>>PREVIEW
TEENAGE HEAD
Friday, May 11
Liberty Lounge
Nearly 30 years later, the blistering rock ’n’ roll of Teenage Head can still outrun the new army of skinny jeans and striped T-shirt rockers. Blasting out cocky rock songs slathered in a sneering punk rock spirit, the Hamilton, Ontario quartet ran a career parallel to the Ramones and the New York Dolls in the ’70s.
Teenage Head released their self-titled debut in 1979 followed by Frantic City the following year. Punchy hits like "Picture My Face" and "You’re Tearing Me Apart" featured Frankie Venom’s snarling vocals, Gordie Lewis’s squealing guitars and the chugging rhythm section of bassist Steve Marshall and drummer Nick Stipanitz (replaced by Jack Pedler). Teenage Head’s punk rock jingles made delinquent back-alley fun sound as innocent as going to Pop’s malt shop.
With the New York scene quickly embracing it, Teenage Head steadily gained popularity – as illustrated by a pre-concert riot at Ontario Place in June 1980. However, things were about to take a turn. One cold night several months later, the band was en route to a showcase when the band’s van hit an icy patch on the highway and lost control. Lewis was taken to the hospital with a broken back. The crash was a pivotal career moment.
"Days after it happened, we were scheduled to go down to Long Island and do a showcase for American labels in the States," recounts Lewis from his Hamilton home. "The idea was to be signed to an American label. (The crash) basically put the kibosh on that. I was in the hospital for a month and then out of commission for six. As you well know, six months is sometimes the whole career for some bands, let alone a setback. Show business being what it is, it was like, who’s next?
"At the time, we had a crooked manager and a crooked lawyer. We weren’t in good hands, we might have been maybe doing a little too much partying ourselves and who knows what roads those take, y’know? There can be casualties if you go too far. Something tells me something was supposed to happen because we’re still here. We’re in control of our destiny now, we weren’t then."
Lewis had recovered by the release of Some Kinda Fun in 1982, but Teenage Head never regained international momentum. Instead, the band has remained a Canadian punk rock institution managing just fine without the fingerprints of America. Despite a few personnel shuffles, the band never broke up. They continued to release music -– including 1995’s Head Disorder – and continued to gig locally.
In July, Teenage Head will release an album featuring the talents of Marky Ramone and legendary Ramones producer, Daniel Rey. Lewis met Ramone while the latter was in town for a speaking engagement. Ramone needed a guitarist and bassist for a mini Ramones set and Lewis and Marshall were recruited. The men hit it off during a jam session later on. It led to a full-circle moment for Lewis.
"It was like a dream come true. I couldn’t believe it – one day, I’m dreaming that I could play with Marky Ramone and have Daniel Rey produce. A month later, we’re picking both of them up at the airport and going to a studio to record.
"It was definitely a dream come true. And it proves to me, you’re never too old to dream. There still can be magic. The stars can be aligned properly and things can work out no matter how old you are." |
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