Ultimate Image "It's a Hard Life" 1969 Canada Garage Psych

  • 9 years ago
Ultimate Image " It's a Hard Life - Rains of Autumn" 1969 single 45* Canada Garage Psych

Penned by Reg Portieous, "It's a Hard Life" is a superb garage-psych ditty, recounting a popular theme, unrequited love! Dark & fuzzed out, it has but one verse, to wit: "Each time I see you I want to die...So baby I need your lovin'...Thats all I want from you".

"Rains of Autumn" is equally moody. Unfortunately this far superior composition becomes impossible to decipher through Trend's uniquely engineered "wall of toilet paper sound".

The single was released during the summer. Local station CJSS agreed to support it, but it was rarely played. Trend even gave them 20 copies for promotional give-aways, but when fans requested "It's a Hard Life", they always claimed they didn't have a copy. Apparently the top disc jockey (Don Beefer) was pals with The Image's rivals, "The Oracle of Zodiac". It wasn't until Dave Mickey, a young replacement from Toronto arrived, that the record started getting some airplay. Unfortunately, the internship was brief.

-by Ivan Amirault & Alex Taylor

Bob Lemire: drums
Reg Portieous: lead vocals, guitars
Rick Rouleau: rhythm guitars

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