Zellots

Click image for more ...

Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Yesterday, May 19, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario:

"Here's a couple of Reg Quinton pics of The Zellots, no idea of the place or date."

Likewise I have no recollection of where this gig happened. It looks like Greg's drum kit is on a temporary stage held up with milk crates. It would have been in or around London. Doesn't look like a club, perhaps a field concert of some sort?

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to an approximate date for when the pictures were taken. I assume this is sometime around 1982 but that's a wild guess.

Zellots, Fryfogles

Click image for more photos ...

May 15, 2024. Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario:

"Here's some more Reg Quinton pics, this time it's the Zellots at Fryfogles circa 81/82. At the time, the band consisted of Catherine Destun, Jane Colligan, Chris DeVeber and Greg Moore. Lots of familiar faces in the crowd shots."

John Ondrasek commented, "I believe Shakin Jack opened that night. Jane let me use her bass. I have a picture, somewhere." No one, as yet, has been able to tell me who joined the band on harp.

These photos got a very good reaction from those in the groups (Dave also shares these posts in other Facebook Groups). In part it's because of the fond memories of dancing wildly like the young fools we were. The are quite a few audience pictures and people really like spotting their younger selves. I'm especially pleased to see that our friend Peter Tangredi has pulled out and enhanced some crowd pictures from this collection. I've added those to my album. His crib of Mark Deroux all sweaty and dancing is especially nice. Kevin Fox commented, "Great pic, and after the teeth knocked out incident in front of the Boot." There's got to be an interesting story there!

The B/W pictures are awfully grainy and filthy, terrible exposures, but they do capture the excitement of the moment. One from this session made it into Graphic Underground, a 2012 book by Brian Lambert celebrating the artists, posters and music of that period. Several of my photos appear in that book; it's no longer in print but might be found through rare book collectors. (Just checked Amazon Canada has a couple of copies but want over $1,000 each!!).

Dave posted all the photos of ours that he found, some were too awful but I'm happy to have them shared for others to enjoy. In the album above I've spent a little bit of time to clean things up, crop and enhance the exposures where I can. But I really need to go back to the slides and negatives ... they're somewhere in the basement waiting for me.

Many thanks to Dave for organizing the photos, figuring out the location, date and time. It's work that is very much appreciated — by those who were there and by Kate and me.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to the approximage date of the event.

NFG/63 Monroe, Record Release

Click image for more photos ...

May 6, 2024. Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario:

"Here's some Reg Quinton pics of 63 Monroe playing live at Records On Wheels circa 81/82.

Records On Wheels would have been on the north side of Dundas between Clarence and Richmond at the time. It was the first chain record store to actually have a punk/new wave section, a great import section with lots of punk/new wave records and they sold singles on the counter. And you could get your local releases here and they had some great window displays. (anyone have pictures of the window displays?)."

I'm pretty sure it was the record release of the NFG/63 Monroe EP on a Saturday morning. There was a good crowd. They played a short set from the elevated area at the back of the store. The store was very near to Nash Jewellers which is now the London Music Hall of Fame. I think the show was cut short because it was very loud and nearby merchants weren't too happy with that.

Members of the band at that time were Scott Bentley (aka Steven R. Stunning) on voice, Markii Burnaway (guitar), Pete Dekoker (bass) and Jeff Roth (aka Rooster) on the drums. Rooster isn't visible in any of these photos. Clearly they're on their transition from snotty nosed punks to the alt-punk glam of "First Date". We loved every incarnation and even had them play at our 25th Anniversary.

I'm not sure if these photos have been shared before, I suspect they have. But, in any case, many thanks to Dave for his work organizing these old photos and figuring out the location and time for many of them. I've spent a bit of time enhancing these photos — they were very dark. 

Rather than a "See also" section, I invite you to search the blog for other photos of this and other bands from that era.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post to the approximate date of the event.

Robin Graves & The Lost Fear

Click image for more photos ...

Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today, April 29, 2024, Dave writes in The Cedar Lounge - Blue Boot group: 

"Some more Reg Quinton pics. This time it's Robin Graves & The Lost Fear at the Cedar Lounge April 1982... They were a rockabilly sounding outfit with Perry Puckett on vocals/guitar, John Ondrasek on bass and don't know who is on drums."

I recall that these guys were definitely into the "glam" side of things — that's pretty apparent. The playing wasn't as tight as it needed to be. However, others were pretty keen and have fond memories. Ruby Canterbury says, "they were great." There are friends and fans in the pictures but I suspect this might have been one of their few gigs ever. They were opening for 63 Monroe that night.

