Defender Of The Faith

For as long as I can remember I always had to defend heavy metal from the vicious slandering it received from the majority of the student body in my school. When people bash on something it generally stems from hate, jealousy, or fear of the unknown. I can't count how many times I was accused of being a satanist or a devil worshipper just because I listened to a certain type of music.

I always found it amusing that non-metal listeners would always stereotype the genre with ignorant statements like "you listen to that kill your mother kill your father crap"  For the record, I have been listening to metal for 34+ years and I have yet to hear ONE song with the lyrics "kill your mother kill your father".

Another thing I heard a lot was "you can't even understand what they're saying" Well.... That's what the lyrics are for jackasses, try reading sometime! In reality most the lyrics in metal songs are usually pretty deep and they range from all sorts of subject matters, not just Satan and death.

Another aspect of metal that was constantly attacked was the musicianship itself. I've endured countless arguments with people throughout my life because they chose to say "metal sucks! It's just noise! There is no talent", meanwhile these people are listening to mindless, talentless music themselves. Go listen to your "mini pops" records some more bitch!

Heavy metal can be noisy and I can't disagree with that one, but to claim there is no talent is just ludicrous! I don't think these people truly understand how much talent it actually requires to play intricate notes on a guitar with lightning speed. Or how much talent it takes to play drums very fast while maintaining proper rhythm and timing. Or how difficult and strenuous it is for a singer to belt out hymns night after night in perfect pitch without loosing their voice.

The way I see it, there is no other genre that requires as much skill and effort in the execution of song, nor will there ever be!

Forgotten Record

So while I was writing last nights blog I came to the realization that there was another record Jamie gave me for Christmas. It was somwhere between the AC/DC record and the Iron Maiden record. Sorry folks but x- mas 83' will have to be saved for another day.

So that particular year (1981) there was yet another record that would define my musical tastes. The record was entitled "Paranoid" from another UK band named "Black Sabbath" The cover wasn't anything too special or eye catching, but the sounds inside were. This album was packed with great songs and once again there wasn't a song I disliked on the entire lp.

Sabbath were an older band from the 70s even though I didn't discover them until the 80s, by which time their lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne wasn't even apart of the group anymore. He had gone solo with his own new band. Right around this time I conviced my mom to buy me a "Hit Parader" magazine (think teen beat but for metal heads) and I was shocked to see Ozzy in the centre fold sporting a newly shaved head! Here I was dying to grow my hair and for the life of me I couldn't understand why he would cut his locks off!

Two brothers who lived around the corner from me had a live Ozzy record called "Speak of the devil" it was a double live record packed with evil imagery and even contained Ozzy performing a few Sabbath songs with the new group. If I recall correctly we also watched "quest for fire" on that day and were giddy over all the cave people nudity and sex.

I quickly hit up "Sam the record man" in the Bramalea City Centre, but could not afford the record. I did however find a 45 that contained 2 songs from the album and it only cost me a whole $2.00! Once again I played it religiously until the grooves wore thin.  Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne introduced me to a new element of metal......The Devil!

The other new kid

Jumping back from grade 3 to grade 2, I wanted to make another quick side step and mention another non music related topic about yet another new friend I made back in grade school. Sometime during the course of the school year, a new student named Patrick was brought into our class. The teacher briefly introduced him to the kids then directed him to grab any available seat. Well wouldn't you know it he picked the seat right behind your narrator at the back of the class!

  He was a very short, quiet, asian boy and I remember thinking "this kids gonna get eaten alive!" in fact he was so quiet I wasn't even sure if he could speak English! No racist pun intended!  Being the class "rebel" I slightly felt like he was invading my space. I was doodling away on my paper at hand when all of the sudden he mentioned something about what I was drawing. I turned in my seat to meet him face to face and something caught my eye.

I glanced down at his desk and saw a brilliantly drawn alien with a big pulsating brain. This kid had skills and before I knew it we were chatting it up and having some laughs.  Patrick inspired me to up my game as far as my drawing went. He definately influenced me in artistic ways as well. Anytime there was a school contest with art involved Pat was always a shoe in for first place with me in a close 2nd or 3rd. I was never much of a glory hound and was always happy to see my friend win. I was proud to know and be friends with such a talented person. You also couldn't ask to meet a nicer, sweeter, more humble guy.

When we were graduating grade 5 the two of us got to paint a mural for the school and it was one of the funnest moments in birchbank public for me. Patrick was also a big fan of horror  movies which was another reason why we hit it off so well. In grade 6 we went to different schools and I was very saddened by this, once again experiencing depression at quite a young age. 


My 11th Birthday (left to right) Patrick, Jonathan, Shawn, Kevin, Craig, Duane.



We ended up reuniting in high school after 3 long years and it was if we had never skipped a beat. On lunch we'd goto his house which was right across the street from North Park S.S. and it was there one lunch when  he introduced me to my all time favorite horror movie "Evil Dead 2"  Patrick was always an intelligent individual and as expected he went onto a successful career. It was a pleasure to grow up with him as it was all my boys I grew up with.

Fast forward to 1983.

Soooooo you're probably all wondering what record my cousin Jamie gave me for Christmas that year....

The Doctor is in

Christmas was once again around the corner and I couldn't help but anticipate what record my cousin Jamie was going to get me for Christmas. There had been a few other people who were influential along the way as well who deserve credit.

First and foremost, my sister Christine. Jamie and her were the same age and had similar musical tastes.  Chris introduced me to rock n roll that was a bit lighter than AC/DC and Iron Maiden, but I still appreciated it as I had a true love of music. Some of the records in her collection were from bands such as Adam Ant, The Clash, Van Halen, Supertramp and The Police just to name a few.  

