The Forgotten Rebels | Interview | “Anything to get attention, no matter what”
Forgotten Rebels are a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada based punk band founded in 1977. The Forgotten Rebels have played with bands such as The Clash, Ramones, Iggy Pop, The Cramps, and many others.
A raged group of youth from Hamilton Canada in the late 70s were to bring a decidedly more offensive level, more in your face, and more obscene than anyone had ever dared, and the Forgotten Rebels spend the next 20 plus years influencing many new bands and making a mark that was there’s alone. Although it was done as a “let’s just get any reaction” statement, the tongue and cheek humor of the band was to be their Achilles heel forever.
“Anything to get attention, no matter what”
Are you all coming from Hamilton, Ontario?
Mickey De Sadist: Yeah, all of us are from Hamilton, a formerly steel making town which now becomes a big load of condos that out of towners from Toronto love, but since raising our rents and putting many people into the poverty level. We are surrounded by beautiful waterfalls. Our city has the most waterfalls per capita in the world. We also have quite a cool low rent district with lots of weirdos who say and do strange things. There were very few clubs and no punk clubs in Hamilton so we would go to Toronto. The first club in Hamilton was called Marco Polo’s … it was a pizza joint that had a jukebox and sold booze at night and had a punk DJ.
Jeffrey Dee: Yup. We are all Hammer born and bred and proud of our dirty, working class town roots.
What was the scene there back in the early 70s? Were there any clubs for music you liked?
Mickey De Sadist: What do you expect … it was full of losers that hated change and hassled anyone into punk and even new wave … Disco was king and there was a lot of splitting from this. You couldn’t get a job if you appeared to participate in a youth subculture or appeared to have different interests than hockey, football (not soccer) or any commercial rubbish. To start the band I found some dudes that were characters like myself that were into the real heavy partying. Bless their souls we had lots of fun car crashes and parties, the Turning Point was a club we loved in Toronto.
Jeffrey Dee: I can only speak to the late 70’s but it was an exciting time. Hamilton always had a strong, independent music scene. There were lots of cool bands of inspired people at that time, who picked up an instrument and learned to play. We had no lessons, but just tried to nail the sound of bands like The Stooges, New York Dolls or the Ramones. Hamilton was a lot like Detroit. We were a steel town rife with bikers and rednecks, but with that came a rawness that you could hear in the music.
Did you have any hangout places?
Mickey De Sadist: Yeah, these places were called the Westdale Woods and Churchill Park. We would drink and imbibe there and then go to movies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Night of the Living Dead, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, A Clockwork Orange, The Last House on the Left … you get the drift! Me and my friends liked hanging out in ghetto establishments, dirty hotels, real low end bars (some served beer so flat they could have served it in envelopes), bus stations where they still let you smoke. We rolled our tobacco with bits of other stuff in it. We can weirdo watch … man I wish these places still existed … we would even imbibe in substance and race our cars on foggy nights in the local cemetery on the gravel roads.
Jeffrey Dee: At that time, you’d get killed for dressing weird or playing the way we did, but Hamilton had a few underground clubs and places like Star Records that supported the evolving, independent music. We’d also venture an hour east to Toronto for bigger clubs like the Turning Point, Larry’s Hideaway, DMZ, and the El Mocambo. The Toronto vibe was different. They seemed somehow more sophisticated than we were – that was good and bad. As I said, we were a steel town, so we lacked pretentiousness and we had more fight and working class sensibility in us.
Were any members part of any other bands before forming The Forgotten Rebels?
Mickey De Sadist: Dan our drummer was in Riot Star, Jeff our guitar star was with The Throbs, Shawn our bass dude was with Svengali. I was in Black Curtains and got thrown out. I wanted to play Slade songs and they wanted Neil Sedaka kinda stuff. There were many incantations through the years though. Kriss was a floater like me, Pete was in the Loudmouths.
Jeffrey Dee: I was the guitar player for several bands including The Throbs.
Can you elaborate on the formation of The Forgotten Rebels?
Mickey De Sadist: We couldn’t play well enough at the start so we decided to do originals right off the bat … that was easier than learning songs already there and it took us away from peer influence and created what we became.
I was jamming with some guys who wanted to play some ordinary material and were bored of their attitude of playing to their peers. I was into The Stooges’ ‘Raw Power’ and Mott the Hoople ‘Live,’ not Neil Sedaka, Badfinger or any of that. I heard a band jamming in the basement of a house and thought the bass player was perfect. He was a cool rowdy dude who wanted to do originals and the drummer was a young dude who was great as well. we jammed and it was alright.
What influenced the band? With what kind of gear did you start with?
