Curse - Teenage Meat

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	Raw	01:37
	2	Aggravation	02:09
	3	Switchblade Love	03:28
	4	Somethin' Ya Can't Tell Your Mother	02:23
	5	I Accuse You	03:05
	6	Eat Me	02:43
	7	Shoeshine Boy	02:26
	8	Killer Bees	03:02
	9	Teenage Meat	02:30
	10	Oh My God (demo)	02:00
	11	Feelin' Dirty (demo)	02:20
	12	Somethin' Ya Can't Tell Your Mother (demo)	02:10
	13	I Accuse You (demo)	03:03
	14	Switchblade Love (demo)	03:22
	15	Eat Me (demo)	02:17
	16	Aggravation (demo)	01:57
	17	Blunks (live)	02:29
	18	No More Ice Cream (live)	02:24
	19	He's My Boy (live)	02:36
	20	Johnny Feels Good (live)	01:27
	21	If it Tastes so Great, Swallow it Yerself! (live)	01:46

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Information/Write-up

The Curse were Canada’s first all-female punk band — a loud, unfiltered burst of rebellion that tore through Toronto’s Queen Street scene during the pivotal punk summer of 1977. Unapologetically abrasive, theatrical, and political, they were more than just a band: they were performance art, agit-prop, feminist provocation, and chaos in motion.

Formed in May 1977 by dancer-turned-frontwoman Mickey Skin, The Curse emerged from a dare. Her dance instructor, Roland Kirouac (of The Tools), gave her three weeks to put a band together and open for his group. With no time to spare, Mickey recruited her close friend Dr. Bourque on bass, her sister Trixie Danger on guitar (who’d taken some classical lessons), and drummer Patsy Poison, a friend from Yonge Street’s nightlife. They had never played in bands before. Within three weeks, The Curse had written eight songs, assembled a full set, and made their debut.

Their first shows were riotous. Performing in basements and rehearsal pits, they stunned audiences with wild, rule-breaking performances. Mickey wore a fake lobotomy scar, spit hot dogs at the crowd, and served Purple Jesus punch from a bowl filled with floating tampons. At one infamous gig, male audience members squirmed as she pulled weenies from her pants and mashed them underfoot. The band’s visual tactics — feather boas, surgical gloves, power drills, whipped cream, squirt guns — blurred the line between punk rock and shock art.

Their second public show came at Crash ‘n’ Burn, Canada’s first punk club, where Freddy Pompeii of the Viletones encouraged them to take the stage. That June 3, 1977 gig alongside the Viletones marked their true arrival. A few weeks later, they crossed the border to play CBGB in New York, joining fellow Torontonians Teenage Head, the Diodes, and the Viletones on an all-Canadian bill. At that gig, Mickey famously sprayed the crowd with whipped cream.

The Curse continued playing around Toronto — David’s, the Horseshoe, Turning Point, Shubert’s Cabaret, the Colonial Underground — sharing bills with acts like the Battered Wives, Androids, Dents, Teenage Head, and Diodes. Their antics drew as much backlash as admiration. During a performance at London, Ontario’s Forest City Gallery (Nov. 25, 1977), hostile local punks welcomed them with hurled steaks and rotting food. Still, they played three full sets of their eight songs, in three different orders.

Their only official single, “Shoeshine Boy” b/w “Killer Bees”, was recorded in early 1978 at Marigold Sound and released on Hi-Fi Records that April. "Shoeshine Boy" was inspired by the horrific 1977 rape and murder of 12-year-old Emanuel Jaques, a shoeshine boy exploited and murdered along Yonge Street. The song’s gruesome lyrics (“wrapped in a plastic bag…”) sparked outrage, especially when the band sent copies of the record to the convicted killers. The 45 remains one of the most controversial Canadian punk singles ever issued. A second pressing reversed the A/B sides and toned down the artwork.

The Curse played with John Waters’ “Egg Woman” at the Horseshoe Tavern in May 1978, opened for the Plasmatics’ Wendy O. Williams, and even performed with CEAC artists in Detroit, where they were theatrically “executed” by a fellow performance artist while “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” played. Despite these standout moments, their chaotic energy soon took its toll. Internal tension, exhaustion, and clashes with the conservative club scene eventually pushed them to the brink.

Their final show with the original lineup took place at Max’s Kansas City in New York, spring 1978. The venue was packed with New York’s punk elite. Mickey Skin delivered a defiant last performance, table-hopping over the crowd, before the band disbanded. By then, they had earned a reputation as “the world’s oldest disease” — a reference to how their raw femininity, aggression, and political stance infected and disturbed the patriarchal norms of punk.

Their studio material was limited to just one single, but dozens of live recordings, rehearsal tapes, and basement sessions have since been compiled. The 2009 CD Teenage Meat (O.P.M. Records) restored many of these lost recordings, including their Crash ‘n’ Burn sessions, live tapes from Forest City Gallery, and the infamous Max’s Kansas City show.

Legacy
Despite their short run, The Curse left an outsized legacy. They were the first Canadian punk band comprised entirely of women, and arguably the most radical. Their influence was immediate: they shattered punk’s macho codes, rejected the idea of technical proficiency, and built a bridge between performance art and protest music.

They stood apart from their contemporaries — The B-Girls, The Dishrags, No Frills — by embracing chaos, sexuality, political commentary, and raw aggression in ways few others dared. They were not just a girl band. They were an affliction. A declaration. A warning.

There exists no cure for The Curse.
-Robert Williston

Mickey Skin: vocals
Dr. Bourque: bass
Trixie Danger: guitar
Patsy Poison: drums
Buddy Seven: saxophone (tracks 17–18)

All songs written by Dr. Bourque and Trixie Danger
Except:

Track 1 by Amerigo Marras, Bruce Eves

Tracks 2, 4, 6 co-written with Mickey Skin

Tracks 7, 8 by Trixie Danger and Buddy Seven

Track 9, 11 inspired by Roland Kirouac and Danny Levy of The Tools
(All songs SOCAN)

Produced by B.B. Gabor (tracks 7–8, 10–16)
Engineered by Rich Dobson
Executive producer (tracks 7–8): Ross Edmunds
Track 1 recorded at Crash ’n Burn for CEAC single Raw/War
Tracks 2–6 recorded live to reel-to-reel during rehearsals at Crash ’n Burn, July 28, 1977
Tracks 10–16 produced as demos at Marigold Sound, spring 1978
Track 17 recorded live at Colonial Underground, spring 1978
Track 18 recorded live at Max’s Kansas City, New York City (final performance of original lineup)
Track 19 recorded live at Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario, November 1977
Tracks 20–21 recorded live to cassette in Mickey’s mom’s basement, May 1977 (first rehearsals)

All songs restored and remastered by Peter J. Moore
Series: O.P.M.’s Punk Hole of Fame
Mastered at The Room, Toronto

Photographers: Rodney Bowes, Gail Bryck, Gail Manning, Ross Taylor, Paul Till
Layout and design: Rodney Bowes

Special thanks to:
Glen Binmore, Nora Currie, Gail Manning, Jeff (Jetts) Ostoiski,
Mickey’s mom (Lotte Voss), Peter J. Moore, John Hamilton ($200 donation),
Mike Niederman (live tape donation, Forest City Gallery)

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