Formed in Toronto by Ken Badger & Andy Meyers in 1976, The Scenics are considered one of the most creative punk/new wave bands to come out of the Toronto scene. They are featured in Colin Brunton’s documentary film The Last Pogo.
“It wasn’t that The Scenics were ahead of their time in 1977, it’s more that almost everybody else didn’t even know what time it was . . . New York had Talking Heads, and England was blessed with XTC, but there was no equal in Toronto and they never got the necessary push and support. It’s fabulous we finally have the evidence.” — Bob Merseau, author of the Top 100 Canadian Albums, on the release of “Sunshine World: The Scenics Studio Recordings 1977-78.”
Gary Topp and Gary Cormier first booked The Scenics to open for the Talking Heads in Toronto in September 1977. For six years, The Scenics engaged and enraged local audiences by not playing by the punk rules of the day. Their notorious reputation overshadowed the fact that, in Meyers and Badger, The Scenics had two of the New Wave’s most striking songwriters. That their two guitar attack rivaled anything that New York or London had to offer. And that their open ended creativity meant that any Scenics performance was an adventure.
The Scenics played gigs with the Troggs, Viletones, Simply Saucer, the Government, Johnny and the G Rays, Telephone, and many others.
For $10 you can scoop up the Sunshine World CD and catch them in a performance at the El Mocambo club in Toronto on 13 October 2009.
I am the creator and site administrator at The Basement Rug. I have been collecting LP's and CD's for more than 30 years. I 
