Thelma, 1995-1997

47 responses to “Thelma, 1995-1997”

1. 

   Avrum Nadigel

   March 8, 2008

   “Thelma was the one that I was proudest of…”

   I hope this doesn’t sound too shlocky Wilansky, but all those jams, discussions in your CSL duplex, the cockroach infested apt in Satmar-land and brunches in the plateau… your influence can be seen in every creative venture I’ve been involved with. Those were golden days.

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2. 

   Warren

   March 9, 2008

   Wow, that’s high praise. It’s probably one of the reasons I have been fighting myself to get in playing music seriously again. While at the end of the Thelma run I was proud to get some compliments on my bass playing, it was you who gave me the highest praise.

   You once said to me that, i forget the actual wording, that while I may not bring technically perfection to the table that my sense of melody always won out.

   I still remember my bass lines to the acoustic “Mayor of Banff” performances and I am super proud.

   I will upload those first. I have Cafe Beenz recordings on Cassettes somewhere.

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3. 

   Your cousin Jennifer

   March 9, 2008

   LOL I still have my old Destiny’s Daughter tape… I remember going to see you play with Thelma once, but the only thing I really remember about that show was a man squeezing milk from his nipples.

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4. 

   Warren

   March 9, 2008

   Jennifer, guess what? I’ll be posting some Destiny’s Daughter stuff next! I remember that show you went to. They were interesting times….

   Reply
5. 

   Avrum Nadigel

   March 9, 2008

   “I still remember my bass lines to the acoustic ”Mayor of Banff” performances and I am super proud…”

   I just picked up the guitar and played that tune. God, I haven’t done that in years.

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6. 

   Avrum Nadigel

   March 9, 2008

   “a man squeezing milk from his nipples.”

   I do not remember that. I’m assuming that was Jake.

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7. 

   Warren

   March 9, 2008

   I have the proof…
   “Locals At Large” – Jamie O’Meara
   The Hour Magazine – 11.07.96

   You said…

   “We’re getting shows like crazy,” he continues, “and they’re all on the periphery of the music scene, in the arts. We’re staying right at the edges – I’d much rather play with some guy who spits milk out of his nipples than another Seattle-sounding Montreal band. We all need a new way to approach playing music in Montreal and I’d like to think that we’ve found it.”

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8. 

   Avrum Nadigel

   March 9, 2008

   Wilansky upload some rare live stuff.

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9. 

   eric

   March 9, 2008

   wow. this is amazing!!!! I just dug up our demo and listened to it right through! What a band! Warren do you have a recording of that song we did with the violin?

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10. 

    Warren

    March 10, 2008

    Eric! I do somewhere. We never did a final mix of it but i think I have a few rough ones somewhere. I’ll get them up!

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11. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    Oh man, I’d love to hear that song (violin) again. Is that the one about my Zaddie? If so, I’ve been recording his brother (my Great Uncle) for the past 4 years or so (he’s 94). Most of the interviews are about Swalki, Poland and the shit they went through. How cool would it be if we remixed the tune with some of his comments?

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12. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    Anyone know where Beacom is doing?

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13. 

    Warren

    March 10, 2008

    If anyone has access to an 8-track 1/2 inch reel to reel and a decent board, we could definitely remix it! I have one reel (were there 2?) in my house.

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14. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    Three Chords… did I play on that? Didn’t Alan play every string instrument on that piece? F’ing great song.

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15. 

    Warren

    March 10, 2008

    Av, you played bass on 3 Chords. 🙂

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16. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    re: Sunnydays

    I whine like an Ashkenaz bitch. And to make things worse, my gushing for Perry Farrell is all over that song. Ugh.

    I played bass on 3 Chords… so that means you played guitar. Ha. I remember that.

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17. 

    Warren

    March 10, 2008

    I barely played guitar. I strummed as loud as i could.

