Punk Haiku 17 October Recording
Do the Wait- like most of these songs, recorded in 1977, released in 2009.
OCTOBER 1977
The October '77 Scenics prepped for recording by going over and over the songs we were going to record, and then playing fast and loose with some of our favourite tunes.
The studio versions of the songs we did record are sprinkled throughout this post (taken from the Sunshine World CD).
For Punk Haiku audio this time around, The Scenics let their hair down with a couple of Velvet Underground favs AND a made-in-the-moment no-mind garage rock one-shot. As well, there's some chatter overheard by the fly on the wall with the cassette deck....
First, FEMME FATALE.
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Next, HEY GLORIA SING 96 TEARS FOR YOU. Truly one time only.
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And finally, A version of WHAT GOES ON that settles into the sort of groove you might find if LPs were made of granite instead of vinyl. Bradley Cooper on the drums. All three of these recorded October 10, 1977 in The Scenics' basement.
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These 3 songs available as free downloads. As are our first two albums of PUNK HAIKU songs
Coming soon: Punk Haiku 18-- Complete Control.
Hey! Like The Scenics on Facebook. Thnx!
punk haiku 16 New Guitar Roar
September 18, 1977. Toronto
Most of the titles from The Scenics' gig at Davids have been featured in recent episodes of PUNK HAIKU. So here are a coupla covers for yuh: PICNIC IN DETROIT was our rewrite (lyrically speaking) of David Bowie's "Panic In Detroit" I think we did this song because I was a big Bowie fan and Ken really wasn't. I kept trying to find the Bowie song that would turn him on.
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I'M SET FREE Lou and the Velvets done a la Scenics. For this song Ken did some adapting, writing the intro. This version is three weeks after this one, from our CD "How Does it Feel to be Loved: The Scenics play the Velvet Underground", which can be downloaded for sweet nuthin' right here.
PUNK HAIKU 15 WITH TALKING HEADS
The Scenics did do Waiting for my Man, but not until 1980, when this video version was recorded.
SEPTEMBER 16, 1977. TORONTO
Songs from the beginning and end of the Scenics' set opening for Talking Heads on September 16, 1977. Audio is a bit rough, included for the historical record (as opposed to the 12" long playing record...)
DO THE WAIT last song of our set, rocking out with a vengance.
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GOTTA COME BACK HERE
the second song of the set, Scenics sliding in slyly with the live premiere of Ken's "GCBH"
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If these versions are too lo-fi- here are the studio versions from SUNSHINE WORLD:
Punk Haiku 14 TALK RADIO
SEPTEMBER 1977, TORONTO
THE SOUR AND THE SWEET: Two of Andy's songs played back to back at the Beverly Tavern,on August 28, 1977. First up- some pscenic psychobilly: ALL BELTS AND SHOELACES TAKEN “Don’t know why no-one gives me a ride- I look fine, maybe just a little crazy. Check ‘em over twice to make sure i ain’t lazy, can’t find anyone any use to me. All Belts and Shoelaces taken- loose shoes flopping on the school gymnasium...."
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WIND OVER THE LADDER
Punk haiku 12- Sex PISTOLS, THE CLASH, and PUNQUE for the well-heeled.
AUGUST 1977 TORONTO
FACE IT AGAIN
A couple of songs from our show in the basement of upper-class Toronto, Aug 1977.
First, a song musically inspired by the Sex Pistols. This version is still pretty new. A few stumbles but builds up a head o' steam.
Lyrics? "When daylight comes and you feel frustration/coming down again like that same blank stare/and you feel that any end to your pain/would leave you burned out hopeless numb again./ Tomorrow the sun will be shining/ Tomorrow the sun will be hot./ Muscles fuck in frustration/ No I couldn't face it again"
punk haiku 13 Bring on the Dancing Girls
bonus VIDEO from the Bev...the scenics take on roxy music!
AUGUST 1977 TORONTO
I'M SAD
Two of Ken's songs from The Scenics first gig in the Toronto punk milleu at the Beverly Tavern, a downtown dive that began booking punk courtesy of Toronto band The Dishes. I'm Sad was from early in the first night when the crowd was thin, and is one of my very favorite Ken songs.
