El Dub & The Art
Vancouver Magazine, April 1980, by Les Wiseman
 
Art Bergmann, 27, is probably this town’s best bet for a rock star idol. His sense of presence is amazing as he belts out Hawaii, Vancouver’s latest teenage anthem (successor to D.O.A.’s Disco Sucks). “Let’s go to fuckin’ Hawaii, get drunk on the beach.” He looks myopically mole-like, and his greenish blonde hair adds to a sort of moldy, just-woke-up-and-do-I-feel-wasted image. Bergmann, Jim Bescott on bass and vocals and Barry Taylor, drums, are the Young Canadians, the hottest band in town, apparent heirs to the Pointed Sticks’ former position of being the next obvious success.
 
The Young Canadians began as the K-Tels when they played O’Haras’ St. Valentine’s Day Masacre in February, 1979. The crowd started getting crazy and violent, and since then the band has been known for extreme audience reaction and participation.
 
Last June, when they won the Vancouver Free Press Battle of the Bands, the real K-Tel conglomerate became aware that, by its very existence, a rancid group of punk rockers might be besmirching its line of radish rosers and handy gifts for mom.
 
“K-Tel International has lawyers here, everywhere, and they told us to cease and desist from using the name. But we figured, what the hell, and kept on,” says Bergmann. “Finally, in late July, at a gig up at SFU, one of these guys who delivers court order personally delivered a 30-page writ of K-Tel’s statement of claim. And they had one of the hottest lawyers in Canada, Norman Shapiro, telling us to cease and desist. We thought about fighting it, but we wouldn’t have been able to release any records at all. It would’ve been years in court and tons of money. So, we decided to change the name, one of the factors being that they (K-Tel) wanted $50,000 in damages against the good will of their name.”
 
But they still are making mock. When they were in California in February, partriotic fans bought them copious amounts of beer because Canadians were popular then for getting six Americans out of Iran. “It was weird,” says Taylor. “I didn’t even know about it until some guy grabbed me at the Mabuhay and started buying me drinks and saying thanks a lot. I said, ‘What for? You haven’t even seen us play.’ I had to ask him to explain about us saving six Americans.”
 
“They don’t realize our name is a jest against the Canadian name and upright young Canadian citizens,” adds Bergmann.
 
The cover of their Hawaii EP, a four-song, twelve-inch 45 (a limited number of which also contain a bonus seven-inch 331/3 EP) from Quintessence Records, shows this is heavy nuttsiness as well. The front, with its Hawaiian travel poster panorama, looks like a Kingston Trio album, while the back shows police annoying the punks at a YC gig. The record has done amazingly well, selling 1,500 copies in 25 days since its January 31 release. When you read this, the second, or maybe third, pressing will be on the stands. So far, it is the fastest selling record to come out of the local new wave scene, beating out releases by D.O.A. and Pointed Sticks.
 
“There is tons happening in Vancouver, underneath,” says Bergmann. “But it is really stifling the bands because the club owners are so behind the times. They should wake up and hire the bands. Somebody could rake in a lot of money if they opened up a decent club.”
 
“What’s happening is that the second generation – the more contrived pop-new wave bands – have come along in the last six months,” explains Bescott, “riding the whole movement, and because of their more middle-of-the-road approach and involvement, have managed to get the more regular club gigs.”
 
“Whereas the pioneers don’t get shit,” adds Bergmann.
 
“And bands from out of town, like the Heaters, and the Models from Edmonton, are booked into the clubs,” says Bescott, shaking his head.
 
“They’ve got their new wave attire,” smirks Bergmann, “and they play the wimpiest music this side of…It’s time to kill the new wave. But it always happens in the music business, people pick up on trends, and when it gets overblown it’s time to destroy that.
 
“Vancouver is, to use Jim’s words, a real blues can. They play the wimpiest blues in these clubs. If you want to see blues, save your money and go and see somebody like Muddy Waters. All these white guys used to be in Top 40 bands, and now they’re playing blues, and there seems to be an audience for it.”
 
“I see a blues and punk new wave as a reaction to disco,” explains Bescott. “The blues end of it is more the conservative end of the scale for people who don’t want the newer music.”