The Scenics were formed in July 1976 when Andy Meyers put a poster up in Long and Mcquade music in Toronto, looking to start a band that was doing something new. Ken Badger was working at L&M, and was the only person who responded. Andy was 19 and just out of high school, a fan of Dylan and the Band, David Bowie, Traffic, the Rolling Stones, and, recently, Patti Smith. Patti's name on the poster caught Ken's eye. Ken was 26, and into The Velvet Underground, the Stooges, Roxy Music, Syd Barrett, and, recently, new music coming out of New York- Patti Smith, Television's "Little Johnny Jewel" 45, the first few 45s from Pere Ubu, and the Modern Lovers.
Andy caught Ken's enthusiasm for these types of music, along with many others (garage rock and psychedelia, Beach Boys, Byrds, Big Star, etc). Ken and Andy began playing together regularly, each writing songs, (individually). Both guitarists, they took turns playing bass on each other's tunes. Eventually they called themselves the "Scenic Caves"

After a couple of false starts with drummers, they played long enough with Mike Cusheon to play their first couple of gigs, in January and March 77. When Mike left, Andy called Mark French, (later of Blue Rodeo), twin brother of Andy's high school friend Paul, who agreed to drum as they recorded a demo. Around this same time, "Scenic Caves" became too bulky a name and Ken suggested they become "The Scenics".
In June 77 the Scenics went into Mushroom Sound in the Annex in Toronto and recorded 10 songs with co-producer Barry Steinberg, including such Scenic standards as "Do The Wait", "Not Dead Yet", "I'm Hurt", and "Wild Trout". Mark had a light touch, and The Scenics' first demo is urban folk rock, ending with Ken's eleven minute song "Scenic Caves", which included sections that slipped in and out of time, free improv, shared vocals and harmonies, a pop chorus and a rave out. Andy's "I'm Hurt" shared similar characteristics, and the Scenics' sound continued developing along the twin rails of melody and noise.

After the demo was completed, Bradley Cooper joined on drums (July 77). He was to stay with the Scenics until February 1980. Bradley was a hard rocking drummer from the suburbs of Toronto and the Scenics' sound changed accordingly. This demo also got raves from Gary Topp and Gary Cormier, who were booking acts like the Ramones and John Cale into the New Yorker theatre. (Topp and Cormier each continue to book incredible shows, were the folks most responsible for any type of kult'ral sound education that Toronto ever received, and were duly awarded the Toronto Arts Award in the 90's.) Topp and Cormier briefly managed the band, and the Scenics were booked to open for the Talking Heads at the New Yorker on September 16.
The Scenics also began playing around Toronto at clubs booking new wave and punk music- The Beverley, David's, etc. The Talking Heads show was a coming out for the Scenics that was marred by inter-scene squabbling (there were a few bands who figured they deserved that booking, and heckled accordingly) and by the fact that the Scenics did not act or look like punks. They were just interested in being themselves and writing quirky, murky, challenging noise pop (nguide to digital for Scenics CD.ems o rules and full intensity) that would occasionally break out into glorious hooky choruses. Right from the beginning they recorded rehearsals and shows on a good quality portable cassette machine, and right from the beginning sets and recordings were scrupulously divided between Ken's songs (with Andy on bass) and Andy's songs (with Ken on bass).

In November 77 the Scenics went back into Mushroom Sound and recorded a six song demo with Bradley and their new sound. It included Ken's "O Boy", the definitive studio version of Andy's "Do the Wait", and mutated covers of "Mony Mony" and the Kinks' "Where Have All the Good Times Gone." In an attempt, perhaps, to reach local audiences halfway, and perhaps just because of Bradley's harder rocking style, the Scenics music got more hard edged as 77 slid into 78. Ken and Andy continued to be prolific songwriters (still, as always, writing individually), and they continued to record most rehearsals and all gigs.
In March of 78 the Scenics were captured on video for a half hour episode of "Mystery Train", a cable music show filmed in Toronto. They performed 8 songs, inclguide to digital for Scenics CD.ems uding "O Boy" and "Do the Wait", and a version of the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray". In June, they had a gas opening for the Troggs at the Horseshoe.

In the autumn of 78 they went to Kinck Sound to record an 8 song demo (for some reason, whether lack of funds and/or career ambition, too high standards or too potent pot, the Scenics did not release any of their excellent first 3 demos as 45s or Lps.) Kinck sound was run by a friend of Bradley's, and without Barry Steinberg behind the board, results were mixed. The sound was poorly eq'd- the songs sounded sluggish until they were remastered twenty years later. As well, sessions were fit in over the graveyard shift (all three boys working full time at this point), and there were certain 3 am chemical imbalances. Strongest songs from these sessions included "Gotta Come Back Here" and "I Killed Marx".
A guest at these sessions was Toronto radio DJ Keith Elshaw. Keith was beginning to produce some of Toronto's punk bands, and he had heard and loved The Scenics' first demo.
On December 1, 1978, the Scenics were filmed and recorded at "The Last Pogo", the last two nights of shows booked by Gary and Gary at the Horseshoe Tavern. Two Scenics' songs, "In the Summer" and "Sunshine World", were included on "The Last Pogo" LP (Bomb Records 7029) and the Scenics were included (playing "I Wanna Touch") in the thirty minute Film "The Last Pogo", directed by Colin Brunton, (who has continued to work in film and TV to this day). Both the film and the LP were released in spring 79.

