The Viletones

{{Short description|Canadian punk band}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2010}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = The Viletones | image = Viletones1980 1.jpg | image_upright = 1.25 | landscape =  | alt = | caption = The Viletones perform at Larry's Hideaway, Toronto, 1980 | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = [[Toronto, Ontario]], Canada | genre = [[Punk rock]] | years_active = {{start date|1977}}–2016 | label = Vile, Razor, Fleurs du Mal, Other People's Music | website = {{url|viletonesofficial.com}} | current_members = | past_members = Freddie Pompeii Chris Hate Mike Anderson Jim Hare [[Steven Leckie]] }}

'''The Viletones''' were a Canadian [[Punk rock|punk]] band from [[Toronto]] led by [[Steven Leckie]] on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, (some sources list him as 'Frederick DiPasquale') on guitar; Chris Hate (Chris Paputts), on bass guitar, and Mike Anderson on drums.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/viletones-p207017|title=Viletones - Biography & History - AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> The original line-up was active in 1976 and 1977, and thereafter featured Steven Leckie as the only original member, with various backing musicians.

==Career== ===Early period=== The Viletones were one of the first generation punk rock bands from Toronto. Steven Leckie founded the band, and footage of the band can be found on the official Viletones website. They appeared on the front cover of various magazines, including Leckie on the front cover of ''Record Week'' and ''[[Fanfare (magazine)|Fanfare]]''.

July 7–10, 1977, the group joined [[The Diodes]] and [[Teenage Head (band)|Teenage Head]] at the New York punk club [[CBGB]] at a showcase featuring "three outrageous punk bands from Toronto, Canada". The rock critic [[Lester Bangs]] described the show in an April 29, 1981, article for the ''[[Village Voice]]'': "This guy Nazi Dog hung from the rafters, crawled all over the stage, and hurled himself on the first row until his body was one huge sore."{{Quote without source|date=March 2012}} The concert was spoofed in an early episode of the television comedy show ''[[Second City Television|SCTV]]'', where comedian [[Rick Moranis]] as newscaster [[David Brinkley]], looking a little rough, reviews a Viletones concert.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sctvguide.ca/programs/brinkley.htm|title=SCTV Guide - Programs - Comment|website=Sctvguide.ca}}</ref>

===Recording period=== Also that year, The Viletones released their first [[single (music)|single]], "Screamin Fist" b/w "Possibilities" and "Rebel" on their own label Vile Records.<ref>{{cite web | first = Michael | last = Panontin | title = The Viletones - Screamin' Fist EP - 7-inch Review | url = http://www.canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=157 | publisher = Canuckistan Music | accessdate = February 6, 2013}}</ref>

In 1978, they released ''Look Back In Anger'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~thisispunkrock/ps/can/viletones.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622053339/http://www.btinternet.com/~thisispunkrock/ps/can/viletones.jpg |title=Look Back In Anger |archive-date=June 22, 2006 |access-date=May 13, 2023 |type=JPG}}</ref> which featured the songs "Don't You Lie" and "Dirty Feeling", b/w "Back Door To Hell", "Swastika Girl" and "Danger Boy". The same year Pompeii, Hate and X abruptly left The Viletones to form [[The Secrets (Canadian band)|The Secrets]]. That year, the new lineup of the Viletones appeared at the concert ''[[The Last Pogo]]'', filmed at the Horseshoe Tavern in [[Toronto]] May 1, 1978, and became a feature film [[documentary]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209094/|title=The Last Pogo|website=IMDb.com}}</ref> which was followed by a [[sequel]] in 2013.

At the Rock Against Radiation concert in [[Nathan Phillips Square]], Toronto, on July 19, 1980, The Viletones shared a bill with [[DOA (band)|DOA]], Stark Naked and the Fleshtones, [[Forgotten Rebels]] and Joe College and The Rulers.

In 1983, The Viletones released their first full-length album, ''Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'',<ref name="AMG"/> recorded live at [[Larry's Hideaway]] in Toronto. Later that decade, they released a U.S.-only release, ''Live At Max's''.<ref name="AMG"/> In 1994, the record label Other Peoples Music, released a retrospective, ''A Taste Of Honey''.<ref name="AMG"/> Leckie also ran an art gallery in Toronto called Fleurs Du Mal; notable patrons included [[The Sex Pistols]] manager [[Malcolm McLaren]]. Leckie discovered and mentored various young artists whom later went on to be auctioned at Waddington's and Ritchie's. Leckie also made a brief appearance in the film, ''[[American Psycho (film)|American Psycho]]''.

