By David DeRocco

“Someday you will remember me, and picture my face….”

So goes the line from “Picture My Face,” the prophetic first single released in 1978 by Hamilton’s greatest gift to Canadian music, the legendary TEENAGE HEAD.  And if you’re someone who did a good portion of your youthful partying during the years 1978 through 1988, then chances are you do remember Teenage Head, contributing to the soundtrack of your life through songs like “Let’s Shake,” “Disgusteen,” “Top Down,” “Something On My Mind” and “Some Kinda Fun.”   Now, after a tumultuous roller coaster career spanning over four decades of success, failure, death and departure, riots and rejuvenation, TEENAGE HEAD is getting something they truly deserve: a second chance.

“Teenage Head is going to release a greatest hits album this year, and it’s like everybody wants to give us a chance again,” says singer Dave “Rave” Desroches, currently on his second go-round as the band’s vocalist. “People are backing the boys because we’re part of the Canadian consciousness. If The Tragically Hip are at the forefront along with bands like Rush, then we’re hidden in the back part of it somewhere. So many people partied with this band over the years, and have a good feeling associated with the band. A lot of people feel that we need to get our due now, that a comeback is needed. And here we are.”

The “we” Rave mentions are original guitarist Gord Lewis and bassist Steve Marshall, along with former Killjoy’s drummer Gene Champagne. Rave – a long-time Teenage Head alumni who first stepped behind the mic when original singer Frankie Venom left to form Frankie Venom and the Vipers in 1986 – is as surprised as anyone to be back after years of touring the world with The Dave Rave Conspiracy, but admits it felt right from the moment they played their first note together.

“It was totally seamless,” says Rave of the 2016 gig that saw him perform with Teenage Head for the first time since the late 80s. “I had flown in from New York for a fundraiser and Steve happened to be there. We did “Picture My Face” and “Let’s Shake” and I’ll tell you, it was like an Elvis movie. The whole audience went crazy.  Steve called me a couple days later and said, ‘I haven’t had that much fun in a while, would you like to sing with us again?’ I figured it would be for a show or two so of course, how could I not want to. He called me back the next week and said, we want you to be the singer of the band again. I said absolutely. So it wasn’t pre-ordained. It was more like how it started with me back when.”

With word of Rave’s return, local fans were quick to react to the news that Teenage Head was one step closer to being legit again.

“There was a nice article in the (Hamilton Spectator) a while ago that mentioned I was back,” said Rave, whose return puts an end to the rotating cast of vocalists the band has performed with since Venom’s death from cancer in October 2008. “I’ve never had this happen before, but a neighbour who read the article dropped over and said ‘I heard you’re back in the band, go get’em.’  I’ve had a bunch of people say that, people giving me really warm wishes. It’s a nice feeling.”

Adding to that feeling is the fact that Teenage Head – despite their long and storied history in Hamilton – is finally going to be performing at Tim Horton’s Field a.k.a. Ivor Wynne Stadium, part of a June 3 show headlined by Billy Talent and featuring Danko Jones. It’s a dream gig for the band that was made possible by a chance meeting Rave had with Billy Talent guitarist Ian D’Sa in Ottawa.

“It’s very nice that Billy Talent invited us to be part of this show in our home stadium, what better gig can you get than Ivor Wynne, it’s not really Tim Hortons Field in my mind. This is a big moment for Teenage Head, to be invited. We love Billy Talent for doing that. I met Ian a couple months ago while at Parliament with (singer) Hailee Rose. I was talking to him and the last thing he said was ‘I want to see Teenage Head.’ The next thing you know we were on this bill. A lot of guys in this business say things like that but it doesn’t happen. The guys in Billy Talent are men of their word.  It’s really wonderful of those guys to think of us.”

While the show at Tim Horton’s Field will be riotous in spirt, it’s unlikely to reach the level of intensity that marked many of the band’s early career gigs. Their December ’78 performance at The Last Pogo Concert at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern, for example, ended in a riot and was shut down by police. A similar riot occurred June 2^nd, 1980 at Ontario Place, when 15,000 fans showed up for a free gig on the waterfront. Despite all the chaos, what Rave members most about his first stint with Teenage Head is simply the comradery between its members and its fans.

“The thing I remember most was the hotel rooms, say in Western Canada, where we were just sitting in a room miles away from home, we’ve got our guitars out, we’re listening to tunes, laughing, dancing. Frank would be dancing to the music. It was all of us, just having really genuine, honest fun thinking ‘this is the time of our lives.’  We had these wonderful people around always around us, wonderful audiences who supported what we did. There were moments of doubt and darkness like every group. Management changes, you get ripped off, all that stuff. But underneath it all, I just remember those great nights. You get an appreciation for those people who brought their end of the bargain. We brought our end, they brought theirs by coming to the shows and partying with us. It was a beautiful symbiotic relationship.”