This is a deservedly canonized tune and album that way more people should be aware of. However, it's a HUGE claim to state that this band started grunge. The Pacific NW had Dead Moon and other similar pioneering bands years before "grunge". Thank you for posting, nonetheless. Sorry to be a youtube crank - don't mean to be one a them but felt it needed saying... I appreciate the post, regardless!
Vancouverites really dropped the (8) ball when they failed to embrace these native sons. you might say they missed the [slow] boat to [China White}. 3 THUMBS UP! Siskel and a dead Ebert (rigor mortis)... Kurt Cobain must have been an inspired fan cuz it (smells) alot (like teen spirit). They were extremely popular in Calgary. What a shame that CANCON is just another program flawed by design and like SOCAN doesn't do much for talent like this. But Bryan Adams is doing well! -i am not bitter..
I don't know what I was on, but i swear SLOW opened for the CRAMPS in 86 at the Thunderbird. I remember some nurses uniforms. Anyone have any footage?
@spedhill I saw Slow about 4 times when they were around and the only time I saw anyone taking footage was at the infamous EXPO 86 show. Amid the madness and mayhem, an older dude in a cowboy hat was right up by the stage filming with what must have been a super-8 camera. Might have even been a Betamax camera because quite a few people were pointing at him and making comments.
OK, but they did NOT bring grunge and plaid work shirts to Seattle. That piece of loogan/stoner/loser fashion has been a part of Pacific Northwest teen culture since forever, and besides, DOA were already well-known for unabashedly sporting that aspect of their heritage, long before Slow started playing.
Oh my god this brings back such awesome memories. I saw this band countless times-such a delicious messy disaster they were. Raunch. Which was doubly funny cos some of the band were rather "pretty boys". Love the pull down the pants moment at Expo 86. A fabulous fuck you. Still love the music, got damn 20 plus years later. Ohhhhhhhhhh, some of your shows were magic!
You know what I think their best song was? Of course you don't. Anyway, it is "Bad Men." Fuck, that song has the heaviest riffs, vibe, and overall heaviosity. Enough space and dynamics to make it mysterious and not just brutality, but plenty of brutality to make the unsuspecting blast through the back wall of their bedroom.
Was the gig at UBC where a mouthful of blood was spat out? I had the feeling that that was a bit of youthful pranks that maybe did not sit too well with lil' Tommy. What a great band.
Still possibly the best live show I ever saw at the Savoy circa 83 (?). Absolutely riveting.
Tom Anselmi was crawling around the monitors and stage, growling menacingly into the mic, while the band laid a heavy backbeat. Reminded me of Jim Morrison; he had THAT kinda stage presence....
Hamm is the big half of self-named Canned Hamm and also plays in the Evaporators, both have vids on here. Terry is teen pop sensation I, Kandee. Tom has the project Mirror which also has a vid on here featuring Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode....
I also saw this video on muchmusic back when it was actually interesting and hosted by knowledgeable people. I was 12 and I hated this song the first and only time I saw it on much, but it stuck in my head and then I spent 6 years looking for the record. Moral: never doubt Sook-Yin Lee. Thanks for posting this, Hamm!
So true. I picked up on Muchmusic in 87 and pretty much watched it all the time. Videos like this and the variety are what made the channel great.Then before you knew it by the 90's things changed, formats changed then one day you wake up and Steve Anthony and Erika Ehm are on the life channel and your not sure what happened to MM. Don't think I have watched it in 10 years now. Do they even play videos anymore I wonder...
I don't think they play music anymore, just gangster-rap and pop-rap between shitty reality shows. I used to watch religiously too, and even when I was watching something else I'd always go to MM in the commercials and then forget what I was watching before. I also loved seeing and hearing stuff I knew I'd never see or hear anywhere else. The declining quality in MM is the difference between "celebrity and entertainment" and Music.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS..i saw this video long ago on the now defunct 'much music' channel which was canada's mtv..but they had cool shows on late night w nardwar (human serviette) and sook yin li - super hott asian vj. anyways sook yin played this video and said they were the best canadian band ever and after seeing it i believed her!! Slow's combo of funk and punk in this song is pure genius. i thought i'd never recall the name of this song!! thanks again poster.
