A Facebook post of late April, 2001: Calling on your recollections, comments, etc...I've found some very gritty, poorly exposed, never printed, never shared B&W negatives of mine from a show by Hamilton's Forgotten Rebels at the Cedar Lounge sometime around 1981 (I think). We used to see them a lot in the 80's -- this was probably the second time (the first being that Brucefield field party). I was shooting BW film and took a lot of pictures, the photo album is pruned of the truly god-awful but there's still a lot of crap in it. My alcohol consumption that night may explain the photo quality...
This lineup had Mickey deSadist (vocals), Mike Mirabella (gtr), John Welton (bass), and Rob Allan (drums). Not much like what we had seen in Brucefield. They had released "Tomorrow Belongs to Us" ('79) and "In Love with the System" ('80). They were working on and were soon to release "This Ain't Hollywood" (1982). All are classic albums from the era.
Kate got talking to the girl friend of Rob the drummer and somehow we managed to go upstairs in the break between sets and took some pictures. They were staying there overnight and it was not a great place .. at all. Kate invited them to come stay at our home the next time they were in town and they did a few times.
We never did figure out if their tunes were punk parody or really reflective of their held views (on Elvis, immigration, the Beatles, etc.
I recall they used to do a great version of Liam Clancy's "The Streets of London", I don't think it was ever recorded...
"Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London,
I'll show you something to make you change your mind."
Shawn Watson commented, "The Anti-Nowhere League also did a cover of Streets of London. Thanks for posting! "
Rick Smith recalls, "I knew them at that time, met them all in Port Stanley at the hotel. Just before the release of This Ain't Hollywood. About 100 of us and the band and roadies, jumped into the back of 2 U-Haul trucks. And had an after party with the band, in St. Thomas. That night they handed me the master recording of the soon to be released album. I put it in my stereo and just cracked it, first time anyone there. Other than the band had heard This Ain't Hollywood. What a effing party that was!"
I'm not sure when this gig happened but I suspect it late 1980 before we moved to Wortley Village. I have arbitrarily filed this note in my blog for a date around that time.
