The Demics were 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 ...
punk rock band that formed in 1977 in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
.
Biography
Originally formed in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
in 1977, the band consisted of vocalist Keith Whittaker,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
ist Rob Brent,
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
Iain Atkinson-Staines and
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
mer James Weatherstone. Through 1978, the band were rising stars in the Canadian punk scene. They recorded their debut
EP in the fall of that year, and subsequently moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
to be closer to the centre of the punk scene. The EP's single,
"New York City" released on
Ready Records
Ready Records was a small but influential independent record label based out of Toronto, Canada that signed a number of new wave and indie rock bands from the early to mid-1980s. Focusing primarily on local Toronto-area talent, it released 7" a ...
, was the band's breakthrough hit on
CFNY
CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 Hertz, MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton, Ontario, Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, it ...
in 1979.
Brent left the band and went on to form the post punk/new wave band, "Mettle" as guitarist and synth player. Brent was replaced by Steve Koch in the Demics. The band released a self-titled full-length album in 1980, but subsequently broke up due to internal tensions.
In 1996, a new CD compiling both of the band's original albums titled ''New York City'' was released domestically on Huge Records.
Also that year, "New York City" was named the greatest Canadian song of all time in a reader poll by the music magazine ''
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 ...
''.
Vocalist Keith Whittaker died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
on July 16, 1996.
Guitarist Rob Brent died of a heart condition on November 5, 2014 at the age of 57. Drummer James Weatherstone died in his sleep on July 18, 2021 at the age of 63.
Discography
*1979: ''
Talk's Cheap
''Talk's Cheap'' is the debut EP by Canadian punk rock band the Demics, released in 1979 on Ready Records.
The EP's first single "New York City" was the band's breakthrough on campus radio and commercial station CFNY. It was later named the g ...
''
*1980: ''The Demics''
*1981: ''The 400 Blows''
*1996: ''New York City''
See also
*
Music of Canada
The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been ...
*
Canadian punk rock The first punk rock bands in Canada emerged during the late 1970s, in the wake of the US bands Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie, and the UK band Sex Pistols. The Viletones, the Diodes and the Demics were among the pioneers, together with t ...
*
List of bands from Canada
This is a list of bands from Canada. Only bands appear here; individual musicians are listed at list of Canadian musicians.
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References
External links
Keith Whittakersolo album at Bullseye Records
Keith Whittakerat
MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demics, The
Canadian punk rock groups
Musical groups from Toronto
Musical groups established in 1977
Musical groups disestablished in 1980
1996 in Canadian music
1977 establishments in Ontario
1980 disestablishments in Ontario