By Liz Worth

In October, the passing of Teenage Head’s Frankie Venom was felt across Canada. Venom has become a legend as a punk icon and proponent of teenage beer drinkin’ parties everywhere, and with over three decades of gigs under their belt, the loss of Venom will undoubtedly leave a permanent void.

There isn’t enough space here to retell the band’s entire history, so we’re bringing you the short version. Let this inspire you to hold tight to your own memories of Teenage Head.

The mid-1950s to 1974

Francis Hannah Kerr is born in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents moved the family to Hamilton, Ontario, setting up house on Melbourne Street.

A young Gordie Lewis is catching influence from watching Beatles cartoons and The Monkees. He’s no older than six years old when he decides he wants to be in a rock band.

Stephen Mahon moves from Ancaster to Hamilton where he meets fellow 3rd grader Nick Stipanitz in homeroom. Stipanitz’s older brother plays in a band. Mahon and Stipanitz aren’t to hang around in the basement when the band is practicing, so they stand outside the window and listen in.

1975

At Westdale High School, Kerr, Lewis, Mahon, and Stipanitz bond over the New York Dolls, Stooges, MC5, and Eddie Cochran. According to Kerr, they were also the only guys at Westdale wearing tight jeans instead of bellbottoms.

They decide to start a band and take the name Teenage Head from a Flamin’ Groovies album. Their first gig happens at the Westdale High School coffeehouse.

Not long after they connect with Paul Kobak, owner of Hamilton’s Star Records. Even though the band doesn’t have any original material yet, Kobak steps in as their manager.

1976

Kobak lands Teenage Head an opening slot for Max Webster, but mostly they play high schools and youth detention centres.

1977 to 1978

Teenage Head get their chance to claim some territory in the fledgling Toronto punk scene at the Colonial Underground on Yonge Street. Legend has it the stage was so rotted out that Frankie crawled through one hole and popped out the other, never letting go of the microphone. Toronto’s punk scenemakers are impressed.

In the summer of ’77 the best of the Toronto punk bands head to play New York City’s CBGBs. Canuck media outlets give it some great coverage, shedding much spotlight right in Teenage Head’s eyes. Kerr tells a reporter from Lakehead Living that the band, “…Made $11 U.S. on that trip.”

The band’s management, which now also includes Jack Morrow, tries to get a contract with Capital Records or MCA, but it’s Inter Global Music that ends up biting. Teenage Head enter Thunder Sound studios to record their first album.

“Picture My Face” is the first single off the record. Kobak drives all the way to British Columbia pitching the single to radio stations. Vancouver’s CFOX puts it into medium rotation.

In late 1978 Teenage Head are on their way to the east coast to play their first tour. Their first stop is Oromocto, New Brunswick. The crowd at the Luna Pizza Pub is not impressed with punk. Even though they’re booked for a week, the pub’s owner pays them not to play. It’s not long before the band calls it quits and heads home early.

1979 to 1980

Teenage Head’s debut album is released. In speaking to Toronto’s Shades Magazine, Kerr voices frustration over the album’s production. Despite the band’s initial discontent with their first studio experiences, this self-titled record goes on to become a classic.

The band heads out west. During a radio interview in Vancouver, Kerr swears on-air, a move that does not go over well with media and industry types who lead the band to think they’ve just blown their career.

The band sign to Attic Records and record the seminal Frantic City, an album that cements Teenage Head’s popularity across Canada.

In the summer 1980, Teenage Head play a show at Ontario Place. The venue underestimates the band’s popularity and prepares for a few hundred people to show up. About 13 thousand fans turned out – more than the venue could handle. It turns into a riot. Teenage Head’s popularity continues to soar with the publicity that ensues.

Soon after, the Head are invited to play some key shows in New York City.

They don’t get there. That September, on a road just outside Kitchener, Lewis and Mahon are in a van heading home after a gig when it crashes into a tree. Lewis’ back is broken.

While Lewis recovers in hospital, the band’s then-manager Jack Morrow hires guitarist David Bendeth as a replacement.

1981 to 1983

Lewis returns to Teenage Head and they get to work on Some Kinda Fun, but they’re not happy with how long it’s taking for Attic to break them into the U.S.

Teenage Head move on to MCA Records and release the Tornado EP. While MCA has more success with moving the band into the States, it’s not without compromise. Fearing the band’s name will offend a sensitive U.S. market, the label requests Teenage Head add an “s” to the end of their name. This development has Lewis re-evaluating the band’s management and he eventually gets rid of Morrow.

Kerr told Eye Weekly in 1996, “Two or three weeks later we were off the label because the person who signed us got fired. That’s okay. We took ’em for eighty grand … U.S.”

1984 to 2007

Tensions are building within the band and Lewis lets Stipanitz and Kerr go.

Longtime friend and Teenage Head rhythm guitarist Dave Rave takes over as frontman, but Lewis realizes that Kerr was integral to the band’s chemistry and the original singer returns.

2008

Teenage Head continue to play, with Jack Pedler on drums.

Teenage Head release their long-awaited album featuring Marky Ramone. It receives critical acclaim.

On October 15, Kerr, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer about a month earlier, dies in hospital.

That same day it is announced that the band will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Hamilton Music Awards.

Liz Worth’s is the author of Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, soon to be published on Bongo Beat.