‘C’mon, it’s Teenage Head’
Warner releases 20-song compilation of the band’s 40-year career, and a documentary is in the works
The legacy of Hamilton punk pioneers Teenage Head continues to grow.
Warner Music Canada is releasing “Fun Comes Fast,” a remastered 20-song compilation spanning the group’s 40-year career. It will be available Friday, Nov. 24, for download, as a single CD or a special pink vinyl double album.
“Warner has done a really nice job on this, a lot of care has gone into it,” says Teenage Head bassist and cofounder Steve Mahon. “The (vinyl) gatefold has some amazing pictures from a free show we did at the top of Jackson Square.”
The album is sprinkled with rarities and includes songs from 1978 up until the band’s 2008 album recorded at Hamilton’s Catherine North Studio with Marky Ramone on drums.
“There’s little bits from all the albums and things like a single called “Blood Boogie” off our EP Tornado,” says Mahon. “It’s a rarity because we got Daniel Lanois to remix it. There’s the regular version on the EP, but the single is a remix by Lanois.
“I found the tape in the vault and it’s killer. Lanois put in conga drums, he put handclaps in, and he boosted the background vocals, it’s killer.”
“Fun Comes Fast” also includes a 1978 remix single of “Top Down.”
“When the first album came out, nobody really liked the mix on ‘Top Down,’” Mahon explained. “So we went into Grant Avenue and recut the single, which, of course, went nowhere. It’s a collectors’ item, that’s all.”
As well, the band is working with Toronto-based production company Felt Film, and awardwinning director Douglas Arrowsmith (“Yellow Moon,” Heavy Heart,” “The Klondike Gold Rush,” “Love Shines,” “Memory & Desire”) on a feature-length documentary for release in 2018.
Mahon says the film crew will likely attend This Ain’t Hollywood Dec. 1 and 2 when the band performs two concerts to celebrate the release of “Fun Comes Fast.”
Warner Music Canada president Steve Kane said the band, now fronted by Dave “Rave” Desroches with founding member Gord Lewis on guitar and Gene Champagne on drums, deserves the attention.
“C’mon, it’s Teenage Head,” Kane said. “Their contribution to the Canadian music scene should not go unsung. We’re thrilled to be able to make sure that important bands like Teenage Head remain visible on our musical landscape.”