Old Enough to Forget

The Pukka Orchestra is one of those little footnotes in Canadian music that generally references "Listen to the Radio" and not a lot after. The band was part of the Solid Gold roster that got flushed down the toilet when the label went under. To make matters worse, whoever took Solid Gold's assets during receivership also managed to lose the master tapes to their debut record. It had been decades since the band last released anything, and then with little fanfare there was a Facebook post a couple of years ago simply stating a "new" album was coming soon from the Pukka Orchestra. I was intrigued, and patiently waited for more information ... and I kept waiting. Then on March 22, 2024, it dropped, and I immediately streamed it. The songs on Chaos Is Come Again were originally released on their '86 release The Palace of Memory , and 1992's Dear Harry . I never did manage to find a copy of Dear Harry , and it remains on my list of wanted treasures. Now, fro...

Today I'm taking a break from my vinyl reminiscing to write about Graeme Williamson's wonderful, breathtakingly beautiful posthumous release, Because You Were There. Those who know me know that one of my favourite records ever is Pukka Orchestra's debut album. For whatever reason, it's indelibly ingrained in my musical DNA. I remember Neil Chapman (Pukka alumnus and fret wizard) mentioning in passing, through one of our infrequent exchanges, that he was working on fleshing out some demos and recordings Graeme had made before his passing in 2020. Then the other day I received a digital copy of the album, complete with a comprehensive booklet - something sorely missing from most releases. Sadly, it wasn't part of the iTunes download; hopefully that gets fixed. They say you can't go home again, but hearing Graeme's distinctive voice was a homecoming of sorts. There's still a bite to his lyrics, but the angry young man has evolved into an introspective, wize...

The Pukka Orchestra were Graeme Williamson (who sadly passed away a few years ago), and guitarists Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith. Neil in particular became a pen pal of sorts over the years, and remains one of my favourite guitar players. The image to the left was sent to me by a friend (Jeff, my friend Jeff) who lives in Illinois who has impeccable taste. I sent him the album because he'd never heard the band, and when I found a used copy (which is in far better shape than mine, since all I have left is the vinyl after the jacket was damaged and lost) I boxed it up and sent it to him because he was missing out and needed to hear why I kept fussing about these guys. Back in 1984 I was old enough to drink and party, but didn't do either. Instead I tended to geek out to records in my basement. Apparently Eastern Canada played "Listen to the Radio" but where I lived on the wet West Coast the song I heard and fell in love with was "Might as Well be on Mars"...