As 1978 hit 1979, the Scenics were like a car perched at the top of a roller coaster. 79 was marked by increased drug use, and a further straining at the boundaries of pop, influenced by music such as the Contortions and Pere Ubu's "New Picnic Time", and by a general frustration at what was perceived as the conservative nature of the Toronto Punk audience. The Scenics remained a cult act- a typical show at the Turning Point or the Edge would feature a handful of strongly appreciative, request-shouting fans, from thirty to one hundred who were digging it, and a sprinkling of iguide to digital for Scenics CD.ems rritated people shouting out "You seriously call that music?" or "Glad we're tone deaf". Some people would just leave. There was a debate going on about whether what the Scenics were doing had any musical merit whatsoever.
Keith Elshaw's interest in the Scenics continued, and in March/April 79 the Scenics went into Comfort Sound to record an LP. Fate chose the fastest, wildest, most on-edge period of the Scenics' sound to be officially documented. Sessions were engineered by Doug McClement, who has gone on to work with the Rolling Stones and, well, almost everybody else, with his A-list remote recording facility. Sessions were produced by Keith Elshaw.
This was the first time the Scenics recorded with 8 tracks, and, afterwards, there was a desire to duplicate the sound of extra guitars and voices, a general desire to shake things up, and, at this most musically manic time, a general desire for MORE. And so the Scenics became a quartet, adding a second guitarist.

First they auditioned Rob Brent, who had recently left the Demics. (The Demics were one of the few local bands that the Scenics had both a strong mutual admiration and friendship going with.) Rob felt the last thing the Scenics needed was MORE, so he didn't join. Instead the Scenics recruited Mike Young, guitarist with Toronto band Berlin. Mike had seen the Scenics perform during a heat-wave at a steamy mid July 79 show at the Edge. The songs were a rumble of screeching guitars and vocals and car crash drums, but Mike was impressed because all the songs stopped and started on a dime.
Andy and Ken continued to take turns playing bass, and the song structures and arrangements continued to grow more frenetic and full. Most of Mike's guitar parts were pre arranged and fed to him, so as 1979 ended, the music was even more dense and controlled,(like someone who is stopping himself from completely losing control.) In November 79, Ken and Andy took a trip to New York and Boston, stopping off at clubs, visiting Robert Christgau and New York Rocker Magazine, playing cassettes of their LP. Gigs were promised once the LP was released, but the LP's release continued to get delayed, and these gigs never occurred .

Andy and Ken taking turns playing bass meant that live sets displayed a split personality- 8 songs of Andy's, a lengthy break while Ken passed the bass to Andy, and then 8 songs of Ken's. Eventually Andy and Ken decided it would make more sense if they both played guitar- they could design a set weaving back and forth between each other's songs, and the sound would be more integrated because both of their guitar sounds would run throughout. (both Ken and Andy's distinctive styles had by now been well established through songs which featured exploration/experimentation on lead guitar.)
In February 1980, Andy and Ken told Mike he was going to play bass. Mike said he liked bass, but he liked guitar better. He agreed to play shows until the Scenics found a new bassist, and he stayed, playing excellent bass, until the summer of 1980.
Also in February 1980, Bradley stopped playing with the Scenics. Having more mainstream tastes, he had struggled with the more experimental styles that the guide to digital for Scenics CD.ems Scenics explored in 1979. He left on good terms, although seriously disappointed that The Scenics had not caught on with a larger audience. Outside of Ken and Andy, Bradley was the longest serving Scenic- July 77 to February 80.

Mark Perkell, a jazz drummer Andy had known in High School, was also a big fan of the Who, and the combination added up to something that worked very well for the Scenics. He joined in March 1980, and his fluid, steady beat and ability to improvise and go wherever the music led was a real asset, and combined with Ken and Andy's sticking to guitar, resulted in the final development in the Scenics' sound, the more relaxed and open sound of 1980/81.
In September 1980 Ken Fox (currently a long-standing member of the Fleshtones) auditioned on bass. He was 19, which seemed unbelievably young (Andy was now almost 23). Ken was quite green, but had a great attitude, and got the job.
In the spring of 80, a couple of days before their rights to it expired, Bomb records finally released the Scenics LP ("Underneath the Door" Bomb Records 114). It featured faster, more manic versions of many of the songs the Scenics had recorded on their demos, as well as some new ones.

