Shmorgs

Websites:  No
Origin: White Rock, British Columbia
Biography:

The Shmorgs were the first Bergmann-led band to make it to vinyl, with a record released on their own Stray label in early 1978. "That was a bunch of guys from White Rock and Surrey. We started out as a really basic three-chord rock 'n roll and went on from there as I learned to write songs. We went through a bunch of different lineups, and I ended up doing all the writing for the band, which was a real burden. And then we were stupid enough to put out a record.'' The LP, simply entitled Shmorgs, is an uneven, but nonetheless interesting, record that, despite Bergmann's disclaimer, is well worth looking for. Considering how the album sold, however, the Bergmann basement might be a good place to start your search.

After the Shmorgs, Bergmann went on to form the K-Tels with Jim Bescott and Barry Taylor. K-Tel International was not amused: the people who brought you Veg-A-Matic and Myron Florens' Greatest Hits threatened legal action, and the band was renamed the Young Canadians. It was with the Young Canadians that Bergmann came closest to success. The band released two excellent EPs (including that "five minutes of my time" that continues to plague Bergmann), toured with the Boomtown Rats, and collected impressive notices and fans across North America. Yet for all their apparent success, the Young Canadians remained an underground band; radio ignored them, as did the big record companies. As with any other underground" act in the mass-media world of North America, they reached a point where they had to break into the mainstream or break up. "It was time for a change," is Bergmann's reply to queries about the split. "Besides, we weren't big enough. I like to work in a band, a situation where there's a lot of creative argument going on. Maybe that's my problem. But the Young Canadians were just too small for us to rub off on each other.''

He got the band he wanted soon after, forming what was unfortunately described as "Vancouver's first punk super-group:" Los Popularos. The band first emerged as a "fuck band" on the Bud Luxford compilation and featured Gord Nicholl and Tony Bardach (ex-Pointed Sticks), Buck Cherry (ex-Modernettes), Zippy Pinhead (ex-Dils), and Bill Shirt (ex-Active Dog), along with Bergmann. Originally dubbed Los Radicos Popularos, the band played for the hell of it, more often than not for free. The "Radicos" was dropped when the band became a serious project. Burdened by inflated expectations, the band almost didn't survive their first tour. Cherry left, and the band laid low long enough to shed the ludicrous "supergroup" tag and coalesce into a pretty decent pop band. Los Pops managed to put out a moderately interesting single and an EP, Born Free , which, although spoiled by muddy production, showcased Bergmann, Shirt and Nicholl as talented and capable tunesmiths. "Like all great bands, we were really awful sometimes," says Bergmann of Los Popularos. "In the end we broke up because we couldn't record anymore. We'd signed a three year contract with these people, and after Born Free didn't make them a million bucks, they decided that they wouldn't give us any more money to record, but they wouldn't release us from our contract. And you can only play live without a record for so long before you end up banging your head against the wall. So we wrote them letters, which got no answers. Finally, we just decided to call it quits. But I still get together with Bill and Gord to write the occasional pop tune about sex, death and religion."

Which brings us, and Art, to the present, and Poisoned. Bergmann is back up front, singing his own songs, supported by a band made up of Ted Rich, Fred Hamilton and Taylor Nelson Little (all of whom most recently appeared with Psychic Healers) and Murray Anderchak. He's recorded 10 songs for a demo tape (three of which can be heard on CITR) and is planning to play around Vancouver as a prelude to taking another grab at the gold (maybe brass?) ring. There are a lot of people pulling for Bergmann, a lot Of people saying that Poisoned is 'the one. Anticipation is in the air, inflating expectations once again. We'll have to wait and see if Poisoned can avoid the pitfalls Bergmann's other bands have encountered. Bergmann seems to be taking it pretty much in stride. "I don't know. I just want to get back to playing live and then do some recording in a 24-track; then we'll see what happens. It's tough to get back to being the focus of a band, singing and so on. It's a lot easier just staying in the back playing guitar and doing backups. But yeah, we'll see what happens ..." And, if it happens, maybe Art Bergmann can leave that particular five minutes of his time behind and say once and for all - "Fuck Hawaii."
-discorder, July, 1984