The Explosions

The Explosions were a politically engaged Vancouver rock band formed during the late 1970s by musicians whose work overlapped significantly with the city’s alternative press, arts and activist communities. The group consisted of Bob Mercer on vocals and harmonica, Alex Varty on slide guitar and vocals, Dave Lester on guitar and vocals, Jamie Baugh on bass, and Tom Harrison on drums and vocals.

Several of the members were already established—or would later become established—as Vancouver writers, editors and cultural commentators. Mercer worked as an editor and art director at the Georgia Straight, while Harrison and Varty became two of the city’s best-known music critics. Harrison wrote about rock and popular music for the Georgia Straight before beginning a lengthy career at The Province, where he chronicled Vancouver’s local music scene as well as major international artists. Varty became a longtime Georgia Straight music critic and arts editor and was also active as a broadcaster and experimental musician. Lester worked in publishing and graphic design and later became internationally known as the guitarist in the politically outspoken Vancouver duo Mecca Normal.

The Explosions combined blues-based rock and rock and roll with topical songwriting and political activism. Their only known commercially released recording was the 1978 single ‘Wilson, Lucas & Bruce’, backed with ‘Everybody’s Crazy But You & Me’, issued as the first—and apparently only—release on Georgia Straight Records. The record was recorded at Ocean Sound in North Vancouver and engineered by Edward John.

Written by Bob Mercer, ‘Wilson, Lucas & Bruce’ recounts the June 1975 hostage-taking at the British Columbia Penitentiary involving prisoners Clair Wilson, Dwight Lucas and Andy Bruce. The 72-hour confrontation ended when a prison tactical squad stormed the prisoners’ position and prison classification officer Mary Steinhauser was fatally shot.

The song and its extensive sleeve notes placed the incident within the broader controversy surrounding solitary confinement at the penitentiary. The notes argued that the frustration, tension and sensory deprivation experienced by prisoners in solitary were underlying causes of the confrontation. They also promoted the work of the Solitary Confinement Abolition Project and appealed for donations to the Wood-Hoon Defense Fund, which supported Vancouver prison activists Gay Hoon and Betsy Wood.

The band’s activities extended beyond the recording studio. Lester later recalled that The Explosions performed ‘Wilson, Lucas & Bruce’ inside Matsqui Institution and also played the song while opening for Talking Heads in Vancouver. The group appeared at political and benefit events, including anti-nuclear concerts and a benefit for a Chilean refugee seeking political asylum in Canada. These performances placed The Explosions firmly within the socially conscious independent culture emerging in Vancouver during the late 1970s.

Although the group released no further records during its original period, The Explosions continued to record and perform into the early 1980s. In 1982, Vancouver engineer Ron Obvious recorded three additional songs by the band at Little Mountain Sound: ‘Summer Sun’, ‘Romance of History’ and ‘Gimme a Kiss’. Apparently never released commercially, the recordings preserve a later phase of the band’s literate, blues-influenced rock sound.

The members subsequently followed distinctive paths through Vancouver music, media and publishing. Lester formed Mecca Normal, whose politically charged independent music became influential within the North American underground and the emerging riot grrrl movement. Harrison remained one of Vancouver’s most prominent rock journalists while also performing with groups including Bruno Gerussi’s Medallion. Varty continued writing, broadcasting and participating in Vancouver’s experimental and improvised-music communities. Mercer remained active as an editor, designer and musician and later performed with Mercer Van Eyes.

In 2013, Mercer helped organize a benefit for the Mary Steinhauser Memorial Bursary, publicly revisiting the history that had inspired ‘Wilson, Lucas & Bruce’ 35 years earlier.

-Robert Williston

Lineup:
Jamie Baugh: bass
Tom Harrison: drums, vocals
Dave Lester: guitar, vocals
Bob Mercer: harp, vocals
Alex Varty: slide guitar, vocals