In November 1980, with an LP recently released which did not relate to their current sound, the Scenics went into Captain Audio to record 6 songs, with their friend Barry Steinburg again co-producing. The idea was to release a 45 (Karen/ See Me Smile Scenic Route Records), but as an independent release which presented their sound to the world, it was too little too late. The 45 came out in the spring of 81, and there were a few reviews and some sales. The final, strongest line-up of the band continued doing some of their best ever shows, and Ken and Andy continued writing some of the Scenics' best material- "Growing Pains", "Let’s Go Outside" , "Whining Lite", "I Can't Be Careful".
In September 1977, Ken's wife Sue Near had gotten a job teaching in a town a couple of hours out of Toronto. Ken had kept his job at Long and Mcquade music and commuted, and the Scenics had continued to practice regularly. Then in 1980, Ken quit his job and began just coming down for gigs and occasional rehearsals. Then Sue became pregnant, and why was Ken travelling down to Toronto to continue to work with a band that had never managed to create a presence for themselves in the market?
The Scenics split up with hard feelings in November 1981, and then got over it, and got back together for one last show at the Cabana Room in the spring of 1982.

Ken and Andy remained in infrequent contact. Andy left Toronto in 1988 and moved, with his family, to British Columbia. Fifteen years past.
Ken still had a big box of cassettes of the Scenics, and sent a few to Andy, who had a recording studio, asking him to put them on disc. They sat on a shelf for three years, and then Andy heard ten of them over a weekend as he loaded them into his computer. He got really turned on by them and sat and began writing about those days. His memoir of the punk years and the Scenics, "Punk Haiku" is now over 200 pages long, and half finished.

Ken and Andy began getting in touch with old friends, associates, and ex-Scenics. Andy began listening to a couple hundred Scenics recordings that Ken sent him. Ken had all the old studio reel to reel recordings baked and digitally transferred.

On January 15, 2008, the Scenics will be releasing their first recordings in 27 years. A CD, "How Does it Feel to be Loved: The Scenics play the Velvet Underground" is being released on Dream Tower Records (DT01) and distributed by Scratch Records/Sonic Unyon. It has been favourably reviewed in the November 2007 issue of Exclaim! Magazine, a national Canadian monthly rock tabloid. (As of December 6, 2007 the CD has been for sale at www.cdbaby.com)

the Scenics are planning two more CD releases for 2008- "What Does She: The Scenics play the Scenics", will be a second live CD. This will be followed in October 2008 by "Do the Wait", A CD culled from The Scenics studio recordings.

EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE- NOVEMBER 2007
The Scenics
How Does It Feel To Be Loved
By Liz Worth

Kicking off like a frayed electric shock, How Does It Feel To Be Loved quickly immerses the listener into a warm frenzy of fuzzy energy. First formed in 1976 by Andy Meyers (guitar/vocals/bass) and Ken Badger (guitar/vocals/bass), the Scenics were one of the most intrepidly inspired bands of the Toronto new wave/punk scene. Although their sheer originality wasn’t always easily embraced, the Scenics stuck it out for six years before disbanding in the early ’80s. They now return with a full-length collection of Velvet Underground covers recorded live between 1977 and 1981 in Toronto. At their inception, the Scenics were fuelled by the sense of rampant possibility that the onguide to digital for Scenics CD.ems coming new wave scene carried. Meyers credits this with the fact that there wasn’t enough media in place to provide new music 24/7 and as such, this album is rife with the inventive fervour that drove the Scenics. Although these are classic Velvet Underground songs, from “Waiting For My Man” to “Here She Comes Now,” the Scenics have made this into something that is all theirs. Jangly, inverted pop aesthetics and wild mood swings of feverish noise dominate these ten tracks, making How Does It Feel To Be Loved an abrasive wash of harmonious distortion.

What made you decide to release a covers album now?
Meyers: It is kind of funny, because our songs were one of the strong points of the band, but we did do a lot of Velvet Underground songs. The simple structure allowed for you to take it down almost anywhere you wanted. We didn’t really feel differently about the covers and our songs. They were some of our songs as well as far as we were concerned.

What state were these recordings in? Did you have to do a lot of mastering on them?
They were remarkably good to start with. They were recorded live with a two-track. You can hear all the instruments, but you can also hear great atmosphere. There’s a real sense of being there, which is very direct and powerful.

Does the feeling of the Scenics being outsiders 30 years ago still apply to the band today?
We were absorbing the same influences as everyone else, so at the time we were just being ourselves. We were responding to what we liked, who we liked, and being who we liked. And that’s all I’m really concerned about. We’re just continuing to be ourselves now at this point. (Independent)