John & Mary of the Modernettes. Photo by Alex Waterhouse-Hayward.
After 84 years, Vancouver’s Railway Club finally closes it’s doors for good! There have been the usual eulogies in our local media bemoaning the loss of the venue in terms of “one less place for musicians to play”. I feel this misses the point and neglects to acknowledge the true function of the Railway Club. The Railway Club during it’s heyday in the 80’s and 90’s served as the social network for the Vancouver Music scene. What was going on in the back room was just as important as what was happening on stage. It was the heart of the Vancouver Music Scene located in the heart of the city. The Railway served as a meeting place and hang out, during the pre-internet years.
Before Mark Zuckerberg invented the internet, you had to carry around your “dick pics” in your wallet! And “wallets” were what you kept your money in before Paypal! Back then you delivered your “status” in person to a table full of friends over a pint of beer. Basically, if you wanted to be part of a social network, you were forced to go out and socialize. Bands were formed at the Railway and band members were fired there. Plots were hatched, gigs were planned and video treatments were written on the back of beer coasters! Before the internet transformed our social lives into something more illusory and actually anti-social.
Railway Club table at the height of the 90’s. From Left; Mike Davies (The Enigmas), Karen Porter (Film Maker), Flash Action (Producer), Jim Cummins (Artist/Musician) and photographer Nicole Stef.
There are actually plenty of venues in Vancouver for bands to perform, more than enough to service the shrinking numbers of patrons actually interested in live music. Vancouver over the last 20 years has been suffering a Cultural Crisis due to it’s changing demographics and unbalanced economics. As baby boomers and Gen X’ers grow older, they disappear from the scene and traditionally their vacant bar stools would be re-occupied by the next generation… however Millennials have been disappearing too! Vancouver is now the worlds 2nd most unaffordable city! Year after year, we’ve been experiencing an exodus of young people, due to the combination of lack of opportunity and the insanely high cost of living. The side effect of all these people leaving is the irreversible decline in our Arts.
The Vampire Bats had their video release party for “Baby Libertine” at the Railway. The video was a duet between Marc and Pure’s Jordy Birch.
Vancouver lost 1,571 people between the ages of 20 and 30 in 2013, more than double the 700 that left the year before. Vancouver’s unrelenting unaffordability, doesn’t just disenfranchise youth attempting to make a start, it also shows no mercy to Business owners attempting to bolster our economy. The operating costs of running a small club like the Railway kept increasing over the years, while profits continued to slide. According to current owner Steve Silman, “Unfortunately, the long-term and persistent combination of relatively high expenses, in particular rent, as compared to business receipts has left the business unable to continue.”
Rent for the Railway had ballooned to around 17 000 a month.
Railway Club gig poster, The ceiling train and who let Mark May into the back room?
Vancouver is only going to get worse for Culture (or lack of it!). Rents will continue to rise, Artists will continue to flee, businesses will continue to fail and our Politicians will continue to give breaks and support to those who least deserve it. Vancouver will probably be a pretty vapid and artless place in 10 years, honestly I can’t afford to stick around to see it! They say nostalgia is just another form of depression, but soon that may be all we have. So for the time being at least, Here is a look back at some highlights over the last 40 years. A definitive guide to remembering… RAILWAY CLUB CULTURE!
1.THE NERVOUS FELLAS
Before the Punks started hanging there, it was a rock a billy gaff! Formed around the time of the 80’s rock a billy revival, The Nervous Fellas have been the cities most stubborn and best true rock a billy band. They’ve seen trends come and go, and they ignored them all! Fronted by Butch Murphy, the early line up also boasted Rockin’ Ron on the stand up bass. Now the band members can be found playing in dozens of off-shoot projects. They epitomize Railway Club rock n’ roll!
Butch Murphy and the Nervous Fellas in action!
2. THE MODERNETTES
John Armstrong, front man of the legendary Modernettes would often be found holding court in the back room of the Railway. By the 90’s he was a music writer for the Vancouver Sun which gave the paper some much needed credibility. Before that, The Modernettes played the Railway over 30 times and released the best album of the first wave of Vancouver Punk. “Teen City” is a true classic from start to finish, the song writing was more developed than many of their contemporaries. A track like “Confidential” was clearly light years ahead of D.O.A.‘s “Disco Sucks”. Of course, these days the band has more fans in Japan than they do at home! He also wrote a memoir about his time in the band and the early years of the Vancouver Punk scene, “Guilty Of Everything”. Read it, there’s a version available in Japanese.
