If you've ever wondered why Toronto's first wave punk scene lacks the oral histories, band biographies, and memoirs pouring out of similar scenes, Treat Me Like Dirt is for you — as evidenced by a first printing selling out a week before its release. "I didn't know that any of this had happened the way I knew that New York and London had these great punk movements," says author Liz Worth. "When I found out we had the same thing going on here, I was really interested in finding out what had happened. The more I started listening to these bands, the more I tried to dig deeper into their histories. There was nothing. And I was waiting and waiting for a book or a movie to come out about it. I just decided I should do it myself."
Worth, a Toronto-based journalist, spent years compiling the interviews that comprise Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, delving deep into the world of mid-'70s to early '80s Southern Ontario. The result is a compelling collection of tales from scene founders and bystanders, from pillars Teenage Head to lesser-known but equally valuable bands like Johnny and the G-Rays. Even stripped of its musical content, the book is a fascinating look at a strange time in Canada's cultural history. Yet despite — or maybe because of — being the first of its kind, it was met with diffidence by Canadian publishers. "There's a lot of resistance towards things being Toronto-centric," says Worth. "No one in the States would ever question the validity of a book about New York. That's ridiculous. But it happens here. So now there can be a book about punk in Winnipeg, punk in Vancouver, and punk from the East Coast." We can't wait.
Worth, a Toronto-based journalist, spent years compiling the interviews that comprise Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond, delving deep into the world of mid-'70s to early '80s Southern Ontario. The result is a compelling collection of tales from scene founders and bystanders, from pillars Teenage Head to lesser-known but equally valuable bands like Johnny and the G-Rays. Even stripped of its musical content, the book is a fascinating look at a strange time in Canada's cultural history. Yet despite — or maybe because of — being the first of its kind, it was met with diffidence by Canadian publishers. "There's a lot of resistance towards things being Toronto-centric," says Worth. "No one in the States would ever question the validity of a book about New York. That's ridiculous. But it happens here. So now there can be a book about punk in Winnipeg, punk in Vancouver, and punk from the East Coast." We can't wait.
