How many half-completed gems are in that pile? In the beginning, Murray had to sit down and force out the songs, but he has learned over the years how to channel his creativity and let the songs flow more naturally. These days, the prolific songwriter often writes songs in his head while bicycling around Victoria, using the rhythm of the pedals as a metronome. He finds that ideas come easily while he rides around the port city, watching the people and smelling the urban miasma. Subconsciously at least, Murray must wonder if the well will ever run dry. Meanwhile, that mighty stack of unfinished songs grows ever higher.
Bottomless Pit (unfinished)
What kind of guy am I?
Well, I’m kinda like that incinerator the cops burnt all those drugs in last night
I’m a bit like that ditch they poured all your booze into the other day
I’m kinda like that trailer park down the street where all the skinny white kids live.
Well, in fact, I’m a bottomless pit
You can trust me with your money
And you can trust me with your big fat wife
But you better believe it, baby
I’m a bottomless pit.
But that was in the future and, for now, The Sikphuxz felt they were doing well if they ended a song at the same time. The young punks did not intend to waste too much time practicing when they could be playing shows. The band was eager to make a name for themselves, and they couldn’t do that if they didn’t play live. They needed a gig.
Fate intervened when Ann Archy found a new boyfriend who, coincidently, turned out to be a promoter of sorts. The enterprising fellow apparently had other quasi-legal sidelines, which seems to be the standard for many promoters. Anyway, Ann’s boyfriend/promoter found a gig for The Sikphuxz supporting a Top 40 act known as Slingshot at a local community hall. The gig, naturally, would not go down as anticipated.
On the night in question, The Sikphuxz arrived at the club with a plan. Since this was 1979 and Van Halen was all the rage, the group sent a youth named Julian Mays onto the stage to play the instrumental track “Eruption.” Murray insists that Julian played the song note-for-note, though it hardly seems likely that the youth played as professionally. Regardless, Julian was good enough to delight the members of Slingshot, who could hardly believe that this young kid was familiar with the challenging piece of music. Not just that, but Julian also bore a strong resemblance to Eddie Van Halen, exciting the happy headbangers even further. They were all smiles.
At that moment, Trevor’s brother Gator emerged from the wings to “blow Julian’s head off” with a realistic-looking .357 Magnum replica. Stunned, the rockers watched in horror as Gator dragged Julian offstage by the hair. This was the cue for The Sikphuxz to rush onstage and blast into the first song. The audience went into shock, but recovered sufficiently to boo and hiss loudly. In fact, the mood was so ugly that the band barely escaped with their gear after just four songs. Ann Archy was terribly upset and Murray recalls watching the singer bawl her eyes out backstage. Truthfully, the show had been a little uglier than he thought it would be. “They didn’t like us very much,” Murray remembers wryly. The singer is prone to understatements.
Slingshot eventually played, but the fuss was over by then, and no one recalls much about the headlining act at all. Several members of Slingshot later formed a mainstream rock act known as Rockslide. One fine day in 1981, three of the members cornered Murray in a record store and demanded to know “just what the hell he thought he was doing with that punk rock shit.” As far as anyone knows, Rockslide is still touring the bars of northern Canada, playing Mötley Crtie covers for drunken rednecks. And while it is true that the DayGlos also tour the frozen north, they are at least playing music they wrote themselves.
Meanwhile, Acton was still trying to recover from injuries
Bottomless Pit (unfinished)
What kind of guy am I?
Well, I’m kinda like that incinerator the cops burnt all those drugs in last night
I’m a bit like that ditch they poured all your booze into the other day
I’m kinda like that trailer park down the street where all the skinny white kids live.
Well, in fact, I’m a bottomless pit
You can trust me with your money
And you can trust me with your big fat wife
But you better believe it, baby
I’m a bottomless pit.
But that was in the future and, for now, The Sikphuxz felt they were doing well if they ended a song at the same time. The young punks did not intend to waste too much time practicing when they could be playing shows. The band was eager to make a name for themselves, and they couldn’t do that if they didn’t play live. They needed a gig.
Fate intervened when Ann Archy found a new boyfriend who, coincidently, turned out to be a promoter of sorts. The enterprising fellow apparently had other quasi-legal sidelines, which seems to be the standard for many promoters. Anyway, Ann’s boyfriend/promoter found a gig for The Sikphuxz supporting a Top 40 act known as Slingshot at a local community hall. The gig, naturally, would not go down as anticipated.
On the night in question, The Sikphuxz arrived at the club with a plan. Since this was 1979 and Van Halen was all the rage, the group sent a youth named Julian Mays onto the stage to play the instrumental track “Eruption.” Murray insists that Julian played the song note-for-note, though it hardly seems likely that the youth played as professionally. Regardless, Julian was good enough to delight the members of Slingshot, who could hardly believe that this young kid was familiar with the challenging piece of music. Not just that, but Julian also bore a strong resemblance to Eddie Van Halen, exciting the happy headbangers even further. They were all smiles.
At that moment, Trevor’s brother Gator emerged from the wings to “blow Julian’s head off” with a realistic-looking .357 Magnum replica. Stunned, the rockers watched in horror as Gator dragged Julian offstage by the hair. This was the cue for The Sikphuxz to rush onstage and blast into the first song. The audience went into shock, but recovered sufficiently to boo and hiss loudly. In fact, the mood was so ugly that the band barely escaped with their gear after just four songs. Ann Archy was terribly upset and Murray recalls watching the singer bawl her eyes out backstage. Truthfully, the show had been a little uglier than he thought it would be. “They didn’t like us very much,” Murray remembers wryly. The singer is prone to understatements.
Slingshot eventually played, but the fuss was over by then, and no one recalls much about the headlining act at all. Several members of Slingshot later formed a mainstream rock act known as Rockslide. One fine day in 1981, three of the members cornered Murray in a record store and demanded to know “just what the hell he thought he was doing with that punk rock shit.” As far as anyone knows, Rockslide is still touring the bars of northern Canada, playing Mötley Crtie covers for drunken rednecks. And while it is true that the DayGlos also tour the frozen north, they are at least playing music they wrote themselves.
Meanwhile, Acton was still trying to recover from injuries
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