Blog: Revolution Rock

Taking their name from a Japanese science fiction film titled The Mysterians, ? & the Mysterians formed in 1962 in Saginaw/Bay City, Michigan. The band consisted of Larry Borjas (bass), Bobby Balderrama (guitar), and Robert Martinez (drums). When the band originally started out in 62, they played mostly instrumental songs that were inspired by Link Wray and Surf music. The bands lead singer and main song writer goes by the name ? (Pronounced question mark). His name was said to actually be Rudy Martinez, until he legally changed his name to ?. He also claims that he was born on [...]

Following Radio Birdman's split in 1978, Deniz Tek would form another band called The Visitors. This band was different musically from Radio Birdman, coming off with more of a New Wave influence. Deniz Tek was on guitar, Ron Keeley on drums, Pip Hoyle on keyboards, Steve Harris on bass, and Mark Sisto on vocals. In addition the New Wave vibe that was present on their material, The Visitors music also loomed with an ominous Doors influence. The band was made up of three former Radio Birdman members (Hoyle, Tek, and Keeley), Sisto was a long time friend of Tek's. The [...]

Soundgarden's last live show was in February of 1997. The last show was part of a tour the band was doing in support of their 1996 release Down On The Upside . At this point in the bands career, the tensions amongst them were rising and at that live show in February of 1997, after equipment failure, bassist Ben Sheppard threw his bass in the air in frustration leaving the stage. The encore of the show was played not by Soundgarden, but by Chris Cornell solo. In April of 1997, Soundgarden announcned that they were splitting up. In [...]

Today's program was composed entirely of albums that were released in the year 2009. The last nine songs on the show constituted my favourite nine releases from 2009. While re-issues were included in the list ( The Beatles Remasters, Nirvana's Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition , and The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines ), I did not count them in the top nine list, due to the fact that they have already been released prior to 2009. The following are my favourite nine releases from the year 2009: 1. The Black Lips - 200 Million [...]

After his departure from The Damned in 1977, Brian James made recordings for a solo single featuring Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Titled Ain't That A Shame , the single was backed with the song "I Can Make You Cry (another single from these session was released in 1982 titled Why? Why? Why?). Brian James decided not to continue with a solo career. He instead joined up with the band Chelsea in 1979 for two albums ( Chelsea (1979) and Alternative Hits (1980)). He then joined up with Iggy Pop's solo band. While he played [...]

Today's program featured all Christmas/Holiday based songs. Several of the songs were from newer bands, but many were older classic songs from the 60's Garage and 70's Punk era. In 1966, on the Northwest coast three Garage Rock bands put together a Christmas album Titled Merry Christmas . This album was made up of almost all original compositions and the songs on the album are not your traditional holiday songs. It [...]

Coming from Hamilton, Ontario Young Rival started out in 2002 as The Ride Theory. The band features Aron D'Alesio (guitar/vocals), Kyle Kuchemy (guitar), John Smith (bass), and Noah Fralick on drums. Drawing influence from bands such as The Kinks, early Rolling Stones, Simply Saucer, Surf music, 70's Rock, and other 60's British Garage acts, The Ride Theory released their first album in 2002. The Ride Theory , was produced by Jamie Andrew and features ten songs. The album introduced the world to jangly Garage songs such as "Alright", "Walk the Line", and "Can't Get it [...]

Photo By: Christina Naccarato The Mark Inside originates from Whitby, Ontario. They started playing music around the year 2000, and currently reside in Toronto, Ontario. The band features Chris Levoir (vocals/guitar), Gus Harris (guitar), Geoff Bennet (bass), and Geordie Dynes on drums. Mixing influences such as 60's Garage Rock/Psychedelic, Punk and some 90's Rock bands such as Sonic Youth, The Mark Inside have created an urgent Rock and Roll mutation. After relocating to Toronto, the band entered a studio with Tom D'arcy producing [...]

In 1982 Richard Hell & The Voidoids released their second and final album Destiny Street . The album featured recordings of well known Richard Hell songs such as "The Kid with the Replaceable Head", "Time", "Lowest Common Denominator", and more. There were also a few cover songs on the album such as "Going Going Gone" a cover of a Bob Dylan song from his album Planet Waves , and "I Gotta Move" by The Kinks. In 2004, Richard Hell acquired the rights to the album and let it go out of print. The original version [...]

