Itsa Skitsa

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During April of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been busy scanning my old slides and negatives. I came across some black and white negatives dated 1986 of the band Itsa Skitsa playing at what I guessed to be the Key West club in London. As always I went to Facebook fans of that era and got a load of information. 

My call for help in the 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario Facebook group went like this ...

Looking for you recollections ... again. I have some BW pictures of Itsa Skitsa I've recently scanned which seem to be from 1986. It looks like it might have been at Key West on Talbot St (definitely London). If you have any recollections to share I'd appreciate it. (I have previously shared color photos from a CTO gig).

I do recall them being very good musicians with quirky post-punk rhythms. They did have a track "Warning" on the CHRW London Underground LP (86);  there was a demo tape (again '86) with "Simple Kiss", "Tell You" and "Will We Ever". If anyone has collected more of their music I'd like to hear it again.

I believe the band had Doug Campbell - drums, percussion; Paul Scriven - guitars, vocals; Damien Seguin - guitars, vocals; Iain Staines - bass, vocals. In these pictures there's a third person singing. A guest/friend?

I seem to recall they were an evolution of the band called "Soma".

Ps. From these pictures I think they might have been called "Men w/o Shirts"

They released a self titled six (6) tune EP in 1987 (see Discogs for more information) which I have digitized into my iTunes collection. On listening again to their music I think they were in the Pop or New Wave genre.

Mark Goodwin, who was active in the London scene at the time, identified the singer "Pretty sure the mystery vocalist is DaNa STone friend of the band and all around good guy." Dave O'Halloran confirmed my suspicions that it was the Key West club. Marcy Marcy got in contact with some of the band members and reports "the boys are racking their brains to remember these gigs, but loving the pics! Your photos are such a treasure. A gift to all the bands you photographed."

DaNa STone confirmed the club and shared the poster at left of events at the Key West in early August of 1986 which sets the date of these black and white images at either Friday August 8 or Saturday the 9th. He shared the poster and commented "Pretty sure it’s from this gig. Skitsa shows usually ended with a lengthy jam - my favs were with Doug and Marcy doing a “double drum”. I love seeing pics like this, reminding me of the great friends and wonderful Music Community that we were all part of. ;0)"

The poster is a very good representation of the music scene in London at the time. It's a veritable inventory of all that was going on. Young people making music of their own and having the time of their lives doing so. Gary Kaufman (who drummed for LMOTV) saw the poster and commented "Great to be included in that line-up....and yes, those were the days.." Kevin McKeon (also of LMOTV) recalls "it was such an exciting time with a bunch of bars within walking distance of each other that featured live bands playing original music most days of the week."

I've had a bit of a conversation on the side with DaNa STone. He tells me he's working on remastering the Itsa Skitsa EP which I had mentioned. He has a bunch of live tracks which might someday see the light of day. There are a few recordings I've found on YouTube but it is pretty sparse. We also talked about an 18 track LP "4 Days in November" they recorded back in 1984 at "ItsaBarn" where I have another connection. He confirms it was indeed the barn at Doug Campbell's home in an area called "Old South London". We lived nearby and knew his mother Mary Campbell (see also the Mary Campbell Housing Coop) as the barn was also used by our food coop. I recall seeing the band rehearse there several times.

DaNa has a history with the London music scene, Kate and I were just voyeurs on the side. He tells me he wasn’t around for Soma (I recall they rehearsed in that same barn). He writes "I’d lived in London in 79 working with a band called The Stoves - Paul [Scriven] was in that band. Doug [Campbell] and Damian [Seguin] were in Soma - I have some promo pics somewhere and I think a few demo songs - I believe with Ralph Dame and Rick Bowman. Iain [Staines], who I met in 79, came from The Demics."

At the mention of The Stoves I shared some photos from "Polish Hall - 1979 Stoves & Regulators". 

Finally, I have more color photos of Itsa Skitsa, some I've not shared before, from the same period.

• Itsa Skitsa at Call the Office
• Itsa Skitsa fronting for some other band.

These notes and photos scanned and organized during April 2021; this blog filed for the date of the August 9, 1986 show at Key West.

Itsa Skitsa

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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, July 15, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario group:

"Here's some more Reg Quinton photos of Itsa Skitsa circa 1986 and it looks like Lionels (south side of King St, near Talbot, second floor).

The band consisted of; Iain Staines (former Demic), Damian Seguin (former Soma), Paul Scriven (former Stoves) and Doug Campbell (former Soma). They released a 6 song 12" record and appeared on the CHRW compilation, London Underground during their tenure. There was a CD released in 2003 that collected unreleased mid 80's recordings."