Best band from Canada EVER and the entire Against The Glass 12" EP DOES still stand up 23+ years later every bit as it did when it first came out. What was that, 1985? Their last show it is said (at Vancouver Expo) ended in a riot. Fitting end for a phenomenal band, I'd say.
Where is that video of Against the Glass filmed at a party or something. There was a balloon in Terry's kick drum and Tom upends a beer in to his face....when's the Slow reunion gig! Hardy...
Filmed on the main floor at the old Zulu Records location, actually. It was an interesting shoot - what I can remember of it, on account of I was probably hammered.
I had the chorus of this song in my head while at tonight's Canucks game, and lo and behold, after the Canucks take a penalty, the DJ played a snippet of it.
You know this was posted (and described) by the bass player, right? Still a great band. Anybody got Slow's "against the glass" video? I remember Vancouver in the mid 80's going to strip clubs underage and bumping in to my high school classmates... good times! :D
Hmmm.. first reply try didn't work. Tom tried to get in the front door just before slow went on. Door guy didn't recognize him and didn't let him in. I think a couple of us tried to explain but he wasn't having it. Didja ever hear Tom talk offstage? Incongruously mellow.
wrong on the no influence presumption. Slow were known to EVERY Seattle music scenester and played on bill's with proto-grungsters Green River.. You can be damn sure they were taking notes. I would have.
I love this band, one of the best Canadian bands ever. But I disagree with the posters comments about this band having anything to do with the Seattle Grunge scene. Thats just absurd. The Yanks only take our comedians, they never really pay attention to our music scene. Well except for maybe RUSH.
I was at the same show. The Cramps were wicked too- Lux interior sticking a Canadian flag to his sweaty chest and practically shoving the mike down his throat. Proper entertainment. Is there any live footage of Slow? Good as this video is, it still doesn't do the band justice.
On the note of fun I'd mentioned earlier, Mr.Cannedhamm himself did reveal his equipment Full Monty style to everyone still present AFTER the power had been cut but modesty prevents me from reporting on just HOW impressive he was to all concerned.
Hey, I found mp3's of "Against The Glass" EP and "I Broke The Circle" on a blog. I ripped the b-side for the single ("Black is Black") and Slow doing "Santa Claus is Back in Town" from the Zulu Records Christmas Flexi from 85 which are now posted on the blog. For some reason I can't post the web address though...
Slow's Expo gig in 86? Never could figure why it was cut short. Not much happened until AFTER the shut down. A chunk of the crowd left AT THE START; SLOW was UNHOLY TO GOD LOUD. Soon about 50 kids got up and poggoed their suburban punk ASSES off, THEN security showed and cut the power. That's when the fun began. I left to go drink instead of rocking to Art Bergmann who would have been on next.
Well it could have been that Tom Anselmi compared Bill Bennett to Hitler and started goosestepping around the stage and saying "fuck" a lot. I mean it wasn't much, but it was supposed to be a "family" event.
ghostofasmile, I have the album as mp3s if you would like a copy. I also have an early single by the band and a flexi that zulu records gave free to some people at Christmas time with a Slow track on it (haven't turned those into mp3s yet though but I'm sure I could be convinced...) Let's just say "I'd do it for a ghost of a smile... just a ghost, a ghost of a smile"
Slow famously opened and closed the independent music festival at Expo 86. I've always loved it this video.
I would love mp3s of the EP and anything else you might have. It's all well and good having found the EP on vinyl, but if you want to strut down the street to the tunes, you really can't be doing it with a little red wagon dragging your turntable behind you...
this one video can't come close to approximating the Slow experience for the uninitiated. This band literally changed the course of music then self-destructed before practically anybody ever heard of them. Seattle grunge is a perfect example of "the early bird gets the worm, but the second rat gets the cheese..."
