Life's A Canadian Rock - Happy Canada Day!

GOTYE parody "Star Wars That I Used To Know"

Molson beer bottle "O Canada"

BAY CITY ROLLERS to receive lost royalties

In 2007 the collective representatives for members of 1970s Scottish teen pop band The Bay City Rollers filed suit against their former label, Arista, for 30 years of unpaid back royalties on sales in the millions of units. No one knows for sure the exact amount as Arista never issued one royalty statement during that period. Arista attempted to block the class action suit by claiming the band was barred from receiving royalties at all. The court has recently ruled in favour of the band and a forensic accounting will soon begin to determine the extent of lost revenue. The legal team responsible for filing the motion has issued a press statement with more details here.

MIKE MASSE - Acoustic cover tune King

You've heard them in every bar every day of the week for decades - cover tune crooners. But Mike Masse takes it to another level. Not only does he have an incredible voice - but sings everything SITTING DOWN! Here's "Long Time" by Boston. Also check out the jaw dropping version of Toto's "Africa".

3 1/2 Year Old drums for Spirit of the West

Marshall Mech - son of Amy Mech (Bob Segarini's daughter) and Elvis Costello guitar tech Tim Mech - joins Spirit Of The West on drums for their encore at the Dragon Boat Festival in Ottawa, Ontario June 22nd, 2012. Marshall has a big future in music...he's only three and a half years old!

New Music Monday: Dana Countryman / Focal Points

I've been getting lots of new 'singles' in my mailbox recently. Here's two that caught my attention that might be of interest to power pop fans. These are both American artists who should be on your radar:

DANA COUNTRYMAN - Here's the lead-off track from his upcoming album 'The Fantastic, Incredible, Retro Pop Music World of Dana Countryman' entitled "Here Comes Those Butterflies Again." Listen here.

FOCAL POINTS - Jeff and Don Orr have released their first single to iTunes called "Broken Hearts and Dreams" and it features additional instrumentation and mixing by Dee Long (Klaatu). The song has a "#9 Dream" Lennon vibe. Get it here

Pre-BEATLEmania photos from Croydon 1963

On April 25th, 1963 Andy Wright was sent to the opening of the new Fairfield Halls in Croydon (South London) to cover the two "Merseybeat Showcase" performances event which featured performances by John Leyton, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, The Big Three...and, of course, The Beatles - who were only a month into promoting their first LP 'Please Please Me'. The photos have now resurfaced as part of Fairfield Halls' 50th anniversary celebrations. Read more

Northern Pikes' JAY SEMKO: the new Doctor Doolittle?

You know you've got a musical gift when your song not only transcends language...but animal species. Watch as feline friend Lee Lee Moo Moo Cha Cha watches and listens attentively to Semko's acoustic rendition of his own "Undeniably Love".

DISCovery of the Week: An Ode to Emily White - LAMONT JAMES

With the fallout from NPR intern EmilyWhite's admission that she's only ever bought 15 CDs amongst her 11,000 illegal downloads, Toronto's Lamont James has written her a lovely song chronicling the crimes she's unaware she committed in the name of 'artistic support'.

PHIL HARTMAN Album Cover Artist & Comedian

The Canadian Walk of Fame announced its 2012 nominees yesterday which includes legendary guitarist Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, BTO), singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, ballerina Sonia Rodriguez, football player Russ Jackson and the 1972 members of Team Canada. The sole posthumous award goes to late comedian Phil Hartman whose high profile career on the TV shows 'Saturday Night Live' (during the tenure of fellow Canadian Mike Meyers), 'The Simpsons' (as con-artist pitchman Troy McClure), and 'News Radio' (alongside Kids in the Hall alumnus Dave Foley) has long overshadowed Hartman's early career in graphic design - specifically creating album covers. Among the 40 album sleeves he created were 'Legend' by POCO (1978); 'Fighting Clowns' by Firesign Theatre (1980); 'Greatest Hits: History' (1975), 'Harbor' (1977), and 'Silent Letter' (1979) by America; as well as designing Crosby, Stills & Nash's logo. Read about Phil's art from his sister-in-law here

Beatles Actor Victor Spinetti dead at 82

The BBC has reported that Welsh actor Victor Spinetti - star of London's West End, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as 30 feature films - including three by The Beatles - has died at the age of 82 after a year-long struggle with cancer. Read more

You say it's your birthday - McCartney Turns 70!!

