OK, a few more clips from the Morning After Show archives.
Its hard for me to date this stuff as when I labeled shit, I was more interested in writing my name on it, and not dating anything. Somewhere in and around 1998-2001? I’d imagine most this stuff came from there. A bunch of the promos were for our first Tuesday morning time slot and others for the second 2AM Friday night. (we then went to 12 midnight on Friday and I ended up middays on Monday right near the end).
I chose most these clips because they feature some old friends from Coquitlam and of course Paul.
Morning After Show – “Prevents Pregnancy” (feat. Ted Lau and Melissa Mullan)
Neat. I grabbed some old boxes form David Eleanor’s basement. Sitting on the top of one was a couple burned CDs of old Morning After Show audio bits.
Driving around I popped the CDs in. One just had an old commercial I made for a Smut Peddling Sam show at the Cobalt. The other had an Amen song? and few live recordings and some hi-jinks from the original Morning After Show days at CiTR.
One of the live cuts was from a guy I used to know and love the music of, Joel Tong. he performed acoustic music while also fronting a band called Black Rice in the early 2000s. I used to play his music on my show all the time or fanboy him at local dives when he performed. It didn’t hurt that Alex may have had a little crush on him too…
Popping in the CD… I hit “skip” on Amen and track two was this old cut.
Joel – “Straight From Hell” (live from the Morning After Show)
Shit… I remember seeing his band Black Rice with S.T.R.E.E.T.S. and 3 Inches of Blood at the Cobalt many moons ago. There was a gong on stage? yeah.
Here is a commercial I made for CiTR to promote a show my band was playing with Your Funeral and my pals in Triple Word Score. Voiced by QMFM news guy John Hadley!
CiTR Commercial – Your Funeral, Triple Word Score, Smut Peddling Sam
I vaguely remember when my old man bought our first CD player.
I think it was a Boxing day maybe? or around Boxing Day… part of me feels like it was winter.
We drove out to the A&B sound in Burnaby. This was before there an A&B Sound everywhere and obviously before the chain closed down.
If I remember, he bought the player and then needed a CD so he bought an Elton John Box-set that had four discs of hits. I listened to a lot of “Crocodile Rock” as a young’n. I don’t know what it cost, but I think it was pretty expensive for the late 80s or early 90s. I can’t really remember, its a bit of hazzy remembrance.
I read today that Sony is closing one of their last two CD plants in America. Its a warehouse in New Jersey that employs about 300 people. It seems most the people that work there know whats up. They stopped making Blu-Ray discs last year and one worker said his own daughter steals music off the internet despite the fact the roof over head and food in her belly comes from him pressing CDs.
Then I read some facts about the CD.
Invented in 1979. Which makes it older than me… which means… I’ll be discontinued soon. sad face. Do not disassemble.
The first test pressing happened in Germany. It was Richard Strauss‘ “Eine Alpinsinfonie.”
The first public demonstration happened on BBC television and featured the Bee Gees 1981 record Living Eyes.
The first record to be pressed in the manufacturing plant in 1982 was ABBA’sThe Visitors. The first CD album to be released for sale was Billy Joel’s52nd Street.
By 1983 you could buy a CD player in America and there were 16 titles (all from CBS Records) you could buy to play in it.
The first record to sell 1-million compact discs was Dire Straight‘s 1985 classic Brothers In Arms. Wait a minute, that song “Money For Nothing” says “faggot” a bunch, maybe I need to edit history to make a more politically correct record the 1st ever?
First artist to release their entire catalog on Cd was Mr. David Bowie when he took all 15 of his albums and 4 best of’s… and pressed them also in 1985.
First CDs I bougth with my own money were… Metallica’s…And Justice for All, Alice in Chains s/t and Seven Mary Three. I think it cost me close to $80 and was almost all of one of my first paycheques from the job I got that summer. making sandwiches at Subway in the summer of ’96.
Then I bought a lot of CDs. I do remember my Dad getting mad at me for wasting my paycheques on CDs. What did I need so many for? So I need to find an excuse for having so many… so I became a DJ.