Yeah - they were a great band alright. Seattle followed in Vancouver's footsteps for many years though...from 1978 till Nirvana exploded really...it was pretty well a south-bound, one-way cultural exchange...
finally!! still trying to hunt down the LP of this and the EP I think they did too.. against the glass and have not been the same.. one of my fave garage punk bands when I was younger..
When I first saw this video in early 1991.. I thought it was nirvana (who had just put out teenspirit video)
northerndirt 3 months ago
The best ever.
ChelletheStix 4 months ago
This is a deservedly canonized tune and album that way more people should be aware of. However, it's a HUGE claim to state that this band started grunge. The Pacific NW had Dead Moon and other similar pioneering bands years before "grunge". Thank you for posting, nonetheless. Sorry to be a youtube crank - don't mean to be one a them but felt it needed saying... I appreciate the post, regardless!
benv10011 7 months ago 3
Still one of the greatest Vancouver songs ever
canucklehead1066 8 months ago
this rules!!!
TheSnowcoon 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Vancouverites really dropped the (8) ball when they failed to embrace these native sons. you might say they missed the [slow] boat to [China White}. 3 THUMBS UP! Siskel and a dead Ebert (rigor mortis)... Kurt Cobain must have been an inspired fan cuz it (smells) alot (like teen spirit). They were extremely popular in Calgary. What a shame that CANCON is just another program flawed by design and like SOCAN doesn't do much for talent like this. But Bryan Adams is doing well! -i am not bitter..
TheSnowcoon 11 months ago
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TheSnowcoon 11 months ago
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TheSnowcoon 11 months ago
This took years to find
crusherbmx 11 months ago
straight up rocknroll to me
naturalears 1 year ago
I don't know what I was on, but i swear SLOW opened for the CRAMPS in 86 at the Thunderbird. I remember some nurses uniforms. Anyone have any footage?
spedhill 1 year ago
@spedhill I saw Slow about 4 times when they were around and the only time I saw anyone taking footage was at the infamous EXPO 86 show. Amid the madness and mayhem, an older dude in a cowboy hat was right up by the stage filming with what must have been a super-8 camera. Might have even been a Betamax camera because quite a few people were pointing at him and making comments.
That was a rock show.
slakjaw 11 months ago
@spedhill I was at that too. At Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre at UBC. Slow set was shortened (due to being hammered).
mmcentreback 11 months ago
this song was in the movie Drawing Flies! thanks for uploading this song
MegaDjmatt 1 year ago
I Luv Slow
VenusVega 1 year ago
Van city sucks, but this is actually my favourite band ever. Thanks for the post!!!
mephistofleas 1 year ago 2
Personally I like his voice MUCH...MUCH better in Mirror :p
retnevni 1 year ago
OK, but they did NOT bring grunge and plaid work shirts to Seattle. That piece of loogan/stoner/loser fashion has been a part of Pacific Northwest teen culture since forever, and besides, DOA were already well-known for unabashedly sporting that aspect of their heritage, long before Slow started playing.
scoskitz 1 year ago 3
against the glass is one of the best albums out of van
Jambo888 1 year ago 10
I am very glad my garolfriend showed me this
Benjabola 2 years ago
Great to see vintage Vancouver rock on the web. Brilliant
johnkeillor 2 years ago
Oh my god this brings back such awesome memories. I saw this band countless times-such a delicious messy disaster they were. Raunch. Which was doubly funny cos some of the band were rather "pretty boys". Love the pull down the pants moment at Expo 86. A fabulous fuck you. Still love the music, got damn 20 plus years later. Ohhhhhhhhhh, some of your shows were magic!
shimmy1ca 2 years ago
this song is awesome
fancymaxrocks 2 years ago
You know what I think their best song was? Of course you don't. Anyway, it is "Bad Men." Fuck, that song has the heaviest riffs, vibe, and overall heaviosity. Enough space and dynamics to make it mysterious and not just brutality, but plenty of brutality to make the unsuspecting blast through the back wall of their bedroom.
Mitsywolfe 2 years ago
Was the gig at UBC where a mouthful of blood was spat out? I had the feeling that that was a bit of youthful pranks that maybe did not sit too well with lil' Tommy. What a great band.