The 'cute' Beatle has become the cute 70 year-old senior citizen. In honour of the event the McCartney Production Limited website has back-filled bonus material onto the 'Memory Almost Full' album. The updated Premium Collection includes an exclusive 21 minute video interview with Paul, photos from the video shoot for 'Dance Tonight' (featuring Natalie Portman and Mackenzie Crook) as well as shots of Paul in the studio.



Members of the website can view the collection here

If you're not a registered member you can sign up here

It Came From Outer Space - TOP 20 Alien Films

This week I went to see ‘Prometheus’ one of the few films I’ve made time to deliberately go and see this year (the record defying ‘The Avengers’ is the other). As the trailers and teasers have been unfolding for months online I came to realize that I’ve been waiting 32 years for it. Ridley Scott returns to the universe where ‘Alien’ scared the hell out of the world – and space – back in 1979. I didn’t see ‘Alien’ in the theatres during its first run because it was restricted, but when I was 17 I took a job doing janitorial work at the Canadian National Exhibition during the summer of 1980 [the year of the Alice Cooper riot at CNE Stadium]. At the end of our three weeks of low wage grounds sweeping, puke washing, garbage hauling, back breaking labour our supervisor invited us all to a farewell party at his apartment. Read more

Being CATWOMAN is back breaking work

As DC Comics attempts to stay relevant in this Marvel dominated world, they've been stunting of late - most notably by burning the entire DC Universe to the ground and starting from scratch. They've also recognized that strong female characters are bringing in an entirely new audience besides the eternally lascivious drooling males by attracting proud-to-be-geek female readers. However, as these noble pursuits are bound to go, someone at DC decided that the lascivious male audience deserved the booby prize this time with the re-launch of 'Catwoman'. Needless to say, a legion of female graphic artists who have excelled at portraying strong female archetypes had this to say about Catwoman's new, ahem, gymnastic abilities here

Video Game Geeks Have Humour Too!

What folks don't realize about 30 year-old virgins living in their parents' basement and playing video games is that some of them have wicked senses of humour. Toby Turner has turned it into a YouTube sensation with his parodies and 'literal' translations of video game promotional trailers. Now he takes a stab at the overwrought music found in games like 'Assassin's Creed'. Watch as Toby takes a crack at writing lyrics to one of these dramatic musical themes. It's a song your Foreign Grandma would like....

PLATINUM BLONDE returns with new single/album

First The Spoons, then Men Without Hats and now Canadian '80s sensations Platinum Blonde return after 12 years with their new single "Beautiful" (on Fontana North/UMG) on June 18th and a performance at The Mod Club in Toronto on June 16th. Featuring original members Mark Holmes (vocals) and Sergio Galli (guitar) with Rob Laidlaw (bass) and Dan Todd (drums). The full album 'Now & Never' will be released August 21.

DISCovery of the Week: JULIAN TAYLOR BAND

Former Staggered Crossing member Julian Taylor returns with his new Julian Taylor Band single "Never Gonna Give You Up" which is being featured on at least 12 radio stations in Canada right now. A neat video was just released for the song this week. Catch the soul rocker in a city hear you:

Jun 16, 2012 - Bala, ON @ Kee to Bala - The Julian Taylor Band Live!

Jun 17, 2012 - Oakville, ON @ Cameron's Brewery - Cameron's Anniversary Party

Jun 23, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ Scruffy Murphy's Irish Pub - Julian Taylor Band Live!

