Recommended Books

Treat me Like Dirt: an Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977 -1981

(2009) Liz Worth

While Iggy Pop was tearing up CBGBs in New York and the Sex Pistols and The Damned were scandalising London, Toronto was home to its own punk rock explosion. Bands like Teenage Head, The Diodes and the Viletones were stirring up their own flavour of trouble in Hogtown, and in the process, making sure that Canadian music would never sound the same. Liz Worth has collected a series of interviews with the musicians, promoters and fans who were at the epicentre of Toronto's Punk scene in the late seventies, and compiled their stories into this excellent 'zine style portrait of one of the least reported parts of Canadian Music History.

Canuck Rock: A History of Canadian Popular Music

(2009) Ryan Edwardson

Long before the birth of The Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, Canada had a vibrant and impressive musical community. Historian Ryan Edwardson's comprehensive book explores the Canadian rock scene from its beginnings in the fifties up to the present, touching on some of the highs and lows of this country's quest to rock out.

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