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BTO founders being sued

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The driving force behind BTO (Bachman-Turner Overdrive), Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, is now being sued by it’s remaining member’s. The former band mates, Robin Bachman and Blair Thornton, are suing the pair for using their own names.

After the group broke up in 1977, the lawsuit claims Randy Bachman and Turner signed away the rights to the BTO name to their two former bandmates and agreed not to use the Bachman-Turner Overdrive name without the consent of the other parties.

The lawsuit states that Randy Bachman and Turner signed two further deals in 1984 and 2002, saying they wouldn’t use the Bachman-Turner Overdrive name in connection to new recordings and live performances. CTV

The 1970’s Supergroup, made some great music back in the day. Randy and Fred were the brains behind the collection of musicians and I think that they should be able to use the name that they branded. I know the law is against them but when does common sense come into play in something like this? That’s all I have to say.

Here is my Top seven most loved BTO songs!

  1. Lookin’ Out for #1
  2. Not Fragile
  3. Let It Ride
  4. Takin’ Care of Business
  5. You Ain’t Seen nothing Yet
  6. Take it like a man
  7. Gimme Your Money Please

Keep on Jammin’ Randy and Fred!




Remembrance Day 2009

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Today is a day set aside to remember all those courageous young men and women who lost their lives for all of us. I just came back from today’s services at the East York cenotaph and there was a great turn out this year. Everyone from school kids and regular citizens of East York.

Last years service was the first one that I attended. I found it very moving and it brought back the times that I had shared with my late Great Private James (Joe) Henry Judge (Reg. # 3310131). He was considered a ARMY CLASS “A” member and received this, and a few more, war medal . He served in the Great War (WWI) in the Canadian 58th Battalion.

Here is a link to the book of remembrance of his fellow solders that passed away in battle that I found on line today. I just thought it is fitting to remember not only him but his fellow comrades in arms on their special day of remembrance.

I also did a post a while back about how the Canadian Government honoured our military men and women on the Canadian $10 bill. I found it some neat bits of information about what they put on our the bill and what it suppose to mean!

So to all those who have fallen, God bless them all.

Will George W. Bush finally Give Peace a Chance?

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George W. Bush is going to talk about his days in the old White house. That’s nice and all but his speech will be taking place in the same Montreal hotel where John Lennon and Yoko were asking everyone who would listen to them to give peace a chance? I know, this can’t be right but it is! This story is just so weird and ironic that I can’t find the words to describe it properly.

Didn’t someone think about the mockery, not to mention the humour, that would come with using a venue like this for such a purpose? Think what happened there at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel 40 years ago and what it was all really about. Doesn’t Bush have some PR person who looks out for his image? God’s that’s funny … I think?

This article from The Canadian Press by Andy Blatchford, really caught my eye and I just wanted to share it with you all.

So what do you think about the irony of this one? Is it just me or am I just blowing this event out of proportion? Enjoy!

Keep on Jammin’

AUX TV sounds good but what is it?

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A new music channel on Rogers cable in Ontario you say? Something that will just play music that is interesting and ground breaking? Sounds like Much Music ages ago … not exactly says Aux TV president Raja Khanna.

TORONTO — As of Thursday, Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. EST, the nation will once again have a “music” station when Aux TV launches via Rogers Cable channel 107.

Raja also said in another article that “We’re focusing on groundbreaking new music. If it’s great music, I don’t care who’s writing it. If the Jonas Brothers were writing groundbreaking new music, we would report on it.” Ok, fair enough.

They also claim to be playing about 60/40 Canadian-to-international programming and that would be nice because we seem to be producing so much music these days!

Aux TV’s platform, they claim, is around 70% unique and syndicated shows with approximately 30% videos in their overall scheme.

I checked out their website first and found some neat interviews. I then headed off to see them on Rogers Channel 107, and overall it seems ok but I’ll have to wait a while to view more of their programs when I can.

Has anyone else out there seen some of their programming?

Keep on Jammin’

Montreal’s Peace Love and Bongo Festival

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The name of this popular local tourist festival is known as Tam Tams. This event, that is held in Montreal’s Mont Royal Park, is a Sunday afternoon tradition that originated way back in the late 70’s or early 80’s, no one is quite sure.

