A Neon Rome

Last updated
A Neon Rome
Promotional band-photo of the band Neon Rome.jpg
Background information
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Alternative rock
Years active1984 (1984)–1989, 2008
Labels Fringe Product, New Rose
Past membersNeal Arbic
John Borra
Ken Burchell
Kevin Nizol
Ian Blurton
Crawford Teasdale
Bernard Maiezza

A Neon Rome was a Canadian alternative rock band, active from 1984 to 1987. Commonly described as a cross between The Sex Pistols, The Doors and The Velvet Underground, [1] the band were prominent on Toronto's Queen Street West music scene. They broke up before achieving mainstream success, however, and are now remembered primarily as the inspiration behind Bruce McDonald's cult film Roadkill . [2]

Contents

History

Neal Arbic, the band's frontman, created the band in 1984 after writing a narrative poem about a rock band whose music was "like heroin" to its fans. The band's sound was reportedly inspired by accidentally playing a Psychic TV record at the wrong speed. [2]

Bassist John Borra, drummer Ken Burchell and guitarist Kevin Nizol rounded out the band's original lineup. The band began to draw attention in the Toronto club scene for its live shows, which blended Arbic's wild, charismatic frontman antics with a loose, improvisational interplay among the band. In fact, the band rarely wrote songs in advance – instead, much of its material was improvised live on stage. [2]

Burchell left the band, who continued without a drummer for a time until Ian Blurton joined to replace him. Keyboardist Bernard Maiezza joined the band at the same time as Blurton. They eventually became the house band of Elvis Mondays, a weekly underground rock night at Toronto's Beverly Hotel, and began developing a wider audience. Eventually Blurton left the band, and Burchell rejoined.

The band released its debut album, New Heroin, in March 1987 on Fringe Product in Canada and New Rose Records in Europe, [3] and garnered strong reviews from influential publications such as Sounds , NME and Melody Maker . [2]

Following the release of New Heroin, Nizol left the band, and was replaced by Crawford Teasdale. At this time, as well, Bruce McDonald began to develop an idea for a concert film which would document the band on tour across Northern Ontario. [2]

Collapse

During the band's tour to promote New Heroin, Arbic became increasingly disillusioned with the music industry, and began to rebel against the promotional demands of leading a band seemingly on the verge of stardom. He shaved his head, he briefly adopted a diet consisting exclusively of almonds and raisins, [1] he sometimes failed to show up for scheduled live shows, and he eventually took a vow of silence – while he would still sometimes agree to sing at live concerts and in recording sessions for their second album All the Children Are In, such occasions became fewer and farther between, and he strictly refused to speak offstage. [2] Although the band completed recording All the Children Are In, the album was never released. [1]

McDonald's proposed film instead became Roadkill , a scripted black comedy film which fictionalized A Neon Rome as "Children of Paradise", a band which disappeared on tour after its lead singer faced a similar existential crisis. [1]

The band made a final live appearance at Toronto's Rivoli around the time of the film's release, at which Arbic whispered the lyrics instead of singing, but then broke up. [1] Arbic embarked on a spiritual quest, regaining his mental equilibrium by following the meditation teachings of Baba Hari Dass. [1]

Borra and Maiezza went on to join Blurton's band Change of Heart, while Nizol went on to join Pure/Love Bomber and is now a member of 66 Kicks.

Arbic has occasionally performed spoken word poetry at various Toronto concert venues, including the Elvis Mondays revival at the Drake Hotel, [4] and has written and performed spiritual music with the band Mahendra. [1] A Neon Rome also performed a one-off reunion show at the Elvis Monday 25th Anniversary show on December 1, 2008. [5]

Discography

Related Research Articles

Elvis Costello English singer-songwriter

Declan Patrick MacManus OBE, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

New Order (band) English rock band

New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order's integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.

The Vandals Band

The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. They are well known for their use of humor, preferring to use their music as a vehicle for comedy and sarcasm rather than as a platform for more serious issues. As of 2000, they are signed to Kung Fu Records.

Spirit of the West Canadian rock band

Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.

