skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Rebel Music is put together by people involved in our local Rock Against Racism movement. This group took their cues from the British organization and was motivated to start up to oppose the Klan who were trying to organize in Toronto. Interestingly the main interview is with Steel Pulse, who are a British reggae band that wrote a song called "Ku Klux Klan". Steel Pulse were part of the British RAR movement and shared stages with the Clash and the Sex Pistols when they first started. They payed a show in Toronto on May 8th, 1981 at the Concert Hall and James was able to talk with the drummer after the show. They spoke about the two tone scene and the Brixton riots among other things. The zine also features a well researched piece on the local reggae scene in Toronto which profiled Leroy Sibbles, the Twentieth Century Rebels, Truth and Rights, Bloodfire, One Love, and DJs and record stores on where to find reggae in Toronto. It is an amazing resource. The cover was made by Noxious Art.
Smash It Up is a Toronto punk fanzine. This issue came out in April 1981. The cover artwork is courtesy of Noxious Art and I am not sure what a palm tree is doing on front of a Toronto skyline unless it is replicating the signage for the El MoCombo. This issue makes the promise that there will be an issue of Smash It Up coming out weekly for the month of April. I'm not sure if that happened but there is a listings for the Horseshoe on the inside cover so you get a look at all the shows happening that would be interest to the punk scene. This issue also starts out with a review of a local band called The Partys Over. They released a cassette in the vein of Kraftwerk. More evidence of Toronto's diversity when it came to music.
Bauhaus played the Edge on March 4th, 1981 and there is a review of the show that really starts out the issue. Simple Minds also played the Edge and there is an attempt at an interview but that doesn't come off.
There is an interview with Andy Paterson from the Government which is lengthy, but I appreciated that as this is the first interview I have read about the Government. They talk about things like the band's releases, the importance of independent art, and a song called "Flat Tire" that had some local coverage.
There is a Captain Beefhart piece that is illegible in this issue.
There is a handwritten interview with Truths and Rights who were a reggae band that appears on the Last Pogo compilation. they get asked about their thoughts on bands like the Police. And later in this issue there is a piece on another local reggae band called One Love. Maybe the reggae coverage warranted the palm tree theme.
This appears courtesy of the archival collection of Dhaibid James who hosts Moondog's Ballroom on CIUT 89.5FM.
