Insight
SMASH IT UP – Oral-Aural captures a broad cross-section of Toronto’s underground music scene in the summer of 1982. Issued as the twenty-fourth edition of the Smash It Up fanzine, the cassette combines local recordings with brief introductions, commentary and interviews, giving the collection more context than a standard compilation.
The music reflects a scene that had already moved well beyond first-wave punk. Vital Sines bring melodic post-punk, Hunger Project offer a darker and more austere sound, Youth Youth Youth supply the cassette’s most direct hardcore energy, and Breeding Ground point toward the gothic and atmospheric direction that would become more prominent in Toronto during the following years.
Other tracks show how varied the local underground had become. Hygiene Club mix punk humour with deliberately unusual songwriting, The Dave Howard Singers bring theatrical pop eccentricity, and Mark Malibu and the Wasagas add instrumental surf and ska influences. A Carnival Night, Rent Boys Inc., Big Deal, Deadlines and Kinetic Ideals further broaden the collection with material ranging from rough home recordings to more developed studio work.
The spoken material is useful without overwhelming the music. The Hygiene Club interview explains the group’s origins and the inspiration behind ‘Sea Monster’, while the Dave Howard Singers segment captures the humour and personality surrounding the act. Short announcements between tracks also mention current releases, planned recordings and local venues, giving the cassette the character of a scene report as well as a compilation.
Sound quality varies considerably, as the insert itself acknowledges. Some selections are polished, while others are clearly demos, rehearsal tapes or inexpensive live recordings. That inconsistency is part of the cassette’s documentary value, preserving material from artists who often had little opportunity to release records commercially.
The strongest aspect of Oral-Aural is its range. Better-known Toronto underground groups appear beside short-lived and barely documented acts, creating a more complete picture of the period than a collection limited to established names would provide. It shows punk, post-punk, hardcore, new wave, surf, ska and experimental music existing side by side within the same local network.
As a listening experience, the cassette is uneven but consistently interesting. As a historical release, it is especially valuable. It preserves rare recordings, alternate versions, interviews and contemporary information from a particularly active period in Toronto music, making SMASH IT UP – Oral-Aural an important surviving document of the city’s early-1980s underground.
-Robert Williston
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SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural CASSETTE 01
SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural CASSETTE 02
SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural FOLDOUT
SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural FRONT
SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural INSERT 02
SMASH IT UP - Oral-Aural
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Credits
Track credits
The Damned
‘Intro To “Smash It Up”’
Vital Sines
‘Come And Buy Your Miracle’
The band have a great sense of melody and are quite clever with their lyrics.
The song is a tribute to religious faith healers.
Hunger Project
‘Assembly’
Recorded in Toronto for a demo the band intended to take to England.
A Carnival Night
Untitled
Michael Clarke: drums, percussion
Jennifer Horwood: vocals
Itchy And The Crabs
‘Argy Bargy’
Hygiene Club
‘Blitzkrieg Bop’
Hygiene Club
‘Sea Monster’
Inspired by guitarist Morgan hearing a radio report about scientists expecting the discovery of a sea monster.
The Dave Howard Singers
‘They Come They Go’
Rent Boys Inc.
‘Beauty Is Above The Law’
Simon Nine
Recorded on an inexpensive recorder by Brat X-it approximately one year before the cassette’s release.
Big Deal
‘Movie Star’
Youth Youth Youth
‘Domination’
Different version from the recording appearing on the band’s own cassette.
Youth Youth Youth
‘Louie Louie’
Not included on the band’s own cassette.
Youth Youth Youth
‘Part-Time Punks’
Not included on the band’s own cassette.
Breeding Ground
‘Thin Red Line’
Deadlines
‘I’m You’
Mark Malibu And The Wasagas
‘Buzz Beat’
Instrumental recording.
Kinetic Ideals
‘Awful Medley’
The Damned
‘Outro Smash It Up’
Compilation production
Compiled by Nick Smash
Release date
Summer 1982
Companies / release credits
Smash: #24
Smash It Up
141 Collier Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4W 1M2
Notes
Issued as the twenty-fourth edition of Smash It Up and described as a “tape issue.”
The cassette was intended as a document of Toronto bands and as a means of circulating their music as quickly as possible.
The insert states that the sound quality ranges from poor to good, but that sound quality was not the point of the issue.
Distribution was intended to reach London, England, New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Kingston and other locations.
Known inserts were produced on yellow or orange paper, blue paper and plain black-and-white photocopied paper.
Cassette shells, handwritten labels and insert presentation vary between copies.
Some surviving copies contain differences near the end of side two.
Band notes
Vital Sines had released a single more than a year earlier.
Hunger Project had lived, worked and performed in New York City for approximately six months before returning to Toronto in May 1982. The band left for England at the beginning of June.
Michael Clarke also played drums with Rent Boys Inc. and worked periodically with Soma and Vital Sines.
Hygiene Club planned to make further recordings available.
The Dave Howard Singers had been described by the local fanzine Sounds From The Streets as a “modern day pop enigma.”
Rent Boys Inc. planned to release a single by the end of July 1982.
Big Deal had been together for more than a year but had reportedly performed only about three engagements. The group was all female.
Breeding Ground had been playing Toronto clubs for only a few months and hoped to release an EP by the end of the summer.
Deadlines were scheduled to open for Killing Joke at Larry’s Hideaway on August 9 and 10, 1982.
Mark Malibu And The Wasagas had performed at Start Dancing.
Kinetic Ideals had recorded in a sixteen-track studio following the release of their Reason EP and planned to travel to England in August.
Additional personnel
Michael Clarke: drums, percussion on A Carnival Night
Jennifer Horwood: vocals on A Carnival Night
Simon Nine: Rent Boys Inc. performance
Brat X-it: recorded the Rent Boys Inc. track
Morgan: guitarist with Hygiene Club
Special thanks
Bands that submitted tapes
Mutual Grat
Record Peddlar
Mick (Ins.)
291 A
Tim Keele
Rent Boys Inc.
Mike L. #126
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