Don Pyle is 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 ...

record producer and musician, who has also been a member of multiple bands. Pyle is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

Life and career

Pyle's first group was a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band called Crash Kills Five, which was active from 1979 to 1981. Crash Kills Five released one EP in 1980, titled ''What Do You Do At Night?''. It was in this four piece band that Pyle first played with two members, Reid Diamond and Brian Connelly, who would later become his bandmates in

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a Juno Award-winning Canadians, Canadian instrumental rock band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the theme music, the ...

. Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet were together for eleven years; during this time, they recorded three LPs and thirteen EPs and became widely known when the song "Having An Average Weekend" became the theme for the Canadian sketch comedy television series '' The Kids in the Hall''. The band also won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Instrumental Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 1992. Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet also recorded with B-52s vocalist

Fred Schneider Frederick William Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock band the B-52s, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his '' sprechgesang'', which he developed from reciting ...

for his solo album '' Just Fred''. Pyle also played with several other bands such as King Cobb Steelie and

Fifth Column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

while on hiatus from Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. During these periods he began producing recordings for other bands, including the debut single and LP by King Cobb Steelie and a record by Phleg Camp. After Shadowy Men broke up in 1994, he and Reid Diamond then formed the band Phono-Comb with Dallas Good for the express purpose of playing and recording with

Jad Fair Jadwin B. Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the ...

. After releasing one single and an LP, Fair returned to solo performing, and the trio released another single. Beverly Breckenridge of Fifth Column then joined the group to play bass and the quartet recorded the LP ''Fresh Gasoline'' for Quarterstick/

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. To ...

, with

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

producing. After Phono-Comb broke up, Pyle began a new musical project with Andrew Zealley called

Greek Buck Greek Buck were a Canadians, Canadian musical duo, consisting of Don Pyle (formerly of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb) and Andrew Zealley. They are best known for "Spunk", the theme song to the United States, American television ser ...

. More

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

than his previous outfits, Greek Buck was noted primarily for their soundtrack compositions, such as those composed for films directed by

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and Activism, political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely affiliated group of filmmakers to ...

including '' The Law of Enclosures'' (1999) and ''

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...

'' (2003),

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and actress.Howell, Peter (September 24, 199"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft s ...

's film '' I Shout Love'', and most famously, the theme song of the series '' Queer As Folk''. In April 2007, Pyle launched his "Trouble in the Camera Club" photography show at The Beaver Cafe/bar in Toronto. The extensive collection of photographs documented the birth of the punk music scene in Toronto clubs during 1976–1980. An on-line version of the show was available on his official website. ''Trouble in the Camera Club'' was published as a photo and essay book by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canada, Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholar ...

in 2011 and included over 300 photographs of Toronto punk bands such as Viletones, and Teenage Head. His photos of international artists include

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, rhythm gui ...

The Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers (sometimes referred to as "Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers) were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jer ...

, Vibrators and

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire, in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", al ...

.Ben Kaplan, "Snarl for the camera; The birth of punk rock, through Don Pyle's lens". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', May 6, 2011. As a producer, music recorder, and mixer, his credits include releases by

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas Good, a founding member, died in 2022. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret a ...

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

, Andre Williams, and others. He composed and produced music for films by

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film film director, director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass (1999 film), Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Furt ...

, and

as well as composing and/or producing music for The Inside Out Film and Video Festival,

TV Ontario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates flagship station ...

, ''

Dragon's Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it i ...

'', and others. In 2012 and 2013, Pyle released recordings by his two bands. The Filthy Gaze of Europe, his collaboration with Dallas Good, had a 7" released by Ugly Pop records, with vocals by Damian Abraham, and Chris Colohan, with cover art by G. B. Jones. Black Heel Marks released an album called Feel Free in June 2013 that included Pyle in collaboration with Tacoma rock band Girl Trouble, Sandro Perri, and others.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Shadowy Site On A Shadowy Web
(Unofficial Shadowy Men Home Page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Don Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian electronic musicians Canadian record producers Musicians from Toronto Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian alternative rock musicians Canadian gay musicians Canadian film score composers Canadian television composers Fifth Column (band) members 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian drummers 21st-century Canadian drummers