Jun 24, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ The Hideout - JTB LIve

Jun 30, 2012 - Rochester, NY @ Wedding Reception - JTB LIve

Jul 01, 2012 - Muskoka, ON @ Lake Muskoka- St. Elmo Pier

Jul 07, 2012 - Haliburton, ON @ Benton Brown Residence
Jul 08, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ Gordon Residence -The Julian Taylor Band Live!

Jul 14, 2012 - Orillia, ON @ Royal Canadian Legion Branch 43
Jul 20, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ Dora Keogh's Irish Pub - The Julian Taylor Band Live!

Jul 21, 2012 - Sherkston, ON @ Sherkston Shores Resort
Jul 27, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ The Bier Market - The Julian Taylor Band Live!

Jul 28, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ The Bier Market - The Julian Taylor Band Live!

SLOAN's limited edition Bootleg vinyl #2

Sloan have been fans of seedy bootleg vinyl LPs from the 1970s/1980s since they were teenagers and released their own last fall called 'Is That All I Get? Winnipeg 1993'. The reception was so great that they've decided to do it again. On Tuesday June 12th 500 limited copies of 'Back In Blue: Ltd. Edtion Sloan Bootleg #2 will be made available from the band's website. Each purchase also comes with a digital version and four bonus tracks not on the blue vinyl LP.

Cousin Oliver vs. Starchild - It's KISS-ception!

What happens when 1970s child star Robbie Rist pays homage to 1970s douchechild Paul Stanley? I said...What happens when 1970s child star Robbie Rist pays homage to 1970s douchechild Paul Stanley??? WHAT?! I can't HEAR YOU! This pop culture meta has now created a rip in the space/time continuum. The only cure would be a recreation of Gene Simmon's "Mr. Make Believe" by Kirk Cameron.

Auto-Tuning Mr. Rogers

First there was Auto-Tune The News, then there was Auto-Tune Tom Cruise's Talent in Rock of Ages....and now...Auto-Tune Mr. Rogers. PBS, who holds the rights to the long-running children's show have commissioned Symphony of Science's John Boswell to create a song out of Fred Rogers' most prosaic monologues. "Garden of Your Mind" just might find its way onto iTunes.

41,000 historic photos re-emerge at New York Public Library

From the New York Times:
Roy Stryker, founder of the Farm Security Administration’s photography project, was determined to compile a visual encyclopedia of the United States in the 1930s and ’40s and preserve it for future generations.

So, while photographers like Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Russell Lee crisscrossed the country, Mr. Stryker was sending boxes of prints to Ramona Javitz, the director of the New York Public Library Picture Collection, to make sure there was a repository other than the National Archives.

But the 41,000 prints that Mr. Stryker had sent to Ms. Javitz languished and were largely forgotten. Read more

Herb Reed of The Platters dies at 83

Herb Reed, the last surviving original member of 1950s vocal group the Platters who sang on hits like "Only You" and "The Great Pretender," has died. He was 83. Reed died on Monday in a Boston area hospice after a period of declining health that included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, manager Fred Balboni said. Read more

Power Pop tribute to "The Who Sell Out"

Better late than liver we always say. Keith Klingensmith's Futureman Records scuttled a tribute album to the classic Who album 'The Who Sell Out' twelve years ago but in a world where the digital domain gives old ideas a new half-life, 'The New Sell Out' has finally seen the light of day. $7.00 gets you an unbelievable 26 tracks by the likes of power pop acts The Shazam, Chris Von Sneidern, Brendan Benson, Myracle Brah, Willie Wisely, Splitsville, The Gripweeds and Canadian acts The Flashing Lights and Zumpano. The set even includes remakes of the faux commercial breaks as well - including 'Heinz Baked Beans' by The Andersons (featuring Robbie Rist). Dig it here

Goodbye to the voice of GUMBY

Dick Beals, the voice of stop-motion animated character Gumby and Speedy Alka-Seltzer in mid-20th century television commercials for the pain remedy, has died. He was 85. Read more