A reference to their song, "Screamin Fist", turned up in the pages of ''[[Neuromancer]]'', a novel by [[William Gibson]], and a [[computer virus]] was also named after the song.

Over time, other members of the Viletones included Screamin' Sam Ferrara (bass), Tony Vincent (drums), Steve Koch (guitar), Steven Stergiu (guitar), Conrad Wiggins (guitar), Ian Blurton (guitar), Scott McCullough (guitarist of Rusty and former Doughboy), Jeff Zurba (drums), Steve Scarlet (guitar).

After a reunion, the Viletones released their first commercial music video, which received regular rotation on Much Music, MTV (America & Europe) and some coverage on the BBC. The first comeback show with the new lineup was recorded live by Doug McClement and was released soon after. It featured live material and three new tracks written by Leckie and Stergiu, and was their first new material since the early 1980s. This release was called ''What It Feels Like To Kill'' (1998).<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/what-it-feels-like-to-kill-mw0000360254|title=What It Feels Like to Kill - Steve Leckie, Viletones | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|accessdate=September 16, 2020|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Leckie and Stergiu then relocated to London and formed a British version of the band.

===2000 onwards=== In November 2012, Steven Leckie posted an obituary for original drummer, Mike "Motor X" Andersen, on his [[Facebook]] page, which was featured in ''[[Now (newspaper)|Now Magazine]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nowtoronto.com/music/in-memoriam/rip-motor-x/|title=RIP Motor X|first=Benjamin|last=Boles|date=November 24, 2012|website=Nowtoronto.com}}</ref> Leckie has also performed as a [[spoken word]] artist, reading from his yet unpublished [[autobiography]] tentatively titled 'Screamin Fist', and has appeared on various panels and discussion groups on the subject of [[addiction]] and [[Addiction recovery groups|recovery]].

The Viletones final performances were on August 15, 2015, despite Leckie's battle with [[multiple sclerosis]], which was filmed in 3-D by Regg Hartt for Cineforum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reghartt.ca/cineforum/?p=22270|title=Artists & Musicians I have filmed in 2D and 3D |website=Reghartt.ca|accessdate=September 16, 2020}}</ref> and in 2016 at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton Ontario.

Leckie died in June 2025, at the age of 67.<ref>Hayden Godfrey, [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/toronto-punk-pioneer-who-consorted-with-debbie-harry-and-johnny-thunders-dies-at-67/article_dc941f98-8289-4e84-9fc2-d920f7bf2b7e.html "Toronto punk pioneer who consorted with Debbie Harry and Johnny Thunders dies at 67"]. ''[[Toronto Star]]'', June 16, 2025.</ref> He had been living with multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/rip-canadian-punk-pioneer-steve-leckie/|title=RIP Canadian punk pioneer Steve Leckie|date=June 16, 2025|website=Alan Cross - A Journal of Musical Things|access-date=June 16, 2025}}</ref>

==Discography== ===Singles and EPs=== *1977 "Screaming Fist" (7-inch single: "Screaming Fist", "Possibilities", "Rebel") *1978 ''Look Back In Anger'' (7-inch EP: "Don't You Lie", "Dirty Feelin", "Back Door To Hell", "Swastika Girl", "Danger Boy") *2013 "Auschwitz Jerk" (7-inch single: "Auschwitz Jerk", "Wet Dream Girl", "Heinrich Himmler") *2025 "Haunted By Love" " Connie Chrom3 featuring Steven Leckie" ( All music streaming platforms)

===Albums=== *1983 ''Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'' *1994 ''A Taste of Honey'' (recorded 1977) *1998 ''What It Feels Like to Kill'' (As "Steven Leckie & Viletones")<ref name="auto"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.viletonesofficial.com Viletones official website] * {{discogs artist|The Viletones}} * [https://canadianbands.com/viletones/ Article at canadianbands.com] * {{imdb name|1876380}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viletones, The}} [[Category:1977 establishments in Ontario]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 1977]] [[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1983]] [[Category:Rock music groups from Toronto]] [[Category:Canadian punk rock groups]]