Filth and Shoeshine: The Toronto Punk Repository
Dublin Core
Title
Filth and Shoeshine: The Toronto Punk Repository
Subject
Punk rock musicians--Canada--Biography.
Punk rock music--Canada--History and criticism.
Subcultures and countercultures.
Music and state. Violence--Canada--History.
Punk rock music--Canada--History and criticism.
Subcultures and countercultures.
Music and state. Violence--Canada--History.
Description
This exhibit brings together rare and under-documented artifacts from Toronto’s early punk rock scene, centering on its raw response to urban violence, youth alienation, and queer and feminist resistance. It features a Neatline map that situates each artifact in its original geographic context, allowing users to explore the cultural and historical landscape of 1970s Toronto through a spatial lens.
Neatline Map
Neatline Map
Creator
Rusiko Lomtatidze (Exhibit Curator)
Source
Includes original materials such as Shoeshine Boy / Killer Bees by The Curse (Hi-Fi Records, 1978), press photographs from Alex Kalnins (The Canadian Press Historical Archives), and venue images from Then & Now Toronto.
Publisher
University of Toronto iSchool (Omeka Server Platform)
Date
August 1, 2025 (Date of Exhibit Creation)
Relation
Benson, Denise. Then & Now: Toronto Nightlife History. Toronto: Three O’Clock Press, 2015. ISBN 9781927513286.
Related website: Then & Now Toronto – companion project to the book, documenting Toronto’s club culture and nightlife history.
Related website: Then & Now Toronto – companion project to the book, documenting Toronto’s club culture and nightlife history.
Format
Digital Exhibit
Language
English
Type
Digital Exhibit; Online Repository Exhibit
Coverage
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 1977–1978
Collection Items
Title
Shoeshine Boy/Killer Bees
Rare 7" vinyl record featuring The Curse’s 1978 single, produced in response to the murder of Emanuel Jaques.
The Curse at David’s
Live photograph capturing The Curse performing at Club David’s, a venue known for its role in Toronto’s punk and queer disco scenes in the late 1970s.
Press Photograph – Yonge Street Crime Scene, 1977
Black-and-white press photograph showing police at the doorway of a body rub parlour where the body of Emanuel Jaques was found on August 1, 1977.