Another influence was one of my best friends Craig. He also had an older sister the same age as mine, but his sister was more into punk music. Needless to say he introduced me to some interesting bands during our years in school together. Craig told me about a radio show that aired Sunday evenings on Q107 called "the dr.demento show" so I decided to check it out.

The music was anything but heavy, yet it was highly comical and I instantly fell in love with the show. It was here that I discovered "weird al" and I was really digging his style of putting twists on hit songs. Dr.Demento also introduced me to classic songs like "purple people eater", "they're coming to take me away", "grandma got run over by a reindeer" and all those other wacky, wonderful songs of the comedy genre. 

I started writing my own songs, which was basically ripping off what weird al was doing. It was a new, fun, creative outlet for me and I had discovered that I truly enjoyed to write as much as I did draw.

 Around this time I decided to listen to one of my dad's records. It was called "are you experienced" by Jimi Hendrix. My dad always had "the mighty Q" on the radio dial and for the most part the classic rock stuff wasn't doing much for me but Jimi was shredding! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the insane guitar sound this guy had pulled off in a pre-metal era. My musical horizons were beginning to expand, and it was still just the tip of the iceberg...

Phantom t-shirts

When I opened the gift from my new found friend I was over ecstatic when I saw the contents within the wrapping paper.... A black t-shirt emblazoned with the fabulous artwork of the Iron Maiden album "Killers" The image showed Eddie looking menacing as ever standing out on a street late at night with a bloody hatchet. There was a hand clutching onto the bottom of his shirt....presumably the hand of the victim who's blood was upon the hatchet.

This was the greatest birthday gift I had received thus far in my life.  As expected I wore it to school the next  day. I was a pretty cool dude with my AC/DC shirt, but my killers shirt officially made me badass in the eyes of my school peers.

As the warmer weather rolled around my parents decided to take us to Canada's Wonderland. If I remember correctly it was the year the park opened. The rents said I could bring a friend with me so who better to invite than my new buddy who had got me the best shirt ever! My folks gave me some spending money so my friend and I went to check out some shops and we stumbled upon a store that made iron on shirts.

I ended up getting an AC/DC transfer put on with the bands logo, Angus' face & the words "hells bells" underneath. I got a second transfer put on the back that had a scary set of eyes and the caption "I'm the one your mother warned you about" Needless to say my mom and dad weren't very impressed with what I had decided to spend my money on. 

Before I could say "heavy metal" both shirts seemed to have mysteriously vanish. I quickly asked my mother about it, she denied knowing anything about the disappearance. Years later when I was moving out on my own for my first time (around age 19) I was going through old boxes in the basement and I found the shirts.

Once again my mother was trying to "protect" me, but I was furious inside that she had lied to me all those years.....and of course the shirts were way to small to fit me anymore, even if they did fit I was way too "hardcore" (and ignorant) to be seen in old metal shirts at that point in my life. It pissed me off even more knowing these beauties had missed their prime wearing days.

I recall not knowing the whereabouts of my shirts was the first time in my life I had truly became depressed over something, and it wouldn't be the last time...

Hair makes the man?

Most of my childhood I had what I referred to as the "Bruce Lee" haircut. Whenever my bangs hit my eyes or the back of my hair hit my collar, my mom would bring me to her best friend Lillian's for a haircut. Lillian and her family also lived on craigleigh crescent. She had a son Michael and a daughter Christy. Mike was a year or so older than me but we shared a common love of star wars and I consider him my first "best friend" I ever made. 

His mother worked from home as a hairdresser, so whenever my mom decided my hair was getting too long she would have me over there in a flash. I expressed my feelings to my mom about wanting to grow my hair long and she flat out refused to accept it.  I could never figure out why, it's not like hair can corrupt you or anything. Looking back I think perhaps she wanted to preserve her young boy as a boy. Or maybe it was her way of trying to protect me from the evils of heavy metal!

The "Bruce Lee" cut. I got in SO much shit from my parents
when school pics came in for wearing that AC/DC pin!

Either way it always bugged me that I had cool shirts and arm studs, but not the long hair to go with it.  By this time my AC/DC t-shirt was on its last leg, as the iron on was slowly peeling away. I had made friends with a new kid in my grade 3 class that year. Nobody else would give him the time of day but I did.... Perhaps it was the fact that he always had the best treats in his lunch and he would offer them to yours truly.

The rest of my friends slowly warmed up to him and in a matter of days he was part of our group.  I invited him to my birthday party that year and I was super stoked when I opened his gift and it was a NEW metal shirt! One that would mysteriously disappear before the end of the school year...

(Wedding) Day Off

So I decided to take a day of from blogging and in today's post I will be taking a break from the usual subject matter. The reason I skipped a day is because I was at a wedding on Sunday and I was just too exhausted to use my brain.

So on Sunday I headed up to Whitby with Gabe, my best friend Jerry and his youngest daughter Alexus for my niece Brittany's wedding! It seems like just yesterday I was in grade 12 and my sister told me she was pregnant. I remember the night she gave birth to Brittany I was working my job at Cinnabon, so Jerry went in my place. Now here I stood 21 years later watching my beautiful, intelligent niece tie the knot with her man Arron aka Kevin.

My niece Brittany and I back in the 90's

 It was a small, family only event and was very nice.  The service and ceremony were held at the Whitby legion, which made things easy for traveling. The service was short and sweet, then we all ate, drank and socialized.  It is always a pleasure to see family and friends that I don't get to see very often.

 My niece is also expecting so soon we will have yet another addition to our family in "baby Cameron". I'd like to wish all the best to Brittany and Kevin in their future together and I hope their marriage is a long and healthy one! Congrats!