| Dave Bidini | |
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Bidini performing with Rheostatics at Massey Hall, 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 11, 1963 Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, journalist, author |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass, vocals, drums |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Pheromone |
| Associated acts | Rheostatics, BidiniBand, The Five Hole Band |
| Website | davebidini.ca |
Dave Bidini (born September 11, 1963) is a Canadian musician, journalist and author originating from Etobicoke, Ontario. He is a founding member of the acclaimed rock band Rheostatics, and has published several books about (mostly) music and sports. He currently performs with his band, aptly named BidiniBand. The group's first album, The Land Is Wild, was released in 2009. Bidini's next book, Home and Away: The Story of the 2008 Homeless World Cup, will be published by Greystone Books.
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With bass player / singer Tim Vesely, keyboardist Dave Crosby, and drummer Rod Westlake, Dave Bidini formed the Rheostatics in 1979, After their first studio session, Westlake left the band, and Bidini recruited drummer Dave Clark, which cemented the band's formative lineup. They released their first (independent) single, (financed by the band's parents') "Satellite Dancing/My Generation," and played their first few Toronto shows in 1980, notably opening for Popular Spies at Toronto's legendary Edge Club. When Crosby left the band in after 1981, guitarist / singer / songwriter Martin Tielli joined the band for the rest of their career.
Bidini performed with the Rheostatics through their career, up until their breakup in 2007.
Bidini's wife, Janet Morassutti—guitar player in Toronto noir-folk quintet The Billie Hollies—has received songwriting credit on the band's songs "Dope Fiends and Boozehounds", "Delta 88" and "Northern Wish", and was the narrator on the band's 1999 children's album The Story of Harmelodia.
After Rheostatics broke up, Bidini formed the group BidiniBand, featuring former Rheostatics member Don Kerr on drums, Paul Linklater on guitar, and Doug Friesen on bass. Their debut album, The Land is Wild, was produced by Kerr and was released on Pheromone Recordings in 2009. Bidini's website describes the album features "more songs about dead hockey players, cannibalism and lesbian school teachers."[1]
Bidini collaborated on music with Dave Merritt of The Golden Seals.[2] On his website, he released a song from these sessions entitled "Desert Island Poems", which presents a narrative in which the Rheostatics survive a plane crash in Drumheller, Alberta, and are forced to "eat the drummer" in order to survive.[1] The song appears on The Land Is Wild.
Bidini was first published in The Sunshine News, a national highschool newspaper, and later, Toronto alternative rock magazine, Shades, for whom he interviewed Devo, The Dickies, REM, Katrina and the Waves, the B52s, Hunters and Collectors, Aztec Camera, The Specials, The English Beat, The Fleshtones, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Members, Lloyd Cole, and the Ramones. His first ever interview was in 1980 with Canadian prairie rockers Harlequin. Afterwards, he wrote for OP magazine as well as the Village Voice, which is where his first sports writing appeared, including "Why I Love Wayne," which later became "Why I Love Wayne Bradley," from The Five Hole Stories. He was a columnist in the Toronto Star between 1991–1993, and currently contributes one essay per issue for Maisoneuve magazine, and a weekly Saturday column for the National Post, called "Games People Play." He taught a songwriting course in 2010 at the University of Toronto's Continuing Education Program, and is currently helping to develop the screen version of his 2002 book, "Baseballissimo."
Bidini has written two plays, Five Hole: Tales of Hockey Erotica and The Night of the Dogs, currently in development.
His article in the Calgary Herald's Swerve Magazine on Clara Hughes, "That's good, Clara, that's good", won an honourable mention in the 2008 National Magazine Awards for Sports and Recreation.[3][4] He previously won for the Saturday Night piece, "Hockey Night in Dubai," which was later expanded into one of Tropic of Hockey's narrative triptych.
Bidini championed Paul Quarrington's novel King Leary in the 2008 edition of Canada Reads. King Leary won the competition.
Bidini wrote and hosted the Gemini Award-winning adaptation of Tropic of Hockey, called "Hockey Nomad", which was first broadcast on CBC Television in January 2003.[5] His follow-up film was "The Hockey Nomad Goes to Russia," which was nominated for a subsequent Gemini Award. The CBC also commissioned Bidini for a one-hour documentary on soccer entitled "Kick In The Head" for the 2008 Soccer Day in Canada.[6]
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