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WILD TROUT
Wild Trout is from late on the second night, when the crowd was... phat. (Title of this chapter taken from a punter's comment 30 seconds in).
We had provoked some consternation by putting our instruments down. The crowd thought we were packing it in, but Ken and I were just trading off guitar and bass roles. I didn't allay their concerns when i shouted back "We're just switching off!" (meaning 'trading off') which of course sounds like we were just switching off our amps 'coz we were leaving. At the end of Trout there is another short delay as Ken switches guitars for "Riptide" and the crowd gets into it again...
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coming in March 2011- PUNK HAIKU 14- The Scenics try to explain themselves on mainstream FM radio.
BRING ON THE DANCING GIRLS
At this precise moment, Ken Badger, my partner in the Scenics, came to me and told me that Sue had gotten a teaching job in Markdale, two and a half hours north of Toronto. They were getting a house up there.
punk haiku 11 the garys
Video is the Scenics playing What Goes On in 2009, in London, Ontario. What Goes On is also featured below, played in 1977.
PUNK HAIKU: Unheard stories and sounds from the proto-punk years featuring Toronto's THE SCENICS
August 1977, toronto
WHAT GOES ON
A couple of songs performed at a very liquid and smoky session at our "basement under the toy shop" with our new friends - "the Garys" and a bunch of their friends. This is, of course, a Velvet Underground song. A year or so later we recorded a version, also in our basement, that ended up on the How Does it Feel to Be Loved CD.
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ONE COMES CLOSER
This song of Ken's doesn't remind me of anything, really, except for a movie or a story... The character, the narrator, is really clear, but musically, it's uniquely Ken. He has the ability to write so strongly from from a place that is just him. This song is just a week or two old at this point. About three months later, we recorded it in the studio. 30 years later, it ended up on Sunshine World.
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Go here for Punk Haiku 12 The Scenics play for Toronto's wealthy and well-heeled.
Punk haiku 10 cfny the demo show
Here's a video of How Ken's song O BOY ended up sounding in the studio. From Sunshine World
JUne 1977, TORONTO
All the songs from Punk Haikus 6-10 are available as the free/by donation album
"See Me Smile" at Dream Tower Records.
O BOY
This time, a couple of raw, 'instant' songs.
The first day Ken brought in O Boy, he played the opening riff, Brad and I looked at each other and instantly jumped in with our parts, the same parts we ended up using in the recording studio four months later. (As heard in the above video from the Sunshine World CD.) This version is the earliest recorded version we have, from June 15, 1977, about a week after Ken wrote it.
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JAUNTY CASTRO
Andy by himself looking for a song on the guitar. He found it, but then forgot about it, and it never entered the setlist.
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Punk haiku 9 DEVO, THE RESIDENTS, THE DEAD BOYS, AND BRADLEY COOPER on Drums
PUNK HAIKU: unheard stories and sounds from the proto-punk years featuring Toronto's THE SCENICS
June 1977, Toronto.
All of the songs from Punk Haiku 6-10 are collected and available on the free/by donation album "See Me Smile" at Dream Tower Records.
CHILLS
Two songs from our first couple of weeks playing with Brad Cooper on drums, June 1977. Chills is one of my favourite Ken Badger songs that has NOT been recorded in the studio. We almost got to it in 2008, our most recent time multi-tracking.
At the beginning of the track, Brad's comment gives you a glimpse of the life of unbridled hedonism that we were living in the summer of '77.
punk haiku 8- leaside found, first demo
APRIL 1977, TORONTO
All of the songs from Punk Haiku 6-10 are collected and available on the free/by donation album "See Me Smile" at Dream Tower Records.
These are from our basement practice room, Mark French on drums, the spring of 1977, a week or two before hitting Mushroom Sound studio to record (what ended up being) half of the Sunshine World CD.
I'M HURT
These two songs, one written by Andy (Hurt), and one written by Ken (Caves), are the last two songs on Sunshine World, and have the highest improv quotient on that CD.
Hurt has pools of sound that head off in various directions, in between verses and choruses. Caves has quiet sections at the beginning and between the verses, and then a rave-out at the end.
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