This is reprinted here from the liner notes to "I Said Sometimes!" - A Tribute to Bum. It now includes links to key names and sites, has less grammatical errors, and is a whole lot easier to read...
Wouldn’t It Be Great?
On the eve of the debut performance by The Suite Sixteen — the post-Bum project featuring Andrew Molloy and Rob Nesbitt —murmurs began to spread of this proposed tribute album. The show itself took place last summer
at the Queens in Nanaimo, The Suite Sixteen opening for Neko Case at
Jack Tielman’s Blackball Records birthday bash. Only fitting, given
Bum’s career-long affiliation with Jack T-Man and his label, Lance Rock Records. As Gareth ‘Magic Teeth’ Gaudin drove up the Malahat, a
well-deserved break after pressing the latest release by po-mo
minimalists Run Chico Run, a carload of Victorians were privy to the
first tracks that would compile this full length tribute to Bum.
Unfortunately, I was in the other car.
Catching a ride in The Suite Sixteen van, therefore unable to hear the
initial Bum covers that rocked the Magic Teeth-mobile, I’ll admit I was
beyond skeptical of this proposed tribute. While Bum has earned a
well-deserved spot in the annals of Pacific Northwest rock n’roll, does
the cult following for these Pac Rim popsters warrant a full-length
homage? Most towns have a band or two that tours and releases music
outside of their respective burrow, but do these bands deserve the
revelry of the tribute album treatment? Jesus, what’s next? Just Buy It:
A Tribute To FurnaceFace?!?
Sorry for the cynicism; along with the fluoride treatment, a
healthy dose is mixed into Vancouver Island’s water supply. So, I will
pop the pull-tab of my Lucky lager and recall the quote from the liner
notes to No Idea (covered here by local punks The Jizz Wailers): “Living
in the Garden City can be pretty STIFFLING. This goes out to the people
who help make it that way.”
I don’t wanna be that stiffler.
A year later—after hearing nearly all the tracks recorded for this
project—I realize my concern is misplaced. These cover songs,
originating from far and near, stand on their own merit. The Bum
faithful will hear renditions of old favorites that re-vitalize and
contextualize the originals. New, curious listeners will be treated to a
smorgasbord of rock n’ roll delights.
So here it is: my written word equivalent to a tribute track. The
mandate? Some personal memories of the group, a little nostalgia, a dash
of sentiment and some mention of the groups and artists that selflessly
devoted themselves to this project. I am not attempting an exhaustive or
comprehensive history of the group. If integral people, groups or labels
from Bum’s hey-day have been omitted from this tapestry please forgive
my oversight and feel free to hit me up for a beverage of your choice,
if we ever shall meet.
This is my happening…
Victoria and punk. Red Tide. Nomeansno. The Dayglo Abortions. Where does Bum fit in to this lineage? I would suggest somewhere after these
forefathers and before the nü-school stylings of recent Sub Pop signees
Hot Hot Heat. Bum were Victoria’s melodic punk representatives of the
early nineties.
I made the move to Victoria in the fall of ’92. After a week of
West Coast re-climatization, I hit the downtown pavement in search of a
job at a record store or comic shop of some sort…nobody can claim I
didn’t reached for those stars.
I went to Island Fantasy, the long-standing comic shop in Market
Square, and approached the counter with resume in hand. A young Gareth
Gaudin hunched on his stool a la Matthew Modine in Birdy, fast at work
on an early ish of his long running ’zine Magic Teeth. He sneered at me
and my manila stats. It was years later before we would become friends.
When Island Fantasy closed its doors, Gareth soon took a new perch at
Legends Comics. A few short years later, Gareth would focus his
obsessive-compulsive disorder on releasing records such as the one you
are now palming.