Thanks Dave, this helps to identify some photos we had wondered about.

I suspect this event was sometime before the CTO event in the previous blog post. Ian's hair is much longer and the boys have kept their shirts on — but perhaps those other events were hot and sweaty summer events. This event doesn't look as "wild" as the others.

I'm pretty sure that they are the front act for someone else but I know not who. You can see there's another drum kit on a riser behind Doug and there's far more amps and other gear on the crowded stage. When I learn more I'll update this blog.

— 2024/12/20 I've moved this post to the approximate date of the event.

Napalm Baby's, Embassy

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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, July 3, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario group:

"More Reg Quinton pics, this time it's the Napalm Baby's.

Dated 1983 and at the Embassy Hotel. At the time the band consisted of: Dave Newsome (vocals), Dan Husband (guitar), Rob Johnston (guitar), Bruce Fisher (bass) and Wayne Fisher (drums). Remember seeing this lineup many times around town and always high energy blasts!"

Some interesting comments were posted on a cross posting to the Radio What Wave group:

John Herb writes, "Dave had a bit of a "Bad Boy" reputation. I was a friend/ acolyte so I know some of that stuff was true. Remember when he got arrested for peeing on Janice Zolf at The Vic? Fucking legend. I miss him a lot. For a year or so he felt like an older brother. I can honestly say I never saw him dumping drugs into his arm. If he was trying to keep me away from that shit - I appreciate it. RIP ROCKER!"

Markii Burnaway replies, "He peed on a girl named Margaret from CHRW which was a downturn for him. Everyone liked Margaret."

And Kerry Piper confirms, "John Herb it wasn't Janice Zolf." and adds "... I liked Dave. It was Margaret English he allegedly peed on. I still like her too." and remarks "Good old Dave. RIP."

Verne Jarvis says, "I remember a party in the Napalm Babies band house. It was insane. They looped a recording of the baby crying in Alice Cooper's. "Dead Babies" for about 5 minutes before the band started." and adds "Dave was a sweet guy, he was pretty bent on self-destruction. I heard people say he got really weird from time to time, I didn't see too much of that, he was always cool with me, whenever we'd hangout after the bar closed for the night. Napalm Babies were one of my faves back in the day.."

Dan Heywood adds, "First time I seen them was at the Embassy. Might have been this show!"

I have nothing so dramatic to add, I was only there and took some pictures. I do appreciate Dave sorting through these old photos and figuring out the who, what, where and when. We'll never figure out the why.

There are some gems here taken with a Sigma 16mm full frame fisheye lens — I had a Canon AE-1 and and A1 back then. Great 35mm cameras — exposure automation but manual focus. When I gave up on the Canon FD mount for the EOS line (autofocus) I passed that lens on to a friend Colleen. I still have a fisheye, an 8mm on the EF mount, and like the effect. 

These photos have been shared before — see the "Napalm Babys" (2021) posting in this blog.

— 2024/12/20 I have moved this post to the approximate date of the event.

D.O.A., Bullwinkles (Again)

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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, July 10, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario group:

"Here's the last batch of DOA pics by Reg Quinton. This time it's at Bullwinkles circa 1986.

 
Band consists of: Joey Shithead, Brian Goble (Wimpy Roy), Dave Gregg and not sure who is on the drums."

Again, I'll add that D.O.A. was one of our favorite bands of that era. These photos would have been shot with a Vivitar flash and bounce card onto slide film. Lately I've been trying again to use a flash at band concerts but it's not working out very well. 

I regret that I didn't take more pictures back then. These days, with digital cameras, I tend to shoot hundreds of pictures at an event and weed them down to the few worth sharing. For example, at the CTO event I shot over 300 frames! As I often say, the secret to taking good pictures is to take a lot of bad pictures.

Many thanks to Dave for organizing these pictures. We all appreciate his work.

— 2024/12/20 I have moved this post o the approximate date of the event.

D.O.A. - Bullwinkles

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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, July 9, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario group:

"Here's some more Reg Quinton pics of DOA circa 1986.

 
Looks like Bullwinkles and the band lineup at the time was: Joey Shithead, Brian Goble (Wimpy Roy), Dave Gregg and Jon Card."

There's some debate about where these pictures were taken. It might have been Mingles (Talbot and Dundas) but I can't say with any certainty. Wherever it was, it seems to have been a pretty seedy bar with an exposed ceiling. There's not a lot more than I can add from yesterday's post so let's just leave it there.

