Ullrich has been quietly gathering together musician who were inspired and helped by the spirit and work of Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli, Tim Vesely, and their drummers Dave Clark, Don Kerr, & Michael Phillip-Wojewoda. The bands worked on a short timeline to record a tribute album as personal thanks to the Rheos. The album – The Secret Sessions – was released this evening as part of the run up to what many fans consider to be the Rheostatics farewell show on March 30th at Massey Hall in Toronto.

Mike O’Neill joined up with Dave to reunite The Inbreds while Sarah Harmer and Luther Wright reformed Weeping Tile especially for this disc.

Tracks recorded especially for this Rheostatics tribute are as follows:

1. The Weakerthans – Bad Time To Be Poor from the album The Blue Hysteria
2. Stephen Stanley & Carla MacNeil – Take Me In Your Hand from the album Introducing Happiness
3. Weeping Tile with Chris Brown – Public Square from the album Greatest Hits
4. The Wooden Stars – Saskatchewan from the album Melville
5. The Inbreds – Dopefiends and Boozehounds from the album Whale Music
6. King Cobb Steelie – Seven Stars Remix a reworking of Night Of The Shooting Stars and Music Inspired By The Group Of 7
7. Barenaked Ladies with Tim Mech and Jason Plumb – Legal Age Life At The Variety Store from the album Whale Music
8. The Golden Seals – Loving Arms from the album Harmelodia
9. Cuff The Duke – Claire from the album Introducing Happiness
10. Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr – Stolen Car from the album Double Live
11. By Divine Right – Shaved Head from the album Whale Music
12. Dylan Hudecki – Satan Is The Whistler from the album Night Of The Shooting Stars
13. The Local Rabbits – Record Body Count from the album Melville

I was fortunate enough to play a very tiny bit part in this project. You’ll have to buy a copy of the DRM-FREE MP3 download to find out what it was. All proceeds from digital sales of this album will go to a charity designated by the Rheostatics. Go to Zunior to hear some of the tracks.

Now if we could only get the folks at Yahoo! Music Unlimited to add the Rheostatics to their catalogue…

The Pink Shoes Bursary is a scholarship to Queen’s University that was established in memory of a good friend – the wonderful and unforgettable Stephanie Lane. One of Steph’s greatest passions was her Alma Mater, Queen’s University. The Pink Shoes Bursary will allow another female student the opportunity to experience what Steph loved – Kingston, Queen’s, residence life and everything that the school has to offer.

If you’re in town, be sure to come out and support the event.

Some time during my high school years, I think it was the summer of ’86, a guy by the name of Mitch Lapa threw a party while his parents were out of town. Mitch had gone to my high school for a couple of years before switching to another closer to his house. I knew his sister Loretta better than Mitch but can’t remember how I ended up at his place that night.

The house had had all its furniture moved upstairs. The barren dining room was now furnished with a borrowed card table and a lone strobe light with a blue gel on it. Stacks of vinyl records were littered around the makeshift dj booth. A couple of speakers were hidden underneath old white bedsheets. The night was warm. The cigarettes and other flavours were burning. Resourceful teens have acquired copious amounts of beer and liquor. The crowds gathered in the front and back yards (as well as an impromptu picnic collective in the neighbour’s backyard – they were away too).

Unlike most of parties of those days, the Steve Miller, Beastie Boys, and David Wilcox tapes were – thankfully – nowhere to be found that night an hour outside of Toronto. Instead a mix inspired by the eclectic CFNY 102.1 punctuated the night air. CFNY would play anything and everything. Its styling leaned to what then was truly alternative – indie, new wave, punk. Fans, including Neil Peart of Rush, nicknamed the station “The Spirit of Radio”.

Begin the day
With a friendly voice
A companion, unobtrusive
Plays that song thats so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood

Off on your way
Hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact
In your happy solitude

Invisible airwaves
Crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle
With the energy
Emotional feedback
On a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price —
Almost free…

All this machinery
Making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted
Its really just a question
Of your honesty

One likes to believe
In the freedom of music
But glittering prizes
And endless compromises
Shatter the illusion
Of integrity

For the words of the profits
Are written on the studio wall,
Concert hall —
Echoes with the sounds…
Of salesmen.

– Neil Peart
The Spirit of Radio
From the album Permanent Waves

This list is by no means definitive of that night’s soundtrack. It’s quite likely that many of this tracks were not even played then. They do reflect the “spirit” of the proceedings.

1. Age of Consent – New Order
   
2. Death or Glory – The Clash
   
3. Heaven – The Psychedelic Furs
   
4. Sound And Vision – David Bowie
   
5. Going Underground – The Jam
   
6. Jumping Someone Else’s Train – The Cure
   
7. She’s In Parties – Bauhaus
   
8. Warm Leatherette – The Normal
   Had added this to my playlist and then discovered that Robert Of The Radish had done a full playlist on Mute records, The Normal and Daniel Miller. Worth a read and a listen.
9. No New Tale To Tell – Love and Rockets
   
10. Mad World – Tears For Fears
    
11. Only You – Yaz
    
12. Bring On The Dancing Horses – Echo & The Bunnymen
    
13. Add It Up – The Violent Femmes
    
14. One Step Beyond – Madness
    
15. Twist & Crawl – English Beat
    
16. The Spirit Of Radio – Rush
    Listen to the lyrics. So true of the problems with traditional radio today.

users can listen to this mix by clicking here.

To learn more about CFNY and its impact read some of the testimonials from SpiritOfRadio.ca. Some of the station’s old djs and fans have recently posted their home taping sessions as a 24/7 Internet radio station.

I wonder if the current high school generation will look back in twenty years and find a special night to build a playlist around. With all their cameraphones, myspace, and file-sharing they’ll probably have a perfect recollection instead of my fuzz one.

Feedback and comments are welcomed.

Cheers,

Johnny