So much for the comic book gig—on to Victoria’s bountiful
selection of record shops. I heard that ‘everyone was going to Lyle’s
Place,’ so that was the logical first stop. After I asked to see the
manager, I was approached by a scruffy looking guy in his late twenties,
salt and pepper hair, wearing a Bolt-thrower shirt and a look of
complete disdain. I wanted to dazzle my potential boss with a keen
knowledge of Euro-thrash, but the guy intimidated me. Yes folks, Jamie
Fulton, original Bum drummer and all around puppy dog, intimidated the
seventh gate of hell outta me. He put my resume “on file.” Years later,
we would play together in The Stupes and continue a friendship based on
all the important things in life (parenting, Carcass lyrics, Stampede
Wrestling, not necessarily in that order).
Safe with the knowledge that my resume was on the top of the
Lyle’s Place heap, I carried on down Yates Street. Next stop: the sorely
missed Funhouse Records. I passed the neighboring Pizza Hut, entered the
shop, and forced a resume to a guy with a great head of Kung-Fu Ramone
hair. That man with the hair was Bum bassist Kevin Lee. He looked at his
partner Rick Andrews, then looked out at the shop, empty, save for the
three of us, just sort of shook his head in confusion to my enthusiasm,
and handed back the resume. I pretended to accidentally drop it on the
counter, paid for my Brood 45, and headed back to the street, starting
to realize that things work a little different in the Garden City.
Crestfallen, I walked into A&B Sound, the West Coast equivalent of a
Virgin Megastore. I was hired twenty minutes later.
My first day on the job, the floor manager led me to the cassettes tape
kiosk where I was introduced to a funny looking little man who
diligently priced Barenaked Ladies tapes with his cherished grease pen.
I was to be trained by this chuck-clad, Crowded House T-shirt wearing
feller, who answered to the name of ‘Rawb.’ By the end of my first
week, the floor manager wrote me up three times for distracting Rob with
chitchat; the sharing of embarrassing moments at our respective junior
high dances, and talk of the band he co-fronted by the name of Bum.
He brought in some of the group’s early 45s that week, and I first bore
witness to the Bum aesthetic. I like bands with mascots, and while Iron
Maiden has Derek Riggs and Molly Hatchet had Frank Frazzetta, I now
wonder: what would a Bum release be without that little green mascot
illustrated by Eisner-Award winning renaissance man Pat McEown?
Circa ’92
Perhaps it was guilt over the write-ups; Rob invited me to come check
out his band at Harpos in the coming weeks.
Harpos was THE live venue in Victoria. Booked by Marcus Pollard (who
contributes with Bent On Being Bent-Alex Chilton, eat yer heart out),
the club was a staple for all the day’s Canadian and American touring
acts, the practice grounds for many a local band and a Thursday-night
haunt for over-taxed (and often moronic) UVic students. On those early
nineties evenings, campus and townie patron alike could catch local
favorites like The Vinaigrettes, fronted by Carolyn Mark (who, along
with The Room Mates, contributes an amazing rendition of The Eternal
Ideal).
Speaking of Marks, nobody ‘marked out’ for Bum like Kent Bendall marked
out for Bum (Kent Bendall, a troubadour of home recording, contributes
not one, not two, but THREE tracks to this comp. The second and third
come under the monikers of The Pixie Stix Six Six and Urgent Response).
Kent, another A&B Sound casualty, was a sure bet to be front and center
at every Bum show, hair bobbing, one arm dangling, the other resting on
the opposing elbow. Near the back bar-rail, you would be sure to find
Bart Simpson and the Phat Tank gang watching the action on the
dance-floor, dreams of Ibiza on their collective consciousness…
I believe the first time I caught the classic Bum line-up—Andrew Molloy,
Rob Nesbitt, Kev Lee and Graham Watson—was during an opening slot for
Pacific Northwest favorites, Girl Trouble. I was struck by near every
aspect of their live-show: Andrew’s harmonizing vocals; Rob’s
tigger-like pogo exuberance; Graham’s hard-hitting style; Happy Kev’s
ship and anchor bass lines.
I wasn’t the only one. I remember once seeing the triple bill of a young
Tim Kerr band named Everclear, plus guests Flop and Bum (of course).
When Everclear returned the following year, much of the bassist’s banter
revolved around Bum appreciation! And who ever said that attending an
Everclear (or a Dishwalla) show makes one gay?
