The 222s was a Canadian punk band active from 1978 to 2018. They are among the first original Canadian punk bands and the first to emerge from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. They are best known for their 1979 single ''I Love Susan''.

History

The 222s, who took their name from the painkiller of the same name, was formed in 1977, by guitarist Pierre 'Al Cleann' Major and singer Jean 'Frisson' Brisson, bass player/drummer Angel Calvo, and drummer, keyboardist and singer Louie 'Louie Louis' Rondeau. The band played a handful of gigs around Montreal, mostly in high schools. Calvo left the band and was replaced by bassist Christian 'Chris O'Bell' Belleau, while Brisson's departure coincided with the recording of the 222s first single, ''I Love Susan b/w The First Studio Bomb''. Rondeau took on lead vocals. Released in the fall of 1978, on manager François Doyon's Rebel Records, ''I Love Susan b/w The First Studio Bomb'' was the first DIY punk single ever released in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Just as the single was coming out, Chris Barry, a 16-year-old high school student, joined the band. Barry brought his friend Joe Cerrato into the group to replace Belleau on bass. In 1981,the band had been performing a cover of Michel Polnareff's La Poupée qui fait Non, and went into the studio to record it. The 7" "La poupée qui fait non", with an instrumental version of the song on the B-Side, was released in 1981 on Gamma Records and got a fair amount of airplay in Quebec. Over the course of their career, the 222s toured Canada extensively. They toured in the USA with the Nuclear Accidents and, on several occasions, played New York's

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

. There were also appearances on a local Community television show called The Musi-Video show, which was produced by Marc Fontaine. These shows have since resurfaced on YouTube and elsewhere and have sparked a renewed interest in the band. In 2006, the Italian punk label Rave Up Records released the collected tracks of The 222s, on an album called ''She Wants Revenge''. In 2007, Montreal label Sonik's Chicken Shrimp Records released an anthology of the band's demos under the name ''Montreal Punk '78-'81''.

Post-Breakup

Pierre Major joined Montreal band The Dazzlers. Louie Rondeau teamed up with the 222s assistant manager Marc Fontaine in 1982 to form the successful

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

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. Together they composed a top-10 Quebec chart hit ''Amour Programmé'' and, with

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in Mexico, the dance hit ''Rendez-vous'' (La Coqueteando). Chris Barry was briefly in a band named 'Bram' with Michael Bramon; they recorded a few demos but Barry moved to England, where he would join with ex-

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

bassist Glen Matlock and ex-

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guitar player James Stevenson in a band called ''Hot Club'' (which would become

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. Barry then joined the

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, trying to become the new singer following Ian Astbury's departure, but that didn't work out either. In the spring of 1983, he was about to start a band with former

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guitar player

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, former Clash drummer

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and former Pretenders bassist

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but the project ended when Farndon died of a heroin overdose. Chris then started a solo project with ex-Generation X drummer Mark Laff. Broke and homeless, Barry returned to Montreal when CBS Records, which had heard the ''Bram'' demos, paid for his plane ticket. In 1984, Barry reformed the 222s with Major and Cerrato. With the addition of drummer André Gagné and guitar player Richard Paul, they became the '39 Steps' and released three albums. In 1986, they appeared (as themselves) in the

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movie ''

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'', playing their hit "Slip into the Crowd" at the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

. Barry then moved to New York to join the band Pillbox (NYC), then back to Montreal to form the band Acrylic, which recorded an album that was never released because the record company went bankrupt. He then started The Throbbing Purple with Dawson, Unruled guitar player Michel "Wax" Cyr, and ex- Subhumans drummer David "Salty" Macanulty. In 2006, the band released the "Let it Writhe" CD on Sonik's Chicken Shrimp Records. Barry eventually became a journalist. Major and Brisson went into the tech sector. Rondeau founded a post-production studio.

2010 Reunion

In 2010 the original lineup of Belleau, Major and Rondeau reformed and performed at festivals in Ontario and Quebec.

Discography

Singles

*"I Love Suzan"/"The First Studio Bomb" (1979), Rebel Records *"La poupée qui fait non"/"La poupée qui fait non" (1981), Gamma Records

Compilations

*''She Wants Revenge'' (2006), Rave Up Records *''Montreal Punk '78-'81'' (2007), Sonik's Chicken Shrimp Records

References

External links

The 222s - The Canadian pop encyclopediaExclaim - The 222s
{{DEFAULTSORT:222s, The Musical groups established in 1977 Canadian punk rock groups Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 1977 establishments in Quebec 1982 disestablishments in Quebec 2010 establishments in Quebec