About Me
January 25, 1974 & a few months short of turning 15, I stood outside the Victory Burlesque Theatre in Toronto. I wiped the drool from my chin having just upchucked my McDonalds fries that didn’t agree too well with the whiskey & ginger ale in my belly. Was I excited? You bet. I felt better & now I was about to see "Iggy & The Stooges" whose latest album "Raw Power" wasn’t making me alot of new friends in school (ie: Take that fuckin’ noise off Sweeney! We want to hear the new George Harrison album). What was to transpire over the next little while would leave a lasting impression on me. I was really hoping to see Iggy wearing the cool "leather jacket with the cheetah on it". Instead Iggy appeared on the stage wearing a ballerina outfit (sans the top) which was both funny & scary. I remember some of the girls near the front getting hysterical as he stuck his hand down inside near his genitals & asked "Does anybody want to see a six inch vine?" Anyway, to cut this short, I’ve seen hundreds of concerts since then but this is always my favourite to talk about because as the years have gone by I realize just how lucky I was to be there. Oh yeah, thanks again to my brother Gary for taking me along. Some of the "freaks" in the audience would reappear later on in the year when the New York Dolls played at Massey Hall on June 15...another great show & Johnny Thunders being the epitome of cool!!! I guess I should also mention that Kiss opened for the Dolls that evening. Someone described the Stooges show as being "scurrilous" & I would use that as the moniker for the band my friends & I would be forming in the weeks that followed. Scurrilous never did get to play a gig & we actually only had about four practices. I had been abandoned by the rest of the members as they didn’t seem to approve of my "iggyisms". Meaning: they didn’t like me gyrating around with my guitar on the floor & spitting all over the place. It became more acceptable a few years later when it would be known as "punk rock". Throughout "high" school I generally just practised my guitar & had the odd jam with my friends but nothing leading to the formation of a band. In 1978 I was recruited by some of my older brothers friends to play guitar in a band leaning heavily into the early British Mod scene. I dragged my buddy Roger Branton along to play bass. The band was called "The Other Guys" & we were Durham Region’s first garage/punk band proper. We played alot of Kinks, Who, Pretty Things, Stones, etc. and even managed to do some covers of The Jam & The Boys. Peter, our singer/rhythm guitar player was also writing alot of original material. We developed a loyal following in Oshawa & mangaged to play some gigs at the Edge & Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto, two of T.O.’s best known venues for bands playing the punk scene. We did some recordings which were never released & then in 1981 Roger & I left the band as we wanted to go in a heavier direction (ala Dictators, Ramones, Heartbreakers, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Only Ones). Roger & I then formed the original Durango 95 consisting of Roger’s brother Pete playing guitar & Mitch playing drums. At this time Roger & I would share the vocal duties. We learned a set of tunes consisting of the Real Kids, Vibrators, Slade, Ramones, Troggs, etc. We managed to do one gig opening for the Bop-Cats & this line up folded. The next line up was to be the band that would record two albums. The line up being Greg Weir-vocals, Paul MacNeil-guitar, Rob Sweeney-guitar, Roger Branton-bass, Darren Smith-drums. Keeping the name Durango 95, "Lose Control" was released in 1983 & "Mother’s Day", which was recorded as demos in 1984 was not released until 1990. This line up gained some recognition from around the world. "Lose Control" had gotten airplay from many college/university stations. CMJ magazine at the time chose the record as "album of the month". A favourable review was also mentioned in Trouser Press. To this day many regard this album as an "undiscovered Canadian treasure". Unfortunately this band could not break-out to a larger audience, being that we were too heavy for the punks, & too punky for the metal crowd. This I believe was the same problem for New York City’s Dictators a few years earlier. When I think about it now, the only cover the band did was "Baby, Lets Twist", a Dics classic...wait, I’m lying, we also did a cover of "The Letter" by the Box Tops. Gigs with Teenage Head, Viletones, Forgotten Rebels, Raving Mojos were fun. Missing a chance to open for the Vibrators in Toronto, we did get to open for 999 in London, Ontario. Eventually the band did get tired of trying & broke up. After disbanding Durango 95 Paul, Roger, & I recruited drummer Mark Keigan & formed the "Purple Toads". Initially formed