I can’t help it. I get these visions. And turn them into reality.
It started as a kid in the 60s watching and listening to Montreal Canadiens games and projecting myself into a booth doing what Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin did better than anybody else. Less than two decades later I made it to the radio broadcast booth at the Montreal Forum (when I wasn’t stationed in the Forum press box on the other side of the building) hosting Canadiens’ pre & post game shows while talking to many hockey greats but none who meant more to me than Danny and Dick.
When Billy Bob Productions was revived in 2016 for a Bob Dylan 75th birthday bash and fundraiser that went so well at Club Soda, I saw that we could take it to the next level six months later to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The last Waltz. Everything that went down that night at Corona Theatre had already been visualized. The great collection of musicians took care of the rest.
And so when I got around to saluting the punk era and specifically The Clash’s brilliant album London Calling (thanks to photographer Tim Snow) in 2019, I immediately thought of combining the London and New York City epicentres that gave birth to such a vital time in rock and roll history. But I couldn’t see not including the eras that immediately followed and preceeded punk. But by the time I had possible playlists spread out in front of me I knew that doing so in one night or even over a couple of nights would be impossible. And that’s when I decided on a trilogy of shows – punk, post punk/new wave and the often overlooked glam rock movements would each get their own night.
What you are about to see is a fantastic, frenetic non-stop nearly five hour rock and roll show masterfully cut in half by James Correa. It puts you right there stage front (and stage left and right) and hopefully serves as a reminder just how great this music was even as most of the songs are over 50 years old. The makeup and glitter and platform shoes made it look different than anything else but the actual songs are brilliant. And the musicians played like their lives depended on it.
Thanks again to James for capturing most of it. Unfortunately, some early technical issues wiped out the first four songs – Bowie’s “Changes” & Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize” with Chaz Coats-Butcher on vocals, and James’ own time in the spotlight covering Queen and Bowie. But from the moment Hal Jaques of Mountain Dust takes an unexpected turn at a T.Rex scorcher through the rat-a-tat-tat homestretch of classics including Shane Murphy and The Gongs with horns and backup singers that included Juno award winner Dawn Tyler Watson, it was one highlight after another.
Many thanks to the Alice Cooper-loving guitar great Rob MacDonald for assembling such a tight house band. They combined chops and presence. And we were damn lucky to get Ian Benhamou on loan from The Musical Box. To Jasmine Bleile for agreeing to cover Suzi Quatro and pulling it off with such bad ass authority. To Peter Cat and Playhouse for repping The Wackers. The late Bob Segarini would have loved to know that a packed Club Soda was singing his song. To Dawn, as always, for going somewhere she’s never gone before – and turning the Club into a juke joint before putting a spell on well over 600 people. To Santo Romano who will leave many wondering why they are only discovering him now. To Bilal Butt and Jason Rockman for continuing to show that radio is/was just an offshoot of something much larger. To Felicity Hamer for being the first to request a song – a Sweet classic that’ll make your hair stand up. Yes she is the same dynamo that fronts Filly & The Flops. To Jason Bajada for totally inhabiting his two classics. To my old pals from The Capones – Steve Creep & Scottie Mitchell and their mates. I’ve been trying to get them into one of these shows and I’m grateful they came in under the wire. To Paul Cargnello for the great Funkadelic reminder. And by now Paul is just a little better looking than Elvis Costello. To The Damn Truth who were coming out of some emotional turmoil and turned it into a Lola-palooza moment. To the self-described “pretentious piece of shit” Alec McElcheran for elevating a punk classic to the same rarified performance art air as the godfather himself. To Howard Bilerman who is always thinking outside the box alongside me. Howard looked perfect in his leopard pyjamas while playing the crap out of the drums. To Shane Murphy who was thrilled to cover Lou Reed as long as it was the Paris ’74 version. And who grudgingly stayed with his Bowie cover even though the sheer amount of lyrics (“..a lot of lyrics, bro”) rivalled peak 60s Dylan.It was one of the great impromptu moments we’ve ever had at a Billy Bob Productions event.
And very special thanks to Mark Goodwin and Punching Weasel.
It’s still hard to believe Mark is gone, especially after watching the passion and commitment he brought to the stage one last time. He was so in his element. The trio cooked. He was full of joy, captured beautifully by James’ camera that rarely left him during his covers of Roxy Music and Alice Cooper.