There are some very poor quality photos here, out of focus, etc., but there are a few gems. Usually I'd prune an album down to just the few photos I'm especially proud of. Dave is more encyclopedic in his choice of photos to share. But for an historical record here it is.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to the approximate date of the event.

63 Monroe, Cedar Lounge

Click image for more photos ...

April 27, 2024. Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today Dave writes in The Cedar Lounge - Blue Boot group: "Some more 63 Monroe pics from Reg Quinton, this time at the Cedar Lounge circa 1981/1982."

Bob Loblaws comments: "I remember they played one night when I still worked there as a waiter, they both came in wearing pig masks"

These photos are awfully dusty and dirty. I really ought to dig them out and scan them again. I can't recall but I suspect these were shot on movie film — there was some crazy deal that returned prints, negatives and positives. Processing was crap, hence the crappy scans. I've spent a bit of time adjusting exposure but really ought to dig out the originals, clean them up and rescan.

However, it was a fun crazy time at the Cedar Lounge. That's Markii Burnaway in guitar, Jeff Roth (Rooster) on drums, Peter Dekoker on bass and Steven R. Stunning (Scott Bentley) on voice.

Many thanks to Dave for his work organizing photos and figuring out the location and time for many of these.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to the approximate date of the photos.

Forgotten Rebels, Cedar Lounge

Click image for more photos ...

Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today, April 27, 2024, Dave writes in The Cedar Lounge - Blue Boot group:

"Here's some more Reg Quinton pics. This time it's the Forgotten Rebels at the Cedar Lounge circa 1982.  

It's the This Ain't Hollywood lineup of the band; Mickey DeSadist on vocals, John Welton on bass, Mike Mirabella guitar and Robert Allan on drums. 

Anyone have any clue who the videographer is?"

Peter Lambert responds that it's Michael Grelecki.

Kate made friends with Rob's girlfriend at one of the Cedar Lounge gigs. The band was staying overnight upstairs in a pretty cruddy environment. We invited the band to come stay with us the next time they were in town and they did on a few occassions. I recall one time when they assured us that no, they wouldn't need to stay with us. That surely tonight they'd get lucky and have some warm bed and hot girl to stay with. Nevertheless, later that night, after we had gone to bed the guys sheepishly arrived looking for a place to stay.

These black and white photos are pretty dirty, someday I may go back to clean them up a bit. The film we would have developed in our basement darkroom in old south. The cameras we were using at the time were a Canon A1 and a Canon AE1. There seems to have been some flash involved, that would have been a Vivitar 285 flash on a handle mount and bounce card. I see fish eye distortion — that would have been a 16mm Sigma lens. Pretty much all of that gear is long gone.

And the pretty girl in the photo is my Baboo — Kate! In the background I think I see Dave's wife Rena.

See also

• Forgotten Rebels Cedar Lounge 1980
• Forgotten Rebels Brucefield Concert 1981
• Forgotten Rebels Cedar Lounge & Fryfogles 1982

Many thanks to Dave for his work organizing photos and figuring out the location and time for many of these.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to the approximate date of the event. Sometime in 1982.

63 Monroe, Cedar Lounge

Click image for more photos ...

April 17, 2024. Our friend Dave O'Halloran (aka What Wave Dave on CHRW) has been sharing on Facebook, with our grateful permission, photos that we had taken of various bands back in the 1980's. Today Dave writes in The Cedar Lounge - Blue Boot group:  

"Here's another batch of Reg Quinton pics from the Cedar Lounge early 1982. ...This time it's 63 Monroe, in what is probably their longest running lineup. Scott Bentley (Steven R Stunning), Markii Burnaway, Pete Dekoker and Jeff Rooth. This lineup lasted from mid 1981 (when they went by First Date for a few gigs) till approximately 1987 when Markii left and was replaced by Ian Collie."

Kerry Piper comments on the shoes Peter is wearing: "Those are the Northstar platforms I gave to Pete. I said you can play in em, you can have em."

With the recent reissue of the NFG/63 Monroe EP there's been some renewed interest in those photos. Many of these have been shared before on Facebook and in this blog. Dave is working to organize photos taken in the Cedar Lounge. We are grateful for his work to organize and document a time that was, for many, incredibly exciting.

The photo above of Markii is one of my favorite from this collection. Usually I'd prune an album down to just the few photos I'm especially proud of. Dave is more encyclopedic in his choice of photos to share. I have edited many of these for better exposure.

— 2024/12/21 I have moved this post in my blog to the approximate date of the photos taken.