THE INITIATIVES (circa 1984-85)
These are recordings from old tapes that were unearthed from the past. So far, these recordings include songs from a practise session with The Initiatives, circa 1984-85. Keep in mind that these are from 20-year old cassette tapes, so sound quailty is definitely an issue. We apologize in advance for all the mistakes and questionable singing, but this was a practice session after all.
The Initiatives were Norm Berketa (guitar/vocals), Fred Hackett (bass/vocals), Greg Friend (keyboard/vocals) and Gary Sanford, the drummer. The band played some covers and mostly original material in the style of ska and reggae. Initiatives bassist Fred Hackett has a new band. You can find out all about them here!
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"Cruisin'
The Autobahn" This was a Silent Q favourite, and one of the most requested songs when the band played live. "Cruisin'" was typical of the early Silent Q sound, which fashiioned itself after bands of the day like The Specials, The English Beat and Madness. |
"Genderless" This song was written as the result of a conversation between myself and Paul, during a writing session. The topic of that conversation was gender in society, and how it seemed that both genders were slowly blending into one another. |
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"Jump
and Dance" This song was partly original and mostly covers. As Silent Q was a dance band, the idea was to start out with a number that showcased the type of music you were likely to hear during the night. I think we opened with this song quite a bit. |
"Observations
From The Planet Mars" This was a song that signified the change in the way we were writing as The Initiatives. By the end of Silent Q, we were starting to go beyond the borders of ska and reggae, and this song is a good indication of the style we were attempting. |
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"Peace
In Our Time" Initiatives bassis Fred Hackett came with this song from his previous band, Public Address. It was a great song for The Initiatives, as it took us into totally new territory, and at the same time, we put our own spin on it. |
"Rumour
Fuse" This song was typical of the issue-based songs we wrote, and like "Genderless", it made a statement of society in the 80's. At the time, the USA/USSR "superpower" impending war was on everybody's mind, and this was simply a protest song. |
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"Sooner
Or Later" I can't remember exactly who wrote this song, but I think it was either Fred Hackett or myself, or both. Regardless, it was a departure from what we used to playing, and personally, it was one of my favourites. |
"Way
Off Life" This was another protest song for Silent Q, trying to make the point that society was going to hell, and pretty fast too. I think the main message had to do with making a few simple changes in our attitudes that could help make the world a better place. |
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"You'll
Get By" Again, I can't remember who penned this one, but it was also a departure from the ska/reggae feel that we were all used to. This song was one of the songs that moved us into the folk rock style of writing and playing. |
"Youth
In Asia" This one was definitely written by Paul Seale of Silent Q, and beside the play on words it had a pretty powerful message. Paul was--and probably still is--very politically minded and socially conscious. Many of his songs were written with purpose. |