Imagine for a moment a Toronto where only bands covering contemporary hits were deemed worthy of performing in bars. Imagine this city devoid of small venues where groups could play original material in front of supportive audiences. That was indeed the Toronto the Good (and downright dull) of the mid-Seventies, when into this musical vacuum stepped in a bunch of bizarrely-dressed, artsy, noisy, rebellious misfits creating the local punk rock scene, one that came hot on the heels of New York and London's in importance.
Author Liz Worth thoroughly researched this labour of love, the first book to chronicle the development of Toronto's punk underground. All the movers and shakers of the scene were interviewed, including members of local legends like The Viletones, The Diodes, The Ugly, and The B-Girls, all offering up bittersweet recollections of making music distinctly at odds with the stagnant rock mainstream of the day. Crucial musicians from Hamilton, an important punk breeding ground giving us Simply Saucer, Teenage Head, and The Forgotten Rebels, also make up an essential chunk of the story. It's a fascinating and occasionally disturbing tale, as the Toronto scene wasn't immune to infighting, gratuitous violence, and drug abuse. Faced with hostile reactions from news media along with radio and record company neglect, it was a pretty thankless job for Southern Ontario punks to make inroads in a country resistant to their audacious music.
Nevertheless, they established the nucleus of Toronto's alternative/indie-rock infrastructure, and Treat Me Like Dirt recognizes the importance of such larger-than-life personalities as The Viletones' Steven Leckie, the aptly-named Mike Nightmare of The Ugly, and Teenage Head's charismatic Frankie Venom, not to mention the managers and promoters who took chances on controversial groups when nobody else wanted to come near them. They're all here in this remarkable book, recommended to anyone who cares about this city's musical legacy.
(Author Liz Worth will be in conversation with Liisa Ladouceur here at Soundscapes on Sat. Feb 13 at 5pm.)