This morning I awoke to a perfect and cold winter day (and still a scratchy throat). Coral was running a bit behind and I still have the Chevy Cruze, so she asked me to take Mads to Step-Up to Pre-School.
Driving back to The Zone, I was jamming out Pol Plastino and he punched up Gob’s “Ming Tran.”
“Ming Tran” is from Gob’s 2002 ep F.U. EP. I remember this record being big on the radio back when I worked at a Starbucks in Vancouver and we’d sing it all the time.
Back then, I used to listen to Gob all the time and play them on my radio show, The Morning After Show (hence the name of this here ole blog). My favourite, favourite Gob song was “Self-Appointed Leader” off 1998’s How Far Shallow Takes You. Back then, I didn’t really get how radio “works” so I’d call up David Hawkes (best DJ!) on CFOX at night and request the song. He’d tell me it was a great cut and take a minute to talk some Vancouver rock and roll with me and then play “What To Do” or some other Gob-esque type song that might have been getting a little attention. Pop-punk (or ponk) was pretty popular in the late 90s and early 00s.
Gob – “Self-Appointed Leader”
I was pretty new at CiTR in the winter of 1998 and Gob’s record was new (and my show was a new Canadian music show so…..) and I played it quite a bit.
As I grew a bit more sophisticated in my musical taste, taking the bus out to Vancouver at least once a week, turning 19 and going to shows, and starting my own band… I really got into the Vancouver band By A Thread. Their debut album The Last of Daydreams came out in November of 1999 ( I think, no wikipedia for these guys that I could find).
I loved them. I played this record on my radio show all the time and made a point to see them live when I could afford it and had the time.
By A Thread – “Surface”
By A Thread – “The World To Me”
To this day, The Last of the Daydreams remains one of my favourite records from those early mornings on the radio.
Listening now, it does sound a little dated and obviously, DIY. The album cover has graphic design of so many indie bands of the era… so sometimes its hard to separate the nostalgia from the quality. But it doesn’t really matter. By A Thread was a big part of my soundtrack growing up.
It may or may not be a surprise to some of you, that I do enjoy me some AM radio.
I started my journey into the realm of commercial radio pushing buttons for a radio show called Coast-to-Coast AM on CFUN.
When I started there, I hated the show. It was so stupid.
But after the better part of a year, staying up late and listening to the show all the time, I kinda got into it.
When I moved to Victoria, I more or less just stopped listening to AM radio.
Recently however, I have been enjoying this late night radio show twice a week. After my DJ sets at the Veneto.
I only listen for 30 minutes or less… but its enough to hear some weird shit.
Last Saturday was a show called “Renegade History of the United States.”
People calling up the host to debate facts about history and motivations for stuff. Slavery came up lots and the host said something interesting. He wasn’t justifying the practice at all, but he did say that some good might have come for the horrible evil.
Chiefly, rock and roll.
Wow.
He said that the earliest roots of rock trace back to slave music. No slaves, no slave culture, maybe no rock and roll.
Bob Seger – “Old Time Rock and Roll”
The weird consequences of the law don’t stop there.
The Untied States flirted with banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol.
As you might suspect, that didn’t go over to well with.. well pretty much everyone. So an underclass of illegal nightclubs and saloons sprung up all over the US called the Speakeasy.
Seattle is known by many of us as the place where grunge music comes from. But long before the Seattle scene of the late 80s and early 90s, there was another rock and roll scene going on.
In the late 50s and early 60s, Seattle was home to a bunch of garage rock bands. One of my favourites is a group that some people consider one of the first punk rock bands, The Sonics.
The Sonics were known for the fast and hard playing. Simple chord progressions and darker themed song lyrics. They also covered many of the garage rock staples of the time, including one of the more famous versions of “Have Love, Will Travel.”
I was flipping through the 45s bin at Ditch Records today with Madelyn when I spotted a couple Norton Record‘s re-issues of The Sonics.
I picked up their hits “Witch” and “Psycho.” And look at that, the b-side to “Psycho” is “Have Love, Will Travel.”
