Insight
Contradance were a short-lived Windsor, Ontario new wave party band active in mid-to-late 1982. The group featured Dave McDonald on bass, Ken Montague on guitar and vocals, and Arif Qureshi on drums, and came out of a small but lively Windsor scene where reggae, punk, campus radio, and new wave overlapped.
Their only known four-song EP, Black Preppies: Look Buffy, four songs just for us!, was released on Dancing Note Records in 1982 and recorded at Aldon Sound 4 Studios in Windsor on August 3, 1982. Built around Montague’s sharp, funny title track, the record became a small local favourite, supported by CJAM and remembered through Windsor and Ann Arbor live appearances during the band’s brief original run.
The EP catches that Windsor campus/new wave moment well, with bright guitar, humour, reggae and pop touches, and a loose party-band feel. 'Black Preppies' is the obvious standout: a catchy satire of preppy fashion, social posing, and trying to fit in without quite wanting to. 'Trouble In The Darkness' stretches out into a smoother reggae-influenced groove, while 'She’s Got An Eyepiece' and 'Professional Dads' show the band’s lighter, oddball pop side.
More than 25 years later, Contradance reunited in 2013 for a CJAM anniversary event, a fitting return for a record that had never entirely disappeared from Windsor campus-radio memory. Brief as they were, Contradance left behind one of those small, funny, highly specific Canadian private-press records that captures a time, a city, and a scene in just four songs.
– Robert Williston
Gallery
Images
4 images
Contradance - Black Preppies EP (picture sleeve)
Contradance - Black Preppies EP (picture sleeve)
Contradance - Black Preppies EP (picture sleeve)
Black Preppies EP (picture sleeve)
Media
Videos
0 videos
No videos available for this title.
Credits
Musicians
Dave McDonald: bass
Ken Montague: guitar, vocals
Arif Qureshi: drums
Songwriting
'Black Preppies' written by Ken Montague
'Trouble In The Darkness' written by Ken Montague
'She’s Got An Eyepiece' written by Ken Montague
'Professional Dads' written by Ken Montague
Production
Produced by Contradance
Recorded at Aldon Sound 4 Studios, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Recorded August 3, 1982
Engineered and mixed by Richard Janik
Artwork / Design
Logo designed by Ken Montague
Artwork by John Fewer
Rights / Matrix
℗ © Ken Montague 1982
MAPL
Matrix / Runout Side A: WRC5-2315-A-1A-2HZ
Matrix / Runout Side B: WRC-5-2315-B-2HZ
Other: MAPL
Notes
Issued with a press release insert.
Liner notes
Contradance thanks: Richard Janik, Don Lazurek, Students of the University of Windsor, David Laird, Pete Deck & the S.A.C., The Lance, the people of CJAM, especially Chris Briston for “Debuts” & “Radios In Motion” (WDET), Rick Houghton Studio A, Math Building??... Hmmm..., the infamous Delta Chi Fraternity, Stella Dillon Brown & Civilian Regime, Bookies Club 870, Steve Zuk & the Zuks, Wharehouse Mitch, Louis (for sure!), Cliff Pettit at Records on Wheels (through Canada), Sam the Record Man, the Guelphte Mall Arts Council, T.O.W.A.R.D., Artfest, Artie, Mikey, & the SLK Prism Productions, Rick’s American Café, R.J.’s used records, U of M Radio, entire city of Ann Arbor, Attic Records, Rickenbacker Basses, Hutnik Instrumental Design Inc., Korg’s Rhythm 55 (“Peggie” band with a drum machine??), Sue Shimizu (when can we go David??), Marti Douglas & the Daughters of the Professionall Dads, Minello & Ribsy, the Skank Brothers, Dale Lamore & the Nelsons, Dominato & Fecore (not particularly in that order guys), the everlasting influence of the late Bob Marley, Horatio “The Cultural Dread,” Beckers, Fig Newtons, Vernors, meliodis (Pour la gorge!), Izod Lacoste Ltd. & Mom, Dad, & Sibs.
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