HE HIJACKED MY BRAIN: Gary Topp’s Toronto
Published by UXB Press
320 Pages
Price: $49.99
Available from uxbpresscanada.bigcartel.com
I arrived in Toronto in 1975 and immediately found myself in the middle of a music vortex – all sorts of genres, venues, artists and local indie promoters, the best of whom, in my opinion, were known as The Garys (Gary Topp and Gary Cormier). The Garys booked and promoted punk, rock, alternative (before that genre had a name) and the bizarre. While I was queen of the discos in the late 70s, I also secretly hung out at places like the New Yorker, The Edge, Larry’s Hideaway, the Roxy, the Isabella, and all the grubby, grungy little underground venues and speakeasies that offered stage time to the hundreds of musicians plying their trade in Toronto.
Reading Gary Topp’s first-person recounting of Toronto’s music scene over the past five+ decades, I marveled at the number of shows I actually attended myself. Fortunately, not being fueled by drugs or (too much) booze, I was able to remember so many evenings at the clubs thanks to the hundreds of photos and poster images in the book and the myriad of quotes and first-hand recounting of tales only insiders could know. Bravo, Gary (pictured below), for amassing this diary-like tome containing first-person recollections from yourself and your colleagues that will instantly transport readers back to the days when so many of us held down 9 to 5 day jobs then turned into bar flies, punk rockers, and rabid fans of the artists on stage each night.
Any Toronto music fan worth his/her salt will want to add this book to their collection. It truly is a series of history lessons from the people who created the scene, and Gary’s recollections are clear and sharp. He brought in international artists just on the cusp of greatness proving his and his partner(s) eye for talent (The Police, Roxy Music, Simple Minds, B-52s) and artists who scared other club promoters to death such as Iggy Pop, The Ramones, The Cure and the now-legendary local band Rough Trade. He always treated bands with respect and gave them the break they needed when nobody else would. Gary was a gambler and we are all the better for his commitment to the music. His career is a blueprint of how to build a life in music promotions ; he had no template to follow so he made it up as he went along…readers will follow his journey from working at the old Roxy cinema as a young man, to booking musicians and finding new ways to fill theatres and sell tickets. He created the iconic annual outdoor Police Picnic concerts in the 80s starring the edgy Brit band as well as line-ups of popular artists who might never perform here under regular circumstances. He knew how to collaborate with venue operators to create a win-win-win result, and generated exciting posters and promo materials long before internet and email democratized the business of show.
To borrow from a promotional piece on the book “From taverns to concert halls, cinemas to circuses, the city’s most daring and visionary promoter transformed Toronto’s cultural landscape over five decades. Packed with first-hand accounts and rare photographs, the book vividly celebrates the revolutionary events that countered Toronto’s culture.”
He Hijacked My Brain is a veritable who’s who of bands and artists who challenged our collective musical appetites such as The Viletones, Buzzcocks, Plasmatics, The Cramps, Violent Femmes, even Grandmaster Flash and Husker Du. I could go on and on and on naming names of artists who owe a debt of gratitude to the author, as well as paying tribute to the venues and other music promoters, managers and supporters whose stories are all included….but just buy the damn book!
Gary is launching He Hijacked My Brain on Sunday December 1st at the old Masonic Temple at Yonge & Davenport in Toronto but it’s now SOLD OUT (typical of a Gary Topp gig!) but he does it again at 7pm in The Red Room – Mason’s Inner Sanctum, Masonic Temple/Concert Hall, 888 Yonge St. ticketweb.ca
