Gord Badanic

Gord Badanic: musician, producer, DJ, record label manager

As a musician, played in The Zoo (1979 - 80), Culture Shock (1980-2), The Debutantes (1983-4), Go Four 3 (1984-92), Thrill Squad (1992-9), Infradig (1998), The LA-Z-Boys (1998-2003), Hairclub 100 (2003), and The New Black (2004-present).

DJ at CiTR-fm (1981 to, uh, around 1993 or so). Former President and Music Director at CiTR. Founder of the Shindig! annual battle of the bands and its talent booker for the first two years. Music writer and reviewer for Discorder Magazine beginning with its first issue. Trained and put on-air a diverse assortment of DJs, including Steve Edge (Rogue Folk Club), Jason Grant (now at LiveNation) and Nardwaar the Human Serviette. In 1984, organized the financing for increasing CiTR’s broadcast power to its current level (from its previous rating of roughly 49 watts), as well as helping write the CRTC application for the power boost.

In 1985, co-ran the Zulu Records label with owner Grant McDonagh, promoting artists such as Slow, The Enigmas and Poisoned, in addition to Gord’s own group, Go Four 3. In 1987, organized and ran Zulu Distribution, which became the largest distributor of independent/punk records in Western Canada, handling such artists as DOA, Husker Du, Deja Voodoo, Black Flag, Shadowy Men, Dead Kennedys, Art Bergmann and hundreds of others.

At that time, Gord was also an occasional guest-host on CBC Nightlines (nationwide), and a regular co-host of SoundProof, a Metro-Vancouver-wide cable video programme that focused on local and underground music. Also helped promote live concerts at UBC, including UB40, Violent Femmes, Rank & File, Dead Kennedys and many others. Throughout this period, Gord’s band Go Four 3 recorded and released an EP, then an album, a single, a Christmas flexi-disc, produced three music videos (which all enjoyed heavy rotation on MuchMusic) and constantly toured Canada and the United States.

Gord returned to Vancouver in 1990 after a two year move to Toronto with Go Four 3. He soon resumed his role as manager of the Zulu Record label; was asked to join the board of the Pacific Music Industry Association (which annually sponsored/oversaw the Federal financing for the Music West Conference); and, presently, was rejoined in Vancouver by Steve and Roxanne of Go Four 3 in the newly re-minted group “Thrill Squad”. By 1994, Zulu Records had 5 five artists on its roster and a distribution arrangement with Polygram Records Canada. As label manager, Gord oversaw contracts and budgets, album production and manufacturing, all video production, and artist promotion and advertising. Gord was also by then the President of the PMIA, as well as the BC representative for FACTOR, and a juror for FACTOR, the Junos, the West Coast Music Awards, MusicWest, CFOX Demo Listen and MITAP (the PMIA’s international tour assistance programme).

In 1995, Gord co-produced re-issue packages of seminal Vancouver artists The Pointed Sticks, Modernettes and Young Canadians, overseeing all details of the projects, including locating master tapes and photos, digital transfers, studio re-mastering (and remixes), plus packaging, liner notes and detailed credit information (these packages have since been re-issued on DOA's Sudden Death label). Somewhere around this time, he also helped set up the West Coast Music Awards, which were broadcast across Canada on CBC-TV. His group Thrill Squad gained UK management and went there to record, tour and release a single and EP, and the group was marked in Billboard Magazine as the hot act to watch for the following year.

In 1996, Gord suddenly became a dad. When this happened again 1999, he finally lost his superpowers to do 200 things at once, was fired from Thrill Squad, and so finally turned his attention instead and exclusively to messing up his kids.

He started playing again casually with the LA-Z-Boys (actually, they got together once a week and drank with guitars on their laps). Gord then played for a year (2003) with the popular Hairclub 100, a new wave dance cover band. Despite the easy money, plentiful booze and cheap allure, Gord soon quit to form his current group, The New Black, where nothing is easy, plentiful or cheap.

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