Gary Pig Gold
Encyclopedia
Gary Pig Gold is a singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker and author. His fanzine The Pig Paper was Canada’s first independently-published music magazine, and among the recording artists he has worked with are Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

, Dave Rave, Endless Summer, Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer was a Canadian rock band, active in the 1970s. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the band consisted of guitarist and vocalist Edgar Breau, keyboardist John LaPlante , bass guitarist Kevin Christoff and drummer Neil DeMarchant...

 and Shane Faubert.

History

He formed his first band, Pornographic Cornflake (named after "I Am The Walrus
I Am the Walrus
"I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips. The song was in the Beatles' 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to the #1 hit "Hello,...

" lyric) at age thirteen, and his first 16mm film made four years later, a documentary about his hometown entitled This is Port Credit
Port Credit, Ontario
Port Credit is found at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, within the southcentral area of the city of Mississauga...

!, was chosen to be aired on a local PBS Television affiliate after winning an award at a high school film competition. Due to its libelous nature however, Gold was advised to indemnify himself from possible legal action by crediting the film to a fictitious director. Eating breakfast the morning the credits were to be re-shot, a plastic pig stamper fell from his cereal box and the pseudonym Gary Pig was adopted.

Under this nom de plume, Gold began self-publishing The Pig Paper in 1973 and distributing it by mail to friends. Visiting London two years later he met Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...

, then leading The 101ers
The 101ers
The 101ers were a pub rock band from the 1970s, notable as being the band that Joe Strummer left to join The Clash. Formed in London in May 1974, the 101ers made their performing debut on 7 September at the Telegraph pub in Brixton, under the name El Huaso and the 101 All Stars. The name would...

, who encouraged Gold to continue his writing. That winter, he published a mock concert program commemorating an appearance by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

 in Toronto, and in 1977 a similar Pig Paper on The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

 became the first issue to be made available outside of Canada, when Gold followed the band to a concert and record signing in Buffalo, New York.

The featured interviewee of that Pig Paper was Edgar Breau
Edgar Breau
Edgar Breau is a musician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Hamilton-based band Simply Saucer in the 1970s, and has explored a solo career in recent years....

, whose band Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer was a Canadian rock band, active in the 1970s. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the band consisted of guitarist and vocalist Edgar Breau, keyboardist John LaPlante , bass guitarist Kevin Christoff and drummer Neil DeMarchant...

 Gold began managing and producing, releasing their first record June 8, 1978 on Pig Records. It was voted Single Of The Week in London’s Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...

 the following month. By then,The Pig Paper was being distributed throughout the U.S. and Europe, offering early in-depth coverage of The Viletones
The Viletones
The Viletones were a Canadian punk band from Toronto, led by Steven Leckie, a.k.a. "Nazi Dog" or "Dog" on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, on guitar/vocals; Chris Paputts, a.k.a. "Chris Hate" on bass guitar/vocals and Mike Anderson, a.k.a. "Motor X" on the...

, Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...

, Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...

, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 and Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...

 as well as features on such vintage acts as The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

 and Dave Clark Five.

Immediately after attending a Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...

 concert in Toronto during the summer of 1980, Gold relocated to California where he formed The Loved Ones, as well as promoting concerts for local bands such as The Crowd over the next three years. He spent the remainder of the decade back in Canada, first joining the Vancouver-based Fun With Numbers band before touring five years with Endless Summer. In 1989, he returned to the studio, working in Nashville alongside Donald Dunn and Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

, then at Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...

’ Grant Avenue Studio with Dave Rave DesRoches and Coyote Shivers
Coyote Shivers
Francis Coyote Shivers is a musician and actor.-Music and acting:Shivers produced the first single for the band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. The B-side to that single, "Having an Average Weekend", became the theme to the television show The Kids in the Hall...

, the latter sessions resulting in the Valentino’s Pirates album, which became the first independently-recorded western release to be issued on the Soviet Union’s Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...

 record label.

After relocating to New York City with DesRoches and Shivers to form the Dave Rave Conspiracy alongside Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca is a punk rock drummer who has played with the bands Television, Nona Hendryx & Zero Cool, 40 Familys, The Washington Squares, The Waitresses and The Neon Boys...

 of Television and ex-Washington Squares
Washington Squares
The Washington Squares were a 1980s neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village...

 Lauren Agnelli, Gold co-founded the pioneering alternative-country band The Ghost Rockets, whose maximum rhythm ‘n’ bluegrass cover of the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

’ “In My Room” became a radio “turntable hit” in Europe. Another song, “Marcia Marcia Marcia,” written by Gold for the A Very Brady Sequel movie, appeared instead on the King Records label in New Zealand, to be followed by dozens of other Ghost Rockets
Ghost rockets
Ghost Rockets Danish Spøgelsesraketter were mysterious rocket- or missile-shaped unidentified flying objects sighted in 1946, mostly in Sweden and nearby countries....

 releases worldwide.

