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TEENAGE HEAD COMES FULL CIRCLE;

'Music is a really powerful force.
I'm kind of amazed at the energy we do have, once we start going.'

by: Elizabeth Yates
Showcase - Thursday, June 14, 2007 @ 09:00

"You played my high school!"

That's probably the most frequent comment heard by Teenage Head guitarist Gord Lewis, who admits finding the nostalgic refrain a bit, well, depressing after three decades of playing punk-driven rock & roll.

After all, doesn't that mean the guys in the band -- now all 50-plus -- must be getting too old to sing about Teenage Beer Drinking Parties and driving with the Top Down? Should they still be thrashing around on stage to Let's Shake, Picture my Face, or the inventively vile Disgusteen?

"At first, I got a little down about it," Lewis muses in a telephone interview from Hamilton, where the band was born at Westdale High School and where its four members still live. From there, they'll drive into Brantford on Friday to headline a show at J's Place.

"I thought, was this just a nostalgic thing? But then, when I'd talk to people about it more, they were so positive and so happy and they'd talk about us in such glowing terms.

"I thought to myself, 'Who am I to worry about whether it's then or now or whatever -- they really enjoyed us.

"I've come back full circle to thinking, 'This is great! Thank you.'"

Back in 1975, with primitive three-chord riffs and more adrenaline than talent, Teenage Head played their first gig at a high-school coffee house. Lewis, drummer Nick Stipanitz, bassist Steve Marshall and singer Frankie Venom splashed into the acoustic milieu favoured by their fellow teens like a jolt of Jack Daniels in a glass of milk.

They'd been practising in Venom's basement every Saturday, and they sounded pretty good, says Lewis, who remembers rocking out to a full house.

Their fan base grew, and it wasn't long before the Head released their first indie record, Picture My Face, and cracked the explod ing punk scene in Toronto. The big city was the Canadian centre for the genre, which was booming in New York -- with the Ramones and Blondie -- and London, where The Sex Pistols and The Clash ruled. While those huge bands eventually won support from the music industry, that never happened to Canadian punks, says Lewis.

"We got blinders and closed ears ... none of the majors would have anything to do with us."

Regardless, the group kept turning out records and winning over fans, gigging at clubs, universities, colleges -- and yes, high schools -- all around southern Ontario, and later, across the country.

"We weren't really paying attention," to the lack of industry interest. "We were playing all the time. Things really developed quickly here in Canada."

The crash came in 1980, when their show at The Forum at Ontario Place triggered a riot. The fracas, triggered when fans couldn't get into the concert venue, made headlines across the country.

Later that year, on the verge of showcase gigs in New York City which could have landed a U.S. record deal, Lewis broke his back in a car accident -- killing the tour.

The band kept going, with fill-in guitarists, but the the lustre wasn't there and their popularity waned.

The group also got embroiled in a lengthy battle over misappropriated royalties, a fight which lasted from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.

"It took 10 years out of my life," says Lewis. "But we came out on the right end. We got everything back."

Regardless, Lewis says the band just kept playing all through the mess, including Venom's brief departure to pursue a solo career. They've just been under the mainstream radar.

touring to the east and west.

"We've never really stopped," says the guitarist, noting the Head just did some dates in Western Canada and plan on more touring to the east and west.

And they expect to finally release a long-awaited new album by fall. The tracks were actually laid down in 2003, when the band snagged legendary drummer Marky Ramone and famed Ramones producer Daniel Rey. Most songs on the disc are Head classics, but there are couple of new tunes, says Lewis, who praises Venom's intelligent songwriting.

"He's maybe a little darker these days. There's no more Teenage Beer Drinkin' Party."

But they're still playing that song and all their hits, because that's what people want to hear.

"They love the energy of that music just like they did 30 years ago," reports the 50-year-old, adding that their current fans are a bit tamer than in the old days. "But everyone still drinks a lot."

What about the soon-to-be seniors, who've been joined by veteran drummer Jack Pedler (Stipanitz departed in 1988)? Can they still shake it on stage?

"Music is a really powerful force. I'm kind of amazed at the energy we do have, once we start going.

"It's kind of like a rollercoaster. You just hang on - and it's a great ride."

now playing

- Who: Teenage Head, with I.P. Freely, Apocalyptic Ruins, and 583

- When: Friday, doors open at 8 p.m., bands at 9 p.m.

- Where: J's Place

- Tickets: $20 in advance and $25 at the door; available at venues including The Audible Difference, Jammit Music, and Hip's Cycle; to charge, call 519-759-6927.