because nobody had been doing anything for months & it was a good reason to get together & get drunk, we decided that we would just play some old 60’s garage classics. Which we did. Eventually Paul & I wrote some original tunes & they were incorporated into the set. Coming across now like the Canadian version of the Nomads/Lime Spiders, the "Purple Toads" released two albums. The self titled "Purple Toads" (early copies on purple vinyl) was released in 1986 & "Love Songs For The Hard Of Hearing" (with limited edition comic book) released in 1988. Again these records garnished radio airplay around the world & received some favourable reviews. An invitation from "Glitterhouse Records" in Germany to have the records released in Europe never developed due to a communication problem with our record company. Both of the records consist of 50% original & cover material. Gigs with The Lyres, Chesterfield Kings, Fleshtones, Cynics, Raunch Hands, Fuzztones, etc. took place. I can’t overlook several great gigs with our friends UIC that also took place. One of the last gigs the band would play was with the Hoodoo Gurus who managed to get a couple of thousand people out to the show. Eventually the band got tired of trying & called it a day. Years later we found out that Porsche used our version of "I Want You" for an add over in Greece. We never got paid for it & I’m sure the Troggs didn’t either. Next up, Roger & I recruited buddy Terry on drums & formed The Dominators. Strictly a cover band we played a slew of R&B tunes from the 50’s, 60’s & some old Chuck Berry numbers. I think you get the idea. Some great gigs in Toronto & opening slots for the A-Bones, Barracudas, Chesterfield Kings, Rosco’s Gang & even the Troggs in Oshawa. With nothing on record, the band folded. Around 1991 Mark Keigan invited me to play in a band called the "Laughing Shakesperes". They had a couple of gigs lined up & had run into problems with their guitar player. The set list consisted of MC5, Radio Birdman, Alice Cooper, some old 60’s garage classics, etc. I stepped in & the gigs were done. One of them opening for the Forgotten Rebels. After the gigs were finished Adam, the singer bailed. With Andy Hauber on bass, Mark on drums & I handling the guitar, vocals & songwriting the band soldiered on as the "Boneyard Devils" doing all original material except for a cover of the Stones "2,000 Light Years From Home". A single of "I Need Love" b/w "Amnesia" was released in 1993. Some gigs included opening again for The Fleshtones, Devil Dogs & Teenage Head in Oshawa a couple of times (it’s kind of like the old saying "always the bridesmaid, never the bride"). The highlight of the Boneyard Devils exsistance was managing to get Jeff Conolly of the Lyres to fly up to Toronto, have a practice, & perform a gig the next day at the El Mocambo as "Man Or Monoman" (see the folder in the pics). This was December 1995. It was a success & a good time had by all. Jeff was impressed himself, as he did not expect us to know how to play almost the whole Lyres catalogue!!!. Eventually the band gave way to life’s other demands. Living at the time in Mississauga I set upon writing a batch of new tunes & setting them to tape. Upon having enough tunes to play a set of music, "Pretty Ugly" was formed. With Drew Reavie (ex Drums Along The Gardiner & Ratwurst) on guitar, Bryan Yonge (ex Boy From Nowhere) on bass, & Andrew (also ex Drums Along The Gardiner) on drums. Several gigs were played in Toronto namely at the Horsehoe Tavern, El Mocambo & the fun filled Bovine Sex Club. The band was getting a good reputation, but following opening slots for the Damned at Lee’s Palace & the Dictators at the Horseshoe in 1998 I had to end the band, again due to life’s other demands. Time went by. A few "Purple Toads" reunion shows, including one with the "Master Plan" (Dictators & Fleshtones) in 2004 would be the only gigs I would play for the next few years. It was the death of Link Wray that made me decide to go out & play some music again. In 2006, with Mark Keigan on drums & Bryan Yonge from "Pretty Ugly" on bass we formed "Get Ready To Rumble" to play some Link Wray tunes. Not really as a tribute, but as a learning tool for people that had never heard of Link & the power he commanded over his instrument. My goal was realized when after playing the first gig someone said to me that they had never heard of Link Wray but would be heading out to buy some of his music. Recently, we opened up for Cheetah Chrome at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto. The next step of course & why we are here...Crummy Stuff. This is the next project, & that’s why you’re here. The plan will be to write some more tunes & get out and play them...keep in touch...One last thing, about my number one friend Russ Hamilton...he is my uncle...
