINGGOOFS while at the White House (punk home/hangout in Waterloo). Shortly after that, BFG invited the NUNFUCKERS to open for them at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. The place was packed and both bands were well received.The NUNFUCKERS played a lot after that, in and out of Waterloo, with bands like DOG, MSI, SONS OF ISHMAEL, NO MIND and the DOUGHBOYS (including a show with NO MIND in a Chinese restaurant in Kitchener). In 1987, the band returned to CKMS to record the “Dead and on the Floor” EP - 11 songs recorded live-to-stereo in 2 hours for $30. The songs on this ep are:

1. Decimation

2. Movin' On

3. Snap

4. My Shit

5. Up Your Ass with All Your Gossip

6. Social Butterfly

7. Blood Bath

8. Burning Chemicals

9. My Mom and Dad

10. Cheap Friends

11. Spoiled Brats

Flyer - Saturday May 30, 1987

I promoted this show. My brother helped with the flyer. The Fallout Shelter was a peace organization that rented out their space so money went to the organization, which was a cool trade off. And the shows could be done as all ages shows.

Flyer - Monday August 26 - Friday August 29, 1986

I went to the Peace Camp. It was organized by some great punks from the Guelph scene who offered up their punk house before we all went out to the Guelph conservation area to camp. It rained a lot while we were camping. I remember the sleeping bags being totally soaked. On the weekend a big two day show took place at the University with loads of bands which included an acccoustic set by Sons of Ishmael. And the Nunfuckers took a lot of heat for some lyrics in one of their songs, which they wound up changing the lyrics to afterwards. Neighbourhood Watch came in from Fredericton to play the gig as well.