Change of Heart was a Canadian alternative rock band, active from 1982 to 1997. They had one Top 40 hit, "There You Go" in 1992, as well as several hits on Canada's modern rock charts, including "Trigger" and "Little Kingdoms".

Arcade Fire Indie rock band from Canada

Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett. The band formerly featured Win's younger brother Will Butler, who departed in 2021 after eighteen years.

Leslie Spit Treeo were a Canadian folk-rock band in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from the Leslie Street Spit area of Toronto Harbour.

Scott Bradshaw, who records as Scott B. Sympathy, is a Canadian indie rock and alternative country musician. He released several albums with his eponymously named band in the 1990s, and subsequently became a member of Stratochief following the 1999 death of that band's singer Greg McConnell.

<i>Roadkill</i> (1989 film) 1989 Canadian film

Roadkill is a 1989 Canadian film directed by Bruce McDonald. In a review of the film's soundtrack album, the website AllMusic calls the film "an increasingly weird mix of Heart of Darkness and The Wizard of Oz".

Coney Hatch is a Canadian hard rock band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their fourth album Four in 2013. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Carl Dixon, vocalist and bassist Andy Curran, guitarist Steve Shelski and drummer Dave 'Thumper' Ketchum. The band was known for its ear-damagingly loud live shows. In 2018, the band toured eight shows across Canada and played Germany's H.E.A.T. festival with Sean Kelly on lead guitar.

Ian Blurton Canadian musician and record producer

Ian Blurton is a Canadian musician and record producer.

Theatre of Hate British post-punk band

Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in London, England, in 1980.

El Mocambo

The El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is best known for the 1977 surprise show by The Rolling Stones, which became nationally notorious for the presence of then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's wife, Margaret Trudeau, who was partying with the Stones.

Paul McLoone Musical artist

Paul Martin McLoone is an Irish musician, former radio producer, voice actor, voice-over artist and radio presenter from Derry, Northern Ireland. He is perhaps best known for being the co-creator and co-writer of the Irish comedy sketch series Gift Grub. He is also the lead vocalist/frontman of the Northern Irish pop-punk/new-wave band The Undertones, permanently replacing Feargal Sharkey when the band reunited for a series of live appearances in November 1999. He hosts the weekday evening/night-time radio programme on the Irish national and independent radio station, Today FM titled The Paul McLoone Show which broadcasts from Dublin every Monday to Thursday from 10:00 pm to midnight. It focuses on less-known Irish solo singers or bands, as well as those from other countries who are popular in the alternative and indie rock world, but who have yet to crack the mainstream line of the music industry.

Blurtonia was a Canadian indie rock group formed by Ian Blurton, after the break-up of his previous band, Change of Heart.

Jerry Riggs American rock guitarist

Jerry Riggs is an American rock guitarist and vocalist.

Neon Trees American rock band

Neon Trees is an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Their first single, "Animal", climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart.

Cookie Duster is a Canadian indie rock band, who were briefly active in Toronto in the late 1990s before reforming with some new members in 2012.

Cleave Anderson Musical artist

Cleave Anderson is a Canadian punk rock, alt. country, rock, pop, etc drummer. Anderson has played and recorded with several well-known groups, including Blue Rodeo, Battered Wives, Viletones, Sherry Kean, Forgotten Rebels, and the Beat Club ].

Handsome Ned was the stage name of Robin David Masyk, a Canadian country singer and songwriter. Although he only released a small number of singles and was never widely known outside of Toronto during his lifetime, he has been credited as the catalyst for an early-1980s country music and roots rock revival in Toronto which paved the way for acts such as Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster, Skydiggers and Cowboy Junkies to break through to greater fame, and as one of the key figures in the transformation of the city's Queen Street West district into a cultural hotspot.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995 . ECW Press. ISBN   978-1-55022-992-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Band Bio: A Neon Rome Archived 2007-11-10 at the Wayback Machine at punkhistorycanada.ca
  3. ↑ New Rose Records
  4. ↑ "Wil-MAA! Have You Seen My Sonic Youth Shirt!?" Archived December 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , zoilus.com, March 26, 2005.
  5. ↑ "Shows That Rocked Toronto Last Week", NOW , December 3, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.