Liz Worth has Dirt on Toronto

The Canadian author is the first to spill on Toronto's punk scene in a book that has already sold out two print runs

By Freya West
Published: July 11th, 2010 | 3:00pm

It’s safe to say that even non-music history buffs know something of the history of the Clash, Sex Pistols, and “big city” punk rock. But the stories of smaller city punk bands have stayed just that, small. Recently, folks like Liz Worth are trying to chanage that, as the Canadian author’s new book, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk Rock in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981 (Bongo Beat Books), finally gives Toronto’s punk scene its day.

With more than a 100-member cast and covering the stories of the Diodes, Viletones, and Teenage Head alongside more minor bands like the B-Girls, Curse, Demics, Dishes, Forgotten Rebels, Johnny & the G-Rays, the Mods, the Poles, Simply Saucer, the Ugly, and more, Treat Me Like Dirt is expansive and loud. As well as covering the music scene, the book is as much an ode to Worth’s hometown and the city’s own coming of age story. Now in it’s third printing after first being released in the States in January, Worth took time out of her busy touring schedule in Canada to chat with us.

Venus Zine: You’re only 28, too young to be a part of this scene. What drew you to punk rock?

Liz Worth: When I was in high school, my favorite band was the Clash, and I was into ‘77 London punk like a lot of people. But my first real introduction to puk rock was through a book called 1978, by Daniel Jones: it’s a novel about punk rock kids in Toronto. It’s fictional, but a lot of the bands and things these kids were into are actual references. Having been introduced to [the Toronto punk scene] through literature, instead of through music, really speaks to how obscure the Toronto scene was. It was really just luck that I read this book, but it went beyond the music; I wanted to know more. I kept looking for a book about Toronto punk, and even searching online it was really hard to find anything.

VZ: So you decided to dig in and write the book yourself. Did you originally plan on writing an oral history?

LW: When I first decided to make this book, I had intended to write it as a narrative. But early on, maybe ten interviews in, I realized it should be an oral history. Punk lends itself to oral history because everyone is in equal standing, from the fans to the business owners. I also felt it was important because [the punk band’s] stories had never been heard, and especially not in that way.

VZ: You were the first person to go to these musicians to hear their stories. What was the most surprising thing to you?

LW: I was surprised to learn how much violence there was, and that there was also a lot of rivalry between the fractions. There were the art school bands, and then there were the street bands, etc. And if people had any jealously or dislike towards people or bands back then, those grudges still exist today. You would think that people would grow up after thirty years, but I guess some things never change.

VZ: The breadth of bands and the scene you covered must have been exhausting. What was the hardest thing about crafting Treat Me Like Dirt?

LW: A lot of people in the book had really hard lives and things have just never worked out for them. They tended to do a lot of emotional unloading on me, and seeing them struggle with addiction and that sort of thing is tough. People would call me and ask me for twenty bucks, or just to talk because they have no one to talk to. It became really hard because you're just taking all this in, and as an interviewer, it's not a two-way conversation.

I felt like I came out of this experience a different person. When you're talking to your subjects more than once, they become a part of your life and you become a part of theirs. It's difficult to keep that fine line of being just a journalist. It was really hard not to become friends if you're talking to people all the time and they open up about their lives. I think it was cathartic for some people, they would say “Wow I've never told anyone this before” or “I've forgotten about this until just now.” After some interviews, they would just say ‘thank you,’ which was really sweet.

VZ: As evidenced by the book’s almost immediate success, there were obviously a lot of people who, like you, had been waiting for a book like this. Did that surprise you?

LW: Yeah, the first edition sold out in something like a week, I think. I didn't expect that the first and second printings would sell out so fast. When we had the launch in Toronto they had to open a second room within the first half hour, which never happens at book launches. That really caught me off guard and I think it caught my publisher off guard. Publishing is a fairly small market here, especially with a niche book like mine is.

I never questioned that people would be interested though, and we do know so much about history in the main hubs, and finally now there are more books about punk scenes coming out in other smaller cities. I think people who are really into punk history are looking for the new stories.

VZ: What’s next for you?

LW: I’m still touring for Treat Me Like Dirt, but I do have a poetry collection coming out next year called Amphetamine Heart. I’m working on some new fiction as well.

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For more information on Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk Rock in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981, click here