Gold meanwhile produced two albums for Shane Faubert, formerly of The Cheepskates, with whom he began the To M’Lou Music label in 1998, releasing the acclaimed debut album of the Los Angeles band The Masticators
The Masticators
The Masticators was a band in the pop genre founded by Lisa Mychols in 1998 with the following lineup: Robbie Rist - Drums, Patrick McGrath - Lead Guitar and Severo Jornacion - Bass....

 as well as He’s A Rebel: The Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...

 Story Retold, which included exclusive recordings by Billy Cowsill, Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...

, Gordon Waller
Gordon Waller
Gordon Trueman Riviere Waller was a Scottish singer–songwriter–guitarist, best known as "Gordon" of the 1960s duo Peter and Gordon, whose biggest hit was "A World Without Love".-Biography:...

 and Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...

. Gold contributed tracks himself to the Bullseye Records of Canada Men In Plaid Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

 tribute album as well as singing alongside Jim Carroll
Jim Carroll
James Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...

 for Back To The Streets: Celebrating the Music of Don Covay
Don Covay
Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...

, and with Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...

 on the 1993 issue of Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...

’s Bach’s Bottom album.

Concurrently, he continued writing, for Visible Ink Press’ Music Hound Essential Album Guides as well as Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth, Encounters With Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, Lost In The Grooves, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

: I Saw Him Standing There, TV A-Go-Go, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981, and The Little Black Book of Music, plus to this day his syndicated Pigshit column (first appearing in Los Angeles Flipside Magazine in 1979) runs monthly online. He was also a featured interview subject in the Jandek
Jandek
Jandek is the musical project of an anonymous outsider musician who operates out of Houston, Texas. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released over 60 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical...

 On Corwood documentary film.

In 2008, Gold began work at John Huelbig’s Backroom Studios in Wallington, New Jersey, writing, performing and producing with such artists as Mark Johnson, Chris Butler
Chris Butler (musician)
Chris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...

, Dave Rave and Frank Lee Sprague
Frank Lee Sprague
Frank Lee Sprague, born in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a US guitarist and composer. He writes both songs and concert pieces. His catalog numbers over 1000 works, including two string quartets, three symphonies, many chamber music compositions, and two operas....

.

Discography

  • Gary Pig Gold, 1998

  • “Permanent Vacation” / “Rock and Roll Love Letter,” 2000

  • Gary Goes To Hollywood!, 2002

Production Credits

  • “She’s A Dog” / “I Can Change My Mind” – Simply Saucer, 1978

  • Valentino’s Pirates – Dave Rave Conspiracy (aka Dave Rave Group), 1990, 2001

  • San Blass – Shane Faubert, 1993

  • Three Octave Fantastic Hexagram – Dave Rave Conspiracy, 1994

  • Squirrelboy Blue – Shane Faubert, 1997

  • Unsound, Volume Two: Guitars! – various artists, 1999

  • Homework # 2: U.S. D.I.Y.- Punk and Punkwave Singles R to U – Simply Saucer, 2000

  • Driving In The Rain 3AM: Songs to Get Lost With – Dave Rave Group, 2002

  • He’s A Rebel: The Gene Pitney Story Retold – various artists, 2002

  • Cyborgs Revisited – Simply Saucer, 2003

Appears on

  • “Johnny Kool” / “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Endless Summer, 1986

  • “That Summer Feeling” / “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Endless Summer, 1988

  • “Fools’ Hall Of Fame” – Pat Boone, 1989

  • Kalkara – Shane Faubert, 1990

  • Amazing Grace – The Wretches, 1990

  • A One Act Play With V-8 Engines – Dave Rave Conspiracy, 1992

  • Bach’s Bottom – Alex Chilton, 1993

  • “Christmas” / “Steeplechase” – The Rooks, 1993

  • Cowboy Flowers Sessions – Agnelli and Rave, 1995

  • “Roses To You” / “Marcia Marcia Marcia” – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • “Weight Of The World” / “Do It All Over” – Dave Rave Conspiracy, 1996

  • Confetti! – Agnelli and Rave, 1997

  • Bootlegs – The Ghost Rockets, 1998

  • Spatula Ranch Sessions, Volume One – The Ghost Rockets, 1998

  • Encore Echoes – The Rooks, 2000

  • D. T. Delinquent – Jack Pedler, 2003

  • Lost and Found – Jeremy (Morris), 2004

  • Anthology, Vol.s 1 and 2 – Dave Rave, 2006

  • Modern Silence – Casper & The Cookies, 2009

  • NBT-4-CNP – The Next Big Thing, 2009

  • Live With What You Know – Dave Rave, 2010

Compilation albums

  • Baloney Sandwich – The Loved Ones, The Know Goods, 1990

  • 1990 Volume 5 – Dave Rave Group, 1991

  • 22 Original Hits, 22 Original Stars – Dave Rave Conspiracy, Lauren Agnelli, 1991

