Back in 1981 , Doug Cass and I formed a new band from the ashes of our previous band Female Hands. I have known Doug since 1967. He was 8 years old and I was 10. I think we had mostly fun times trying to get various bands off the ground from 1973 through 1982 but when I decided to leave Popular Front, Doug and I drifted apart. A number of decades would pass before we connected again. Thanks to Doug we did reconnect. He is a real friend and he picked up the conversation like it was yesterday. Doug was always interested in the old tapes and bits and pieces of our shared musical past. The crumbs and dust of Popular Front , Female Hands etc. Doug would call me from time to time and we would reminisce. He would say crazy things like “we should put the band back together”… then one day …Doug sent me our first Popular Front recording of Doomsday Army but it sounded different. It wasn't just a remix or a new mastering , it was quite different , only the vocals and keys were familiar but how?? The multi-track tapes were lost to time. With new technology Doug and his pal Len Osanic had reverse engineered the mix to multitrack and the result is Doomsday Army (V.2 2026) Ha! Ha!
In 1981 , it was important to us to be a band with a purpose. We mingled in the post punk /new wave /art music scene in Vancouver. It was a thoughtful, politically charged community. We were guys in our early 20s who had escaped the suburban teenage wasteland to live in the inner city. We feared for the world … “look around , it's a death watch , the world is a mess, we are killing the planet , people are starving to death , the nuclear arms race was at the point of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) ”. Ronald Regan, the co-star of Bedtime For Bonzo was elected President of the United States. That old Hollywood has-been is gonna blowup the world ! The privileged west doesn't care. We don't care. Party on ! So we and others passed around the ironic phrase ”dance ‘til the bombs drop". It appeared on bumper stickers and posters. That commentary inspired writing Doomsday Army in 1981, so when Doug Cass sent me the 2026 version with the comment “I fixed it up” , I listened and remembered and realized that 45 years later, we are in the same place. Doug suggested that we should release the updated version. I said OK. "Doomsday Army approaching ….rainbows end is near…Ha! Ha!