Mitsywolfe 2 years ago
Does anyone know if Against the Glass the ep is available on CD? I heard Zulu was thinking of a re-release but that was years ago.
surlyaaron 2 years ago
Grunge 5 years before it hit Seattle.
zoltanroolz 2 years ago 10
Read all the comments, i still listen to this song all the time time but have not seen the video for ever. Thanx what memories.
a1rausch65 2 years ago
The best moment in my childhood was learning what he did at expo 86
entirelyfakename 2 years ago
The queen finally saw some Canadian ass...LOL
parkdale420 2 years ago
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piperjayne 2 years ago
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piperjayne 2 years ago
Still possibly the best live show I ever saw at the Savoy circa 83 (?). Absolutely riveting.
Tom Anselmi was crawling around the monitors and stage, growling menacingly into the mic, while the band laid a heavy backbeat. Reminded me of Jim Morrison; he had THAT kinda stage presence....
MikieNes 2 years ago
Is it time for the reunion yet? Come on Hamm!
quentinr5 2 years ago
I wonder what are they doing now. Anybody knows?
yperreault 2 years ago 2
hombre you wrote this on the wall of one of the members
entirelyfakename 2 years ago
@yperreault
Hamm is the big half of self-named Canned Hamm and also plays in the Evaporators, both have vids on here. Terry is teen pop sensation I, Kandee. Tom has the project Mirror which also has a vid on here featuring Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode....
moustachedpainless 1 year ago
Have the cassette
God knows where I lost the EP
dirty30jr 2 years ago
Who can forget getting naked at Expo ?
rockerbiff 3 years ago
They mooned the Queen and shut down the whole indie music showcase.LOL
parkdale420 2 years ago 2
I also saw this video on muchmusic back when it was actually interesting and hosted by knowledgeable people. I was 12 and I hated this song the first and only time I saw it on much, but it stuck in my head and then I spent 6 years looking for the record. Moral: never doubt Sook-Yin Lee. Thanks for posting this, Hamm!
donnaredding 3 years ago
So true. I picked up on Muchmusic in 87 and pretty much watched it all the time. Videos like this and the variety are what made the channel great.Then before you knew it by the 90's things changed, formats changed then one day you wake up and Steve Anthony and Erika Ehm are on the life channel and your not sure what happened to MM. Don't think I have watched it in 10 years now. Do they even play videos anymore I wonder...
RavenRuled 3 years ago
I don't think they play music anymore, just gangster-rap and pop-rap between shitty reality shows. I used to watch religiously too, and even when I was watching something else I'd always go to MM in the commercials and then forget what I was watching before. I also loved seeing and hearing stuff I knew I'd never see or hear anywhere else. The declining quality in MM is the difference between "celebrity and entertainment" and Music.
donnaredding 3 years ago
So true.
RavenRuled 3 years ago
If there ever is a Canadien Guitar Hero ,This would be the first track on it!!!
BA82 3 years ago
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS..i saw this video long ago on the now defunct 'much music' channel which was canada's mtv..but they had cool shows on late night w nardwar (human serviette) and sook yin li - super hott asian vj. anyways sook yin played this video and said they were the best canadian band ever and after seeing it i believed her!! Slow's combo of funk and punk in this song is pure genius. i thought i'd never recall the name of this song!! thanks again poster.
iggypot 3 years ago
Best band from Canada EVER and the entire Against The Glass 12" EP DOES still stand up 23+ years later every bit as it did when it first came out. What was that, 1985? Their last show it is said (at Vancouver Expo) ended in a riot. Fitting end for a phenomenal band, I'd say.
Davidovich60 3 years ago
Yo Hamm,
Where is that video of Against the Glass filmed at a party or something. There was a balloon in Terry's kick drum and Tom upends a beer in to his face....when's the Slow reunion gig! Hardy...
cmckimm 3 years ago
Filmed on the main floor at the old Zulu Records location, actually. It was an interesting shoot - what I can remember of it, on account of I was probably hammered.
eastvanhalen 3 years ago 2
This on Guitar Hero would bring a needed national attention to his mid late 80's gem.
