3 Review(s)

Brimming with nostalgia for one of the few major music movements of the last 30 years, this visual journey through punk history lays witness to the high-water mark of a golden era in music. In 1977, before he entered on to the punk scene himself, Don Pyle bought a 35 mm camera and began photographing some of the earliest gigs of Toronto punk acts and other visiting punk artists. His trial-and-error education in photography resulted in this collection of images that document the early history of punk rock in Toronto and its influence on the local music scene, from the point of view of an awestruck fan. Influential punk musicians such as the Ramones, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, and The Clash, as well as Toronto bands such as The Viletones, Teenage Head, and The Curse, are captured at their creative prime, on the forefront of a musical revolution. The original scratched, water-marked negatives have been completely restored and together with authentic ephemera reveal a significant yet underrepresented period in Toronto’s musical cultural development.