I Hate Country Music b/w Honky Tonk Man

Seth Tucker and the Uptown Dudes emerged from the Niagara Falls, Ontario music scene with a wonderfully irreverent name, a tongue-in-cheek country single and roots that reached much further back into the region's musical history than their lone known record might suggest. Although the group left behind only one documented commercial release, the musicians behind it were anything but newcomers.

At the centre of that story was Ken Olsen, whose involvement in the local scene stretched back to the mid-1960s. Olsen played guitar with the Niagara Falls band Riot Squad circa 1965–66, beginning a musical life that would continue, in various forms, for decades. Born Kenneth Charles Olsen on September 4th, 1950, he grew up in the Niagara area and attended A.N. Myer Secondary School. Olsen remained an active musician, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist throughout much of his life.

By 1981 Olsen was involved with Seth Tucker and the Uptown Dudes, a name whose initials conveniently spelled S.T.U.D. The group recorded the single 'I Hate Country Music' b/w 'Honky Tonk Man' for the appropriately named B-A-A-A-D Records, with the record recorded and manufactured by Earthland Records on Stanley Avenue in Niagara Falls.

The A-side, 'I Hate Country Music', was written and produced by Ken Olsen, whose surname appears as "Olson" on the record label. Its title alone suggests the group's sense of humour: a country record announcing its dislike of country music. The flip side, 'Honky Tonk Man', was written and produced by Jim Ballantyne.

Earthland Records was part of Niagara Falls' local recording infrastructure during the period. Operated on Stanley Avenue by Rod Morrison, the studio was used for a variety of independent Canadian recording projects, placing the Seth Tucker single within the city's established recording scene.

The group remained active into the late 1980s, with Ken Olsen and Brian Whittaker performing together in the Niagara Region. Around 2010, the pair reunited musically as Catching Pies, writing and recording original material together. Olsen contributed vocals, guitars, harmonica, keyboards and recording work.

Olsen died on July 1st, 2023 at the age of 72. His obituary specifically remembered his renewed involvement in music and his recordings as Catching Pies, bringing to a close a musical life that had begun when he was still a teenager playing guitar in Niagara Falls.

-Robert Williston