Glam Punk PowerPop noises from Montreal by Louie (vocals/keys), Chris (vocals), Pierre (guitars), Hoe (bass), Angel (drums), these five were/are 222. This is their first 7Inch on Rebel Records with two cuts [b.t.w., my winner is the flip].
Info from CanuckistanMusic: The 222's formed in summer 1977 and they had one foot in Punk and the other firmly rooted in the Glamrock of the New York Dolls. This is what probably opened the door for the band in a city still awash in disco and prog rock. Singer Chris Barry, who joined the band in 1978 while still a high school student, recalls in Perfect Youth (The Birth of Canadian Punk), The 222s were on TV a fair bit, so I sort of became a minor celebrity in my high school. Along with the Normals and the Chromosomes, the 222s helped kick start a scene centered around places like 364 rue St. Paul, Station 10 and the Hotel Nelson. By the time the guys walked into the long forgotten Le Petit Studio du Nord in September 1978 to record this single, the first punk record to be released in the province of Quebec, the band were as tight as the skinny leather pants they often wore. Barry: "We wanted the show to run like the Ramones, not a lot of time between songs. We wanted to be as slick as we could be (which) just meant doing our best and being in tune and trying to not drop songs in the middle of them."
How the effervescent 'I Love Suzan' escaped the major labels is anyone's guess. With nods to doo wop, the Beach Boys and of course their heroes the Ramones, it's a perfect power pop charmer that should have been the soundtrack to the summer of '79 rather than an obscure collector seven-inch. What's more, the tougher sounding 'The First Studio Bomb' over on the flip takes the lads more firmly into punk territory, making this a potent little double-sider well worth the digging. Ah, but the 222s story was only just beginning. With numerous TV appearances in Montreal, and packed shows in Toronto and at Max's Kansas City in New York, they seemed ready for the big time. But by 1981, the popular band still had not released a follow-up, and well, Montreal being Montreal, they somehow managed to hook up with some of that city's less savoury types, who had plans of their own for the boys. (Michael Panontin)
- Great Thx to Reinhard -
No comments:
Post a Comment