The Government

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This article is about the Canadian rock group. For the administrative body, see Government.
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The Government was a band from Toronto active in the late 1970s.

The new wave band, leaning on the art punk side, became well known 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 the Music Gallery. Their album Electric Eye album was recorded live at the Music Gallery as the soundtrack to a full-length video production.

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. Andrew J. Paterson was the singer, guitarist and composer of most of their material . He was also a writer and 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 for works such as Electric Eye. Other videos by Paterson include Controlled Environments in 1994 and the inter-discipline work Mono Logical in 2005.

Contents

[edit] Members

  • 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)

Other members include bass player Robert Stewart, Ed Boyd and drummer Billy Bryans (who recorded How Many Fingers? before going on to play with Parachute Club in the early 1980s).

[edit] Discography

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

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