Day 4: The Smugglers Live In Winnipeg "No-Hit Rock 'n' Roll!"

This summer I spent two relaxing weeks up at the cottage and as in past years I caught up on my reading for the year. I typically don't have time or more realistically don't make time to read books while I'm in the city, more specifically when I have internet access. Our cottage can't get a TV signal, barely receives a cell phone signal and definitely do not have wi-fi. We do have electricity, running water and a phone line, but for the most part we have to make our own fun, like board/card games, handheld and phone video games, DVDs, swimming, hiking and reading. The cabin is jam packed with shelves of vintage books (mainly sci-fi), but I choose to bring a selection of books and magazines I've been stockpiling the rest of the year since I have loads of time on my hands. This year, by coincidence the books and mags were all music related, mainly non-fiction (plus one fiction re-read, High Fidelity). I finished a book I started earlier in the year, How Music Got Free- A Story of Obsession and Invention by Stephen Witt. I found this book very fascinating, as it follows the birth of the mp3 and how it revolutionized the music business and how it changed how we access music either through buying CD's, pirating music, downloading and streaming. It's a behind the scenes look through the vantage points of some of the players in the industry, the inventors of the mp3, a top music executive, a worker at a CD manufacturing plant, a leaker and the creators of many music pirating download sites. It intrigued me because I lived this life, I saw and participated in many of these practices seeking leaked  pre-releases, and shared music through many p2p sites uploading and downloading a lot of music. Personally, it brought back a lot of memories and it was a game changer for me because it increased my interest (and obsession) like nothing else and opened the door to music I wouldn't have otherwise sampled. I still buy a tremendous amount of vinyl, CDs and tapes and I subscribe to one music streaming site, but I still get a lot of music through file sharing and downloading. Anyways, this book is an interesting read, it's both entertaining and educational for the music fan and for anyone interested in the business of the music industry.

A book I was itching to read for months was the rock biography about the Vancouver band, The Smugglers, Dirty Windshields- The Best and Worst of The Smugglers Tour Diaries written by lead singer, Grant Lawrence. I usually don't read rock bios, but it caught my attention because the Smugglers were a band I saw on several occasions back in the 90's and when I was flipping through the book in the bookstore, I found a chapter a about their Winnipeg incident, (sorta) opening for the Young Fresh Fellows and Hoodoo Gurus at the U of M campus. I won't go into details (you have to buy the book), but I was at that show (another life-changing moment, seeing the Fellows for the first time live!) and I didn't realize the circumstances of why the Smugglers were bumped from the bill. A funny story from earlier that day, I took off from work for a couple of hours because the Fellows were advertised to play a noon hour set at University Centre. Disappointingly, they weren't playing, but instead a galoshes wearing band was taking the stage. My disappointment was soothed a couple songs in, these guys were amazing! It was the Smugglers! They were energetic, jumping around on stage and they played some straight-up rock 'n' roll that impressed the crap out of me. I remember  very little response from the student crowd and I might have been the only one that watched their whole set. I was hooked! I saw them a few years later in 1995 at the Pyramid on a week night and once again the crowd was small and uninterested. In fact, I seated myself dead centre at the edge of the dance floor with no one in front or around me, seriously? One of the things I took notice from the book is how many great bands the Smugglers played with on tour. Apart from the Fellows, the Smuggs played with and/or toured with Cub, the Donnas, the Gruesomes, Mudhoney, the Posies, Fastbacks, the Queers, Supersnazz and the Mr. T Experience to name just some of the bands mentioned in the book. Though there is an official soundtrack (best of The Smugglers) for the book available (digital only), the next few posts will be an unofficial "tour" soundtrack featuring live recordings of some of the previously mentioned bands.

The live recording for this post is taken from a Smugglers show from 1996 at the non-defunct Wellington's bar in Winnipeg. Opening for the Smugglers was Duotang (from Winnipeg) and fellow Lookout recording artists, the Mr. T Experience. I went primarily because I love MTX and I've always wanted to see them live, but all three bands were excellent. The bar was jammed packed (it's not a large venue), but thinking back it wasn't a bad place to see a band. I recorded the show on my recording Walkman and I transferred the cassette to digital on my hard-drive. The fidelity isn't high and the crowd noise is definitely present, but it has that "I'm in the middle of a crowded bar" feel to it and after listening to the tape for the first time in years it sounds pretty good. This is the first time this show has been shared, I'm almost positive no one else taped it, so it's a nice historical document of the Smugglers on tour...in Winnipeg.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or convert to lossy format (except for personal use)
Please share!

THE SMUGGLERS
Wellington's
Winnipeg, MB
May 22, 1996
AUD Master

Sony mic> Sony WM-GX35 Recording Walkman> Maxell XLII 90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music> usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Rock With The Smugglers
02. Smokin' Monkey
03. Make You Mine
04. Big Trouble
05. ??
06. Especially You
07. Keep On
08. She Ain't No Egyptian
09. The B'n'L
10. Bishy-Bishy!
11. Alan Thicke
12. Whiplash
13. Vancouver, BC
14. Stop! Look! Listen!
15. Kiss Like A Nun
16. Rock 'N' Roll Was Never This Fun
17. Rock with The Smugglers

Encore
18. To Serve, Protect And Entertain
19. Supercar

Not 100% sure about the song titles on the setlist, if you identify the missing song (s), let me know.

THE SMUGGLERS- 1996-05-22 Wellington's, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar