It sounded like The Rockford Files (theme). I said, ‘Gee, this should be like a ‘60s combo sound,’ because we were using a synthesizer to do it. I remember Dan did this keyboard solo in Genius at Work. “But there was stuff I didn’t like back then that I love now. So it’s like Manowar guitar solos on this garage rock record. When we did the guitar solo overdubs, I borrowed Al’s SG and everything was faster because it was easy to play. Black Corvaire is basically Boss Hog by the Sonics. There are songs (on Kiss Me Then …) that are wholesale ripoffs of Remains riffs. I was really into this record by the Remains out of Boston. “The stuff that I was influenced by then? A lot of it was ‘60s punk. The Scene suggests the seeds of his artistic aesthetic - equal measure garage-rock scuzz and B-movie horror, now fully flourished as leader of Forbidden Dimension and as a highly sought-after illustrator - were first planted during his days with Color Me Psycho. “Jack got it remastered really nicely, beefed it up, so the album sounds better than the tape ever did … It sounds like a punk record,” says Bagley. He remembered the tape as being nothing more than “juvenilia.” Hearing it again - remastered, on vinyl - has changed his opinion. 303, and following Color Me Psycho’s split in 1988, its members would go on to form a host of other bands, including the Von Zippers, Curse of Horseflesh, the Choads and Forbidden Dimension.īagley, who continues to perform and record with Igglesden in Forbidden Dimension, admits he hadn’t listened to his cassette copy of Kiss Me Then … since its release. Before Color Me Psycho, Charlton and Igglesden had made their mark in early Calgary punk groups The Sturgeons and Riot. Color Me Psycho, after all, was just one brief stop on all of their musical journeys, which now span five decades. Yet their initial ambivalence is understandable. “It’s one of those things that you say you’re going to do it, you don’t do it, you feel bad about it, so you exorcise your demons by putting it out.”Īnd now that it’s out, the makers of Kiss Me Then … are clearly excited about the project: during their get-together last month, they autographed each other’s copies. The project finally gained some traction over the past year, when Charlton sent Tieleman a CD copy of the master, which was then spruced up by Arlen Thompson of Wolf Parade. He found them again, only to find out they had degraded and were unusable. He shipped them to a mastering facility that subsequently shut down. His own enthusiasm undimmed, Tieleman pushed forward. “It was: ‘Well, yeah, go ahead if you want to.’ ” Tieleman first approached the band about a vinyl reissue about 20 years ago - and was met with a collective shrug. And it’s done in a style that pays homage to the bands that those guys love but it doesn’t ape them. “It’s the combination of the songwriting, the lyrics, the hooks, the melodies and all the parts that make it a great rock record. Tieleman has been a fan of Kiss Me Then… from the start, hearing it for the first time when he worked at the University of Victoria campus radio station CFUV. This 200-unit reissue, pressed on multi-coloured splattered vinyl and including reproductions of two gig posters, has been a long-time pet project of Charlton’s friend Jack Tieleman, a garage-rock enthusiast and founder of Lance Rock Records, onetime home of Neko Case, Chixdiggit, Man or Astroman?, among others. The four gathered to celebrate the recent vinyl reissue of their 10-track debut, Kiss Me Then… Color Me Psycho, a low-budget, indie cassette released in 1986. I think I hitched my horse to the right wagon back in the ‘80s.” It was the first time they had been all together in 35 years.
People of a certain, uh, vintage, might recognize this as a reunion of the early-1986 lineup of Calgary garage-rock greats Color Me Psycho.
Tom Bagley is all smiles and laughter recounting a Saturday in mid-July when he joined Al Charlton, Dan Hayes and Mark Igglesden at the latter’s Bridgeland home.
You get all these old punks together and we’re more nostalgic than hippies!”
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