Mickey De Sadist: MC5, Iggy and The Stooges, Ramones, New York Dolls, Mott The Hoople, Slade. As kids we already were saving for good equipment … all had good summer jobs from school. I was a Teenage Dickee Dee Salesman meaning I wheeled a tricycle with a dry ice cooler full of ice cream bars and sold them at parks.
We were so poor that we used plastic bread tags for guitar picks and old bicycle tire tubes for guitar straps because our amps and guitars were on payment plans … we were so poor we would go to Kentucky Fried Chicken and lick other peoples fingers.
Jeffrey Dee: I still have the same gear today; Les Paul and a Marshall.
In 1977 you self-released a tape called ‘Burn the Flag,’ tell us about it. Where did you record it? Did you send it to any radio station or even labels?
Mickey De Sadist: Recorded in a friend’s room on a RadioShack cassette deck straight off the floor … sent around … a few cared … most didn’t.
Where did you play your early shows? How did the repertoire consist of?
Mickey De Sadist: First show opened for a great local band called Simply Saucer at the Ottawa St YWCA, second show was at the James St YMCA, third was at the Isabella Hotel opening for The Battered Wives.
I’m guessing what really started the band is the self-release of ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Us’ which probably opened a few doors for you?
Mickey De Sadist: Not really. It was more important when we were opening for the Dead Boys in Toronto, as well as Teenage Head, The Viletones, The Ugly, The Curse and a little later The Cramps, Iggy Pop, Ian Hunter with Mick Ronson, and also The Clash. The fact that we were opening for bands we loved and their acceptance of us as a band made us.
Jeffrey Dee: Can only say that although it opened doors to our die hard fans, but it slammed lots of doors shut. Clean radio won’t play our stuff.
Tell us about the fantastic, ‘National Unity’ off it.
Mickey De Sadist: It is what it is. I only wish I played a 12 string electric on an extra track. Sorta like ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’ by The Seekers.
How did you get signed to Star Records?
Mickey De Sadist: Local record store supporting a local band. For this we are forever grateful. We bought all our records there and hung out as well. They were seeking out undesirables for exploitation!
Would you like to talk about the writing and recording process of your debut album? Where did you record it and what can you say about the songs?
Mickey De Sadist: Sound Kitchen in Toronto, the songs were there and we just did it live off the floor and then overdubbed. We actually just went with our “gut” instincts … the ones that got us fired from our jobs and on the dole.
You had very political lyrics, did that get you in any trouble? Some of the titles of the tracks are too cool!
Mickey De Sadist: Anything to get attention, no matter what. It’s the only way to get distinguished from all else going on. That’s all that mattered … never mind the music … make the news that was 1977. Do you know what the word “kayfabe” means in professional Wrestling? Yep we are the bad guys, haha.
Jeffrey Dee: They were political for sure, but they largely are all satires and parodies, or are based on crazed rantings and confessions that we privy to at the time.
What do you recall from working on ‘This Ain’t Hollywood’? The sound changes a bit on it….
Mickey De Sadist: This was where we actually became ourselves for reality and not just snotty teens out to get attention. We grew up here…
Where did you all play? What are some of the bands you shared stages with?
Mickey De Sadist: We played all over the place. The Cramps, Jeffery Lee Pearce, Iggy Pop, The Saints, The Clash in Buffalo, Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson Band, we opened for the Ramones three times, the Anti-Nowhere League, the Angelic Upstarts, …
Jeffrey Dee: Iggy Pop, Ramones, Johnny Thunders, The Cramps…
What would be the coolest gig you recall?
Mickey De Sadist: We opened for the Ian Hunter / Mick Ronson Band at the Hollywood Palace. The Clash in Buffalo, the Ramones in Toronto, St Catharines and Burlington and also Sweet in Toronto.
Jeffrey Dee: I always liked playing the Continental Club in Buffalo although we’d get mercilessly harassed by US border guards going over. Buffalo was sketchy then, but it was always a good time. I also recall playing at a slaughter house converted into a music venue in Germany. It wasn’t the greatest gig, but it definitely stood out.
“We would listen to the soundtrack to The Exorcist (Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’) and the first Black Sabbath album … get blasted some more and then go to Tim Hortons, a local coffee”
And what would be the craziest story that happened to the band?
Mickey De Sadist: I would probably have to sit and think for a few hours and get back to y’all on this. We are all gentlemen and scholars. Once we had a gig cancelled as we finished soundcheck and were not pissed. The club owner had a sorta flood where the sewers backed up and there was poop all over the floor of the club. It would have made GG Allin proud. I saw a girl walk by with a turd and toilet paper stuck to her high heels, haha.