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18. 

    alan

    March 10, 2008

    3 chords?!! I had completely forgotten that one…This is Great!Thanks, Meat!

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19. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    Holy Crap… It’s Alan… It’s Alan!!

    Religions all over the world are awaiting their resurrected one’s, yet Warren, with a simple blog, resurrected Alan. A miracle has been witnessed on March 8, 2008.

    Reply
20. 

    alan

    March 10, 2008

    Thelma remains the most visceral moment in my humble life of music.It was bloody and it smelled some and taught me alot about the joy of letting go and being a spectacle.Av certainly led the charge on that front,I’m never going to be very good at being large, but you all made me feel part of something that was unapologetically itself.It was a really good time and at the center of the carnival a really great band.Stuck in Snow is a gorgeous piece of work…

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21. 

    alan

    March 10, 2008

    I tried Friending you on the crackbook a few months back.Where you at Av?

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22. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 10, 2008

    Damn Alan, you’re still quite a wordsmith, huh?

    I’m on facebook… look me up and we’ll trade war stories.

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23. 

    Warren

    March 10, 2008

    Alan. Wow, those are some really deep words, and ones I would agree with completely. Thelma holds a very strange place for me that is different for all of you as that was the last “band” I was in. I still play and I’m trying to get something together again, but I haven’t had a “real band” since then. This company of mine thankfully has kept a good lot of other creative juices flowing.

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24. 

    eric

    March 11, 2008

    more songs, more songs!!!!

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25. 

    Warren

    March 11, 2008

    This weekend! I’ll pull out the cassette player and encode those babies!

    Reply
26. Stevey.com → Bookmarks for March 6th through March 11th

    March 11, 2008

    […] Warren’s Thoughts » Blog Archive » Thelma, 1995-1997“In the mid-90’s I was in a band called Thelma. Of all the bands that I have been in Thelma was the one that I was proudest of, therefore the first one I’m going to post about. In hindsight it was clearly the most original, inventive and successful vs.” […]

    Reply
27. 

    Luke

    March 14, 2008

    Damn! I was in a band called “Louise”! We totally should have taken the show on the road;)

    Reply
28. 

    eric

    March 15, 2008

    wow. i just re-listened to stuck in now, and I must agree that it is a gorgeous piece of work… on everybody’s part!!! I also re-affirmed my love for Devil’s Song. We were an amazingly unique band! Re-union time!!!!

    if you want to hear some of the music I have been making lately… check out my noise band (actually it is very melodic drums n’ frequencies) called Interceiving:
    http://www.myspace.com/interceiving.
    I am also in a band called Balboa – we do exclusively the music from Rocky movies:
    http://www.balboaband.com

    Reply
29. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 15, 2008

    “we do exclusively the music from Rocky movies:”

    Now that’s odd.

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30. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 15, 2008

    “We were an amazingly unique band!”

    And you abandoned us… f***er 🙂

    Reply
31. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 15, 2008

    Here’s a few of my most recent clips (a hodge podge of doc/indie scores and pop tunes):
    http://www.striemel.com/myspace/player.html

    Reply
32. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 16, 2008

    Warren, you promised… WE WANT MORE MUSIC!!

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33. 

    Warren

    March 16, 2008

    Av… ask and you will receive. Here’s the first of much more to come. I think this will be a real treat…

    Last song. Cafe Beenz. Singing, Playing and Banter. March 31st, 1996.

    See above!!!

    Reply
34. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    March 16, 2008

    Holy crap… I completely forgot about that one. Very Weezer-esque.

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35. 

    Alan

    April 5, 2008

    I totally forgot about “I Don’t Like It”…funny stuff(and dead on
    about the Weezer-ness,Av.)
    What was the name of that tune that we had the violist who played violin join us on?What was here name?Christie,was it?She’s was nice people.But what was the SONG called?It’s been driving me nuts since this page was set up?Help!!
    Also does anyone have Thelma photos? Just curious.And finally,Av,do you still have the hat with the flower on the front that gave something of a “Blossom” feel?You guys remember that show,”Blossom”?When Av wore the flower hat and the lipstick?Man,that was “Blossom” on acid.
    Ciao from Macau

    Reply
36. 