BA82 3 years ago
btw that was a response to tattoodles comment about the slow/cramps gig. Dunno why it didn't load under reply.
fnxtr 4 years ago
I saw that gig @ U.B.C. great show!
hegemony888 2 years ago
... I also love the 2nd guitar work. Very understated and weird.
fnxtr 4 years ago
Hey, cannedhamm, do you know if there's a posting of Shanghai Dog's "Bawl and Change" anywhere? Man I miss that one.
fnxtr 4 years ago
A testement to this songs greatness ...
20 yrs later and its still in my head.
VanJack70 4 years ago
I had the chorus of this song in my head while at tonight's Canucks game, and lo and behold, after the Canucks take a penalty, the DJ played a snippet of it.
TTOMO 4 years ago
But it wasn't of the chorus, just part of a verse.
TTOMO 4 years ago
I have this EP..
selling it soon
northerndirt 4 years ago
I'll buy it
ChefFlick 4 years ago
You know this was posted (and described) by the bass player, right? Still a great band. Anybody got Slow's "against the glass" video? I remember Vancouver in the mid 80's going to strip clubs underage and bumping in to my high school classmates... good times! :D
mramone 4 years ago
My God man, who remembers Slow opening for the Cramps at T-Bird Stadium, 1986?
A night that will go down in Vancouver punk rock infamy. Probably the most infamous Vancouver show of the entire 1980's.
Tattoodles 4 years ago
Before Slow went on Tom tried to get in through the front door. The guy at the front door didn't know who Tom was and wouldn't let him in.
fnxtr 4 years ago
Hmmm.. first reply try didn't work. Tom tried to get in the front door just before slow went on. Door guy didn't recognize him and didn't let him in. I think a couple of us tried to explain but he wasn't having it. Didja ever hear Tom talk offstage? Incongruously mellow.
fnxtr 4 years ago
I remember him on stage with a little red wagon full of chopped up doll parts and blood.
hegemony888 2 years ago
wrong on the no influence presumption. Slow were known to EVERY Seattle music scenester and played on bill's with proto-grungsters Green River.. You can be damn sure they were taking notes. I would have.
jaynemabbott 4 years ago
I love this band, one of the best Canadian bands ever. But I disagree with the posters comments about this band having anything to do with the Seattle Grunge scene. Thats just absurd. The Yanks only take our comedians, they never really pay attention to our music scene. Well except for maybe RUSH.
ChefFlick 4 years ago
Great song...does anyone have Copyright videos they can post. I'd love to see their Transfiguration and Radio videos again!
hubbabudha 4 years ago
i like this song.
orshick 4 years ago
timeless
BA82 4 years ago
I had forgotten this song. many thanx. unreal stuff
8orwellish 4 years ago
So, when is that rerelease coming out, Mr. Hamm?
aimlessalchemist 4 years ago
oh he is not resting in peace. he has another band called mirror.
aimlessalchemist 4 years ago
FUCKING COOL!!! I remember this...YEA YEA YEAH!!Oh yeah they turned into a band called copyright ;)
parkdale420 4 years ago
THIS FUCKIN COOKS
BA82 4 years ago
... definitely one of the greatest bands from Vancouver... great album... now how about finding me some Death Sentence video...
Jambo888 4 years ago
RIP? What?
eastvanhalen 4 years ago
That brings back great memories Hamm, loved you guys.
WILDVIEWS 5 years ago
I was at the same show. The Cramps were wicked too- Lux interior sticking a Canadian flag to his sweaty chest and practically shoving the mike down his throat. Proper entertainment. Is there any live footage of Slow? Good as this video is, it still doesn't do the band justice.