It is a gathering of people who just want to hang out and have a good time playing music on hand held drums (Tam tam’s or Bongo’s).

My cousin’s husband just came back from Montreal this past weekend and told me of this great event that he just witnessed. To be honest with you, it sounds like freakin’ blast!

Imagine people hanging out playing music with that communal living feel to the gathering. Very young, old and anything in between sharing a peaceful afternoon or should I say vibe.

Tam Tams Montreal: A Mont Royal Tradition
Urban lore has it Montreal’s Tam Tams, named after the French word for hand drums like the bongo or djembe, started in the 80s, maybe late 70s, it depends on the source. According to writer Susan Krashinsky, it began with an African drumming workshop. For a change of pace, students convened in Jeanne-Mance Park on Mont Royal, beside the angel statue. Eventually, non-drummers joined in, dancing along with the ever changing beats until it became Tam Tams, Montreal’s Sunday tradition in the park. By 1994, the city of Montreal took charge of maintenance, security and marketplace permits.

Has anyone out there been to this gathering of the minds?

Keep on Jammin’ (or in this case Tam, Taming!)

The Danforth Music Hall is 90 years young

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The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto has just celebrated it’s 90th year of operations in my neighbourhood. It’s one of those great buildings that you drive by every day, but are not aware of it’s importance to the area. It’s seen it’s ups and downs over the years and now it’s time to place it in it’s proper place in history!

Originally this great gal on the Danforth was called the Allen Theatre Chain. Back in the day they referred to it as a grand “photo-play palace.” The Theatre chain was owed by Julie and John J. Allen.

This grand venue was home to both Vaudeville and theatrical acts as well as silent movies, which were accompanied by live piano. It has a single screen, holds multiple types of events, has 1800 seats and has been use in many movie scenes. To name just a few of the feature films shot there were Chicago, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, (Studio) 54, Bulletproof Monk and some scenes of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Their first theatre was in Brantford Ontario. In 1920 Julie and John J. Allen returned to Brantford and bought the now Sanderson Centre. After remodeling and redecorating it was opened on February 2, 1920 as the Allen Theatre.

Then the location changed hands in about 1929 and was called Century Theatre. They kept the inside and outside look of the building pretty much as the original.

Some of the past acts that performed at the historic Danforth Theatre & Concert Hall in the 80s and 90s were The Police, Bruce Cockburn, James Brown, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Tom Waits, Barenaked Ladies, The Tea Party and Blue Rodeo just to name a few.

I’ve only witnessed two events there, Amos Lee and Rick Wakeman. Both shows were great, the sound was beautiful, the hall itself was majestic and the seats were GREAT!

So here is to the old Danforth Music Hall and many more years to come!

Keep on jammin’

The Hour on CBC TV

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The Hour is a Canadian TV talk show with host George Stroumboulopoulos. The Hour has had some fabulous guests in the past and I’m more then sure many more to come.

It’s one of those great Canadian shows that allows their guests to be perfectly relaxed to in a public forum. George provides us a candid glimpse into his guests personal and private lives. He it seems to make his new friends feel like they’re all just sitting around the kitchen table, having a coffee and shooting the breeze. in my eyes, George is one of Canada’s greatest interviewers today!

George was first brought to the public’s attention way back when he was a young video VJ from the old Much Music scene. This is a music station in Canada that shares a similar format to music channel MTV in the US.

The musician’s that have been on the show are perfectly suited to his hosting skill set.
Some of the more resent ones that I really liked was the Canadian singer called K-os. George invites him to just relax and chill on his show.

Some non musicians that have been on the show is impressive as well. Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s piece was very insightful and moving to my wife and I. You know I did not realize that bob Dylan’s song Hurricane was about this great man, huh!

Has anyone seen The Hour on CBC? If so, what do you think! should he continue in this format Or should he be back at Much Music?

George, Keep on Jammin’

A Tribute to Neil Young

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There was a tribute show celebrating the musical life of Neil Young that was tied into this years Luminato 2009 Festival in Toronto. The line up was fabulous and tickets were gone in no time at all! Man, I wish I was one of those lucky one!

Relive a milestone in Canadian music history.

On January 19, 1971, Canada’s legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young gave a solo concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Audiences there heard for the first time several of the iconic songs that would later appear on his albums, including his best-selling LP Harvest – yet the live concert recording itself wasn’t released until 2007.

