Font Banner - Free Fonts
Yonge Street: Toronto Rock & Roll Stories poster
Basic Info
First Air: March 21, 2011
Status: Ended
Seasons & Episodes
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 3
Last Episode
Name: 1965-1970
Season: 1, Episode: 3
Air Date: 2011-03-23
Runtime: 46 min
By the mid-60s, Yorkville had become the mecca for folk music until Dylan went electric and everything changed. Clubs for rock 'n' roll and psychedelic music became part of the same lineup as the folk music of coffeehouses. Artists like Neil Young, Rick James and The Myna Birds, John Kay and The Sparrow, John & Lee & the Checkmates, and The Paupers were all big names playing the Yorkville clubs, but Canadians didn't have the airtime support needed to sustain them. Toronto musicians had outgrown Toronto, so they left to find fame and fortune in the U.S. The Rock Pile, at 888 Yonge Street (now CTV's Masonic Temple studios and home of MTV) became a focal point for great bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jeff Beck, and Frank Zappa on their pit stops to Toronto. Finally, Part 3 looks at the early '70s and how the proliferation of strip clubs drove the final nail in the coffin of the Yonge Street music scene.
Videos
YONGE STREET: TORONTO ROCK & ROLL STORIES - SIZZLER
YONGE STREET: TORONTO ROCK & ROLL STORIES - SIZZLER (YouTube)
Creative Fabrica

Yonge Street: Toronto Rock & Roll Stories

2011 1 seasons 3 episodes
Overview

Before Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene and Rush rose from Toronto's music scene, there was Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson and Gordon Lightfoot making a name for themselves on Yonge Street. This three-part documentary reveals the history of how Toronto's main drag became the leading destination for singers, musicians and music fans not only in the city but across Canada as well. It began in the mid-1950s and flourished until the early '70s, and in between such artists as David Clayton-Thomas, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Levon Helm, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck performed on Yonge Street. In addition to archival audio and video footage, featured interviewees include Hawkins, Robertson, Lightfoot, music producer Daniel Lanois and festival promoter John Brower.

Genres
Documentary
Production Countries
  • Canada
Spoken Languages
  • English en

No streaming providers available for this content

Cast
Crew
Bruce McDonald
Bruce McDonald
Director
Jan Haust
Executive Producer
David Brady
Producer
Backdrops
backdrop
backdrop
backdrop
backdrop
backdrop
Posters
poster
Get access to thousands of craft files