TEENAGE HEAD (Canada)

TEENAGE HEAD
-LP
1979 (Interglobal)





"This line-up of people had ripped T-shirts and their hair was insane and they had safety pins in their ears and in their noses and it was really wild. And they were lined up way down the street for this band Teenage Head. And I looked at that line-up and looked at where I was going and figured there was something really fucking wrong with what I'm doing. That's when I got a band together." - Tom Wilson


"Hamilton, Ontario, Canada actually is the rock'n'roll capital of North America. Here's just one reason why." - Roy Harper


"Named after a Flamin’ Groovies record, Steeltown’s Teenage Head was created in the 70s by then-high school friends Frank Kerr (Frankie Venom) on vocals, guitarist Gord Lewis, Steve Mahon (Marshall) on bass, and drummer Nick Stipanitz. Disgusted by the disco and prog rock that were so popular at the time, they formed a garage band, practicing every Saturday morning. The band’s practices were obstructed by a neighbourhood curmudgeon, who would consistently call the police whenever the boys plugged in. The same cop would come by each week, stay for a few songs, and offer encouragement of the “keep it up!” variety. Teenage Head’s first live show would be held in their high school cafeteria, and their fellow students loved it. They were the soundtrack to many teenaged, drunken Saturday night parties. With two years of practice and school behind them, the band was ready to play out. When they moved to Toronto, the difference between them and other bands in the area was that they could actually play. Their sound was basically punked up rock n’ roll on speed, with nods to new wave and rockabilly, influenced as much by Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent as the New York Dolls and The Stooges." - Christina Whipsnade



"Teenage Head’s 1979 self-titled debut is a wonderfully bratty blast of youthful abandon crammed into 10 of the tightest rock ‘n’ roll tunes that this country has ever known. These four kids came out swinging, hammering away on their instruments until you could hear the blood dripping right there in the music. The songs are linked to the same kind of filthy grooves that gave birth to the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols, and tracks like “Ain’t Got No Sense” and “You’re Tearin’ Me Apart” define the sound of four kids with nothing to go for but broke.

And they do go for it, forgetting about safe and easy in favour of fast and reckless. “Top Down” kicks down the doors with pounding chords and a snarling vocal, while “Lucy Potato” opens up wide for a speedy drum breakdown just before a ragged-ass Chuck Berry solo from guitar slinger Gord Lewis. Singer Frankie Venom might say it best in “Curtain Jumper,” a tune about a rock ‘n’ roller who hides in his basement shunning the daylight, singing “happiness to me is dancing, shagging, and dying.” Now, that’s about as rock ‘n’ roll as you can get." - Eden Munro

Frankie Venom (vocals)
Gord Lewis (guitar)
Steve Marshall (bass)
Nick Stipinitz (drums)

Tracklist:
1. You're Tearin' Me Apart
2. Ain't Got No Sense
3. Bonerack
4. Picture My Face
5. Lucy Potato
6. Little Boxes
7. Curtain Jumper
8. Top Down
9. Get off My Back
10. Kissin' the Carpet


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