The DEMICS (Canada)

TALK'S CHEAP
-EP
1979 (Ready
Records)


Re-Up!



"When the Demics' EP Talk's Cheap
later came out I snatched it up. After a few listens I called several people over and dropped the needle on "New York City"... that's all it took. " - Dan Husband




THE DEMICS
-LP
1980 (Intercan Hypnotic)





"It's 1977. London, Canada is a town of 200,000 located in the farm belt of Southwestern Ontario; 120 miles west of Toronto. 120 miles east of Detroit.

Meanwhile, New York City's CBGB's scene and London England's punk explosion set off musical and cultural shock waves so powerful that they are felt even in a remote secondary market.The punk rock aesthetic makes it possible for bands to form and audiences to gather seemingly overnight.

THE DEMICS are the first of many bands to form in London, and they have a crazed audience right from the start. In the fall of 1977 Eddie & The Hot Rods play for three nights at London's premiere rock club. At the same time, the downtown London loft scene, inhabited by artist, printers, eccentrics and drain-pipe jeans began to crop up amid the prevailing flairs and long hair. The members of the Demics first meet in this milieu.The band begins rehearsing with Keith Whittaker on vocals, Rob Brent on guitar, Iain Atkinson on bass and Nick Perry on drums. Keith was from Manchester, England and Iain was from Cambridge, while Rob and Nick were natives of London, Ontario. Keith already had the name for the band, a Manchester slang insult meaning "loser" "dork" or "wanker"." - Mod Pop Punk Archives


"October 1978, there was a Halloween punk rock bash at The Polish Hall on Ann Street. It was sold out. I stood outside with about 30 other curious lost souls listening to the glorious noise within...the building's glass vibrating, walls booming.

Apparently there was a plan afoot ,someone flung the side door open from inside and we all rushed in. The first thing I saw when I rounded the corner, was Keith Whittaker - lead singer for the Demics - diving headfirst into the crowd to confront somebody who was pissing him off. The band kept playing. The crowd was alive, moving, crashing into each other. Heads bobbing up and down through a haze of smoke hanging over their heads.

It's an image I can conjure up at any time... I doubt it will ever leave me. It was one of those defining moments in one's life, when you know you are on to something good. And God Damn, it was good! The music was great, and more importantly...it was mine. I belonged here and I knew it. This wasn't just about the band, or the music, this was about everyone in attendance - the participation and the mad scene sucking us all in. It was electric, startling and it was real..." - Dan Husband



"In late 1978 The Demics recorded a five-song EP entitled "Talk's cheap" for newly-formed indie label Ready Records. The vinyl EP(released in early 1979) went throught a number of pressings and is now a collector's item. One song from the EP, "New York City" a slower-tempo but still punk-rocking song, immediately received airplay on alternative and college FM radio(including pioneer-ing "New music" station CFNY in Toronto) and became the band's signature song. By early 1979 all of the band members had moved to Toronto. Through constant live playing the band added new original songs and covers ranging from rockabilly to 60's garage psychedelia to punk building a repertoire of short, fast, loud, punked-out pop songs about boredom, anger and frustration, all laced with Keith's sarcastic wit. High energy music by and for the pissed off..." - Mod Pop Punk Archives


"The band was wooed to Tom Treumuth's Hypnotic Records label who were more equipped, along with the Intercan label, to take the band farther with its distribution deal through Pickwick Records. The result was the self-titled debut album in 1980 and the band's first legitimate hit single "New York City" -- produced by legendary English guitarist/producer Chris Spedding.

The Demics' rising star was short lived and the band split up amidst lack of a clear vision and musical direction following the loss of their deal on Intercan/Hypnotic." - Canoe


"In March of 1996 Chart Magazine, the voice of college and alternative radio in Canada, voted "New York City" the best Canadian single of all time, placing ahead of the heavyweights like Neil Young and the Guess Who."- Mod Pop Punk Archives

The Demics:
Keith Whittaker - vocals
Jimmy Weatherspoon - drums
Ian Atkinson - bass
Rob Brent - guitar(Talk's Cheap)
Steve Koch - guitar(Demics ST)

TALK'S CHEAP:
1. I Wanna Know
2. You Tell Me
3. Talk's Cheap
4. New York City
5. Oh Well

THE DEMICS - ST:
1. I Won't See You No More
2. Blueboy
3. New York City
4. The Grey and the Black
5. The 400 Blows
6. Talk, Talk
7. The News
8. The Least You Can Do
9. Lucy
10. All Gone Wrong


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