Old Enough to Forget

Stand Back is one of those infamous albums from my childhood. I only had a couple of records as a little kid. One of them was Bill Cosby's 1964 release I Started Out as a Child , that I was gifted when I was 10 (the other one was The Tale of Jemima-Puddle Duck  by Vivien Leigh - yes I still have it). I played that album near to death. I remember when I was in grade 7 and one Friday we were allowed to bring in records to listen to. I brought in my record and played "The Lone Ranger" expecting the class to erupt in spontaneous laughter ... only to have the needle unceremoniously lifted before it ended. "That's not music!" One of the cool kids brought in a copy of Stand Back . "THIS IS MUSIC!" There was a lot of kerfuffle as someone thought he heard Myles say the "C" word ... not cancer, on "Highway Hard Run" so they spent several minutes lifting the needle and trying to hear the offending word. I find it weird that this is still...

An obscure album that barely qualified as a post script on the late Jim Clench's wiki page. I will admit to being a little uncharitable to Mr. Clench over the years. His contributions to April Wine prior to his departure from the band, were not among my favourites, although you absolutely have to give it up for "Oowatanite" a song that apparently led to a rash of fire bell thefts across the country back in the mid '70s.  From there Jim would bounce around. He was the original bassist in Loverboy, but left the band. He was on Bryan Adam's debut album and was also a member of B.T.O. on their last two studio albums after Randy's departure. Albums I originally refused to buy, but have recently been trying to make up for lost time, and frankly they're both decent albums but they've been mostly forgotten. Along the way, Jim joined up with 451 Degrees, and the band would release one album, and then disappear. Now, I'd seen the album a couple of times, but...

When I was a kid B.T.O. was synonymous with rock and roll. If there was a bigger, better and more awesome band I wasn't aware of them. The gear everything seemed to rotate around was Randy Bachman, the band's architect, producer, songwriter and occasional singer. Of course this how I saw it as a a twelve year old, who practically lived off Four Wheel Drive , and later Head On . I was of course aware of Not Fragile , how could you not be? I didn't have the album (yet) but the big hits appeared on my various K-Tel records. When Freeways dropped in 1977 I was a sophisticated teenager with slightly more refined tastes, and I was on the fence about getting the album. I had a good friend who had it, and he played it once for me, and the summary judgment was "This is shit." I wouldn't hear the album again for decades. When I found it on CD it was better than I remembered but it wasn't really a Bachman Turner Overdrive album. There were moments, but it was a Randy...

The first time I bought this I found it at a second hand store (Over the years I'd end up buying it a few times in different formats). The same place I got my comics and Robert A. Heinlein paperbacks. It was an awesome place. LIVE! is an overlooked gem from April Wine's early albums just before the band really broke wide open in Canada. They were already a pretty big deal, about to become more bigger. I think I got this just before First Glance came out (which is another story for another day), and I played it pretty much to death, or at the least to the irritation of my parents. There are so many killer songs here, and these versions were my introduction to the band. Of course being the 70s there's a blistery (yes, I chose that word on purpose) guitar solo to start off "The Band Has Just Begun" that my best friend thought was me with my fingers stuck in the strings. I thought that was a little harsh, but listening to it now I can't say I don't hear it - ...