I was so pissed that I didn’t get any that I put the show out of my mind. Then today I came across this site, with complete audio of the show! It was just out of the blue that I found it and i just wanted to share it with all those Neil Young fans out there. Even the lucky bastards that went to the show!

“There is in Young so much talent and so much quiet charm that he’s bound to stick around for a long time, maturing and writing and rewarding his audiences.” Jack Batten, Globe and Mail, Massey Hall concert review, January 20, 1971.

Listening to Colin James do Heart of Gold was great! He did it in a reggae format, very different. Steve Page, ex-Bare Naked Ladies front man, did his first public appearance at the tribute, since his arrest in Buffalo. He performed Journey through the Past. Sister Euclid did a cool version of Helpless. As a matter of fact, I was in downtown Toronto when we attempted to break the record for most guitarist in an ensemble playing that very song! They called it “The Great Canadian Tune!”.

So check it out, you might just find some neat new versions of an out classic there.

Neil Young just Keeps on Jammin’

It’s the summer time and making posts ain’t easy

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So I hope that everyone out there is having a great start to their summer!

As you may all ready have known, I have not been posting that much on this site. Well to tell you the truth, I’ve been working in the backyard gardening! Yes gardening! And let’s not forget the odd family adventure!

My wife and I have both been blessed with being bit by the gardening bug. We’ve had around 56 roses and about 1100 plants in there and loving every minute of it. We tend to be of the extreme variety.

Ever since I was quite young, I’ve had my fingers in the soil. It started off cutting the grass, de-weeding the flower beds and a bit of planting. Truth be told, I’m not that great at planting the greenery, my wife is strictly in charge of that area!

She is the one who does all the research into it and I must say that I do catch on eventually to her technique. There is so much to learn on gardening forums about this hobby that even to this day, it really blows my mind!

As for the family thing, I’ve been in Brantford more lately (sorry for not calling ya Dom, I will get around to it next time I’m there!) the biggest thing I had to do was putting up this massive fence at my parents.

Figuring out where exactly to start digging post holes, cementing them (I hope that they’re all relatively straight), placing the horizontal 2 x 4’s, making sure all is level … It was a hectic couple of days in the sun and rain, but it was all worth it. The multiple hangover days I could have done without.

So hopefully I get back to the task at hand that is to start to entertain you all with my less the grammatically correct writing/English!

Keep on Jammin’

Keith Emerson cancels remaining tour dates

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It just came to my attention that the Keith Emerson Band has had to cancel their remaining tour, due to the physical deterioration of Keith Emerson’s right hand.

My good friend Chris Noto, bassist with CounterPoint, put this notice up on his facebook account. This really is a tragic musical loss to all the dedicated Progressive rock lovers out there. This may have been the last time to see them.

The real kicker here, is that Keith’s other band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) was to have a possible late year reunion tour that was going to dovetail his recent tour! NOW that SUCKS!!!

Dear Friends,

It is with much regret that I have to announce that due to past right hand injuries the resulting nerve damage and dystonic factor has made it unable for me to play the keyboards to the high standard I have always set myself and have to cancel my forthcoming Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla USA and European tours.

I am also going to have to cancel the proposed Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour which we were going to do at the end of this year.

I will of course continue with my physical/chiropractic/acupuncture therapy etc. in the hope that this will eventually get me back on form.

This is absolutely devastating to me as music will always be my main key to communicating with a world-wide audience. I know how much my fans and fellow band members were looking forward to these shows and it saddens me greatly to have to come to this decision and make this announcement.

Thank you for your understanding.

Keith Emerson

I recall playing in an band a fabulous tune called Benny the Bouncer. It was one of my earliest exposure to this great band. Hey, maybe the boys in CounterPoint will play this one next time they play, maybe?!

It, as well as countless ELP classic tunes, made me look forward to practicing their complex style of this new genre called Prog. (Progressive) Rock. Now, due to Keith and his band aborting their remaining shows, the general public will be sadly stripped of it’s chance to see one of the last great Prog. rockers of all time!

Our prayers will be with Keith so that he will nurse his ailing right hand back to good health, thus giving some people a glimpse into a musical world, almost forgotten! To add insult to injury, his mother had just passed away as well.

Keep on Jammin’ ELP

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