After three weeks of fill-in hosts, I finally returned to my hosting duties on Revolution Rock. That being said, there was a new band featured on my show that deserves a mention. The True Lovers were formed by New Zealanders Dion Lunadon (previously from The D4) and Ben Maitland (previously from Box Car Guitars) and are based out of Brooklyn, New York. Forming in 2008, The True Lovers are a Rock and Roll band that have a greasy honesty and venomous fury. They have recently released their first single entitled "Death Threat". The song is available for [...]

This week my show featured yet another fill in host. Next week I will return to my hosting duties. Tune in next week (or visit this blog) because I will also play new music from The True Lovers, Sloan and more. In the meantime, here is an interesting video featuring the UK band The Horrors. Courtesy of amoeba.com, the band discusses some of thier favourite records. More information on The Horrors can be found in my Primary Colors post. [...]

Another fill in was featured on today's program, this time a newer CJAM volunteer named Ash. Today's program highlighted a lot of new Canadian releases, and mostly new music in general. Short update this week, will be more news next week so check back! This Week's Play List: 1. A History Of - DC Heat 2. The Black Halos - Bombs Not Food 3. Despised Icon - Diva of Disgust 4. Red Mass - Saturn 5. Brilliant Colors - Should I Tell You 6. The King Khan [...]

This week's program was hosted by Chris of I Am Collecting Beautiful Things . A wide variety of rock was played, new and old. Some of my favourite selections from this week's program was new music by Julian Casablancas and music from the re-issue of Nirvana's Bleach album. Nirvana released a re-issue of their 1989 album Bleach celebrating the albums 20th anniversary this week. The album was originally released on June 15th, [...]

Cyborgs Revisited was an album released by Simply Saucer in 1989. The Hamilton, Ontario band lasted from 1973 to 1979 and only ever released one single officially when they were together. "She's A Dog/I Can Change my mind was released in 1978. The bands style was a mix of bands such as Alice Cooper, MC5, The Stooges, Velvet Underground, and Hawkwind. The song "Electro Rock", featured on today's program can be found on the album Cyborgs Revisited . The album was made up of two sides, the first being a demo session that the band [...]

Its hard to believe that forty years ago in 1969, The Kinks first released their album Arthur (Or The Decline of The British Empire). It was released following their album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society , that upon it's initial release sold poorly. Since then Village Green has gone on to become a cult classic and many Kinks fans favourite Kinks album, but people often overlook Arthur . It is based upon a concept revolving around Arthur, who moves to Australia from England with his wife after World War II. The [...]

CJAM is now 99.1 FM. That being said, Revolution Rock aired for the first time on 99.1 FM this Tuesday October 13th. The show has been on CJAM since 2004 and this week marked my 269th program. If you are a visitor of this blog, it is a good idea to check out the new CJAM website. You can subscribe to individual programs and even subscribe to an RSS Podcast by going to the programs section. The downloads from CJAM's site are now a bit different, but are easier to [...]

On Monday night at Midnight, CJAM signed off as 91.5 FM and began the process of installing a new antenna to become 99.1 FM. Due to this, my show is pre-empted this Tuesday, but will return next week. CJAM will broadcast for the first time Wednesday October, 7th around noon. Be sure to check out their website cjam.ca for a new improved website with many great features. For all the visitors of this blog, and listeners of Revolution Rock I have uploaded an old episode of my program. Revolution Rock will return next Tuesday October 13th, at 10:30 [...]

This week's program was my annual Pledge Drive show. Once a year CJAM, which is a non-profit campus/community radio station relies on donations to keep the station running strongly for all of it's listeners. This year in particular is a very different kind of Pledge Drive. CJAM will be switching frequencies following the end of the drive and relocating on the 99.1 FM frequency. CJAM has been operating on 91.5 FM for the past 26 years, but due to unprotected status related issues we will require a frequency change. Now CJAM is about to begin a new era, with [...]

The Damned came together through a pool of musicians that had all been in previous bands in some shape or form. Three of the band members that would be in the original line up of The Damned first played in a group that never played outside of band practices. Masters of the Backside featured Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), Rat Scabies (Chris Millar), Dave Vanian (David Letts), and Chrissie Hynde. The band who was being managed by future Sex Pistols band manager Malcolm Mclaren, broke up due to management related issues. Chrissie Hynde would go on to form The Pretenders, while [...]

Today's program showcased two tracks from the newest release by Arctic Monkeys. The songs come from the bands third full length album which is titled Humbug . The album differs from the bands other two albums for a variety of reasons. For one, a large majority the album was produced and recorded by Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age) at his own Joshua Tree Studios in California. The band also recorded songs with producer James Ford, three of which are featured on Humbug ("My Propeller", "Secret Door", and "Cornerstone"). Secondly the music reflects a darker [...]