Some Kinda Fun?..anybody?

October 14, 2008 5:15 PM

The band Teenage Head was HUGE when I was in highschool in the early 80's. Were they popular anywhere outside of Southern Ontario?
posted by bonobothegreat to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

I was in high school in Chicago at the same time and I had never heard of them.
posted by lee at 6:02 PM on October 14, 2008

We heard about them on the west coast (Vancouver) but I'd hardly call them huge. I couldn't name a song now.
posted by philip-random at 6:09 PM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Never made it to my tiny part of Southeastern Michigan.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:10 PM on October 14, 2008

I think anyone in Canada who followed popular music at the time would have been familiar with the name of the band, at least. I don't think they were known much at all outside Canada.
posted by winston at 6:17 PM on October 14, 2008

In California, I knew of them from their presence in the movie "Class Of 1984." Didn't pursue them.
posted by rhizome at 6:24 PM on October 14, 2008

I only know of Teenage Head as a Flamin Groovies song and album from about 1971 (probably their best).
posted by rfs at 7:37 PM on October 14, 2008

Best answer: Wow - a question about Teenage Head! I was a massive fan back in the late 70's / early 80's - saw them several times all over Southern Ontario. I always had the sense their cult never went further than Ontario. Same deal with Max Webster - huge at home and unknown elsewhere.
posted by davebush at 8:23 PM on October 14, 2008

Well, I remember that I saw them in Buffalo at the Continental (whenever that was back then, and well, it's a bit blurry)...but, well, that's only spitting distance from Southern Ontario and I don't recall them being a huge draw. That was a regular Thurs-Sat haunt for more than a few years, and while I knew who they were and what they did, I was there and just didn't "buy the t-shirt".
posted by peagood at 8:37 PM on October 14, 2008

Both Teenage Head and Max Webster were fairly well-known out in Northern BC, but not hugely popular.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:24 PM on October 14, 2008

They released a new album this year I think (which is the one I just bought, here in New Zealand).
posted by chrisbucks at 10:00 PM on October 14, 2008

Response by poster: Seeing as davebush lives 15 minutes from where I went to high school (Welland), I guess it was a Niagara Peninsular sort of thing. It funny because I only got out to one live show but I remember hearing the music everywhere on radio, parties, and bars in my senior year.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:03 AM on October 15, 2008

Hey bonobothegreat - I saw them in Welland. A memorable beer soaked gig at Niagara College (likely 1981). I distinctly remember Frankie sarcastically announcing after the opening song, "It's good to be here in Grimsby."
posted by davebush at 12:26 PM on October 15, 2008

I know these guys because I used to cover Detroit rock and would see their albums in the used bins pretty often. So, yeah, they made it to Michigan at least. But that would have been in the last five years that I was picking up their albums.
posted by klangklangston at 2:36 PM on October 15, 2008

Wow - strange timing. Frankie Venom died today. RIP Frankie (and another part of my youth).
posted by peagood at 6:38 PM on October 15, 2008

Response by poster: Yeah, I didn't know he was sick. I just was just listening to this the other day and got nostalgic.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:46 AM on October 16, 2008