The Producers
Our next stop is Langford, the hub of Vancouver Island’s West Com, the
birthplace of Canadian Hip Hop sensations Swollen Members and home of
Scott Henderson’s Sea of Shit Studios. Speaking of Swollen Members, it
must be noted that way back in the summer of 1992, Bum played an open
air concert in the Beacon Hill bandshell, sharing the bill with Sound
Advice, an early incarnation of Swollen Members. Apparently, Sound
Advice (Victoria’s first Hip-Hop crew) arrived at the bandshell on their
customized low rider bicycles. Rob gently suggested to the posse that
Bum should borrow their low rider bicycles for a photo shoot later that
day. Rumor has it that Sound Advice busted out their gloks and bum
rushed the show. I am happy to report that no shots rang out and Rob has
since made amends with Sound Advice’s Rennie ‘Dubnut’ Foster. The two
recently combined forces and produced the theme music to a local
interest television program. And who says rock and rap can’t mix? I’m
with Daddy Freddy; it sure ain’t me.
But I digress…back to the Sea of Shit. A Victoria punk rock rite of
passage. Many a local punk has been known to frequent these hallowed
grounds, indulge in a game of table hockey, trip on an empty case of
German import and enjoy the cacophony of rare Ornette Coleman A-Sides.
Bum were no strangers to the digs of Alternative Tentacles recording
artist Scott Henderson, whose Institute of Technology gives When She
Walked the Pet Sounds treatment (and a far cry better than your average
High Llamas track, I might add).
As we leave the bastion of clean livin’ that is Langford and begin our
trek across the globe, the first stop will be short in geographical
proximity—early nineties Seattle. While kids around the world got their
groove on to Seattle grungsters like My Sister’s Machine, Bum joined the
allied forces of Seattle labels such as Popallama, Lucky and Top Drawer.
Speaking of Allied Forces, here’s a little-known Bum trivia note: the
working title to Bum’s opus, "Wanna Smash Sensation", was almost entitled
Triumph! Here’s one true believer who feels they should’ve followed
there hearts, and evoked the magic powers of Gil Moore, Rik Emmett and
Mike Levine.
In the Emerald City, Scott Henderson’s American doppelganger is none
other than Kurt Bloch (Trivia time again: members of Bum can be seen
enjoying a backyard bbq on the cover of which Fastbacks single?)
Not only did Kurt produce and engineer Bum’s full-length debut, but he
also filled in for a recently-departed Rob Nesbitt when Bum were slated
to play a Nationally broadcasted CBC radio show for the 1994
Commonwealth Games. A memorable show, not just for Kurt’s boundless
energy, but for CBC’s own Smuggler, Grant Lawrence, being ejected from
the stage and club during the encore. This was a scene that I myself
would eerily repeat some years later at a Smugs show at the University
of Victoria, the hapless victim of a Jaggermeiser/Wild Turkey one-two
punch that resulted in yours truly being barred from the campus venue.
Oh well, that stupid air hanger folded from embezzlement some six months
ago, so huzzah! But back to Kurt Bloch—he represents here with his
groups Marshall Artist and the legendary and sadly departed
Fastbacks (R.I.P.)
La 1a Internacional
From the shores of the Puget Sound, lets take a quick globetrot…
The first stop on this journey must be in Spain, no question. A
country well known for rock n’ roll stalwarts, it was in Spain that Bum
enjoyed the most international success. Full-lengths were released on
labels such as Munster and Impossible that resulted in a pair of
well-received tours (that latter with the often-overlooked Nick
Thomas/Terry Russell line-up), and (gasp!) Bum actually making the pop
charts!
The Spaniards’ love for Bum must endure, as this compilation features
EIGHT Spanish combos. Biscuit do Mallory justice in their breezy Urge
Overkill style; The Feedbacks deliver an ode to Mrs. Rock N’ Roll while
The Holdens worship the muse of The Right On Girl; P.P.M. rock the early
single I Wanna Be and No Crom tackle O Cookie. The senioritas crank it
‘one louder’ as well, evidenced by Juniper Moon’s take of the Kev
Lee-penned Vitamin V and The Spanky Darth Vaders have no reason to
apologize with Don’t Ever Be Sorry. Of course, there is also No Picky
with a faithful rendition of Really Outta Tune, my personal favorite
from songwriter Andy Molloy. This post-Nesbitt number—an ode to the
departure of Rob after their first Spanish tour—is a heartfelt lament
that conjures the aching vocal refrains of Bob Dylan’s Positively 4th
Street.
