The month of February is dedicated to Canada's original bad boy of music, Nash the Slash. Nash is a leading pioneer of electronic music and a rare talented individual who has an ear for whatever sounds great. Even today, his music still sounds fresh and new owing partly to its unique style. Strangely, Nash's celebrity status is diminutive compared to his musical genius, even by Canadian standards. And this is in spite of his ubiquitously bandaged appearance and occasionally wild outward persona.
Nash's career as composer and performer started back in the 1970s even before forming the band FM with Cameron Hawkins and Martin Deller. Though he makes his home in Toronto, Ontario, Nash has performed live all over the world and opened shows for some of the biggest names in the industry, including The Who. He has released albums as a member of FM and even more as a solo artist after breaking up with the band for the first time in 1978. The late 1970s and early 1980s appear to have been Nash's most fruitful years as he capitalized on the commercial success of his music. His most well-known recording is the album Children of the Night released in 1980 after a prolonged tour of the UK. The album became one of the best-selling LPs released in Canada. This was followed by Decomposing (1981), the world's first an only album playable at any speed (the background music is one of the tracks from this LP). Though it was praised and even won some awards, this 4-track mini album has not yet been made available to the public as a CD. It was only ever issued as a vinyl 12-inch LP, the standard format at the time, and you could play it at speeds of 33-1/3, 45 and 78 because all of the songs are instrumentals (i.e., they contain no lyrics). I have no doubt that Nash was inspired to make this album after the now legendary incident in 1978 when a Toronto-area radio station accidentally(?) played Nash's first solo album, Bedside Companion (1978), at 33-1/3 instead of 45. Like Decomposing, this 4-track mini album contains only instrumentals, so when the music is played at reduced speed, the songs don't sound any weirder, just slower and heavier. Along with Nash's second solo album, Dreams and Nightmares, Bedside Companion was re-released on CD as Blind Windows in 1997. The CD contains two versions of each Bedside song: the regular version and the "Marsden version" named after David Marsden, the disc jockey who unwittingly played the album on radio station CFNY at the wrong speed. Blind Windows is currently out of print and can only be purchased second-hand (I bought my copy on eBay). In fact, you will have an easier time finding used copies of the original vinyl recordings than the CD. I cannot speculate on the reasons for why Nash would hold back on re-releasing this album, but strangely, it is available to members of e-music.com.
Nash the Slash released two more albums in the 1980s,
And You Thought You Were Normal (1982) and American Bandages (1984). The former album contains all original material and was originally released on vinyl with only vocals on the A side and only instrumentals on the B side. The CD re-release of And You Thought You Were Normal contains several new tracks and a completely revised sequence. American Bandages was supposed to put Nash over the top by allowing him to crack the US market. The album is comprised of covers of classic American rock-and-roll songs. The album was never released in the US and Nash never became a star despite promoting himself and his album by dressing in a costume resembling Uncle Sam and launching the mock "Wild Party" to run in 1984's US presidential election. Bitterness at being snubbed by corrupt record company executives appears to have influenced Nash's career since then. He rejoined his old band, FM, in 1985 and toured with them until 1987.
Though I am a huge fan of Nash the Slash based on his commercial recordings, my deep respect for him is entrenched in his decision to identify himself as an artist first and foremost. He quit FM again in 1987 to pursue his artistic ambitions which included writing soundtracks for old silent movies like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. To this day, Nash continues to promote himself and diversify his fan base by performing live and making himself accessible via the Internet. In 1999, he released a new album, Thrash, a throwback to his early days as a rocker with a slightly new sound. Don't ask me if Thrash is his best album to date; you would be better advised to ask an alcoholic what is his favorite drink. Perhaps most notable about this album is that one particular track on it sounds pretty much the same played backward or forward! Most recently, some videos of Nash from the 1980s surfaced on youtube.com. Click on some of the images below to be linked directly to some of those rare videos.
Something you may notice about Nash as you surf around his website and most other sites about him is the lack of personal information about him. You will be hard-pressed to find out where Nash went to school, who were his mentors, what his parents did for a living, what his political affiliations are, etc. Some potential fans may be put off by Nash's impersonal portrayal of himself as much as they are put off by the bandages he wears to disguise himself. I might like Nash a lot less if he ever decided to take off the bandages. I would be even more seriously put off if he ever came out and tried to make profound political statements in the way some celebrities (like The Dixie Chicks and Neil Young) have voiced their opposition to US president George Bush and the Iraq war. In calling Nash the Slash the Greatest Living Canadian (sorry Lowell!), my decision was based on the fact that Nash is all about his art, and he is one of the best at what he does. Like Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, Nash's music is so good, it transcends who he is. It does not matter what he looks like, what he thinks, or who he is married to. What matters most is that he receives the respect he deserves during his lifetime, and this month-long dedication is my contribution as a way to say thanks.
As hard as it may be to believe (even for myself), I once had artistic aspirations when I was younger. I used to write and draw, and I had some far-fetched ideas about career decisions based on personal expression. Music was never one of my strong suits, though. My admiration for music artists in general stems from my blatant inability to see myself in their shoes. I would have a hard time even relating to their lifestyles. In fact, if I was ever in the same room with Nash the Slash, I simply would not know what to say to him. That's how humbled I am by him. No matter what I achieve in my own lifetime, I will always look up to Nash as someone with tremendous talent for things I would not even try to do. Keep doing what you're doing, Nash, and while I may never get to see you at a live performance, rest assured that you will always have dedicated fans beyond your visible audience.
Here are some videos of Nash the Slash... Point your mouse over a picture to see the title. Leftclick to be taken to youtube.com to see the clip. Search for "Nash the Slash" at youtube.com to find more videos like these.
"NASH THE SLASH RISES AGAIN" (part 1)
(a rare TV Ontario short film)
The month of February is dedicated to Canada's original bad boy of music, Nash the Slash. Nash is a leading pioneer of electronic music and a rare talented individual who has an ear for whatever sounds great. Even today, his music still sounds fresh and new owing partly to its unique style. Strangely, Nash's celebrity status is diminutive compared to his musical genius, even by Canadian standards. And this is in spite of his ubiquitously bandaged appearance and occasionally wild outward persona.
