"The Barking Eye"

As one of CD Plus's employees Darren put it, "it's the end of an era".   After serving our local Soo community for well over 10 years, the franchise known as CD Plus has closed it's doors in good ole Sault Ste. Marie along with other communities, leaving all us fans of rare and obscure music and movies to fend for themselves.  Some may not remember the excellent CD shop known as Mr. Disc back in it's day but they were with owner Todd Gordon, the leading CD establishment specializing in getting the public rare material to sink their teeth into.  I LOVED that store but with the internet, piracy and used CD's selling so cheaply, Mr. Disc closed it's doors some years ago.  To fill that huge void, CD Plus made it's appearance in 2 locations locally but was later merged to the Cambrian Mall location as a single outlet.  Jake and the great staff there were the best and my own experiences with the staff and the material they could get for me were nothing shy of excellent.  I think Jake spent more time researching rare music and movies at home than he did at work so he could be on top of the game when dealing with customers at work.   You got to know the staff so well that in my own case,  they knew my tastes and any new release by artists I loved were already ordered and sitting there waiting for me.  It felt like I was on cruise control. They also promoted my own bands by letting us sell our CD's through their shop and put up posters.   My biggest enjoyment was buying old monster movies from them as Jake was on top of classic horror, sci fi and monster films.   All that is gone now, leaving us huge music and movie collectors like myself to deal with crappy square box jungles like Walmart where you can't special order anything but worse, nothing underground in the way of music is presented.   I can only say that I am stunned by CD Plus pulling the plug on our local store and wish Jake and staff the best.  Many thanks to all of them for feeding our addictions with truly rare media.  I've not talked to Jake yet but I hope that maybe, just maybe, a new independent CD and DVD joint might arise from one of these employees.  You just never know.  We can dream can't we? :-) Until then, thanks for all the great service, friendships, movies and music.   Best of luck to all of you.

Glen "the Freq".

  It's been almost a year easy since I recorded drum tracks for Wishbone's second album which was supposedly called "St. Misery".   I've heard it may have changed and I've also heard that they're recording Wishbone 3 and abandoning Wishbone 2.  These are rumours of course.  The fact is that it took me a lot of effort to get a copy of the album the band and I worked hard on and recorded.  I also recorded their first album plus did all the graphic work for it, their website and tons of other promotional things.  Like many bands, we had a bad divorce and getting a "deserved" copy of  Wishbone 2 was not happening even though I had easily earned it.   So through my own connections I finally got a copy.  I present you 5 songs from the 12 song album that if the band does get their shit together and release it properly like the first album, it will be worth a listen.   Personally, I'm proud of the material and how it turned out and the band played a lot better on this offering than the first.  So here's a taste of the long awaited Wishbone 2 album which at the time I recorded it, was called "St. Misery".


The Messenger by Wishbone

Johnny Fisco by Wishbone

Race For Time by Wishbone

Devil's Dancing Shoes by Wishbone

Highwire by Wishbone

Enjoy!!

Glen "the Freq"

Yes, if you haven't noticed already, I enjoy digging into the archives of our local music history and presenting many artists that most have not heard of, or haven't heard of in a long time.  I decided to create this section of the Barking Eye blog to showcase those long forgotten musicians who helped develop the local Sault music scene.  Please pass this page on to your friends as we reflect on
some very talented individuals who continue to  write, record and perform music.

First on the list is guitarist, singer, songwriter Steve McPhail.  It's been a long time since Steve has played the local music scene but there was a time his band Edison Slave, or Bedrock were common names throughout the local scene.   Edison Slave enjoyed a long loyal following here and I'm sure most fans miss them.   Steve hit the road with Bedrock but it wasn't too long after he was in the band "Total Stranger" with musicians from outside of the Sault.  Total Stranger went on to record 4 albums and toured throughout Canada.  I was lucky enough to see "Total Stranger" on 3 or 4 passes through the Sault on their tours.  Now a days, Steve plays in the band "Sonny Boy Nik" (http://www.myspace.com/sbmmusic).   The song I present today is from the first self titled "Total Stranger" album.  The track is called "Things You're Missing".  It was released around 1985 if memory serves me correctly.  Steve sings lead vocal and plays guitar on this song.


"Total Stranger-Things You're Missing"


Second, we have Frank Rodi, an extremely gifted guitar player who still has many fans around the Sault.  Frank is also a solid vocalist and song writer but it's his guitar playing that got people's attention.  Frank played in numerous local bands in the late 70's and 80's but he eventually found songwriting and original material to be his main focus.  The Frank Rodi Project was basically Frank, his material and a selection of guest musicians who helped him create and record his music.   How do I know this?  Well that's easy. I was the drummer on 2 of Frank's first recordings with the "Project".   2 songs were done during the first sessions.  One called "Jimmy" and the one I showcase today on this first Flashback Attack installment.  This song is called "Candy".   These 2 songs are more commercial sounding as Frank was shooting for a Journey/ Boston flavour at the time.   The musicians on this recording are as follows:  Frank Rodi - guitar and lead vocals, Gigi Micelli on backing vocals however he sings lead on the song called "Jimmy".  Both have similar voices. Bass duties were Dama Chandamo, keyboards Tony Bafone (I'm not quite sure on his name) and me, Glen Thomas on drums.  We rehearsed the 2 songs in my basment one night and recorded the next day at the now defunct Satelite Sound Studios.  All I can say is that is was a lot of fun.  The last local band Frank was part of before moving away from the Sault was called "Holy Diver".  Frank still records today and you can visit his website at (http://www.myspace.com/rodiproject).  Here now, is the song "Candy" by the Frank Rodi Project.  Time frame on this tune eludes me but I'll say late 80's early 90's.


"Frank Rodi Project - Candy"


Now for a really rare treat.  Third, we have local vocalist Paul Pozzebon.   Paul back in the 80's was one of the Sault's finest rock singers.  Paul was hired into a later version of my band Driver and we took 2nd place in a battle of the bands at the Back Door bar many years ago.  We were the only Canadian band in the show.  From there, Paul and I connected again in a band called "Hostage" and we recorded a song called "Too Much".   That song is rare but not as rare as the one I present today.  Paul was always busy writing and recording  and I just happened to find this ultra rare recording of his song called "In the City".  Guest musicians on this recording are not known to me.  It's been too long and there is no references to go off of.   It does sound like Frank Rodi on guitar but that's a guess.  It is Paul singing on the track.  He is the one that gave me this song almost 2 decades ago.   Paul was right into Judas Priest at the time and you can hear a little of that influence in this song.  After the band "Hostage" folded, Paul just vanished and I have no clue where he went.  He seemed to have dropped from the music scene altogether.  I will say honestly that probably only a handful of this recording exists today so enjoy one of the Sault's finest rock singers, Paul Pozzebon and his song "In the City" here on the Barking Eye's Flashback Attack.

"Paul Pozzebon - In the City"


I hope you enjoyed the first addition of this series.  Stay tuned as there are more rare tunes coming soon.

Glen "the Freq"