Simply Saucer
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Simply Saucer is a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
rock band formed during the 1970s. Based in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, the band consisted of guitarist and vocalist
Edgar Breau Edgar Breau is a musician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Hamilton-based band Simply Saucer in the 1970s, and has released a number of solo albums. In 1974, Simply Saucer recorded a demo tape of music under the supervision of Robert La ...
, keyboardist John LaPlante (billed by the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Ping Romany), bass guitarist Kevin Christoff and drummer Neil DeMarchant. The band's style has been described as a hybrid of
proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...
and
psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
and they form a "Rust-belt punk" style, along with
The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...
,
MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
and
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
. The group's references also included German
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
, or
Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
, and early
electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
pioneers such as
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
. According to Matt Carlson at
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, "Though Simply Saucer had the guts to bring together tremendous influences from rock's past, including the
Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...
, early
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, and the Stooges, the band was hardly noticed outside of its local area."


History

Formed in 1973, the band was originally a six-piece, largely improvisational, outfit featuring Dave Byers and Paul Collili. The name Simply Saucer was chosen in tribute to the
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
album '' A Saucerful of Secrets''.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''.
ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...
. .
By October 1973, the band contracted into a four-piece. DeMarchant left the band in 1975, and was replaced by Tony Cutaia, who in turn left in 1976 and was replaced by Don Cramer. Romany left the band in 1976. Guitarist Steve "Sparky" Park, formerly of Teenage Head, joined in 1977. In its lifetime, the band only released one 7" single, "She's a Dog/I Can Change My Mind" in 1978 on fanzine magnate
Gary Pig Gold Gary Pig Gold (born May 30, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, author and journalist. His fanzine ''The Pig Paper'' was Canada's second independently published music magazine, and among the recordi ...
's Pig Label, before breaking up in July 1979. Following the band's breakup, Breau continued as a solo artist, while other band members went on to form The Other One. Breau later ran as a candidate for the
Family Coalition Party of Ontario The New Reform Party of Ontario (NRP; french: Nouveau Parti réformiste de l'Ontario) was a minor provincial political party in Ontario, Canada, that promoted a populist, fiscally conservative, socially conservative, libertarian, and localist i ...
in the 1999 provincial election. An abortive recording session with producers
Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...
and Bob Lanois from 1974 and a June 28, 1975 concert performance on the roof of Jackson Square were later compiled for the 1989 album '' Cyborgs Revisited''. ''Cyborgs'' quickly came to be regarded as a lost classic of Canadian music, being named one of the greatest Canadian albums of all time by the magazines ''
Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
'', ''
Forced Exposure ''Forced Exposure'' was an independent music magazine founded by Jimmy Johnson and Katie The Kleening Lady (Goldman) (zine). It was published sporadically out of Boston from 1982 to 1993, edited by Jimmy Johnson and Byron Coley. It was printed on ...
'', ''
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'' and ''
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'', as well as appearing as the 36th best Canadian album in
Bob Mersereau Bob Ellis Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Rockingham, Graham â€"Randy Bachman: lord of the song"''The Spec'' He is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick.The Top 100 Canadian Albums ''The Top 100 Canadian Albums'' is a book by journalist Bob Mersereau, published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions. Mersereau surveyed 600 music journalists, retailers, musicians and disc jockeys of all ages, from all parts of Canada, who each submi ...
''. The need to capture the band's unconventional sonics has also been credited as one of the first catalysts for the development of Daniel Lanois' distinctive production style, which would eventually make him one of the most influential record producers in the world. ''Cyborgs'' was subsequently reissued on
Sonic Unyon Sonic Unyon Recording Company is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Their former retail store was located on Wilson Street near James Street North. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psioni ...
in 2003, with several bonus tracks including the 1978 single. Breau, Christoff and Park reunited for a show at Hamilton's Corktown Tavern on September 17, 2006, with Joe Csontos on drums. Park works in Montreal, and could not commit to a full-blown reunion, so new members Stephen Foster on guitar and Dan Wintermans on guitar, keyboard and theremin, were brought in. The group released a new album, ''Half Human, Half Live'', in April 2008. After a short tour of the U.S.A, which included a June 15 appearance at Terrastock, drummer Csontos left the line-up, followed by Dan Winterman and original bassist Kevin Christoff in August 2009. Still, a version of Simply Saucer featuring drummer Peter Lacey and bassist Chris Jamieson performed a couple of live dates in October 2009, including the Scion Garage Festival. Current incarnations of the band have been playing shows in the Hamilton area as of 2012. In 2013 and 2014, their singles "Bullet Proof Nothing" and "Reckless Agitation" were reissued on Mammoth Cave Recording Co."Hamilton psych legends Simply Saucer finally release 'Bullet Proof Nothing' single"
Aux, January 23, 2014.


Discography

*''She's A Dog/I Can Change My Mind'' (1978) *'' Cyborgs Revisited'' (1989; reissued on CD by Fistpuppet/Cargo 1991) *''Cyborgs Revisited'' (2003; expanded to include 45 and post 1976 demos) *''Half Human, Half Live'' (2008) *''Saucerland'' (2009) *''Baby Nova'' EP (2014)


References


External links


Simply Saucer
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Simply Saucer Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian noise rock groups Protopunk groups 1973 establishments in Ontario Sonic Unyon artists