Before heading back to Canadian soil, a shout must go out to a
pair of rock n’ roll nations; namely Japan and Australia. Japan—where
Bum enjoyed relations and releases with the likes of Teengenerate and
Fifi and the Mach III—is represented by Japanese punk sensations The
Wimpy’s. Australia is well represented by a pair of Australian castaways
from Japan: the fabulous Mach Pelican (check out those backing vocals to
the chorus of Wedding Day) and The Stinky Bugs who deliver a rendition
of Debbiespeak that demands multiple listens.
En Guard for Thee
My earlier Furnaceface quip aside, there is something truly magical
about like-minded musicians coming together across vast Canadian
distances, being thrown together on compilations and live bills, only to
find that they share in common the same intrinsic sensibilities and
influences that inspired them to play music in the first place.
Au-Go-Go records of Australia are hip to this cold-road notion, and they
once released an excellent compilation of Canadian acts entitled On
Guard For Thee. Bum represented the Maple Leaf on this particular comp
with Mrs. Rock N’ Roll. Funny enough, some of the other On Guard groups
have shown up on this here comp as well, albeit under different banners.
Take the legendary cuddle-core of Cub. Now on her own, The Lisa Marr Experiment delivers a haunting and wistful rendition of Bum’s first
single, A Promise Is A Promise. Jim Bryson, whose previous group,
Punchbuggy, offered the brilliant track Swimming Pool to On Guard, now
pays tribute to a watering hole of a different sort with his
downtrodden, acoustic rendition of I’m Not One.
Speaking of watering holes, there’s always High River, Alberta, host of
the 1992 Highwood music festival. At High River some ten years ago, Bum
shared a stage with such illuminaries as Aragathor and Krül fuckin’ Hül.
High River figures prominently in FUBAR, my new favorite movie. I’m
certain The Deaner would’ve approved of Aragathor and Krül Hül, but how
would Bum have faired under the high fallutin’ criticism of ‘turn up the
good, turn down the suck’?
It was the following year at the 1993 Highwood music fest that I first
met Glengarry’s finest, The Stand G.T. Chris Page and the boys were impressed with my ‘Bum Go Crazy’ T-shirt and regaled me with stories of
playing acoustic renditions of Bum tunes during their long drive from
Ontario to Alberta. Their generous offering of stickers, shirts, records
and tapes proudly remains in my collection to this day. Their
decade-long admiration of Bum shines on like a crazy diamond with their
rendition of I Hardly Breathe.
While old hands like The Stand G.T. continue to slog it out, what of the
up-and- coming Canucks who have taken the time to pay respect to their
predecessors? Well, Terminal City antes up three members of the new
guard: The Chick Magnets, The Spinoffs, and Magic Teeth recording artist
The Ewoks.
Steel Wheels Keep on Spinning
If you recall my introduction, I mentioned that the conception of this
tribute CD coincided with the debut performance of The Suite Sixteen. At
this show, fans from Bum’s hey-day converged up front, sharing elbow
space alongside youngsters such as Jack Teilman’s newest signees The Crusties. As Andrew MacGregor of The Amarillo Stars took the stage to
introduce the boys, I couldn’t help but view the show as both a fitting
epilogue to the Bum saga, as well as the promise of new beginnings.
Andrew told a wonderful tale of teenage summers, aimlessly driving the
Island Highway to the soundtrack provided by Rob, Andy, Kev and Graham.
Wanna Smash Sensation playing on the tape deck. Heartbreak and blurry
lines. The wonderment of youth. The fable of teenage searchers.
I raise my glass to all those hangers-on.
Tim Horner
June, 2002
timmy_horner@hotmail.