The Infamous

Teenage Head

by Stephen O'Grady,

Moira Secondary School,

Belleville, Ontario

 WITH THE RECENT GOLD CERTIFICATION of Teenage Head's second album Frantic City, the four young lads from Hamilton, Ontario have been enjoying their greatest success ever. Though they have been making headlines for more notorious happenings such as the Ontario Place riot this past summer, and controversy surrounding even their name, they have been gaining a solid reputation as an exciting live act and major draw.

How do you explain your ever increasing popularity?

Steve: We just play all the time - night after night, play and play - hard and good.

What is Teenage Head all about to you guys?

Steve: Well we're a rock 'n' roll band after a good time and makin' good music. That's not hard to understand is it?

Is money an important factor to you or are you content to just have fun and entertain?

Frankie: It's very important at this stage.

Gord: We make as much money as we can and have as much fun doing it at the same time.

Steve: And make sure no one rips off the money we make!

You are often referred to as a punk band and although you do project a punkish image onstage, when listening to your albums I hear a lot more rockabilly influences like Eddie Cochran and Jerry Lee Lewis as opposed to the Sex Pistols and The Clash. The lyrics have less of the strong attitudes of contempt and anger that punk bands often use in their attack, rather, Teenage Head deals mostly with the trials, tribulations and joys of the average teenage life. Who are your personal influences, who did you like to listen to in your younger years?

Frankie: Let's see ... Iggy Pop, early Stooges, New York Dolls, Mott the Hoople ... the first Aerosmith album was good. Just real rock and roll you know ... MC5 and of course the early stuff - Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, The Venturers, that kind of stuff - real stuff.

Did you go to a lot of concerts when you were in high school?

Frankie: Yah. Used to always go to Massey Hall in Toronto, the four of us. We all grew up together and had the band. I tried to see every concert I could, but often I just couldn't afford it.

Are you still a fan as well as a contributor: Do you still buy albums and go to concerts?

Frankie: I try to keep up but I don't get much of a chance to see anything anymore or shop for records. Usually the records I get are from the record companies. I won't pay the price now anyway. Seven or eight bucks? Forget it. There's only two cuts on them worth listening to.

Do you feel the infamous Ontario Place concert had any great impact on the band?

Frankie: It was one of the best things that could have happened to us at that time because record sales were doing alright but not phenomenal. It made headlines right across Canada, you know, front page on every paper. Like we sold, some 10,000 albums within seven days after that event. It boosted Frantic City right up to gold. We lost a few gigs but then we gained a lot more from it, really.

I would be very curious to know your feelings toward the 'Heat Wave' festival at Mosport, Ontario, featuring, among others, Elvis Costello and The Pretenders. Being molded after such successes as Canada Jam and the California Rock Jams, but designed for the new wave genre, some people, like promoter Gary Cormier of Toronto's The Edge club, argue that it is an important and vital step in the emergence of new music to the forefront of the rock scene in Canada. Do you feel that big concerts like this summer's Heatwave are grand sell-outs by those bands whose roots and attitudes were supposed to suggest that these large festivals were ridiculously bloated and did not maintain any intimacy or touch with the audience?

Frankie: Yes, but people never get a chance, especially over here, to see groups like the Pretenders. I mean if the Pretenders were to come play at (Toronto's) El Mocambo, how many people are going to see them, two hundred? So I figure it's great; It'll give lots of kids a chance to see the bands they idolize. I think big concerts are great; I don't think it's selling out.

What does the future hold in store for Teenage Head?

Frankie: We're doing the third album right now, just playing weekends. Hopefully we are going to get Frantic City released in the U.S. and Britain, as it is doing fairly well on import. It's been released in Germany, Asia and France and there's talk of an Australian tour. You know, we've played the hell out of Canada. We've been east, we've been west, it was boring. Boring as hell, but you know, we had to do it.

Any highlights of your cross Canada tours, cities you like or disliked?

Frankie: Calgary was great, Vancouver was good. East was hell. Pure hell.

Are you going to put out a live album?

Frankie: Oh yeah. For sure. We've got a brand new single out and it's got a live cut on the "B" side. We'll do a live album for sure, definitely. Someday.