BABIES RUN MY WORLD (Live at the Horseshoe Tavern) Cardboard Brains

 Those were the days my friend.

POSITIVITY BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

 

The Positivity Pole where I contemplate each morning.

Apocalypse Today Part One.

 

Not much to say about this. I’m trying to ignite some kind of creative spark, and as yet it eludes me. But be patient dear readers/viewers. Hope springs eternal. I’m experimenting. I will evolve.

Cardboard Brains 1977. They were the best of times…

 

Paul O’Connell, Rich Miller, Vince Carlucci and John Paul Young in our summer of 1977 practice sessions. Together we made the iconic “White EP” (BRAINCO WORLDWIDE). Fun times of our youth.

CONSPIRACY 465 (1)(b)

 CONSPIRACY 465 (1) (b)

Everyone who conspires with anyone to prosecute a person for an alleged offence knowing they did not commit that offence is guilty of

i) an indictable offence…

 

The Sun Still Shines

 

The Boulevards of Hope.

You know, Dear Friends, what I really would like to do is release new music. But financing a project is the problem. If I were to use Ermie Scub as a guideline, it would cost about $CDN50,000.00 to release a comparable LP. Plus promotion and distribution. And I need things such as a practice space and gear. Maybe I will win the lottery or get a Canada Council for the Arts grant.

Many sources including the CBC and Nardwaur and Canadian Composer (which was in the days of CAPAC) have commented on how depressing and down it is. But I submit that the above track is optimistic. And it’s one of my fave tracks on The Life of Ermie Scub.

423 (1) INTIMIDATION

 

Je suis malade. Thinking about legal issues and the pursuit of justice makes me literally sick. I have a psycho-physiological reaction that incapacitates me.

More to follow shortly dear friends.

ONE WAY TICKET TO THE RESURRECTION.

 

“Sure Mel. Maybe you can handle yourself one of them first class tickets to the resurrection.” Scarface (1983) brilliantly penned by Oliver Stone. I haven’t yet addressed the comments in this blog, put please keep them up, they’re great. It’s great to interact with others after so many years off the grid.

Past couple of weeks I have been down to one 70 mg. hit of Vyvanse per diem but I could use additional to be on the ball. But the healthcare system in Nova Scotia is pretty bad and the possibility of me finding a physician that’s a wizard in the field of psychotropic medication is next to impossible.

If only I had been diagnosed and treated for ADD/ADHD years ago, things would be much different.And in case it doesn’t show or hold itself self-evident, I have a bad case of complex PTSD which exacerbates the ADD/ADHD. As it is, I dropped out of high school and three universities and didn’t graduate.

( Humberside Collegiate Institute, where I was student council president. Ryerson Polytechnic University, University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario.)

However I did complete my training in systems analysis at Honeywell in 1981-1982. That was an experimental military immersion program, a prototype for a future project in which I was essentially brainwashed into thinking all things computer science. One of the things that made it possible to learn so much so fast was to work on sleep deprivation. I actually graduated, but around the same time I was nominated for a UKNOW/CASBY award and won (to my surprise). So instead of making big money in the about to boom field of computer science, I detoured that career to concentrate on my musical career.

ALLMUSIC Review of The Life of Ermie Scub by Laurie Mercer

I thought I would transcribe onto this blog a not bad review of The Life of Ermie Scub by Laurie Mercer of ALLMUSIC. 

ALLMUSIC REVIEW BY LAURIE MERCER

“Canadian John Paul Young (not to be confused with the Brit-pop star of the same era) released The Life of Ermie Scub after leaving his band the Cardboard Brains, a popular Toronto art-punk club band who put out a few records and toured with such bands as Bauhaus and The Stranglers.

A concept solo album (truly solo, Young wrote, co-produced, and played most of the instruments), ERMIE SCUB is a rather bleak tale of an introverted child struggling with confusion and loneliness, trying to figure out his place in a hostile world: “Have You Seen the Boy In the Gutter With the Broken Mind?”.

Musically its a minor synth-pop gem. A postcard from a time when synthesisers offered unlimited possibilities and an electronic rhythm section eliminated the need for drummers and bass players And layered composition was all the rage.

Like much music of this time, Ermie Scub can seem overbearing and pretentious at times, yet riveting and creative at others. fans may hear echoes of Depeche Mode or the British New Romantic groups but when Ermie Scub was released these bands were inn the future. Young’s work here is cutting edge upon its release: innovative and current synth-pop. The club hit “Our Time Escapes” survives well and sounds like a minor Wall of Voodoo hit. Other songs didn’t survive as well, but that doesn’t distract from the overall warped and upbeat pleasure of the album It was a local success for Young, winning a CASBY “people’s choice award for Most Promising artist in 1982.

John young went on to become a successful television actor and re-united the Cardboard Brains on several occasions. A “best of “ compilation which included several solo compositions went quickly in and out of print. So for fans of minimal synth-pop or the Toronto Art-Punk scenes, the only way to hear THE LIFE OF ERMIE SCUB is on the original vinyl. Good luck finding it. “