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The Viletones

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The Viletones perform at Larry's Hideaway, Toronto, 1980

The Viletones are a Canadian punk band from Toronto, led by Steven Leckie on vocals.[1] Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, (some sources list him as 'Frederick DiPasquale') on guitar/vocals; Chris Hate (Chris Paputts), on bass guitar/vocals and Mike Anderson, b.1955 - d.2012 on the drums/vocals.[2] The original line-up was active 1976-1977, and thereafter featured Steven Leckie as the only original member with various backing musicians.

Career

The Viletones are one of the first generation punk rock bands from Toronto Canada. Steven Leckie founded the band, and footage of the band can be found on YouTube.[3] as well as on the official Viletones website http://www.ViletonesOfficial.com.[4] They appeared on the front cover of magazine all over the world, including Steven Leckie on the front cover of Record Week and Fanfare.

From July 7–10, 1977 the group joined The Diodes and Teenage Head at famed New York punk club CBGB's at a showcase featuring "three outrageous punk bands from Toronto, Canada". Eminent rock critic Lester Bangs described the show in an April 29, 1981 article for the Village Voice: "This guy Nazi Dog hung from the rafters, crawled all over the stage, and hurled himself on the first row until his body was one huge sore." [This quote needs a citation]. The concert was spoofed in an early episode of the television comedy show SCTV, where comedian Rick Moranis as newscaster David Brinkley (looking a little rough) reviews a Viletones concert.[5]

Also that year, The Viletones released their first single, "Screamin Fist" b/w "Possibilities" and "Rebel" on their own label Vile Records.[6]

In 1978, they released Look Back In Anger,[7] which featured the songs "Don't You Lie" and "Dirty Feeling", b/w "Back Door To Hell", "Swastika Girl" and "Danger Boy". The same year Pompeii, Hate and X abruptly left The Viletones. That year, the new lineup of the Viletones appeared at the The Last Pogo concert, filmed at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto May 1, 1978, and became a feature film documentary,[8] which was followed by a sequel in 2013.

At the Rock Against Radiation concert in Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, on July 19, 1980, The Viletones shared a bill with DOA,Stark Naked and The Fleshtones, Forgotten Rebels and Joe College and The Rulers.

In 1983, The Viletones released their first full-length album, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, recorded live at Larry's Hideaway in Toronto. Later that decade, they released a U.S.-only release, Live At Max's. In 1994, a record label, Other Peoples Music, released a retrospective, A Taste Of Honey. In 1997, Leckie released the What It Feels Like To Kill album. Steven Leckie also ran art gallery in Toronto called Fleurs Du Mal, notable patrons included The Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. Leckie discovered and mentored various young artists whom later went on to be auctioned at Waddington's and Ritchie's. Steven Leckie also made a brief appearance in the film, American Psycho.

A reference to their song, "Screamin Fist", turned up in the pages of Neuromancer, a novel by William Gibson, and a computer virus was also named after the song.

Other members of the Viletones include Screamin' Sam Ferrara/bass, Tony Vincent/drums, Steve Koch/guitar, Steven Stergiu/guitar, Conrad Wiggins/guitar, Ian Blurton/guitar, Scott McCullough/guitar, Jeff Zurba/drums, Steve Scarlet/guitar.

The Viletones most recent performance was on Aug.15, 2015, despite Steven Leckie's battle with MS, and was filmed in 3-D by Regg Hartt for Cineforum.[9]

Steven Leckie has also performed as a spoken word artist, reading from his yet unpublished autobiography tentatively titled "Screamin Fist', and has appeared on various panels and discussion groups on the subject of addiction and recovery.

In Nov. of 2012, Steven Leckie posted an obituary for original drummer Mike "Motor X" Andersen on his Facebook page which was featured in Now Magazine:

"My Deepest Sympathies To Motor's Loved Ones. Truly Impossible To Express The Power Of His Riff In Screaming Fist, And The VILETONES Period, When We Entered The Music Landscape In 77, It Felt Like We Were As Joe Pesci In "Casino", When He Arrives Uninvited And Simply Informs The Status Quo, That VILETONES Are The New Gangsters In Town. PUNK. They Never Knew What Hit Em. Motor Is Immortal, The Record Will Live Another 30 Years. We Took NYC Like A Playground. Motor X on Drums Was A Big Reason Why. In 76 I Put An Ad "Looking To Form Band", He Was The First To Respond. I Wanted A Band Like No Other. Called It Punk. That's That. I Love You Mike Anderson. Live In The Art You Left Us Forever. Rest In Power. Steve." [sic] [10]

Discography

  • 1977 A Taste of Honey[11]
  • 1978 Look Back in Anger EP
  • 1998 What It Feels Like to Kill

References

  1. ^ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/V/Viletones.html
  2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/viletones-p207017
  3. ^ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=viletones
  4. ^ https://www.viletonesofficial.com
  5. ^ http://www.sctvguide.ca/programs/brinkley.htm
  6. ^ Panontin, Michael. "The Viletones - Screamin' Fist EP - 7" Review". Canuckistan Music. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  7. ^ http://images.google.ca/images?q=tbn:1_4FtdCTH_seIM:http://www.btinternet.com/~thisispunkrock/ps/can/viletones.jpg
  8. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209094/
  9. ^ http://reghartt.ca/cineforum/
  10. ^ https://nowtoronto.com/music/in-memoriam/rip-motor-x/
  11. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/taste-of-honey-r275576
  • Viletones Official Website
  • [1] Steven Leckie's Facebook page
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