Battered Wives, aka The Wives was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada active during the late 1970s.

History

The group got together on Toronto's

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

. It originally consisted of Toby Swann (guitar, vocals), Colin Fox (drums), and Robert Stewart (bass, vocals). The group made a point of playing as loudly as possible. Fox was American; when he was arrested on drug charges, he was deported. The band fell apart, but Swann reformed it with a new line-up. The reformed Battered Wives, consisting of Toby Swann (guitar and vocals), Larry "Jasper" Klassen (bass and vocals), John Gibb (guitar) and

Cleave Anderson Cleave Anderson is a Canadian punk rock, alt. country, rock, pop, etc drummer. Anderson has played and recorded with several well-known groups, including Blue Rodeo, Battered Wives,Tyranna, Viletones, Sherry Kean, Forgotten Rebels, and the Beat ...

(drums), released their first album, ''Battered Wives'' in 1978. This spawned the

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s "Daredevil", "Suicide", "Lover's Balls", and "Uganda Stomp (Bomp Idi Bomp)", which poked fun at the

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n dictator

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

. Despite their name, and the fact that women's groups were picketing their concerts, the album sold 50,000 copies in Canada and was certified gold. Anderson was averse to the negative attention and left the band; he was replaced by drummer Patrick Mooney. In 1979, the band released their second album, ''Cigarettes'', as 'The Wives'. By now, there was considerable heat surrounding their name—and their logo, which was a clenched fist with the lipstick impression of a bleeding mouth. The group Women Against Violence Against Women had already picketed a record store that was selling their albums; when the band's 13-city tour with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

and

The Attractions The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums ...

was announced, the group booked a demonstration at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre and the band's manager claimed that they had received death threats. Under the adjusted name, the tour went ahead without incident. The most notable song from ''Cigarettes'' was "New Wave Robot". For his work on ''Cigarettes'', the designer Rodney Bowes won a

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

for Best Album Graphics at the

Juno Awards of 1980 The Juno Awards of 1980, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 2 April 1980 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Harbour Castle Hilton.Krewen (2010), p. 38. CBC Television br ...

. The band released ''Live On Mother's Day'' in 1980, with the word 'Battered' inserted back into their name. This album was marred with lawsuits from various parties and did not really see the light of day. Then the group broke up. Anderson became the drummer for

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

. Swann went solo, releasing a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of "

Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role ...

" on his 1981 album ''Lullabies in Razorland''. Klassen was working as recording artist in Toronto; he died on Thursday, December 8, 2016, at the age of 63.

Discography

*''Battered Wives'' (1978), Bomb Records *''Cigarettes'' (1980), Bomb Records, Epic Records *''Live On Mother's Day'' (1980), Ready Records

References

External links

*
Entry ar canadianbands.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battered Wives, The Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian punk rock groups 1977 establishments in Ontario 1980 disestablishments in Ontario