Classic vinyl that often goes for around 150 bucks on ebay! John Armstrong’s book.
3. SHINDIG!
Before everybody had a recording studio on their laptop… you would have to pay big money and record in an actual studio! SHINDIG was an annual battle of the bands that gave away recording time as a contest prize. Established 30 years ago by College Radio station CITR and their often unreadable magazine, DISCORDER, Shindig has been located at the Railway Club for over 20 years now. Nobody who won ever went on to do anything in music… kinda like those TV contests like “American Idol”.
Dandi Wind performs at Shindig. Film maker and Spores front man, Danny Nowak.
4. BRITT HAGARTY
Hey, with author John Armstrong as well as various writers for local publications spending quality time drinking their troubles away, we can make a claim that the Railway Club had a bit of a literary scene going on. Britt Hagarty was a talented but troubled writer who used to bring his album collection to the club to sell in order to raise money for heroin. In the mid-90’s, I bought some pretty cool records off him. He ended up dying tragically in a “hit and run” incident in 1999. Fortunately he managed to write one of the great rock n’ roll biographies before that. “The Day The World Turned Blue” on singer Gene Vincent is a must read book for fans of early rock n’ roll. The Railway was the book’s true muse.
Britt mid-eighties. The 1st edition of Gene Vincent biography.
5. NO FUN XMAS
One thing that was consistent during Railway’s 89 year existence was No Fun‘s Xmas show! NO FUN are a duo that consists of David M. and Paul L. and they dubbed themselves “the Beatles of Surrey”… which would probably be confusing to people from Britain. Every year they would bring their Xmas show to the Club and hand out “Gorgo” to needy children. Feed the world!
Railway Gals! Nicole and Coco mid-nineties. No Fun Xmas.
6. THE SCRAMBLERS
The Scramblers were the perfect Railway Club Frankenstein’s monster. They band members consisted of veteran’s of the rock a billy and Punk scenes, coming together to create a hybrid of those two genres. The Scramblers rose to the top of the local club scene in the late 80’s, early 90’s and came close to breaking out when they signed to Penta Records. Sadly, Penta Records ended up being a tax write off for Bruce Allen and their debut album was shelved. Lead singer, Howard Rix passed away last year. He probably played the Railway more times than anybody else, hosting Blues jams and fronting much loved groups like the Stinging Hornets and G.I. Blues. Howard was truly one of the more unforgettable voices in Vancouver rock.
Howard Rix. The Scramblers posthumous release.
7. The Spiritual Home To The Stand Up Bass!
Actually, The Railway was the literal home to the stand up bass. Now where are these bands gonna go? The Roxy?
Brandy Bones of the Big John Bates band!
8. K.D. LANG
Without at least one success story… a music scene seems a bit pointless. Well we had one! And she started at the Railway! When young K.D. first moved here from Consort, Alberta (Population 407) her first shows were at the Railway. This became a never ending talking point. “Hey did you know K.D. Lang got her start here?” has been a sentence muttered by unimaginative conversationalists for 40 years now.
K.D. before she lost the glasses. Did you know that Rich Hope got his start playing the Railway Club?
9. RAY CONDO FOREVER!
By the 90’s the undisputed King of Western Swing called Vancouver his home! Ray was a true denizen of the Railway Club. He was prolific in recording and touring his music all around North America but never became more than a cult success before his tragic death in 2004. Artist 12 Midnite‘s neon tribute to Ray hung at the Railway. Besides being a real nice cat, Ray Condo‘s music was the real deal!
Neon Artwork by 12 Midnite. Ray Condo.
Tune in to CFRO 100.5 FM Weds April 20th for RADIO BANDCOUVER’s special Railway Club Episode! 3:30 – 5:00 pm.
Wett Stilettos live at The Railway Club, Vancouver BC, August 3, 2014.
THE VAMPIRE BATS are part of the soundtrack for The Age of Adulting a brand new Mark A. Lewis film that will open 
SECRET AGENT RECORDS MAGAZINE 