The 400 Blows b/w All Gone Wrong

London, Ontario had no punk band of its own until the fall of 1977, when Manchester-born singer Keith Whittaker started rehearsing with guitarist Rob Brent, bassist Iain Atkinson and drummer Nick Perry as the Demics. Jimmy Weatherstone soon took over the drums. Their 1978 EP Talk’s Cheap was the first release on Ready Records, and its slow-burning ‘New York City’ became a staple on CFNY once program director David Marsden got behind it. By early 1979 all four had moved to Toronto.

Brent left to form Mettle and Steve Koch took over on guitar. Brent’s name stays in the writing credits on both sides of this single, though it is Koch playing on the record.

The band cut their self-titled album at Nimbus 9 in Toronto with producers Tom Treumuth and Gary Furniss, two Fanshawe College graduates who had started Hypnotic Records after Treumuth’s time as keyboardist in the prog band True Myth. Jack Richardson let Furniss use the studio during its downtime, which is how a young indie label got a punk band into the room where Richardson made his Guess Who records. Treumuth also played keyboards on the album, so the keyboard ride-out that NME singled out at the end of ‘The 400 Blows’ is his.

The album came out in 1980 on Intercan, the Canadian label Pickwick Records of Canada launched that year, and drew strong notices at home and in the U.K. This 1981 single pairs ‘The 400 Blows’, named for the François Truffaut film, with ‘All Gone Wrong’, which runs almost six minutes and is the longest track on the album. Only a few copies came with the one-sided press insert reproduced below. This one still has it.

The Demics split not long after amid internal tensions. In 1996 Chart magazine readers voted ‘New York City’ the greatest Canadian song of all time, and Huge Records issued the New York City compilation. Keith Whittaker died of cancer on July 16 of that year. His final recordings came out in 2007 as Drink To Me on Bullseye Records. Rob Brent died in 2014 at 57, and Jimmy Weatherstone died in 2021 at 63.

-Robert Williston

Press Insert

New Musical Express (U.K.), Jan. 10, 1981
“‘400 Blows’ a jagged street chant that finally heads for glory with one of the most free ranging keyboard ride-outs in recent times. A great possibility for singles action, as they say in all the best trades.”

David Livingstone, Maclean’s, Nov. 10, 1980
“‘400 Blows’ moves from tense guitars to unleashed keyboards. This is a pleasant surprise, re-affirming faith in the local scene.”

Kerry Doole, Music Express (CAN)
“London Ontario’s finest on album at last. ‘Demics’ displays a band that need be in awe of no-one from London, England or their beloved New York City. This powerful album is already scoring excellent local sales and airplay.... Standout songs include ‘The 400 Blows’, inspired by the Truffaut movie; ‘Talk Talk’ and ‘All Gone Wrong’.”

Toronto Starweek Magazine, Nov. 1, 1980
“Can you be punky and mainstream all at once? Well yes, as it turns out.... The band’s bursting with energy; the songs are catchy enough; no obvious gimmicks have been used...”

Distribution
Pickwick Records of Canada Limited
180 Station Street, Ajax, Ontario