8jaime8 5 years ago
CD PLEASE !!!! Hearing this song wants me to hear the whole album
BA82 5 years ago
Thanks hamm
BA82 5 years ago
won't you be my little...valentine
stephanovsky 5 years ago
Greatest Vancouver band EVER!
dirty30jr 5 years ago
Called Zulu Records only two songs on a comp disk with other artists no vinyl , no cd . no tape GET WITH IT ZULU AND FUCKIN MAKE IT
BA82 5 years ago
There's a used copy of Against the Glass on Ebay right now for 12 bux. Item #250072139212.
They're rare and go for alot more at record swap meets.
cannedhamm 5 years ago
@BA82 I think I saw it at Red Cat in Vancouver for some exorbitant price.
ThePotatoEaters 1 year ago
Hooray for me - I'm the 1000th viewer.
Hmm, kind of different from seeing them at the Savoy...
SeanLaw 5 years ago
On the note of fun I'd mentioned earlier, Mr.Cannedhamm himself did reveal his equipment Full Monty style to everyone still present AFTER the power had been cut but modesty prevents me from reporting on just HOW impressive he was to all concerned.
jaynemabbott 5 years ago
Hey, I found mp3's of "Against The Glass" EP and "I Broke The Circle" on a blog. I ripped the b-side for the single ("Black is Black") and Slow doing "Santa Claus is Back in Town" from the Zulu Records Christmas Flexi from 85 which are now posted on the blog. For some reason I can't post the web address though...
rockenroe 5 years ago
That was Ian Tiles current drummer for the revamped Pointed Sticks.
He shot the show on Super 8 and is still waiting for the highest bidder before he will divulge the footage.
cannedhamm 5 years ago
One thing,a fortyish man upstage, filmed Tom Anselmi who'd stripped down to his boxers, doin'a bumpNgrind to the camera. I'd pay to see that again.
jaynemabbott 5 years ago
Slow's Expo gig in 86? Never could figure why it was cut short. Not much happened until AFTER the shut down. A chunk of the crowd left AT THE START; SLOW was UNHOLY TO GOD LOUD. Soon about 50 kids got up and poggoed their suburban punk ASSES off, THEN security showed and cut the power. That's when the fun began. I left to go drink instead of rocking to Art Bergmann who would have been on next.
jaynemabbott 5 years ago
Well it could have been that Tom Anselmi compared Bill Bennett to Hitler and started goosestepping around the stage and saying "fuck" a lot. I mean it wasn't much, but it was supposed to be a "family" event.
hempell 4 years ago
ghostofasmile, I have the album as mp3s if you would like a copy. I also have an early single by the band and a flexi that zulu records gave free to some people at Christmas time with a Slow track on it (haven't turned those into mp3s yet though but I'm sure I could be convinced...) Let's just say "I'd do it for a ghost of a smile... just a ghost, a ghost of a smile"
Slow famously opened and closed the independent music festival at Expo 86. I've always loved it this video.
rockenroe 5 years ago
Can I get in on those mp3s? I've been trying for such a long time to get my record converted and have yet to find success.
donnaredding 5 years ago
I would love mp3s of the EP and anything else you might have. It's all well and good having found the EP on vinyl, but if you want to strut down the street to the tunes, you really can't be doing it with a little red wagon dragging your turntable behind you...
alchemywow 4 years ago
On Kevin smith's produced canadian film Drawing Flies soundtrack
BA82 5 years ago
this one video can't come close to approximating the Slow experience for the uninitiated. This band literally changed the course of music then self-destructed before practically anybody ever heard of them. Seattle grunge is a perfect example of "the early bird gets the worm, but the second rat gets the cheese..."
ezpkns69 5 years ago
Yeah - they were a great band alright. Seattle followed in Vancouver's footsteps for many years though...from 1978 till Nirvana exploded really...it was pretty well a south-bound, one-way cultural exchange...
jimbo9998823 5 years ago
finally!! still trying to hunt down the LP of this and the EP I think they did too.. against the glass and have not been the same.. one of my fave garage punk bands when I was younger..
still sounding fresh today
djjasonpelletier 5 years ago
You can order it from Zulu Records in Vancouver.
donnaredding 5 years ago
One of the best live bands ever!
eastvanmungo 5 years ago
YAY!
flooozy 5 years ago