I continue to flip and find an old Black Keys’ 7-inch that features “The Moan”… b-side, “Have Love, Will Travel.”
$20 later, I have a collection of Sonics 45s, a Black Keys… and what the heck, The Kingsmen doing “Louie Louie” for good measure.
The Black Keys are one of the biggest bands in Modern Rock right now… formally topping The Modern Rock Countdown here in Victoria; and currently Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart.
It is always a battle to try and create time where I don’t answer the blackberry, I don’t check facebook, I don’t “hop in the studio,” or sit down to write a blog.
Halloween finally offered a moment to just go trick-or-treating. When we got home from our ritualized begging, Mads crashed hard and Coral went to bed early.
I took the time to… do sweet fuck all.
Watched a Zombie TV show, The Walking Dead. Then listened to music and read about history. I mean seriously, when was the last time you set aside an hour to read about the The Franks and their conquest of Gaul?
Hell yes, I was excited to read the other day that coffee counts towards that water I need to put in my body everyday.
The amount of fluid gained is far greater than anything you piss out from the caffeine.
AND coffee helps fight off the debilitating effects of gout. Not that I plan on being a medieval King of England anytime soon or anything… BUT the point is… I feel secure in my coffee consumption each and everyday.
Now, if only I could find the study that says coffee isn’t exasperating my anxiety, we’re gold.
Jimmy Eat World – “Coffee and Cigarettes”
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In other news… I am pretty much obsessed with National Geographic magazine and also want to find out how I can get a job recreating famous exploration voyages.
There must be a way to get paid, and handsomely, to hop in an olden tyme sailing vessel and make for the New World.
My reasoning is simple. I thought it was fucked that people get paid to talk on the radio… and well, someone pays me to do that, so why not get paid to sail around in a replica “Matthew” and rediscover Newfoundland?
Maybe its silly to get paid to be a gloried pirate, but perhaps there is hope for me?
I read this story about the most ancient history of White Canadianna… turns out there were secret exploration missions to Canada around the time of John Cabot. Evidence destroyed? International Italian Bank syndicates? secret Christian missions in Canada? A historian on the case… but just before she was going to release a book on the subject, she destroys all her notes and conveniently dies. What did she discover?
Dan Brown… Paging Dan Brown….
Here’s what I think… Cabot found the Vikings… and the secret mission of Weston was to exterminate the Vikings so England could make claim. The Beothuks were then hunted and exterminated later because they knew of the Vikings… whoa.
Everyday that I watch the CBC and don’t see these intriguing stories of Canadian History made into HBO styled mini-series is an affront to entertainment.
Heartland? Seriously…. I love the Tudors and have picked up on that series. It shows the CBC is capable, but come on guys, pick a story that is at least kinda related to Canada.
OK, I’ll add the mysteries of John Cabot to my list of Canadian Historical mini-series(es?) I need to write.
01) World War War epic 02) the story of John Jewitt, white slave of Maquinna 03) The Viking Settlement of Canada 04) The Mysteries of John Cabot
If you’re a writer that stumbles on my blog, don’t steal my ideas or I’ll stab you. Unless of course, you actually steal and make it, then I’ll be happy and watch it!
Now that is a good read for a music nerd like me. I ended up downloading a bunch of the suggestions from the list and thought I’d share them with you while also practicing to use my garageband (I hate this program, but its what I got).
Thank you for taking the time to jam out some olden tyme music with me. Hope you dig it.
“An early turning point came onstage at a club called Harpo’s, in Victoria, British Columbia. It was Pearl Jam’s maiden tour, their first appearance away from a nurturing audience of Seattle friends. But this Canadian crowd was far more interested in getting drunk. In midset, Vedder decided to challenge the jaded audience, to wake them up. Unscrewing the 12-pound steel base of the microphone stand, Vedder sent it flying over their heads, like a lethal Frisbee. The steel disk crashed into the wall of the back bar. They woke up.“
By some accounts this story may or may not have happened. The jury is out on to the authenticity of the actual event s of the night. But what is true, Cameron Crowe believed it and published it in Rolling Stone!
The Morning After 