I used to hang out with two friends that were a little different and we would get blasted and then in 1973 we would listen to the soundtrack to The Exorcist (Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’) and the first Black Sabbath album … get blasted some more and then go to Tim Hortons, a local coffee and donut shop to sober up before our parents caught up with us … sometimes we would forget to clean up the puke on our basement steps and get caught.
Jeffrey Dee: Well for the most part, What happens in Fight Club stays in Fight Club but as an aside, I remember we played a club in Montreal once where the promoter drove a hearse. So he drove us in his hearse after a show late one night to pick up our cash from a dark, creepy house that was full of bizarre pale people – cool but weird.
In 1985 you returned to the studio to record ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ EP which was followed by ‘The Pride and the Disgrace’. Tell us about it.
Mickey De Sadist: ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ EP was the follow-up music for ‘This Ain’t Hollywood’. The next record was so sloppy, but had “I Am King” on it so it was cool.
Did you have any trouble with drugs and alcohol?
Mickey De Sadist: No, I wouldn’t spend money on stuff I couldn’t keep around, especially with the moochers around me in the ghetto I lived in, haha. No trouble at all if we could get enough.
Jeffrey Dee: ’Surfin’ on Heroin’ would make you think so, but the song is more a parody on heroin use. The Forgotten Rebels have certainly had lots of booze fuelled shows where we forgot lyrics, played like shit, ran off stage to puke, but for the most part, the majority of guys who have been in the The Forgotten Rebels never got into heavy substance use and were able to keep day jobs and balance in our lives. So, I guess we were pragmatic punks. Clearly no one playing our kind of music was gonna break the bank and retire in the Caymans and we saw so many fellow musicians destroy themselves with drugs & booze. So I guess that’s what kept us clean and focused.
How did the deal around Restless/ Enigma/ Capitol come about?
Mickey De Sadist: I don’t remember how it came about. I think we were recommended by Derek Ross, a member of the pop group The Spoons who was a local dude.
What do you recall from ‘Surfin on Heroin’?
Mickey De Sadist: Chris Houston and I sat down and laughed and composed the music and words in less than an hour in my ghetto apartment.
Jeffrey Dee: All I can add here is the rush we get from playing it as we close each show. Those opening chords always seem to get the crowd going.
Jeff, would you like to discuss The Throbs.
Jeffrey Dee: The Throbs were a lot of fun. Singer Ron Sweetheart took the band to LA and I stayed to join The Forgotten Rebels.
When did you join The Forgotten Rebels?
I joined The Forgotten Rebels in 1989.
More and more albums followed and you never really stopped. What currently occupies your life?
Mickey De Sadist: I enjoy mountain biking, playing, going to the Caribbean with my wife, jamming, ocean cruising, flower gardening…
Jeffrey Dee: Life is full of music, family, work and fighting government shills.
Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?
Mickey De Sadist: The songs I’m most proud of? First, ‘This Ain’t Hollywood’ was the first song I wrote as a rookie guitar player. Second. ‘Don’t Hide Your Face,’ I realized how much music mattered to me. Third, ‘Surfin on Heroin’ gave me and my cohorts opportunities for good times. I wish I could remember every gig as they are all memorable to me. I love the audience having a good time.
Jeffrey Dee: I’m proud of all our songs, love the historical journey we take going through them all.
Is there any unreleased material?
Mickey De Sadist: There are lots of personal demos that we keep between ourselves, but nothing I can remember from studios. Maybe 4, 8, or 16-track stuff we each worked on personally for each other and that’s it.
Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
Mickey De Sadist: Check us out on Spotify as The Forgotten Rebels and my solo CD Mickey DeSadist ’Welcome to my Basement’. Go on YouTube and see us through history. Don’t forget us … We’ll never forget you!
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Steve Burman
The Forgotten Rebels Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
FORGOTTEN REBELS one of the best punk bands. I have the first 4. Thanks for the interview.
Thanks for the recognition of our band the Forgotten Rebels and our History …. its being a great trip !
Thank you Mickey for your reaction. You guys are 10 times better than all the uk punk bands. I also love the US punk scene very much. From the Rats to Rubber City Rebels to the L. A. scene. It’s all excellent punk ! BUT THE WORLD IS UNFAIR.
US punk fan, Forgotten Rebels are my favorite punk band of all time only after Ramones and Angry Samoans. I’ve been preaching the gospel of this awesomely brilliantly sarcastic and catchy band to every fellow punk I know for the last 30 years. Very happy that some of their albums finally ended up on Spotify. Interviews with Mickey De Sadist are always a treat, he’s still a very witty dude all these years later.
The B&W pic of Mickey was taken at a gig in a farmer’s field somewhere near Goderich Ontario August 1981. Demics also played their final gig at that show.