    Warren

    April 5, 2008

    Alan….

    I just posted up the song In A Town. Sorry for the rough mix but I think it was an earlier one and I can’t find a version that was more polished.

    BTW, I do have some Thelma photos (where do you think I got the one above from!). I’ll dig some up. Does anyone else have any?

    Reply
37. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    April 13, 2008

    Also does anyone have Thelma photos?
    I wish. My wife doesn’t believe my eyeliner and lipstick stories.

    Av,do you still have the hat with the flower on the front that gave something of a “Blossom” feel?”

    Un, in one word…no.

    I just posted up the song In A Town.

    A little hard to listen to as it jogs up memories of how badly I wanted to be Perry Farrell a la:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOlwXZFpMBQ

    I can’t find a version that was more polished.

    We did a few live versions, no?

    Thanks for the uploads Warren.

    Reply
38. 

    alex 🙂

    May 19, 2008

    heh heh. awesome. just found this. brings back memories. i listened back to ‘stuck in snow’ awhile ago and was totally digging it. that mbv sound.
    😉

    Reply
39. 

    Warren

    May 19, 2008

    Alex!

    So cool of you to drop by and find this. I hope things are good with you and if I remember correctly I heard you had recently released something? I’m I right?

    WW

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40. 

    Avrum Nadigel

    June 4, 2008

    I bumped into Alex at an Art show last years. She hasn’t aged a bit.

    Reply
41. 

    Jon Stein

    July 21, 2008

    Hey Warren,

    Remember me? Merlin, Stony, Adamtozoe, It’s Alive!… I mixed some of the songs on “the sun shines from our behinds”.
    This is so funny. I was working on a song the other day and I realized it had the same chord progression as “Stuck In Snow”. I dug up your demo cassette to listen to it. I always loved that song. Then I googled Thelma just for fun, and there you were! It also got me wondering about what Avrum was up to. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in years.
    I like your musical history site. I actually made one for myself a few years back. Here is the link if you want to check it out:
    http://jonsmusicalpast.blogspot.com/
    I just added some stuff that coming to your site made me remember. Avrum and I had a project called Gingee for a very short while in ’98 with a singer named Tiff. We played one show at Isart and recorded one song.
    Anyways, hey to Eric and Alan as well (if you happen to read this). Hope you guys are all well.

    Reply
42. 

    Warren

    July 22, 2008

    Jon!

    So great to hear from you and I’m excited to go through your website.

    I have lots of good memories from the Thelma days and I think the It’s Alive recording one the only live recording that really captured what we were all about. I still have Talents but I was wondering if you had any of the other recordings of us from that show? I would love to hear them.

    Reply
43. 

    Jon Stein

    July 22, 2008

    I think that the It’s Alive stuff is on a DAT somewhere. I’ll see If I can dig it up.

    Reply
44. 

    Jon Stein

    July 29, 2008

    I don’t seem to have it. I guess Rob Denton must have kept it.

    Reply
45. Film review : “My Reincarnation” | Full Contact Enlightenment

    May 13, 2011

    […] few weeks ago, Plank’s owner Warren Wilansky (burger lover, musician and all around awesome guy) attended Hot Docs, a Canadian International documentary film festival […]

    Reply
46. Destiny’s Daughter | Warren

    October 6, 2012

    […] to be found online about the only local, moderately successful band I was every a member of, Thelma. I vowed at the time to put together archives of the other bands I was in and upload some old […]

    Reply
47. 

    Lina

    July 23, 2018

    So glad I found this! I found an old cassette tape with the song Stuck in Snow and I really wanted to hear it again. It was always one of my favorite songs.

    Reply