The Government

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The Government was a musical group from Toronto active in the late 1970s.

Andrew James Paterson (guitar, vocals)
Robert Stewart (bass, steel drums, vocals)
Edward Boyd (drums)
Jeremiah Chechik (scratch guitar/percussion)
Billy Bryans (drums; replaced Boyd 1981)

Slightly quirky new wave outfit leaning on the art punk side became legendary on the Toronto Queen Street club circuit playing such venues as The Crash And Burn, The Edge, Larry's Hideaway and The Beverley Tavern and art venues such as the Music Gallery. The "Electric Eye" album was one such performance recorded at the Music Gallery as the soundtrack to a full-length video production. The album is a testament to the live incorporated performance of the video's audio track.

Drummer Billy Bryans replaced Ed Boyd and recorded "How Many Fingers?" with The Government before going on perform in Mama Quilla II, The Parachute Club and other Toronto acts.

The band was part of the early punk scene which, in Toronto, crossed paths with the art world with regularity. The Government was featured in File magazine, published by General Idea. Singer, guitarist and composer of most of their material was Andrew J. Paterson who is also a writer as well as a performance and video artist. The band was an element of his work in this medium, often incorporating music videos and performances by the group. Other videos by Paterson include Controlled Environments from 1994 and, more recently, the inter-discipline work Mono Logical from 2005.

Other members of The Government include bass player Robert, who is deceased, and drummer Billy Bryans, who went on to play with Parachute Club in the early 1980s. They released a 4-song record in 1979, featuring the songs "Zippers of Fire", "Flat Tire" and "Hemingway Hated Disco Music". They had a couple of follow-up albums. Unfortunately, as of today, it is almost impossible to get hold of any recordings by this outfit.

[edit] Discography

Singles
1979 Hemingway (Hated Disco Music)/I Only Drive My Car At Night [independent]
1979 Flat Tire/Zippers Of Fire//Get You Sleepin'/Sponge (Modern World) SMW-1

Albums
1979 Electric Eye (original soundtrack) (Voicespondence/Trend)
1980 Guest List (Jackal/Modern World/Trend) WOW-713
1981 How Many Fingers//Plaza Del Pimps/Portrait/Paranoid Downtown Funk Pt.2 (Government) GOV-581