Abusing The Rules: OTHER PEOPLES MUSIC (RECORD LABEL)

Thursday, 27 February 2014

OTHER PEOPLES MUSIC (RECORD LABEL)

Other Peoples Music is a record label active since 1981 run by producer and archivist Jan Haust that specializes mainly in compiling and reissuing obscure or out of print material by a number of Canadian artists as well as recording new material with such artists as Dee Dee Ramone and The Ugly Ducklings. During the period of 1994 to 1997, the label focused heavily on compiling previously unreleased material and long out of print releases by early Toronto punk bands (the few exceptions being a 1979 Iggy Pop live show called "My Girl Hates My Heroin" and Victoria, BC's Dishrags "Love/Hate").

The foresight and hard work of Jan Haust as proprietor of small independent label OPM, along with film maker Colin Brunton (The Last Pogo), and photographer Don Pyle (Trouble at The Camera Club) has ensured that the incredible music that developed in Southern Ontario between 1976-1979 will not disappear into obscurity but will remain a vital part of Toronto, Hamilton and London's cultural history. While there have been others in recent times who have produced excellent books attempting to reconstruct and document the Southern Ontario music scene of the time, Haust, Brunton & Pyle were there much like the bands as active participants and not treating their projects from the perspective of posthumous chroniclers.

At present, it appears the "Punk Hole Of Fame Series" produced by Other Peoples Music has gone out of print so the best bet for those interested in tracking down copies of these albums is to dig through your local used cd shop or search ebay. Check out Other Peoples Music's website and perhaps a polite email might turn up an unsold straggler (or enough interest might encourage a reissue of these essential pieces of Canadian punk rock history)

Other Peoples Music

Here is a sampling of some of the fantastic releases. Every one of them essential:

Viletones - Taste Of Honey