Many thanks to Dave for sharing these photos and figuring out the who, what, where and when. His work is very much appreciated.

— 2024/12/20 I have moved this post to the approximate date of the event.

Itsa Skitsa

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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, July 15, 2024, Dave writes in 1980's Punk Rockers in London, Ontario group:

"Here's some more Reg Quinton photos, this time it's Itsa Skitsa at Call The Office circa 1986.

The band consisted of; Iain Staines (former Demic), Damian Seguin (former Soma), Paul Scriven (former Stoves) and Doug Campbell (former Soma). They released a 6 song 12" record and appeared on the CHRW compilation, London Underground during their tenure. There was a CD released in 2003 that collected unreleased mid 80's recordings."

Rob Minderman (Second Thoughts) commented: "I met Doug and Damian who played before SOMA in a prog band with Second Thoughts Ralph Dame on Bass, Doug Campbell on Drums, Damian Seguin & Rick Bauman on guitars in a band called Fractured Fantasy. Cool pics."

That's Ian on bass, Doug on drums, Damian and Paul on guitars. This was a very accomplished band. Their music I'd describe as post-punk-pop; perhaps "new wave" would fit; they were very much in the style of early XTC. Very rhythmic with strong dance beats and great harmonies. In my iTunes music collection I have digitized versions of "Itsa Skitsa" (1987 6-song EP), Itsa Skitsa - Demo (1986 2-song cassette), "4 Days in November" (2003 18-song CD also on iTunes and YouTube) and the CHRW London Underground (1986 various artists collection). There's a  catalogue of their music on Discogs but I rather doubt you'll be able to find anyone selling their copies. I see they've used a cover photo from this collection for Discogs. That's great.

In the background of this photo you can see a list of bands playing that week. I see that LMOTV were playing on Thurs and Friday, Itsa Skitsa on Saturday. That's a nice combination of bands, we like both of them. See blog entry here on LMOTV and Sheep Look Up.

Most of these pictures have been shared before — see Itsa Skitsa (2013) in this blog. Dave likes to share everything shot at that event, including out of focus and poorly framed, my original posting would have been pruned down to a "best of". I'm grateful that these are being shared and enjoyed.

By the way there's another post in this blog you might find interesting — see Itsa Skitsa (2021). Those photos have been identified as August of 1986. That blog also points to some photos in an album of mine Its Skitsa Again which haven't been identified. That small collection seems to have them fronting some other band but I know not who, where, or when.

Finally, there is a connection to Doug Campbell. When we lived in South London (Wortley Village) we were members of a small food coop, the New Brighton Food Co-Op, that was located in Mary Campbell's garage. Mary was Doug's mom and the bands would rehearse in the same space! Mary was an interesting character who leaned more than a little to the left. She claimed the RCMP had a file on her and no doubt they did. The Mary Campbell Housing Co-op on Talbot St, London honors her legacy.

— 2024/12/20 I have moved this post to the approximate date of the event.

Michael "Cub" Koda

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Sometime in 1986 (What Wave Dave O'Halloran remembers a show there on 4/17/1986) we saw Michael "Cub" Koda (1948-2000) perform at the Firehall in London. This would have been after his time with the band Brownsville Station. The Firehall catered more towards country, R&B, blues and classic rock. At the time I was more interested in punk and new wave.

I was shooting black and white film at the time which would have been developed a few months later. We used to buy long rolls of movie film and wind them onto 35mm cassettes. Developing film was a project often delayed until we had several rolls to tend to.

It looks like I was using available light rather than a flash so the film would have been push processed — hence the high contrast results. I never got around to looking at or printing the photos (the negatives are pretty crappy) until the COVID-19 Pandemic in the spring of 2021 when I was scanning a folder of old slides and negatives taken of bands in the 1980's. This was amongst them.

Dave O'Halloran tells me, "I think we were there different nights, as the way I remember it, there was almost nobody at [the 4/17/1986] show and it was a weeknight. One of your pics shows a crowd and there certainly wasn't one at this show, audio tape confirms it. I remember Cub played the rest of the week there and was planning to get back, but never made it....saw him another time at Mingles and there was a crowd for that show. Those are some great pics you took Reg!!"

Scott Bentley recalls: "I did an interview with Kub for Scene magazine under an alias when he was at the Firehall. Pretty Kool guy!"

I recall little of the event but thought I'd share these photos for those who might remember more. It looks like an exciting performance and it seems to have been well attended. I must have been pretty pissed to have been taking pictures from the small stage.

This note and photo album prepared April, 2021. The blog entry is filed as on arbitrary date in the year when we saw the performance.