  • U.S. Rock ‘n’ Roll Anthology Volume 1 – Dave Rave, 1991

  • The 8th Wonder – Martin and the E-Chords, 1991

  • More Hits, More Stars – Dave Rave Conspiracy, Coyote Shivers, 1992

  • Reaction, Volume One – Dave Rave Conspiracy, 1992

  • Rock My Child – Lauren Agnelli, 1993

  • Back To The Streets: Celebrating The Music of Don Covay, 1993

  • Impact Music, Volume 2 – Dave Rave Conspiracy, 1994

  • Powerplay – The Ghost Rockets, 1995

  • Total Fun – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • Hit The Hay, Volume 2 – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • Never Been To Nashville – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • Astral Weeks – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • Pop! Productions 1987-1997 – The Ghost Rockets, 1997

  • A Pig Pop Sampler – The Ghost Rockets, Shane Faubert, 1997

  • Edges From The Postcard – The Ghost Rockets, 1997

  • Fireworks – The Ghost Rockets, 1997

  • Twangfest 1997 – The Ghost Rockets, 1997

  • The Ghost Rockets, Astral Weeks – The Ghost Rockets, 1997

  • Unsound, Volume One: Pop! – Gary and the Portastudio, 1998

  • Edges From The Postcard 2 – The Ghost Rockets, 1998

  • Essentials – The Ghost Rockets, 1999

  • This Note’s For You Too! A Tribute to Neil Young – Shane Faubert, 1999

  • Postcards From The Other Side – The Ghost Rockets, 1999

  • A Tribute to The Left Banke: Shadows Breaking Over Our Heads – Shane Faubert, 1999

  • Men In Plaid: A Tribute to The Bay City Rollers – Gary and the Grip Weeds, 2000

  • Full Circle: A Tribute to Gene Clark – The Ghost Rockets, 2000

  • Burnt Marshmallows and Teeny Bikinis – Gary and the Masticators, 2000

  • International Pop Overthrow Vol. 3 – Shane Faubert, 2000

  • Shoe Fetish: A Tribute to Shoes – Shane Faubert, 2001

  • Dropped On The Head, Volume 1 – Gary Pig Gold, 2001

  • Uno-A-Go-Go! – Gary Pig Gold, 2002

  • Under the Covers at Hawthorne High Vol. 9 – The Ghost Rockets, 2004

  • This is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio, Volume 1 – Gary Pig Gold and Shane Faubert, 2005

  • The Blog Gems, Volume Three (1976-1999) – Gary and the Masticators, 2006

  • Hi-Fi Christmas Party Volume 2 – Gary Pig Gold, 2006

  • Sweet Relief – The Next Big Thing, Ghost Rockets, Dave Rave Group, 2007

  • ValleyView Christmas Compilation 2007 – Gary Pig Gold, 2007

  • Tributes Or Not Tributes – Gary and the Grip Weeds, 2008

  • Raiders Of The Lost Hook Vol. 2 – Dave Rave Group, 2008

  • The Mockeers: Then and Now – Gary Pig Gold and his Loved Ones, 2008

  • ValleyView Christmas Compilation 2008 – Gary Gold and his Orchestra, 2008

  • That's Truckdrivin – Gary Pig Gold, 2009

  • Winter Holidays with Little Pocket – Gary Pig Gold, 2009

  • Not Quite Yet (Wives Alive @5) – The Faubert Gold, 2010

  • International Email Audio Art Project Volume 2 – Gary Pig Gold, 2010

  • Mongrel Zine Volume Nine CD Comp – Gary Pig Gold, 2010

  • What We Do On Our Holidays – Gary Pig Gold, 2010

  • Best Of Mongrel Zine #1-3 Compilation – Gary Pig Gold, 2011

Liner Notes

  • More Hits, More Stars – Rick Harper, Mark William Johnson, 1992

  • Astral Weeks – The Ghost Rockets, 1996

  • Unsound, Volume One: Pop!, 1998

  • Unsound, Volume Two: Guitars!, 1999

  • Burnt Marshmallows and Teeny Bikinis, 2000

  • 232 Days On The Road – Adam Marsland, 2002

  • Cyborgs Revisited – Simply Saucer, 2003

  • Mad Kingdom – Robin Stanley, 2004

  • Magic City Music: Ft. Lauderdale 1981-1986 – Breathers, 2004

  • Lost And Found – Jeremy (Morris), 2004

  • Remember – The Cheepskates, 2004

  • Jam On Jeremy: A Tribute To Jeremy Morris, 2005

  • Down In A Mirror: A Second Tribute To Jandek, 2005

  • 7th Floor Christmas – Erich Overhultz, 2005

Selected Articles


External links

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