I hope these performances – plus his goofy attempt to strip Alec McElcheran down to an Iggy Pop-like bare chest – and his vocals with fellow Montreal music stalwarts on the final two songs of the night can help ease some of the pain his loved ones are feeling. Mark was a musicologist of the highest degree. He was so into these nights. And as I stated in the preamble to the November 2021 Dylan benefit for Montreal musicians, he and his bandmates played a significant role in bringing Billy Bob Productions back to life. I’ll be forever grateful.
With the trilogy complete and experienced by about 2,000 music fans, Billy Bob Productions is now on hiatus but shall return in a big way in 2026. Thanks again for supporting these crazy (good) nights. Major props to the terrific musicians and their crews on and off the stage and to everybody at every level who help out along the way beginning with Montreal Calling in November 2019.
To Shane, Tony Lombardi, Tony Albino, Marc Beland, The Sunset Drip (Mike Moss, Brando Gear, Michel Paradis), Jamie Decay, DM Kelly, Annakin Slayd & The Stalwarts (Jon Rosner, Teddy Georgaris, Dennis Peikos), K-Man & The 45s (Kristin McNulty, F.C. Poirier, Joshua Michaud, Mathieu Forget, Paulo Max Riccardo), Mountain Dust (Brendan Mainville, Patrick Bennett, Hal Jaques, Blair Youngblut), The Mahones (Finny McConnell, Sean Ryan, Angus Fay, Jonathan Moorman), Slaves on Dope (Jason Rockman, Kevin Jardine, Rob Lauren, Peter Tzaferis), The Nils (Carlos Soria, Mark Donato, Phil Psarakos, Emilen Catalano), The Alternative All-Stars (Howard Bilerman, Tim Kingsbury, Dan Boeckner, Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus), The Clampdown (Carrie Hamer, Rebecca Severn, Isabelle Banos, Jackie Gallant), Tommy Youngsteen, Jeff Louch, Andrea Ramolo, Jesse Malin, Alejandro Escovedo, Tommy Stinson, Asexuals (John Kastner, Sean Friesen, TJ Plenty, Paul Remington), The Tina Trons (Jimmy Spencer, Patrick Hutchinson, Jordan Swift, Lorraine Muller, Nilia Berkin, Mira Choquette), Paul Cargnello & The Truth (Jasmine Bleile, James Challenger, Rocklee, David Osei-Afrifa), Josh Fuhrman, Alec McElcheran, Alex Remington, Jason Bajada, James Correa, The Special Guestz (MITD-Howard Bilerman, Chris Velan, Andrew Woods, Ky Brooks, Prue Gendron, Murray Lightburn), Jason Rockman, Lee-la Baum, Bilal Butt, Jonathan Cummins, Sandro Sanchioni, Jonathan Emile, Sam Roberts Band (Dave Nugent, Eric Fares, James Hall, Josh Trager), Susil Sharma, The Gongs (Rob MacDonald, Chaz Coats-Butcher, Ian Benhamou, Dan Legault), Marc Leclerc & Kevin Jalbert, The Special Guestz (BAGM-Howard Bierman, Prudence Gendron, Ky Brooks, Lisa Iwanycki Moore, Eddie Holland), Steve Creep & The Wildcards (Scott Mitchell, Paul DiSessa, Will Laurin), Felicity Hamer, Santo Romano, Michel Paradis, Charlie Neufeld, Carl St. Louis, Jason Kent, Dawn Tyler Watson, John Sadowy, Lewis Handford and The Damn Truth (Le-la Baum, Tom Shemmer, PY Letellier, Dave Traina) – thank you for bringing this era to life. It ran parallel to the singer-songwriter era that Dylan spawned but had already escaped from (before returning to, briefly, with Blood on the Tracks). But unlike the sensitive 70s, this stuff was mostly left of the dial alright. With so many fantastic guitar riffs (Mick Ronson!). And led the way to hair metal. But that’s another story.
And a final thank you and bravo to James Correa who, as a terrific singer and musician himself, treats these events with passion, flair and the utmost respect for his fellow artists.
In the meantime, I had this other vision years ago. not long after the Canadiens won their last Stanley Cup. It’s taken a long time. But it’s finally starting to come into focus. Stay tuned.
This one’s for Mark. Enjoy.
PLAY IT LOUD
