The Strange Ballad of Evan C. Jones: a Tribute/Obit to and for the SNFU Drummer
A pioneer of hardcore punk drumming and vital member of the Edmonton music scene, Evan lived fast, died middle-aged and left a small yet sound legacy. Evan C Jones cracked me up and bewildered me right from the first time I met him until our last message exchanges on...
Shooting Stars like Kurt Cobain: Portrait of a Rock Photographer
As a photographer Martyn Goodacre is mostly remembered for his famous black and white shot of Kurt Cobain, but he framed many more stars of rock, cinema and literature before living in Thailand for many years. The music business is a Roman circus of debauchery and...
Remembering Mr. Chi Pig: the High-flying, Low-Falling Frontman of SNFU
The passing of the cult-famous punk singer of SNFU last year inspired a torrent of online tributes from fans, critics and musicians like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, but few of them came from those who first knew him as a teenaged skateboarder from Edmonton....
Suicide Notes on Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cornell, Kevin Hines and the Middle-Aged Plumber Down the Street
On the first anniversary of the passing of Anthony Bourdain, Jim Algie looks at the spiking suicide rate in the West and how a man who survived a leap from the Golden Gate Bridge is leading a revolution in suicide prevention and awareness. My brother and I were nine...
On the Night Joey Ramone Died gets 5-star review in Bangkok Post
Jim Algie gets to revisit a past life as a punk rocker in the hugely entertaining ‘On The Night Joey Ramone Died’ writes Max Barclay of the Bangkok Post in the May 15, 2018 edition. “Write what you know” is an axiom familiar to all who have learned the craft...
On the Comeback Trail with Singer and Author Dan Stuart
The former frontman of Green on Red, Dan Stuart, discusses the group’s rise and downfall, his 15-year hiatus from the music biz and how personal tragedies inspired three acclaimed solo records and two books. Words by Jim Algie. Some 15 albums and EPs into his...
Close Encounters with Rock Stars #2: Teenage Head
Jim Algie pays tribute to the hugely influential Teenage Head and recounts a humorous backstage encounter with the band’s bassist Steve Mahon in his latest book. As a teenager myself no Canadian band of that era was more important to me than Teenage Head....
When Punk Became Middle Aged: From Outliers to Insiders
Looking back at the 40th anniversary of punk in 2016 through interviews with members of the Damned and Buzzcocks, and a rundown of main events, such as the son of the Sex Pistols’ former manager burning some US$7 million of punk memorabilia. By Jim Algie To all...
Notes on the Late Leonard Cohen and Meeting Him in Montreal
Before I was born my mom used to go and see Leonard Cohen do poetry readings in Montreal in the late 1950s. So I grew up with his novels and poetry collections on our bookshelves. She did not listen to his music though, so that epiphany had to wait until 1985 when I’d...
My Close Encounters with Rock Stars Part 1: Joe Strummer
Whether on stage or on the street the late Joe Strummer took great pains to portray himself as an everyman of the people. In person he was very much the same, writes author and former punk musician, Jim Algie. After producing the Pogues’ album Hells’ Ditch the former...
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