Artist: Young Canadians, Album: No Escape, Song: I Hate Music

The Young Canadians were a punk band from Vancouver that originally formed under the name, The K-Tels, in 1979.  K-Tel was of course, a major music brand and when they threatened to sue the band, the members settled on The Young Canadians.  They were Art Bergmann, Jim Bescott and Barry Taylor.  Art had just left his former band, The Shmorgs (see blog 3/22/11), in suburbia and relocated to the city with some like minded musicians.  They were influenced by the emerging sounds of punk from abroad like the Sex Pistols and The Stooges along with local bands like D.O.A. (see blog 8/15/10) and The Subhumans.  The band only lasted for a year but there was a great deal of buzz generated from their shows.  The notoriety led to an opening slot for the Boomtown Rats during the western Canadian leg of their tour.  The band also played shows in the U.S. and released two EP's before disbanding in 1980.  One of their first singles, Hawaii, became an underground punk anthem of sorts.  Art would go on to play in the band Los Popularos, before embarking on his own solo career.  The label, Sudden Death Records; owned by Joey Shithead of D.O.A., released a retrospective album entitled, No Escape, in 1995.  One very cool song from No Escape is, I Hate Music.  It was first released on a compilation entitled, Vancouver Complication, and you can purchase it on Itunes.  As for the retrospective release, it can be purchased from Amazon for $20.  You can check out the song, I Hate Music, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fu1dv66P3g).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!