The Demics | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Punk |
| Years active | 1977–1980 |
| Labels | Ready Huge Records (domestic) Other Peoples Music (international) |
| Past members | Keith Whittaker Rob Brent Iain Atkinson-Staines James Weatherstone Steve Koch |
The Demics were a Canadian punk rock band that formed in 1977 in London, Ontario.
Originally formed in London, Ontario in 1977, the band consisted of vocalist Keith Whittaker, guitarist Rob Brent, bassist Iain Atkinson-Staines and drummer James Weatherstone. Through 1978, the band were rising stars in the Canadian punk scene. They recorded their debut EP [1] in the fall of that year, and subsequently moved to Toronto to be closer to the centre of the punk scene. The EP's single, "New York City" released on Ready Records, was the band's breakthrough hit on CFNY in 1979.
Brent left the band and went on to form the post punk/new wave band, "Mettle" as guitarist and synth player. Brent was replaced by Steve Koch in the Demics. The band released a self-titled full-length album in 1980, but subsequently broke up due to internal tensions.
In 1996, a new CD compiling both of the band's original albums titled New York City was released domestically on Huge Records. [2] Also that year, "New York City" was named the greatest Canadian song of all time in a reader poll by the music magazine Chart .
Vocalist Keith Whittaker died of cancer on July 16, 1996. [3] Guitarist Rob Brent died of a heart condition on November 5, 2014 at the age of 57. [4] Drummer James Weatherstone died in his sleep on July 18, 2021 at the age of 63. [5]
The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum, lead guitarist Cheetah Chrome, and drummer Johnny Blitz in 1975, with the later two having splintered from the band Rocket From The Tombs. The original Dead Boys released two studio albums, Young Loud and Snotty, and We Have Come for Your Children.
The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound cowpunk – "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy & The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."
SNFU was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in Edmonton in 1981, relocated to Vancouver in 1992, and disbanded in 2018. They released eight albums, two live records, and one compilation amid many lineup changes and several temporary breakups. Vocalist Ken Chinn led the group, which included twin-brother guitarists Brent and Marc Belke for much of its career.
Nomeansno was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia and later relocated to Vancouver. They released 11 albums, including a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, and numerous EPs and singles. Critic Martin Popoff described their music as "the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of punk and the discipline of heavy metal." Nomeansno's distinct hardcore punk sound, complex instrumentation, and dark, "savagely intelligent" lyrics inspired subsequent musicians. They were a formative influence on punk jazz, post-hardcore, math rock, and emo.
Helix is a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band. They formed in 1974, and are best known for their 1984 single "Rock You". The original lineup was formed by drummer Bruce Arnold, and consisted of lead vocalist Brian Vollmer, guitarists Ron Watson and Rick "Minstrel" Trembley, keyboardist Don Simmons, and bassist Keith "Bert" Zurbrigg. However, their most well known lineup, and the one that recorded "Rock You", was the 1980s version of the band: Vollmer on vocals, accompanied by guitarists Brent "The Doctor" Doerner and Paul Hackman, bassist Daryl Gray, and drummer Greg "Fritz" Hinz. The history of the band has been marked by many lineup changes, with Vollmer being the sole constant member and only remaining member of the original lineup. Although Hackman was killed in a tour bus accident in 1992, the surviving members of the 1980s lineup reunited in 2009 for an album and have continued to tour since 2011. Watson died in 2019. Simmons died in 2021.
Bush Tetras are an American post-punk No Wave band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals". Although they did not achieve mainstream success, the Bush Tetras were influential and popular in the Manhattan club scene and college radio in the early 1980s. New York's post-punk revival of the 2000s was accompanied by a resurgence of interest in the genre, with the Tetras' influence heard in many of that scene's bands.
The Diodes are a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1976 in Toronto. They released five albums: Diodes (1977), Released (1979), Action-Reaction (1980), Survivors (1982), and Time/Damage Live 1978 (2010). They were one of the first Canadian bands to embrace this style of music and helped to foster the original core Punk scene in Toronto.
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in 2008 and continue to tour and record.
Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Chelsea are an English punk rock band which formed in 1976. Three of the four original band members went on to found Generation X.
Razor is a Canadian speed metal band formed in 1983 at Guelph, Ontario. They are also recognized as the pioneers of Canadian thrash metal and have been referred to as one of the country's "Big Four", alongside Sacrifice, Voivod and Annihilator.
Huevos Rancheros were a Canadian surf rock band from Calgary, Alberta, active from 1990 to 2000. Huevos Rancheros performed an instrumental blend of rockabilly, surf, garage and punk music.
Randall Desmond Archibald, better known by his stage name Randy Rampage, was a Canadian musician and founding member, bass player and vocalist of the hardcore band D.O.A. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, the Germs, Negative Trend, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore. Hardcore 81 included a fourth member of the lineup Dave Gregg.
Talk's Cheap is the debut EP by Canadian punk rock band the Demics, released in 1979 on Ready Records.
In the Meantime and In Between Time is the seventh studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU, released in 2004. The record was the band's first full-length studio album since FYULABA in 1996, and would be the last to feature founding guitarist Marc Belke. The band released the album on Belke's own Rake Records imprint.
Andy Kerr is a Canadian-born musician, originally from British Columbia and currently residing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Kerr is best known as the former guitarist, frequent vocalist, and co-songwriter in the progressive punk rock/punk jazz band NoMeansNo. He has also recorded and performed as a solo artist, and his current group is Two Pin Din.
The Lemons was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The first lineup of the group consisted of Jimmy Paulson, Greg Lovell (guitar), Brent Saunders (bass) and Jeff Ramirez (drums). Ramirez was soon replaced by Rob Cunningham and the band released their debut album entitled Marvel in 1993.
Jesuit was an American hardcore punk band from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Active in the mid and late 1990s, the group released twelve songs but disbanded before recording a full-length album.
"New York City" is a Canadian single by The Demics released in 1979 from their debut EP, Talk's Cheap. William New of Groovy Religion is quoted in Chart magazine stating "Singer Keith Whittaker never really wanted to go to N.Y.C. Instead, this song is a gentle rib of fellow '70s New London Punks The Regulators and their Lou Reed fixation. The grass is not always greener. Re-issued recently isn't it time to pay the band some royalties?"
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